My favorite recipes

Jessi and Jeff Hall moved back to his home about four and a half years ago. Jeff’s family calls Steptoe home.

A graduate of Wenatchee High School, Jessi grew up in Malaga. Her father works in an aluminum foundry, and her mother is an office manager. They met at Washington State University where both were mechanical engineering majors.

As a youngster, Jessi loved taking things apart to see how they worked. Math was fun and she was good at it, so that opened some doors. She is one of those students who chose her major and was not tempted to change it. Practically speaking, it led to interesting careers, but she noted that a person “needs to have the drive and passion for it, or you’re weeded out pretty quickly” with challenging coursework.

Jeff’s interests were clear the first time he brought Jessi home to meet his family: he immediately took her to see the farm machinery. For him, it was natural to become a mechanical engineer. A lot of mechanical engineers grow up loving to build with Legos, or else they are “car guys.” Another positive point about mechanical engineering is that it offers such diverse opportunities.

The couple actually met at a mini-Baja Club at WSU, where engineers build dune buggy-like vehicles. Jessi is not as much a car person as Jeff who rebuilt a 1965 Chevelle engine for the car.

Educationally, both of them have advanced degrees. While Jessi was completing college, Jeff earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Jessi later earned a master’s in business administration. After they married, they accepted jobs in the Boise area.

Jessi worked for Micron Corporation in Nampa, and Jeff worked at Hewlett-Packard designing printers. They lived in the Treasure Valley for 10 years. The last two and half years Jessi has been at home with their children, Chloe and Carter, which was, she said, much harder work.

At that point, they moved to Colfax, and Jeff began farming with his father, Greg Hall. Lavonne Hall retired from her nursing career and became Chloe and Carter’s sitter, and Jessi began working with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Jeff loves farming, the family tradition, and doing satisfying work.

At SEL, Jessi is the mechanical engineering group manager, with three groups reporting to her. Her groups design and build tools for testing, producing and repairing SEL products. In her area, the work load is pretty steady, with a few surge times. She loves her job and finds it challenging and a lot of fun.

The Halls have done some remodeling on their older farm home, turning a terribly large pantry into a pleasant guest room. More projects are in store as they plan what they want to do.

Their daughter Chloe, 7, is in second grade at Steptoe School, and is an eager learner. Carter, 5, is in kindergarten and does some reading. He wants to read on his own, not depend on his sister or others to read to him. They are in the same combination classroom.

Travel is a favorite activity, and their tenth anniversary trip was to Australia. They stayed near Sydney, hiked in a eucalyptus forest, enjoyed the ocean and hiked along a cliff above the beach. Meat pies were plentiful, showing the English influence, but they also enjoyed Thai food. The kids stayed in Steptoe with the grandparents.

Both of Jessi’s parents cook, and since she watched them, she was ready to cook for herself in college. Although Jeff prepares breakfast on weekdays and starts or cooks dinner if Jessi is running late, she likes cooking more. She starts with a recipe, tweaking it if she wishes. With enough baking experience, Jessi can now tweak cake and quick bread recipes.

Chloe is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts, so Jessi improvises for her allergies. There are more choices now than years ago. Chloe is learning to read labels so that she can identify things she should not eat.

Quick breads are a favorite, but she makes cinnamon rolls and pizza dough, too. Holiday cooking is a favorite, and she enjoys a baking day with a friend to make all the Christmas treats. The date cookies are from her paternal grandmother’s recipe. The first year that Grandma couldn’t make them, Grandpa did. She and her sister took on the project, which took some experimenting to produce cookies just like Grandma’s. The cookies also turn out well with alternate flours.

Recipes:

Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup margarine (we use dairy-free brands like Nucoa or Earth Balance)

2 cups sugar

15 ounces solid pumpkin (you can used canned or home-made)

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup water, 3 teaspoons baking powder, all mixed together

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch loaf pans. Cream margarine and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, orange juice, and oil-water-baking powder mixture; beat on medium until well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients; beat on low speed until well-blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Tofu and Broccoli Red Curry

1 - 2 Tablespoons grated lime zest (from 1 to 2 limes)

1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, cut in half

1/4 cup dry-roasted, salt-free peanuts (or you can use 1/4 c. shelled sunflower seeds)

1 Tablespoon Thai fish sauce, or 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola/vegetable oil

3 Tablespoons hot chile sauce, or 2 Tablespoons chili paste

1 16-ounce package firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 cups broccoli, cut into small pieces

2 scallions, chopped

In a food processor or blender, combine the lime zest, cilantro, garlic cloves, and peanuts (or sunflower seeds). Run the machine in spurts until the mixture is pulverized, scraping sides as needed. Slowly, with the machine running, add the fish sauce (or salt) and 3 Tablespoons of the oil. Then add the chili sauce or paste.

Into a wok or skillet, over high heat, pour the remaining 1 Tablespoon of oil. Add the tofu, and cook until the pieces form a golden crust on the bottom (don't stir the tofu until your sample pieces have a nice crust). Then, turn with a spatula and let the tofu form more golden crust on the other side. Note: tofu has a lot of water in it, so it may take a few minutes for the water to cook out and the crust to form. Transfer to plate.

Into the same wok or skillet, put the broccoli and 1/2 cup water. Cover, and steam the broccoli for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry sauce, and, stirring, for 1 minute more. Add tofu and toss.

Serve with rice (we really like coconut rice) and garnish with scallions and chopped cilantro.

Coconut Rice

Following the instructions on your package of rice, replace the water with coconut milk. This won't work with instant rice; and I really like Jasmine rice for this recipe.

Date Filled Cookies

Cookie Dough:

Mix thoroughly: 1 cup soft shortening

2 cups brown sugar (packed)

2 eggs

Stir in:

1/2 cup sour milk, buttermilk, or water

Sift together and stir in:

3-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Date Filling:

Cook together slowly, stirring constantly until thickened:

2 cups dates (or figs, raisins, finely cut up, or 2 cups mashed prunes)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Cool thoroughly before assembling cookies.

Chill the dough at least 1 hour, covered in plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Wetting your hands, flatten the dough balls until they are 2 to 2-1/2-inch diameter circles. Place about 1/2 teaspoon date filling on each dough circle. Wetting your hands, take about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dough and flatten in your hands. Cover the date filling with the dough, and gently seal the edges of the top and bottom dough together.

Bake until lightly browned, 10 - 12 minutes.