MY FAVORITE RECIPES By Mary Collins: Meet Mary McGregor

Kathryn Bolles, Mary McGregor and John Bolles.

Mary McGregor spent most of her childhood in Hooper. The few neighbors were mostly family and friends whose ancestors were somehow involved in the sheep ranching and other agricultural enterprises along the lower Palouse River where the rolling hills meet up with the scablands. When she was in seventh grade the family moved to Pullman but her roots are still in Hooper where the family still gathers for special events.

After high school, Mary earned a nursing degree from WSU and later a master’s in nursing from the U of W. She worked for a number of years in Intensive Care as a nurse and nursing teacher. Her last, and longest, association was with Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. Daughter Kathryn Bolles carries on Mary’s interest in health care and will be starting her residency as a physician with the Veteran’s Administration on the west side of the state next year.

Following retirement in 2010, Mary and her husband, John Bolles, moved back to the Palouse and built a home on Moscow Mountain. Not one to become inactive, Mary has taken on the role of board member for the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown. She and John are also involved with the Palouse Land Trust.

Artisans at the Dahmen Barn began in 2004, when Steve and Junette Dahmen donated the barn and surrounding land to the Uniontown Community Development Association with the stipulation that the barn and distinctive wheel fence be maintained and used for the community.

A group of dedicated and optimistic volunteers have made the barn a great success.

They have secured funding and contributed labor to make it into a facility with comfortable artist’s studios and retail spaces.

In 2016 they completed construction of a 3,600 square foot event space with a commercial kitchen.

The barn now is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m.

until 6 p.m.

The barn also hosts cultural events and classes of all kinds.

The event space is also available for rent to the public.

More information can be found at artisanbarn.org

Mary supports the arts in many forms, but her own efforts focus on fiber with knitting, felting and crocheting tying nicely into her wool producing heritage. She also makes baskets and enjoys cooking. In particular, she likes to bake bread. She prefers the old fashioned methods that take time and effort. For her it is time pleasantly spent, for others the reward is deliciousness.

Recipes

Hooper Store Banana Bread

Since Hooper was the end of the line for the produce truck, by Thursday the bananas were pretty brown. During my summers working there, I’d make this bread for Friday morning coffee breaks.

1-3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup softened butter or shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, well-beaten

2 or 3 very ripe bananas, mashed, or thawed, previously-frozen bananas

Mix sugar gradually into butter. Add eggs and beat well. Mix remaining dry ingredients together. Add dry mixture alternately with mashed bananas, beating after each addition. Turn in to a loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 deg. F for one hour and 10 minutes.

Makes one loaf.

John’s Favorite Bread

Equipment: A cast-iron, two or four quart Dutch oven (the big oven will make one big loaf; the smaller one will make two loaves), a heavy mixer or a wooden spoon and a strong arm.

1-1/4 cups water

2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 12-ounce bottle of mild-flavored lager or ale at room temperature

Scant six cups flour (white or mixture of mainly white and wheat flour, with a bit of oats or bran flakes, if you like)

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast

Mix together wet ingredients.

Beat in yeast.

Mix salt into first cup of flour.

Add to wet ingredients, beating by hand or by machine.

Add oats or bran, if using.

Continue to add flour by the cup, beating after each addition, until bread gets a more solid consistency.

Then begin to add flour in smaller amounts (1/4 cup to 1 Tbsp.) When bread begins to form a sticky, but solid ball, begin to knead.

Bread can be kneaded in a heavy mixer or by hand for five to 10 minutes.

Continue to knead and add small amounts of flour until bread forms a smooth, soft, but not sticky ball.

Put the dough in a large bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.

Let it sit at room temperature until doubled in size (four to 18 hours.) Bear in mind, this is a forgiving recipe: you can let it sit for even longer than that if you get too busy to deal with it.

The additional fermentation time makes it taste a bit more like sourdough.

The dough will be very wet.

Gently lift the dough onto a lightly-floured surface.

If you have a 2 quart Dutch oven, cut the ball in half.

Put half back in the bowl.

This half can be cooked later in the day.

If you have a large Dutch oven, work with the entire ball of dough.

Knead the dough, adding sprinkles of flour if the dough gets sticky.

Gently form into a round loaf.

Place in the Dutch oven that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Let it rise for two hours or until doubled in size.

Adjust your oven rack to its lowest position.

Turn on your oven to 500-550 degrees.

Once the dough has risen the required amount of time (a finger poked in the side leaves an impression,) lightly flour the top of the loaf.

Use kitchen shears to cut an "X" in the top.

Put the cover on the Dutch oven and place in oven.

Turn the oven temperature down to 425 degrees.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Then, carefully remove the lid and bake the bread for another 20 minutes.

Total baking time should be 50 minutes to an hour.

When done, bread will be nicely browned and will make a deep sound when thumped with a finger.

Makes 1 or 2 loaves.

“Breading” My Neighbors

This is one of my favorite bread recipes―one that is relatively easy and makes enough bread to share with neighbors.

2 cups skim milk, warmed

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey or molasses

2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 well-beaten eggs

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup wheat bran

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups white flour

1 Tbsp. melted butter

Mix milk, oil, honey and salt in a large bread bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Place warm water in a small bowl with yeast and sugar. Let yeast proof (get bubbly.) Add yeast to milk mixture.

Add eggs, mix. Then add oats and bran flakes. After mixing well, add wheat flour, mix. Add enough white flour, a bit at a time, to make dough easy to handle (moist, but not sticky). Knead bread for six to eight minutes. Add white flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to your board.

Place dough in a bowl greased with olive oil or a bit of butter. Let rise until doubled (if you push your finger into the dough a big indentation will remain).

Divide into three equal portions. Make into three loaves. Put into loaf pans and let rise until doubled (about 1-1/2 hours.) Brush the tops with a bit of melted butter. Put loaves into a 350 degree oven. Turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Makes 3 loaves.

Mary’s Challah

2 cups milk

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. yeast

2 eggs, 2 egg whites

1 tsp. salt

6 cups flour

Bring milk, butter and sugar just to a boil. Pour into bread bowl and let cool to lukewarm. Stir yeast in and let proof. Add the eggs. Add the salt to the first cup of flour. Stir in. Continue to add in five cups of flour, one cup at a time. Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead, adding flour as needed, until dough is satiny and elastic. Put dough in a buttered bowl. Cover, let rise until doubled (1-1/2 hours or more.)

Punch dough down. Knead into a ball. Cut into two pieces. Cut each piece into three equal pieces. Roll pieces out into long snakes-about 18 inches long. Pinch the tops of three snakes together. Turn pinched section under and braid rest of loaf. Pinch and turn pinched section under at other end.

Brush with a mixture of one tablespoon water and one tablespoon egg white. Put on a pan sprinkled with corn meal. Repeat with second half of dough. Place in the middle rack of a 425 degree oven. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until brown and hollow sounding when thumped with a finger.

Makes two loaves.