CRESTVIEW — When Colleen Barrett's mother, Diana Weeks, experimented with the family's mashed potatoes, Barrett raised a fuss.

"I was the mashed potato kid and I loved my mashed potatoes," Barrett said. "My mom made these weird mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and I loudly protested. But it was a hit and that's all we make now."

The family recipe was also a hit with Just a Pinch Recipes, a social network for home cooks. Barrett had posted the recipe almost a year ago, and recently was surprised to discover it had won a blue ribbon.

"Blue ribbons are awarded to recipes that prove themselves outstanding," Just a Pinch spokeswoman Annakate Ross stated in an email.

All recipes submitted to the website are eligible for the award. The site currently contains more than 130,000 recipes. Janet Tharpe, the site’s food editor, and her crew prepare the top contenders.

"The technical considerations are creativity, taste, ease of preparation and originality," Ross stated. "Only about 2 percent of all the recipes on the site have received this honor."

A family tradition

Barrett's daughter, Marti, was a toddler in the 1980s when her grandmother first served the blue ribbon-winning mashed potatoes.

Now married and living in Maryland, Marti Woodlawn makes the same mashed potatoes for her family, Barrett said.

"She's also very innovative in the kitchen," Barrett said. "She'll call up and tell me about something awesome she made and how the whole family loves it. I said, 'That's because you're a girl after my own heart. You come from a long line of good cooks, kiddo.'"

Four generations of women enjoy getting creative in the kitchen, Barrett said.

"I'm always coming up with stuff that I just put together," Barrett said. "My grandmother is still alive and she's still cooking. She's a wonderful cook. She makes the best apple pie on this earth."

Barrett said her husband Michael's favorite meal is Thanksgiving dinner, which is her favorite meal to prepare.

Of course, Mom's Deluxe Mashed Potatoes join the turkey, ham, and other dishes on the table.

"They're very satisfying. It's fulfilling. The flavor is awesome," Barrett said. "We do it at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter — any excuse we have. The kids are always asking for the 'special mashed potatoes.' Our grandkids are growing up on them, too."

Want to try it?

Colleen Barrett shares her mother's Deluxe Mashed Potatoes recipe.

Ingredients

3 pounds potatoes, peeled

10 cups chicken broth or bouillon

15-20 baby carrots (or 4 medium carrots cut into 1-inch pieces)

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered

1 teaspoon dill weed

3/4 cup sour cream (start with 1/2 cup and add as needed)

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Directions

1. Boil potatoes in broth on medium high for 15 minutes. Add carrots and onion and boil 20 more minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain in colander; let cool 3-4 minutes.

2. Place cooked vegetables in large bowl or back into pot to mash. Add dill, sour cream, parsley, butter, salt and pepper and mash again.

3. Place mashed vegetables in a greased 2-quart casserole dish, dot with an additional tablespoon of butter or margarine and bake (covered) at 325 degrees for one hour.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview mom cooks up prize-winning mashed potatoes

CRESTVIEW — Davidson Middle School chorus members' annual spring concert will benefit drought-affected residents in Swaziland villages that have little water for drinking, cooking, hygiene or watering crops.

Supported by an effort begun several years ago by Crestview dentist Dr. Jennifer Wayer, World Vision, an international aid charity, has been constructing water pipelines serving remote Swaziland communities.

Davidson chorus members will lend their voices to the project Tuesday night with a concert called "Sing for Life!" at the Crestview High School Pearl Tyner Auditorium.

The concert promotes education in addition to entertainment, choral music director Keitha Bledsoe said.

"Our choral students are learning important lessons about giving, caring and doing what we can to help those here in our own community, and around the world, who are in need," she said.

Donations to the local World Vision effort are acceptable during the concert, Bledsoe said.

Want to go?

Davidson Middle School’s "Sing for Life!" concert, benefiting a World Vision water project in Swaziland, is 7 p.m. May 14 in Crestview High School’s Pearl Tyner Auditorium. Admission is free; donations for World Vision are acceptable.

Contact News Bulletin Arts & Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Davidson Middle School concert benefits water project in Africa

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, with the State Legislature’s support, has declared May 19-25 Water Reuse Week to raise awareness of meeting Florida’s future water supply needs.

Residents can participate in water reuse and conservation practices to help ensure safe, clean and sustainable water resources.

Conservation practices include collecting rainwater, planting a rain garden, using car wash services that recycle water and connecting landscape irrigation to reclaimed water sources where available.

See www.protectingourwater.org for more water reuse tips, such as how to create a rain garden or build a rain barrel >>

Using reclaimed water to irrigate landscapes is a way of conserving surface and groundwater resources. Using reclaimed water instead of quality drinking water for irrigation conserves fresh water resources.

Florida residents daily use more than 6 billion gallons of fresh water and produce billions of gallons of wastewater.

Leading the nation, Florida daily reuses more than 660 million gallons of reclaimed water, which conserves freshwater supplies and replenishes rivers, streams, lakes and the aquifers. 

Use in landscaping, agriculture and golf courses drastically cuts down on fresh water use. Florida uses reclaimed water to irrigate more than 280,000 residences, 500 golf courses and hundreds of parks and schools.

