My Favorite Recipes: Meet Katie Martin, LaCrosse

Linda Marler | Jan 06, 20160

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Katie Martin

Katie Martin, who works at Whitman Medical Group, is very active in Homestead Ministries.

Katie is a local Whitman County girl who grew up in LaCrosse and graduated from LaCrosse High School. She feels that her combined family was fairly rare when she was a kid, but such families are far more common now. With three brothers and one sister, she has lots of family and a number of nieces and nephews to enjoy.

Two of Katie’s brothers have military careers and are on active duty. Jared Martin, U.S. Army, Spokane, is a helicopter mechanic who has served many deployments, including two tours in the Middle East, referred to as “the desert” and “down range” by military members.

Jason Martin, also U.S. Army, is stationed in Kansas City, working in a Veterans’ Administration hospital there. He recently served in the Color Guard in Kansas City. He’s had some impressive experiences. When President Obama spoke in Jocelyn, Mo., he presented the President’s flag, one of six. The flag is beautifully made, with some metallic threads. The Presidential seal and the flag each are guarded by Secret Service agents. Jason has competed in national firearms competitions. At the Veterans hospital, he does security.

Katie is very proud of her brothers, as they are very dedicated and work very hard. They love their country, and Katie compliments their families for their support and dedication.

Jenny, Katie’s sister, lives in Chehalis, and has three daughters and one son. Jesse Martin lives in Colfax, and he has two sons, a daughter, and one grandson.

Whitman Medical Group is Katie’s workplace, and she now works at the front desk with reception and records. Many Whitman Medical Group patients might recognize her from her years working in referrals.

In addition to a busy career, Katie is on the board of Homestead Ministries, a local ministry begun by Tom Riedner and Greg Nolan to produce food packets for food banks and pantries in the Inland Northwest. Tom has contacts to buy cheaply or receive donated peas, beans and lentils, and Greg shared the vision of the ministry and had a trailer. Since starting, they have added trailers and a great deal of equipment.

Her interest in the group is putting a real face on Christianity, living by the example of Jesus, doing it for the glory of God.

“If Christianity doesn’t affect your worldview,” Katie said, “your love of self and love of others, you aren’t living the faith.” Christianity should affect how you live your life and how you relate to others.

“Working with Homestead Ministries brings forth a number of talents, including cooperative working skills, communication skills, problem solving and completion of tasks, while helping others.” Katie added, “Such work helps participants focus on goodness and on our fellow humans as well as produce packets of soup.”

The Homestead Ministries crew practices problem-solving skills, too. The group has to decide about scheduling, how to set up in spaces where they pack soups, advertise, use donated funds and so on.

Homestead Ministries has a larger vision, but for now the emphasis is on distributing shelf-stable food to people in need. Several local churches, including Onecho and St. Patrick, have organized soup-packing events. Fraternities and sororities at both WSU and U of I are coming to Homestead for community service opportunities, as such work is a focus of most Greek houses.

When collegiate groups are more numerous than soup-packing opportunities, Homestead refers them to Under the Bridge, a soup kitchen that serves homeless people in Spokane. Since they are homeless with no or very limited cooking facilities, cooking bean, pea and lentil soups does not work for them. Katie said, “Working at Under the Bridge was an incredible experience for me, filled with love and prayer.”

For people who wish to volunteer, Katie advises them to find a way to share their gifts and talents. In small towns, the opportunities abound. If one is too shy, short on time, just overcome the inertia and find a way to volunteer. Local volunteers do everything – work in the food pantry, make baby blankets for the Providence Sacred Heart NICU, make quilts for palliative care patients, support the Whitman Community Hospital Foundation, raise funds for college scholarships, plus read with grade school children and work in the Thrifty Grandmothers shop.

Split pea soup has been a favorite of Katie’s for ages, and she always requested it for her birthday dinner. Growing up in a combined family where her mother also worked, Katie and her siblings learned to pitch in to cook and to help at an early age. They were raised that family is taking responsibility for each other.

Recipes:

Homestead

Split Pea

My birthday dinner

If you've ever made split pea soup, you know it has the capability of increasing in size. Which, because it is so delicious, that's a good thing. Start out with a large CrockPot. Even if you don't think you're going to need it... you might, and that's alright!

