ALSO:
• Meet the general manager of Starved Rock Lodge
• Indulge your artistic side at Once Upon a Craft
• Make your house smell great with these bread recipes
Container gardening can work anywhere
When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes make a loaf of bread or cinnamon rolls from scratch, and I would always get so excited about it. I’d watch the long process of getting the dough to rise, and it seemed like it would take forever before I could have that first bite. When the bread was baking, that heavenly smell filled the whole house.
I’m much older than my mother would have been when she made those loaves, and, at the time, I was barely tall enough to see the counter to spy on what she was doing. But I’ve never forgotten the magic that seemed to happen in the kitchen when that bread would sit there and rise.
In the decades since then, I’ve never lost my love for homemade bread – and I’ve discovered I love to make it as much as I enjoy eating it. There is something therapeutic about making bread from scratch. I often forget just how much I enjoy the process of making bread, until I do it after a long hiatus and then it all comes back to me. As I write this article, I have two loaves rising, just waiting to grow big enough to
head into the oven.
I know people who own bread machines and love them, but I would rather do it all from scratch. That means, with the busy schedule I keep, my family doesn’t get homemade bread too often.
I usually make the same several bread recipes repeatedly instead of branching out to try new ones. In this magazine issue, I am sharing these recipes – several of which have been in my family for generations. Some of my recipes require yeast and some don’t, so even if you’ve never made bread before, there are some that will be easy to do. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I have over the years.
Best wishes,
Shannon Serpette Niche Editor
Nothing beats a hot loaf of bread right out of the oven.
Starved Rock turned into a career path for Abby Farrell.
Almost everything grown in the ground can bloom and prosper in containers.
Crafting up a storm in Princeton.
On the cover: Although the prime time for horticulture is in the spring, Tad Tinker is in the Seatonville Greenhouse and in his garden at home during the summer and fall as well. The Seatonville Greenhouse owner will have summer perennials on tables between greenhouses during the summer, and the doors will be open during the fall for mums, pumpkins, gourds, and squash.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Illinois Valley Woman
426 Second Street
La Salle, Illinois 61301 (815) 223-3200 (800) 892-6452
www.newstrib.com
General Manager/ Advertising Director Jeanette Smith jmsmith@shawmedia.com
Niche Editor Shannon Serpette sserpette@shawmedia.com
Writers
Brandon LaChance
Katlyn Sanden
Shannon Serpette
Designer Liz Klein
Nothing beats a hot loaf of bread right out of the oven. While making bread from yeast can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before, it’s surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it.
I remember my first couple of attempts were disastrous because I used water that was too hot, so it killed the yeast. My dad liked to joke that I was very good at making hockey pucks instead of Irish pan rolls. But I kept practicing, and after a little trial and error, I became a competent bread maker.
If you’re a beginner, here’s a tip that may help you. To make my dough rise faster, I place a rack over a big pan filled with hot water. I sit the bowl on the rack, and the warmth really helps the yeast do its thing.
Here are some of my family’s bread recipes I often make – the Irish pan rolls are always a big hit for family get-togethers.
INGREDIENTS
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening or margarine
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
6 and 1/2 cups flour
Topping ingredients
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine
Sprinkle yeast on warm water in large mixer bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and three cups of flour. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.
With spoon, beat in enough remaining flour, a little at a time, until soft dough is easy to handle. Place in greased bowl; turn dough over to grease top.
Cover with aluminum foil; place in refrigerator at least two hours
before using. Dough may be kept as long as three days, but punch it down occasionally as it rises. When you’re ready to make the rolls, take one-fourth of the dough from the bowl in the refrigerator if you only want to make one pan of rolls. Shape the dough into one-inch balls. Place in lightly greased 8-inch round cake pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 35 minutes. Combine garlic salt and melted butter. Brush lightly over tops of rolls. Cover and let rise for about 5 minutes. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until done. Remove from the oven and place on rack.
