MY FAVORITE RECIPES By Mary Collins: Meet Frances Clark

Frances Clark’s road to the Palouse began when her exploration geologist brother John brought his co-worker home from the Australian outback for the Christmas holiday in 1980. Home was Christchurch, New Zealand, and the co-worker was Asa Clark, who after a couple of years left geology and returned to the family farm with his Kiwi bride. The couple settled in Pullman and later built a home on the farm north of Albion. Together they raised three sons, Richard, Daniel and Ian.

In New Zealand, Frances earned a degree in horticulture from Lincoln College and worked for several years as a horticulturalist. When her boys were little, she was a full-time mom. Later she worked for the Pullman School District for 18 years. Today she is happily retired and keeps busy with a number of community efforts including volunteering for Pullman Child Welfare, the CASA program with Whitman County and the Albion Summer Lunch Program.

Two of her three sons are now in far off Tennessee while the youngest just finished a master’s degree in crop and soil sciences at WSU and is currently working harvest on the family farm.

Her favorite thing to do is visit her two grandchildren, Bryson and Emmalyn, in Tennessee where their Dad, Richard, is a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. Fortunately for them, Uncle Daniel lives in nearby Short Mountain, Tenn., and helps keep the family connections close.

The Pullman Child Welfare Association is one of the oldest community service organizations in Whitman County. Their mission is to “help families attain self-esteem and move towards self-sufficiency by offering them survival, safety, dignity, opportunity, joy and hope.” They created the first food pantry in Pullman more than 25 years ago. The pantry is located at 1125 Nye Street in Pullman. They distribute food on Saturday’s 9-11 a.m. They serve about 50 families each week. In addition to the food pantry, Pullman Child Welfare organizes a toy drive at Christmas, Coats for Kids and many other services for local children throughout the year.

Frances keeps in shape with almost daily walks and keeps her professional training skills sharp with a large garden. She is well known for her baking skills and shares some favorites with us.

Recipes

All of these recipes are

from New Zealand.

Shortbread

8 oz. soft butter

¾ cup powdered sugar

¾ cup cornstarch

1-½ cups all purpose ........flour

Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Form dough into a sausage shape and refrigerate for 30 mins. Slice into ¼ inch slices and place on cookie sheet. Use a fork to make 3-4 fork marks on each piece of shortbread. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Shortbread should not be brown but a light color.

Mary’s Orange Slice

8 oz. butter

14 oz. can sweetened, ........condensed milk

Finely grated rind of ........one orange

2 cups flaked coconut

9 graham crackers, ........crumbed

Orange Icing

4 oz. very soft butter

2 cups powdered sugar

About 2 Tbsp. orange ........juice

Melt first amount of butter in large saucepan. Remove from heat and add sweetened condensed milk, grated orange rind and coconut. Stir well. Add graham cracker crumbs and mix. Press firmly into 9x13 inch pan.

Mix icing ingredients until smooth and spread smoothly over base. Cut into squares.

ANZAC Biscuits (cookies)

8 oz. butter

2 Tbsp. golden syrup (substitute dark Karo syrup if necessary)

4 Tbsp. boiling water

3 tsp. baking soda

2 cups old fashioned ........oats

1-½ cups coconut

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Melt butter and syrup in large saucepan. Add boiling water to soda and pour into melted butter mixture. Add to mixed dry ingredients and blend well. Drop small spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for about 20 min. Allow to cool for 2-3 min before placing on cooling racks.

Mum’s Pavlova

4 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff. Very gradually add sugar. Beat until smooth and thick. Add vinegar and cornstarch and beat again. Place a piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and pile mixture on top. Roughly form into a 6-8 inch circle and bake for 30 min. Turn oven off and allow pavlova to cool in oven. Gently remove from foil and place on serving plate. Cover in whipped cream and then place whatever fresh fruit and berries that are available on top. I like strawberries, blueberries and kiwifruit.