If you plan on using a ham hock, my straight forward emphatic recommendation to cook this the day before. Shred the meat, and remove as much fat and connective tissue as possible. Render the stock by boiling 45 - 60 minutes and strain off the fat.

2 cups split peas (rinsed and soaked at least an hour) - you might end up needing more peas if the soup is too thin.

Stock (fresh cooked or canned), enough to cover all the ingredients

Meat, such as ham (optional)

4-6 small red potatoes, quartered or a tad smaller

1-2 carrots, coin sliced

1 onion, diced

3-4 stalks of celery, thin sliced

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

Mrs. Dash/salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions and celery in butter until onions are clear. Sprinkle generously with Mrs. Dash original flavor.

While this is on the stove top, slice your other veggies directly to the stock pot. Add your meat, peas and stir in onions and celery. Add salt and pepper, and cover with stock.

Cook in your Crock Pot on low heat for about 2 hours. Turn up the temperature to high for 3-4 hours, low boil/simmer. Return to low heat for 4-6 hours.

Serve warm with your favorite bread or crackers.

"Every Meal Served with Love Is a Feast"

Mom's Good Gravy

Everyone says, "Nobody makes gravy like your mom." I guess that's true, but it was many family dinners and several years gone by before anyone realized.

I started stirring gravy at an early age, so it seems simple to me.

Jesse, forget those fake gravy packet mixes. Just follow these simple instructions and practice.

In your favorite sauce pan, low-med heat, make roux (pronounced roo). Combine equal parts of melted butter and flour by whisking to a smooth consistency. The amount ingredients you need depends on the amount of gravy you want.

Remove from direct heat, but keep stirring as your roux cools slightly. Add your warm stock slowly, stirring the mixture to a smooth consistency. Place back on direct heat, stirring all the while. Add more stock so that your roux is more liquid than solid, add salt/pepper to taste. Bring to a low boil, approximately 3-5 minutes. Yes. Keep stirring. It should start thickening up.

Taste test mandatory. Voila! Good Gravy.

Too thick? Keep adding very small amounts of stock and stirring.

Not thick enough? Back-up plan available. Remove from direct heat, and in another small saucepan start a new roux. Very smooth and thick.

Get your Good Gravy back on the heat, add more roux a little bit at a time. Bring your heat up, and keep stirring.

Gut Busters

Original recipe "Carmel Layer Chocolate Squares" by Darlene Shaffer from the

1975 Lacrosse United Methodist

Women Cook pg. 52

There are so many combinations – and all are fantastic. Believe me, everyone will want you to experiment and find the "Best (gut) Busters!"

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Yellow OR German chocolate cake mix

1 bag of milk OR semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 bag of caramels or bulk caramel equivalent quantity

1 can of evaporated milk

3/4 cup melted butter

1 cup chopped nuts (pecans) - optional

In a heavy sauce pan combine caramels, 1/3 cup evaporated milk stirring constantly until melted. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine by hand cake mix, 3/4 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and nuts (optional). This should be a dough-like consistency.

In a prepped 9x13 cake pan, press 1/2 - 2/3 cake dough mixture. Bake for 6 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Layer chocolate chips, and spread caramel sauce. Then crumble the remaining cake dough on top. Bake an additional 15-18 minutes. Cool slightly and refrigerate to set caramels. Serve cold or room temperature. Too warm equals an OOEY GOOEY sweetness mess.

Redbird Christmas Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Fannie Flagg's "A Redbird Christmas" novel

This recipe can be adapted to different serving sizes. My nieces usually help me fix this for at least one or more family dinners every year. Forget the marshmallows, this actually tastes good. It can be served warm/hot out of the oven or chilled the following day.

5-7 sweet potatoes (boiled and peeled)

In a large mixing bowl blend sweet potatoes with:

1/2 or 3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4-1/2 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon (or a little more) Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 or 2 tablespoon cream

2 or 3 tablespoon flour

1 fresh orange juiced and a little pulp

1/2 or 3/4 cup pecans (optional)