Sheila Dunning is a Commercial Horticulture Extension agent at the Okaloosa County Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EXTENSION CONNECTION: Reflect on water conservation May 19-25

CRESTVIEW — Schola Cantorum, one of the region's top choral groups, brings an enjoyable hint of informality to its concerts, establishing rapport with an audience that may be unfamiliar with classic songs.

Such was the case with the program of sacred music shared Sunday evening at First Presbyterian Church in Crestview.

In a concert titled, "In the Beginning… Amen!," the chorus performed 10 songs ranging from classical vocals to American spirituals, with Northwest Florida State College music professor Carolyn Schlatter’s piano accompaniment.

It featured an unusually upbeat version of "When the Saints Go Marching In," which, Schola director Dr. John Leatherwood said, "you've never heard the likes of before — and may never hear again."

Backed by a chorus of "Rum chicka chick boom boom," soloist Richard Montague sang the familiar lyrics with gusto. He was also soloist on the spiritual "Wade in de Water," which drew the audience’s hearty applause.

Concert highlights included the beautiful "Alleluia," before which Leatherwood quipped, "We sincerely hope you understand the words to this piece.” "Alleluia" was the lone lyric.

A spirited rendition of the old campfire spiritual, "Amen," featuring Stefanie Ives’ lovely solo, concluded the performance.

This was the next to last in a series of five performances held around the county, leaving the audience eager for Schola Cantorum's always enjoyable Christmas concert.

Contact News Bulletin Arts & Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: REVIEW: Spring concert in Crestview featured sacred selections

CRESTVIEW — If it hadn't been for Cliff Herron, dean of the Northwest Florida State College Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts Division, Crestview High School alumnus Montavius Diamond would never have helped catch his supper from a small boat bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nor would he have been treated like a touring rock star.

However, for Diamond and hundreds of other Northwest Florida State College show choir students over the past 25 years, such experiences are part of the vocal music program Herron oversees.

Herron, sometimes known simply as "Doc" among his students, will retire in August, but not before leading 31 more students and six adults — his ninth group — to Crestview's sister city, Noirmoutier, France, for a performance tour.

Twanging emotions

This year, the trip begins with a visit to Normandy and a performance at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

"I think this generation needs to know what that generation did," Herron said. "To stand there in the American Cemetery and see all those crosses and stars of David is very emotional and humbling. The soldiers that died there were 18 or 19, the same age as the kids we're taking over there."

"It is so overwhelming," Crestview High alumna Hannah Kania said. "I'm a wuss. I know I'll cry."

Twanging the emotions is part of Herron's work, whether through art shows, concerts and theatrical performances or the touring Broadway shows that perform at the Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center.

This summer he will produce his last major summer musical, the stirring "Les Misérables," at the center, which was constructed on the Niceville campus during his tenure.

"Oh my goodness, it seems like just yesterday," Herron said. "The college was a little sleepy college that provided a wonderful resource to the community and all of a sudden, boom, it's a major outreach beyond the counties. It's all just rock solid."

Personal interest

Taking a personal interest in his students endears Herron to the kids.

"He would poke his head in our show choir class and observe and see how we were doing," Diamond said. "He would listen in when we did our voice lessons. I learned a lot about how to balance music with other studies and a lot of it had to do with Doc."

For most of the show choir members, the trip to France isn't just their first travel outside of the country.

"For some it's their first trip away from Florida," Herron said.

When the Soundsations show choir and Madrigals chorus arrive in Noirmoutier, they're treated like visiting celebrities, said Diamond and Kania.

More important, however, are the educational and cultural experiences Herron's trips provided, they said.

"It was very interesting going over with him," Diamond said. "Doc would often stop someplace and tell us about it. It was like having a tour guide with us all time."

Living with host families

As one of three experienced student members of the touring choirs, Kania has been a valuable resource for the novices.

"Everybody's been asking for tips. We tell them be respectful and how to have your wits about you, and how to handle your money," Kania said.

The experience of staying with hosts on the island makes the visits personally and culturally enriching, Kania said.

"My experience having a host family was amazing, so when the opportunity to be a host came up, I couldn't wait," Kania said.

She and her husband, Kenneth, are reciprocating by hosting Mathias Leroy, one of two visiting French business interns in Crestview.

Diamond found himself in his host's fishing boat hauling in the evening's dinner. His experience was so positive that he has saved money to return to Noirmoutier in June with the Crestview Sister City program. One of the first things he hopes to do is to reunite with his host family.

Big shoes to fill

Herron will be succeeded by Jeremy Ribando, the division’s current chair, who will oversee the department's academic component, while current Mattie Kelly Center associate director Jeanette Shires will oversee the arts side.

Apart from traveling and visiting friends, Herron was non-committal about his post-retirement plans, but said his friends in Noirmoutier have not seen the last of him.

"The people in Noirmoutier are just incredible," he said. "It's open arms and loving and giving. It's an absolutely wonderful experience."

"I am very thankful for the experiences I had under Doc," Diamond said. "He kept us in line the whole time we were over there. It was a very unique experience. I would not have been able to do the things I did there if I had gone (to college) anywhere else."

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Herron, NWFSC arts department head, retiring in August