INGREDIENTS
2 and one-half cups milk
3 tablespoons shortening
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
One-fourth cup lukewarm water
7 cups flour
DIRECTIONS
Combine milk, shortening, sugar, and salt. Cool to lukewarm.
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water; stir
to dissolve. Add yeast and four cups flour to milk mixture. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about two minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Or beat with a spoon until the batter is smooth. Cover and let rise 45 minutes.
Gradually stir in two cups of flour, mixing to make a soft dough. Turn out on a floured surface, using the remaining one cup of flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Knead dough until smooth and satiny, about 15 minutes. Place dough in lightly greased bowl
and turn it over to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Knead dough down in bowl for two minutes. Turn over and let rise for 20 minutes.
Turn dough out on floured surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place in two greased loaf pans. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1 and 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
7 to 7 and 1/2 cups flour
Filling ingredients
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting ingredients
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening, and half of flour to yeast. Mix with spoon or mixer until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to handle easily. Turn onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth (about five minutes).
Round up in greased bowl, bring greased side up. Cover with cloth. Let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 and ½ hours. If kitchen is cool, place bowl with dough in it on a rack over a bowl of hot water, and cover completely with a towel.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down; let rise again until almost double, about 30 minutes.
Roll dough into an oblong shape, about 15 by 9 inches. Spread with four tablespoons of melted margarine and sprinkle with one cup sugar and four teaspoons cinnamon.
Roll up tightly, beginning at the wide side. Seal well by pinching edges of roll together. Even up the roll by stretching slightly. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the roll into one-inch slices. Place in greased 13 by 9-inch pan or greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until double, about 35 to 40 minutes. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Frost while warm by mixing the frosting ingredients and drizzling over the rolls while they are still warm.
1 teaspoon honey
1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon rapid rise dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, sprinkle yeast over the top of the warm water. Add in the honey and stir gently. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour until the dough comes together. Knead the dough until the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of
dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel and let it stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour. When doubled, put the dough on a lightly floured surface, and divide into two pieces for two thin-crust pizzas, or leave whole to make one thick crust.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until you have the desired thickness. Place on a well-oiled pizza pan and add your favorite toppings. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crust.
INGREDIENTS
3 to 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 and 3/4 cups water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour and the yeast; set aside. In a medium pan, heat and stir water, brown sugar, butter, and salt until warm (from 120 to 130 degrees) and butter almost melts. Add water mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for three minutes. Using a spoon, stir in whole wheat flour and as much of the remaining all-purpose flour as you can. Turn the dough onto a lightly
floured surface. Knead in enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (about six to eight minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease the surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 to 1 and ½ hours.
Punch the dough down. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans.
Shape each dough half into a loaf by patting or rolling. Place shaped dough halves in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If needed, cover the bread loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. Immediately remove bread from pans. Cool on wire racks.
“Big dog” isn’t a term or nickname Abby Farrell uses to describe herself.
Instead of looking at her position as the general manager of Starved Rock Lodge as a place of power, she views it as a place of community, leadership, mentorship, growth, and development for the employees, herself, and Starved Rock.
“I don’t ever like to consider myself the big dog. I think I’m the little dog,” Farrell said. “I support the ones who run the property, which is my whole staff. I’m
As general manager of Starved Rock Lodge, Starved Rock holds a special place in Abby Farrell’s heart.
very fortunate to have a great management team. I make the final decisions, but it’s not without the input from everyone else who needs to be involved.”
Farrell was born and raised near Annawan, graduated from Bureau Valley High School in 2005, and has lived in Spring Valley for the last five years with her daughter Brooklyn. After high school, she went
to Illinois Valley Community College on and off for a few years and studied different fields to see what could be a possible career path. Farrell didn’t see herself in any field until she found interesting business classes.
She finished her schooling and taught preschool at The Kid’s Place in LaSalle. However, it wasn’t until her drive to the national state park in Oglesby that she felt at home.
“Even growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do. Whatever it was, I just wanted to be the best at it.
See Farrell page 8
FROM PAGE 7
I think that’s what’s given me my drive to always kind of move to the top and see what else I can do next,” Farrell said.
