My favorite recipes

Angie Wick, daughter of Ron and Dawn Dennison of Colfax, graduated from Colfax High School in 2006. She had a lot of fun growing up in Colfax. Her husband is Eric Wick, son of Julie Bafus Wick and grandson of Coach Bob and Ruth Bafus. Julie Wick now lives in Georgia.

Angie and Eric have spent the last nine years away from Colfax, and they are happy to return home while Eric is working nearby. They both went to school in Spokane after high school with Angie graduating from Apollo College in dental assisting and Eric from Gonzaga University in civil engineering.

Angie worked for a year as a dental assistant in Spokane and switched careers to teaching pre-school for six years at Small Wonders in the Spokane Valley. After doing a job shadow and completing her senior project on pre-school, she already had an interest in teaching young children.

The Wick family moved to Colfax last December when Eric’s employer, Garco Construction, began a project on the fish ladder at Lower Granite Dam. Eric enjoys civil engineering work, and he is pleased to have a project near Colfax.

Eric has managed projects in Montana and Florida. The Florida job lasted three months, and Angie and the children went for three weeks. The family stayed in a beautiful condo close to the beach.

Angie is working for Palouse Empire Fair as a program coordinator, and her duties include event planning, facility management and bookkeeping. She was very involved with facilitating Papé Days on Friday and Saturday, June 19-20 at the fairgrounds. The event included three food vendors, plenty of equipment to look at and informational sessions about new equipment and agricultural technology.

Eric and Angie have three children. Jaxon is nine-years-old and loves sports, especially basketball and baseball. Jagger will soon be five, and he likes soccer, since he played in Spokane Valley. Aria is 18 months old.

Eric likes to play golf, and Angie gets to golf about twice a year. The boys will be preparing entries for the coloring contest and the Lego building division at the Palouse Empire Fair this summer.

In the 1980’s, Eric’s father won a sailboat, the big prize in a radio station contest. He and the whole Wick family learned to sail.

“The Wicks know what they’re doing,” Angie remarked.

This is convenient, as Eric and Angie have a special trip planned. In July, the Wick clan will meet in the British Virgin Islands, where they have rented a sailboat, one large enough to cook meals and sleep aboard. This will be all adults and no children. Eric has sailed before, but Angie has not. They will visit ports along the way as they circle the island.

Learning to cook with her mother some when growing up, Angie enjoys cooking. Grandma did some teaching, too.

“Being in the kitchen is my therapy, when I can quiet down and reflect on my day. It’s my quiet time.” Eric and Angie love to cook Mexican food. They also enjoy Thai food, so that is her next culinary adventure.

As a new Pinterest subscriber, Angie is trying recipes posted there. Her other sources of recipes are cookbooks, her mother, grandmother Ruth Bafus and online recipe collections.

Recipes:

Broccoli Salad

2 heads fresh broccoli (not frozen)

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1/2 pound bacon

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (Don’t buy the pre-grated stuff for this; buy a block of cheddar and grate it yourself. The texture is much better)

2 1/2 Tablespoons vinegar

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

Chop bacon into bite-size pieces and cook to desired crispness. Drain on paper towels.

Chop broccoli florets into bite-size pieces. Combine broccoli, bacon, onions and cheddar cheese in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until serving. It’s best when made a day ahead.

Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole

A breakfast recipe

that could serve as dessert

1 loaf Texas toast or French toast bread, cut into cubes

8 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries, tossed lightly with flour

cinnamon

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Layer one-half of bread cubes in baking dish.

Cream together sugar and cream cheese, and drop by teaspoonfuls over bread layer. Layer blueberries over cream cheese. Cover blueberries with remaining bread. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Mix remaining ingredients and pour over bread; press bread with spatula to help it soak up the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes. Serves 8.

Pollo a La Crema

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 cups boneless chicken breasts, cut in strips

1 sweet onion, cut in half lengthwise and sliced

2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced fairly thick

1 Tablespoon paprika (or more if desired)

2 Tablespoons chicken base

1 cup heavy cream (Mexican cream works best)

2/3 cup sour cream

Heat oil in large frying pan. Sauté chicken and onion until chicken is no longer pink and onions are no longer translucent.

Add cream, mushrooms, paprika, and chicken base.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is tender.

Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Mixture will be somewhat thin, but should be a creamy consistency or texture of a white sauce.

Serve hot with warmed flour tortillas.