My Favorite Recipes: Meet Suzanne St. Pierre

Scotty and Suzanne St. Pierre of Pullman. Suzanne is an avid gardener as well as a volunteer at the Pullman Community Action Center food bank.

Suzanne St. Pierre is a Pullman native. She graduated from Pullman High School in 1977 and WSU with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture in 1983. Her vocation and avocation have always been one and the same…to garden. Right after graduation from WSU she purchased her parents' nursery, Pullman Garden Center. In 1985 she and her husband, Scotty, moved the retail portion to the Pullman-Moscow highway, renovating an old neglected dairy barn into a charming retail setting.

To focus on the transformative nature of gardening and wanting to work from home in 2004, Suzanne opened “Living in the Garden”, a boutique greenhouse, gift shop with a landscaped roof and display garden in her home north of Pullman.

In 2015 she retired to travel, go kayaking and do more gardening.

Suzanne started volunteering at the food bank at Community Action Center in Pullman in 2016. She volunteers two days a week, stocking shelves and maintaining back stock and inventory.

“I feel fortunate to be a part of such an amazing organization. I am able to witness the really good work Community Action Center does, ” Suzanne said.

When she started, the pantry operated out of a tiny space and distributed pre-filled bags of groceries. Since then, it has moved to a much larger space and operates on a grocery store model where people can shop their own tastes and take what they need. Available foods include fresh produce grown by the CAC’s gardening program. They are able to supply hydroponically grown lettuce all winter long. The lettuce growing takes place in the CAC hallway. The food pantry has a kitchen where cooking demonstrations are offered on some distribution days. About 175 families are served each week.

The CAC food pantry is located at 350 SE Fairmont Road. Distributions are made on Wednesdays, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursdays, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Suzanne shares recipes for many small dishes/dips to create easy dinners.

Recipes

Fresh Tomato Tart

8 oz Mozzarella cheese grated

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

4-5 tomatoes cut into ½” slices

½ tsp. Salt,

½ tsp. Pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Pie Dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 10 inch tart pan with pie dough. Add cheese and basil. Cover with a tomato layer. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake 30-40 minutes.

Add fresh basil on top before serving.

Blue Cheese Spread

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup chopped red onion

½ cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts

¼ cup pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives

1 large clove garlic, minced

½ cup crumbled bleu cheese

On the stove top on low-medium heat, warm the olive oil, onions, nuts, olives and garlic in a small pan. The idea is to meld the flavors but not cook too much. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Add the bleu cheese to heat tolerant serving bowl, pour the oil mixture over and stir to blend. Serve with crackers or crusty bread.

Essence of Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 cup (drained) dried tomatoes *

2-3 cloves garlic

2/3 cup capers

1-2 Tbsp. pesto

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Serve with crackers, cut up veggies and a soft goat cheese.

*Reconstitute with boiling water if dried. Dried tomatoes in oil are fine, drain before measuring.