“I can still remember the August day I drove into Starved Rock for my interview and the feeling I had. I’m very fortunate that ten years later, I still get the same feeling when I drive in the entrance. Starved Rock definitely has my heart. I grew up with Starved Rock,” Farrell said. “I’ve been able to build the business and grow the business, but I’ve also been able to grow myself and build myself along the way, which is really cool.”
During ten years with the Starved Rock Lodge, Farrell has been a retail associate in the gift shop, a retail supervisor, a retail manager, and a member of the sales and catering department. She then returned to retail manager after she realized she enjoyed working with co-workers, which wasn’t possible in sales. Then, she went into a human resources role, where she found a passion for mentorship and became the general manager in June 2021.
Not only is Farrell the GM of Starved Rock, but the company that manages the Illinois landmark, Nolan Capital, named her the area manager of operations to oversee other Illinois properties the company owns while managing Starved Rock.
Farrell has enjoyed every step of the journey.
“I think that it’s been incredible because I’ve worked several of the linelevel positions. I’ve seen what our employees need, what they need to help them grow, and how they best benefit. Having moved my way up through the company, it’s really allowed for me to be a leader who takes value in line-level associates and gives them opportunity, just like I was given opportunity to grow,” she said.
“With that being said, it’s been really cool to have several different positions within the company to see where improvements could be made, how we can be a more efficient business, how we can make things better for the employees, and to be in a position where I’m able to apply those things and allow them to happen.”
Sure, there are trying times. Not every aspect of the lodge goes as planned. But when your job is to be around a place brimming with fun and adventure, it’s easy to extend pleasantries and joy.
“I say it not only to my team but because we see it so much from our guests, usually what we end with is, is if you’re not having fun while you’re doing it, you’re not doing it right, right? Everyone comes here because we are the Disneyland of the Midwest. For me as an employer and the team that I have, we have to mimic the same thing they are coming here for,” said Farrell.
“We have fun. It is a good time. I often say, ‘We are at Starved Rock with our work family more than we are at home with our families.’ We have to make sure it’s fun, it’s a good time, and we enjoy what we do,” she added.
Although Farrell has a long list of responsibilities she welcomes with open arms, growing people within the job is her biggest passion. The general manager has seen people move up the ranks, similar to her, from line level to management.
She has watched people improve themselves and has helped mentor employees from first job to life-long career paths.
“We really try to make sure to manage those whose first job is Starved Rock to where when they leave, they know how to treat their employer and know how they should expect to be treated by the employer. Additionally, we make this a career path for people. I think a lot of people fail to recognize Starved Rock can be a career path. In the Illinois Valley, I think that’s really important for people who want to make this home forever. I really pride myself on both sides of the coin. Making it a good experience for a first job, but also making it a last job and making it a career path for people,” Farrell said.
“I think that is my favorite part of being the big dog at Starved Rock Lodge, if you’re going to call me the big dog,” she said.
“I’ve been able to build the business and grow the business, but I’ve also been able to grow myself and build myself along the way, which is really cool.”
Abby Farrell
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Abby Farrell likes to use her position of power to mentor employees.
For the last few years, Seatonville Greenhouse has sold out of all perennials, annuals, geraniums, vegetables, fruit, trees, and shrubs before mid June.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
‘I’m
Have you always wanted to grow plants, flowers, vegetables, or fruit but haven’t because you don’t have garden space?
Thankfully, container growing saves the day and allows almost everything grown in the ground to bloom and prosper while in containers.
“There are different ways
you can go about container growing that ensure different levels of success, especially with veggies. The bigger the container, the better for the roots development and to get a strong system,” said Seatonville Greenhouse owner Tad Tinker. “You have to watch the water, even if it means installing drip irrigation be-
cause growing in a container means they’re above ground and they’re going to dry up quicker as opposed to something growing in the ground.”
A look around Seatonville Greenhouse will show customers just how well plants can do in containers.
