My favorite recipes By Linda Marler

Rob and Heather Lustig live southwest of Colfax in a craftsman-style house built in the 1880’s with a basement added in the 1940’s. Country living suits them well, with space for four boys and various animals.

The Lustig’s have remodeled, redecorated, added a front porch, increased the size of the basement and landscaped. This is truly their home. Spring brings on the task of painting the house, finishing two years of intense work.

Since the focus has been on their house, this summer the focus is on camping and fun with the boys. Elk River Reservoir is the boy’s favorite place to go tent camping, and they take their homemade row boats to enjoy. Swim lessons at their neighbor’s family pool has them well prepared. They also like to catch sunfish and blue gills. The Lustig’s also enjoy camping in the Blue Mountains.

Brandon, 13, is in seventh grade; John, 11, is in fifth; Seth, 9, is in third grade, and Caleb, 6, is in kindergarten. All the boys play baseball, in four different leagues this year. Soccer and basketball are other sports they enjoy, and Brandon played junior high football this fall. Driving to town for practices and games keeps Heather buzzing, but if she has just two hours, she stays in town and walks or goes to the library instead of dashing home.

Rob works four 10-hour shifts, so his Fridays are free to spend with their family. An engineer, Rob is the chief of maintenance at Lower Granite Dam. He and Heather dated while students at Moses Lake High School, followed by his attending the University of Idaho, studying mechanical engineering. Heather earned an associate’s degree in forestry and parks and recreation.

Heather’s family rode horses, and she loved riding in the mountains with her mom and dad, so forestry was very appealing. Rob and Heather married in 1998, spending the rest of the academic year in Moscow. Rob graduated in 1999, after having served summer internships at Lower Granite Dam with the Army Corps of Engineers. He was hired at Dworshak Dam near Orofino, Idaho.

In Orofino, Heather was hired for a summer position at Dworshak State Park. While living there, she was riding her father-in-law’s horse, who was spooked when a storm blew in. Suffering a stout kick to her back, Heather was treated at a chiropractic clinic there. She worked there as a receptionist until Brandon was born.

Heather’s stay at home career began with Brandon’s arrival, and he was a baby when they moved to Colfax in 2002, at which time Rob began working at Lower Granite Dam.

A former Moses Lake Rodeo Queen and member of Spokane Community College Rodeo Club, Heather still loves horses. She rides frequently, and she is the 4-H horse project leader for Mockonema 4-H Club. Her boys, to her surprise, prefer pigs, so they show pigs at the Palouse Empire Fair. As a horse project leader, Heather follows in her mother’s footsteps, as she was a 20-year horse leader.

Heather had 4-H horses and showed steers a couple of years. At present, she is training a two-year old that she has been raising from a foal. She used to barrel race, but now she prefers trail riding.

Heather likes to do canning with the girls, which includes Becky Ewing, Kris Kackman, Tricia Harwood and Kristen Inderrieden.

With four boys in school, Heather is very involved with Colfax PTO, co-chairing the school science fair, which will be held on April 16 this spring. She also works on the Book Fair and wherever else she is needed.

Heather helps teach the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten class at St. Patrick Church. Other teachers include Jeff Hall and Helen Appel, and Lisa Frei used to help, but has been pretty busy with Colette this year.

With a fair amount of digging happening in their yard, Heather has enjoyed collecting antique bottles. Her friend has also been finding things in the ground near their old home, including china doll heads and a large blue Mason canning jar. No “girlie” artifacts have been found at the Lustig’s.

She learned to can with friends, and learned to cook “on the job” after she and Rob married. She always preferred the horses and outdoor work, while her two older sisters took cooking and sewing in 4-H. She now enjoys cooking. One challenge was learning to cook venison. They make jerky, ground beef, and steaks from deer that Rob hunts. After living in Orofino, they find that they prefer our Whitman County “grain-fed” venison.

Recipes:

Aunt Lorray’s Chicken Broccoli

Prepare 1 package dressing/stuffing mix according to directions on package.

Add 1/2 can of French’s onion rings if desired.

Put in greased pie pan.

Add chopped broccoli on top of the dressing.

Mix 1 can of cheese soup and 1 cup of sour cream together.

Add soup mixture to four chopped, cooked chicken breasts.

Spread on top of broccoli.

Cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Top with the rest of the onion rings. Bake 5 additional minutes or until onions are brown. Serve with salad and sour dough bread.

North Woods Wild Rice Soup

1/2 pound bacon

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or cubed

1 10-ounce can chicken broth

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons cooking sherry

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice

Fry, drain, and crumble bacon; set aside. Sauté onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, thyme and paprika. Heat until bubbly. Add cooked chicken, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, sherry, milk and half-and-half, stirring until thickened. Fold in rice and bacon. Serve with your favorite bread.

Serves 6

Herbed Corn

12 cup frozen corn

2 Tablespoon fresh parsley

1 cup water

2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Combine corn and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 4-6 minutes or until tender. Drain; stir in the remaining ingredients. Serves 10-12

Apple Pie on a Stick

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

4 dowels or roasting sticks

4 cooking apples

In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Push the stick or dowel through the top of the apple to the bottom until the apple is secure.

Roast the apple 2 to 3 inches above the bed of hot coals and turn frequently.

(As the apple cooks, the skin starts to brown and the juice dribbles out.) When the skin is loose, remove the apple from the coals but leave it on the stick.

Peel the skin off the apple, being careful not to burn yourself.

Roll the apple in the mixture; then return it to roast over the coals.

It will form a glaze.

Remove the apple from the coals and let it cool.

Slice thin pieces and eat your “apple pie on a stick.” Again roll in sugar mixture, return to hot coals, slice and eat, and repeat until apple is gone.

This is perfect for camping or barbecues.