Diane Prather
Recent stories
- Over A Cup: A hearty meal for the cold winter months
- January 28, 2012
- Recently, over a morning cup of coffee, I checked out my files and cookbooks, searching for main meal recipes to cook for supper. It seems like I always have a struggle deciding what to cook after having all of the luscious food during the holidays. So, I found a recipe for “Whole Meal Ground Beef Casserole” that I’ve made one time before. I cut the recipe from some newspaper a bunch of years ago. The recipe gets its name because the casserole dish has meat, a green vegetable, and potatoes, everything to make a whole meal. It’s a variation on other potato puff casseroles.
- Agriculture & Livestock: Poring over spring seed catalogs
- January 21, 2012
- Seed catalogs start arriving in the mail each year just before Christmas, some with discount coupons for orders sent in before the spring rush begins. Poring over seed catalogs can cause the senses to trigger memories of warm April/May planting days, the once-a-year odor of richly tilled soils that are “coming alive,” and the feel of garden soil on the hands. So, after the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, many gardeners like to take out the seed catalogs and pass long winter nights by deciding what to plant in that summer’s garden. Not so with others, however. “Shame on you for doing this to us (writing about seed catalogs) in January,” Craig resident Lorrae Moon said. Moon chuckled.
- Over A Cup: A hearty meal for the cold winter months
- January 21, 2012
- Recently, over a morning cup of coffee, I checked out my files and cookbooks, searching for main meal recipes to cook for supper. It seems like I always have a struggle deciding what to cook after having all of the luscious food during the holidays. So I found a recipe for “Whole Meal Ground Beef Casserole” that I’ve made one time before. I cut the recipe from some newspaper a bunch of years ago. The recipe gets its name because the casserole dish has meat, a green vegetable, and potatoes, everything to make a whole meal. It’s a variation on other potato puff casseroles. To make this recipe, you will need the following ingredients: 1 pound ground beef, ½ medium chopped onion, ½ cup chopped celery, 1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas (unthawed), 1 can (10 ¾ -ounce) cream of asparagus soup, ½ cup milk, salt and pepper (to taste), and 1 package frozen potato puffs, unthawed.
- Agriculture & Livestock: Looking back on 2011, ahead to the new year
- January 14, 2012
- The end of 2011 and the beginning of the new year may have found area residents in a reflective mood. These reflections may include reasons to be thankful. For example, a ranch or farm family might be grateful for: • A stackyard full of hay bales. • The previous summer’s plentiful pasture and stock ponds filled with water. • Enough summer pasture to let cattle and sheep graze into fall.
- Over a Cup: Making hamburger buns
- January 14, 2012
- Craig resident Betty Ann Duzik submitted this week’s recipes. She said she adapted the recipes, which originally came from Taste of Home, an annual event sponsored each year by the Craig Daily Press. The first recipe for “40-Minute Hamburger Buns” makes buns that Betty Ann said her husband Pat likes better than the store-bought kind. Betty Ann also uses the recipe to make hot dog buns. To make “40-Minute Hamburger Buns,” you’ll need the following ingredients: 2 tablespoons active dry yeast; 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110 to 115 degrees); 1/3 cup vegetable oil; 1/4 cup sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon salt; and 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough.
- Over A Cup: ‘Chocolate Mice’ a treat for the holidays
- December 24, 2011
- Here it is at last — the recipe for chocolate mice. It was sent in by Dollie Frentress, of Craig. To make “Chocolate Eve Mice,” you will need these ingredients: 24 double-stuffed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies; 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips; 2 teaspoons shortening; 24 red maraschino cherries with stems (well-drained);24 milk chocolate kisses; 48 sliced almonds; 1 small tube green decorative icing gel; and 1 small tube red decorative icing gel. Carefully twist cookies apart; set aside the halves with cream filling. Save plain halves for another use. In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening.
- Agriculture & Livestock: Taking down the tree
- December 24, 2011
- There are memories associated with decorating the house for Christmas for those connected to family traditions. This is especially true with the Christmas tree. Sometimes it’s after all the hustle and bustle that we really take time to reflect on these memories — like the day we take the tree down. For this story, assume that it’s a grandma who is doing the “taking down.” She goes to the storage shed to bring out the boxes marked “Christmas” and “fragile.”
- Over A Cup: Making holiday candy
- December 3, 2011
- Over a cup of coffee, one recent morning, my thoughts went to gathering up all of the pumpkins, scarecrows and turkeys that have been decorating the house for the fall holidays. Soon to follow will be Christmas decorating, and cooking up candies and cookies. One of my favorite candy recipes came from the side of a Kroger saltine box. The recipe is easy to make and absolutely delicious. It’s hard to tell from the ingredients, but this candy tastes just like toffee. To make “Saltine Chocolate Pieces,” you will need these ingredients: 1 sleeve (about 37 ) Kroger saltines; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 1 cup butter; 12-ounce (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate pieces; and 3/4 cup chopped nuts.
- Agriculture & Livestock: Enrolling in 4-H for 2012
- December 3, 2011
- Youth development, life skills, leadership skills, and community service — they’re all part of the 4-H program. Moffat County 4-H members and leaders just celebrated the end of the 2011 4-H year, and now it’s time to enroll for 2012. The 4-H ages, as of Jan. 1 of the current enrollment year, are: traditional 4-H: 8 to 18 years old, and Cloverbuds: 5 to 7 years old. To be eligible for completion of 2012 projects, 4-H enrollment must be received by June 1, 2012.
- Over A Cup: Using those Thanksgiving leftovers
- November 26, 2011
- There I was on Tuesday, with Thanksgiving just two days away. Before I could start cooking dishes to take to our son and family’s house, my husband and I had to clean up leftovers from meals I fixed when our other son and grandchildren were here last week. When thinking of Thanksgiving leftovers, I was considering ways to use up traditional holiday dishes that we find in our refrigerators after the big dinner. Leftover vegetables (from veggie trays) can be used in lunches when we go back to work. Or, they can be chopped up and used in making soups and stews.
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Question of the week
Do you seek medical care from The Memorial Hospital in Craig or Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs?
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