See PLANTS page 13
There are a few tips Seatonville Greenhouse owner Tad Tinker offers when it comes to container growing. First, the bigger the container, the better it is for roots to develop. Second, watch the amount of water each item is receiving even if it means installing drip irrigation. Third, have fun and try new things.
“Everything at Seatonville Greenhouse is in a container. The hanging baskets will live the entire season from frost to frost in the basket. Perennials should be in the ground. Those are the one thing I’d say are not the greatest to grow in containers. Perennials need the winter dormancy and the winter protection that the soil gets as opposed to a container where the air around it will freeze the roots because they’re not in the ground,” Tinker said.
“You can do great things with annuals in containers. I do probably, conservatively, 35 to 40 containers of annuals all summer long spread out between my garden, front steps, front door, back door, and anywhere else. You get the splash of color from annuals in containers,” he added.
Tinker has tips for container growing of all kinds, including those using different soils, fertilizers, containers, and environments. All of them are based on the same philosophy.
“Plants want to live. We just have to figure out their requirements and give them what they need. In containers, you also want to amend with a fertilizer that is suitable with what you’re trying to grow. A lot of times the ground will have those amendments already in them. When you create this new
environment, which is a container, you’ll want to amend your soil with organic matter or fertilizer,” Tinker said.
“We offer some fertilizers that are safe enough to drink if you really wanted to. I don’t drink them, but you could if you wanted to,” he added.
This year, Seatonville Greenhouse, which is a retail garden center with four operating greenhouses located at 309 Oakland St. in Seatonville, has 50 different geranium varieties, 250 annual varieties, 180 perennial varieties, hanging baskets, fruits, vegetables, berries, trees, and shrubs. All are grown at the greenhouse.
“This is a passion. I have an associate’s degree in horticulture, and I have used the piece of paper to do something in the horticulture industry for the last 30 years. I started off in landscape construction, building patios and retaining walls in Peoria. I moved to Chicago and did several things up there, including being a tropical plant buyer for an interior landscape company for about 20 years,” he said.
“I decided it was time to get out of Chicago, and the opportunity came up to come down here. I took over the greenhouse and have been going ever since,” Tinker added.
Tinker is in the greenhouse every day from the second week in February until the greenhouse is empty. The last few years of operation have ended early because the product has sold out by the
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end of May compared to his first couple of years where he was in the greenhouse until Father’s Day or a little later in June.
“I receive flack at times when we run out of stuff, but I don’t have the turnaround time since we grow everything here. So when it’s gone, it’s gone,” said Tinker, who is also an avid grower at his residence.
“I have a very big garden at home, but I’m usually at the greenhouses. Even during the summer, I’m there three days a week. I do summer perennials outside on tables between the buildings, and we sell those again in the fall. It sounds like the summer could be downtime, but it’s really not. My downtime is November, December, and January,” he said.
Seatonville Greenhouse is also open for business later in the calendar year because Tinker opens for the fall retail season with chrysanthemums (mums), pumpkins, gourds, and squash, which are grown at both his residence and the greenhouses.
His work ethic and passion for plants came at a young age and grew as he got older.
“Both sets of grandparents had orchards and big gardens. Both my mother and father were novice gardeners, and I was always around plants growing up. I’ll admit, when it was time to go to school, I wasn’t really sure what I was really interested in. Plants, gardening, and horticulture seemed to be a simple way to get my feet wet,” he said.
“I had planned to go to college for landscape architecture or something along those lines for a four-year degree. The greatest part of the associate’s program I was in was paid internships. I had two paid internships, and I absolutely loved it,” he said.
That was the motivation he needed.
“I decided horticulture was it, and I wanted to jump in and start working. I worked with a guy who had 30 years of landscape construction experience, and I learned a lot. I just love it. It’s great to work outdoors. You’re accomplishing something when you’re building and constructing things,” he said. “I’m a plant junkie, and this job has fallen right in line with that.”
Although he has learned a ton of lessons as a plant junkie, there is one that often applies to life and gardening – keep growing and trying.
“A lot of times, people think there is a right and wrong. I tell people, ‘Go with what you like, go with what excites you, try something new, try those things and learn.’ You can do great things if you just try. I think people do the same things every year, which is fine, but sometimes you have to try new things, and you’d be surprised with what can happen,” Tinker said.
“The wonderful thing about gardening is you get to start fresh every year,” he said. “If you had a bad experience or something didn’t go your way, try something different the next year. Every year, we get to start fresh.”
Decker enjoys dreaming up programming for every age group, whether you’re looking for a night out with friends, a birthday party, toddler time, or a bachelorette party.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ASHLEE DECKER
Nearly a decade ago, Ashlee Decker could be found crocheting custom-made hats and hair bows alongside (at the time) her only infant daughter in the comfort of her home. Today, she can be found in her own storefront, alongside her husband and four children, creating anything from 3-D home décor signs to handpainted masterpieces.
As the founder and owner of Once Upon a Craft, Decker has no plans of slowing down. In fact, in some ways, her inspiration is just beginning.
“When my first daughter was born, I wanted to be able to stay home but still have some sort of income,” Decker said. “I started crocheting hats and making hair bows and sold them at craft shows.”
It was at those early craft shows that she noticed what the market was demanding.
“I remember I was set up next to somebody who had people in and out of their booth the entire day,” said Decker. “I thought, what in the world? What do they have that people are going crazy over? So, I went and looked.”
Turns out, it was barnwood signs. Filled with a new sense of direction, Decker started creating simple signs made on barnwood found on her grandparents’ farm. She still worked from the comfort of her home. One thing led to the next, and now she creates 3-D designs in her own storefront using a laser and a Cricut.
She laughs as she remembers creating pieces at her kitchen table and then in a des-
Once Upon a Craft’s art camps have become a big success. Stay tuned for upcoming art camps this summer.
ignated craft room in her home. From there, she went to a small storefront in Wyanet and is now operating at 518 S. Main Street in Princeton.
“We were in Wyanet for 1.5 years,” Decker said. “It was nice to get the feel of how things were going to go. Our first year was really fun.”
With the demand for handmade home décor, it didn’t take long for them to outgrow their shop in Wyanet. It’ll be a year in their new location in Princeton in March, and Decker says the expansion has been going well.
“We’ve been able to do birthday parties and paint parties,” Decker said. “We couldn’t do that before because we didn’t have the space.”
Currently, she said they have space to accommodate up to 30 people for a birthday, bachelorette, or any kind of party. They’ve also been able to start up art camps geared toward kids, usually ranging from preschool through junior high. They even have monthly toddler times geared toward the littlest artists who can hold a paintbrush.
“I try to find things my kids would like to do that we haven’t done before,” Decker said of the programming for the art camps. “There are so many different things. We’ve dipped Nerf guns in paint and shot them at a canvas.”
In addition, Decker said they’ve done string art, bead art, painting, fairy gardens,
and so much more.
But the most exciting thing for Decker is being able to include her own kids in her work – both in the artistic and business sides. You might even be greeted by her own children upon entering her store.
“People interaction has become less and less,” said Decker. “That is really important to me that they (my kids) get here. Counting back money is a lost skill that I think is really important, too. It brings them (my kids) out of their comfort zone a bit, but they’ve come a long way.”
Not only are her kids learning the ropes of financials and greeting customers, but they also get to put their creative ideas to use.
“They come up with their own ideas,” Decker said. “They made dog treats and sold them. It might only last for a month, but at least they’re learning. It is a huge responsibility. They come up with these ideas and want to do it, and I’m like sure. That part is neat.”
In addition to filling her store with handmade pieces and her children’s latest business ventures, she has lots of new things coming this year.
“We started bringing in other small businesses,” Decker said. “We have Cows Coffee, shirts from Grace & Mae Designs, B Elise Bows, cards from Any Creation, and knotted keychains by Savvy Knots by Alexis. It’s neat because they can have these things in a storefront, and it helps us out, too, because it fills the shelves.”
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ASHLEE DECKER