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Hail Berry Lutheran Minister Uses Huckleberries To Help Build His Following

Rick Bonino Food Editor

You could say that Stan Simonik worships huckleberries. But that would be only part of the story.

On one side of Simonik’s Priest Lake lodge is the Huckleberry Haus, where he sells his homemade jams, syrups, sauces, pastries and pies.

On the other side is the Lamb of God Lutheran Church, where the Rev. Simonik serves up sermons - and freshly baked huckleberry muffins - each Sunday in a berry-purple clergy shirt.

Now Simonik is spreading the word with his new Huckleberry Haus Cookbook. It’s packed with more than 170 recipes, from muffins, pies and preserves to such huckleberry curiosities as pizza and soup.

“When I bring those berries home, I’m always thinking, ‘What can I do with them this time?”’ he says. “There’s still so much to explore.”

Both the berries and the ministry came relatively late in life for Simonik, who was born 49 years ago in what is now the Czech Republic.

He moved to the United States at age 21 and lived in New York City for six years. After receiving his citizenship, Simonik moved to Hawaii “with the intention of never, ever scraping another windshield as long as I lived.”

In 1981, Simonik, who was in the floor-covering business, finished a big job and decided he needed a vacation. Interested in nature photography, he picked Priest Lake off a map, sight unseen.

During the drive from Priest River to Priest Lake, he started falling in love. After a week at Elkins Resort, roaming Forest Service roads with his camera, he was hopelessly hooked.

“When I arrived back in Hawaii, I had no peace in my soul,” Simonik says. “I just wanted so badly to come back.”

Two years later, he did, with his new wife, Julie. Spurred by the increasing congestion in Hawaii - not to mention Hurricane Iva - they packed up and moved to the Priest River area.

While he’d tasted huckleberries here and there, Simonik’s berrypicking epiphany came in August 1983. Exploring back roads, he spotted a pair of elderly ladies rustling around in some bushes with buckets.

“It was a beautiful spot, loaded with huckleberries,” a smiling Simonik recalls. He and Julie quickly found two paper bags in their car and loaded them up with the wild forest fruit.

On the way home, Simonik stopped at the store and got ingredients to make jam. The next morning, he entered it in a huckleberry bake-off in Priest River - and won. There was no turning back.

He learned how huckleberries start showing up around the Fourth of July at the lower elevations near Luby Bay, peaking in August with the rich, sun-ripened mountain berries.

He learned to tell apart five different types of huckleberries, from the sweeter, shiny black ones to the tart, bright blue ones.

He learned to balance the berries’ bite in jams by adding a little caramel syrup and almond extract, or some guava concentrate - a holdover from his Hawaiian days.

Why does Simonik find the huckleberry’s lure so powerful? It’s partly the thrill of the hunt.

“Looking for them is very, very exciting,” Simonik says. “You can take any side road. Suddenly, you recognize terrain that may have huckleberries. You stop, get out of the car and walk around. There they are! You’ve sniffed them out.”

Then, during the actual picking, it’s the calming of the spirit.

“I love to be in the forest,” Simonik says. “It’s very peaceful. I have the ability to just turn off the switch when I’m picking huckleberries. Nothing else matters.”

However, an even higher calling awaited. In 1985, encouraged by the pastor at his Newport church, Simonik entered the ministry. He studied in Dubuque, Iowa, and Edmonton, Alberta, then served congregations in Hailey, Idaho, and later Sandpoint. Wherever he was, he always returned to Priest Lake at least once each summer, stocking up on berries for the freezer.

Finally, four years ago, Simonik moved to Priest Lake and started a church that began meeting in the school cafeteria. In the fall of 1994, he bought the old Lamb Creek Inn and converted part of it to a permanent chapel.

Church membership grew steadily, to a typical 25 to 30 year-round residents. Unlike city churches, the Lamb of God is busier in summer, when the seasonal crowd pushes attendance to around 70 or 80.

“It gives you something to look forward to,” Simonik says. “You know that after Easter you will start to see some familiar faces.”

From the beginning, Simonik baked a dozen huckleberry muffins each Sunday and offered them to first-time visitors, or regulars celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.

It’s an idea he got from his pastor in Hawaii, who would make jelly rolls for the congregation. “Nobody can say they never got anything out of going to church,” Simonik chuckles.

He had planned to rent out the other half of the building, but a few leases fell through. In 1995, Simonik decided to give it a go himself and launched the Huckleberry Haus, which also sells souvenirs and selected berry products from other producers.

While the church can’t legally own the business, the operation provides the Simoniks with a personal income that indirectly supports the ministry.

So will proceeds from the cookbook, which Simonik worked on in his spare time for five years. As well as recipes, the handsome, spiral-bound book features entertaining tales of Simonik’s huckleberry adventures (including the occasional bear encounter), along with berry facts and picking pointers.

“I know I haven’t exhausted all the possibilities, but I figured that after 170 recipes, it was time to put it into production,” he says.

Someday, Simonik knows, he may be called to serve another church in another area. Until then, he’s enjoying his piece of huckleberry heaven.

Whatever happens, he says: “Priest Lake will always remain a part of me, and the huckleberry lifestyle as well.”

Huckleberry Jam With Sherry

This is the recipe that started it all for Simonik, made with the first huckleberries he ever picked.

1/2 gallon huckleberries

Juice from 2 oranges

2 boxes fruit pectin

2 (4-inch) pieces orange peel

8 cups sugar

1 cup sherry

Wash and drain berries. In a blender, liquefy all but 1 cup of the berries together with orange juice.

Pour into a 6-8 quart pot, add remaining whole berries and stir in fruit pectin. Add the orange peel and bring to a rolling boil over moderate-high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and sherry. Bring to boil again and cook 1 minute longer.

Remove from heat, skim off foam and remove orange peel. Ladle into hot jars and process in hot water bath, following standard canning procedure.

Yield: 8 (12-ounce) jars.

Nutrition information per 1-ounce serving: 125 calories, 0.1 grams fat (1 percent fat calories), 0.2 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 4 milligrams sodium.

Mocha Vanilla Huckleberry Muffins

The coffee and vanilla paired with the huckleberries here are one of Simonik’s favorite flavor combinations.

1/4 cup warm milk

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1-3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup ground walnuts

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup imitation sour cream

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) margarine, melted

1-1/4 cups huckleberries

In a small bowl, dissolve instant coffee in milk.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and walnuts. Add the coffee-milk mixture, vanilla, egg, imitation sour cream and margarine, stirring until just moistened. Gently fold in berries.

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Nutrition information per muffin: 226 calories, 9 grams fat (36 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrate, 16 milligrams cholesterol, 189 milligrams sodium.

Huckleberry Wine Soup

Huckleberries, wine and sour cream make up a tasty trinity in this rich appetizer.

3 cups huckleberries

2 cups water

1 cup burgundy wine

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

Fresh mint (optional)

Place all ingredients except sour cream in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 3 minutes longer. Allow to cool, then puree in a blender until smooth.

Add 3/4 cup sour cream and blend well. Pour into serving bowls and chill. Just before serving, spoon remaining sour cream on top and garnish with fresh mint, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 310 calories, 11.2 grams fat (33 percent fat calories), 2 grams protein, 56 grams carbohydrate, 17 milligrams cholesterol, 29 milligrams sodium.

Huckleberry Pizza

Simonik, who makes pizza from scratch for his family, modeled this huckleberry dessert version after the Moravian pastries his grandmother made with other fruits.

Crust:

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm water

3-1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon Jell-O powder

2 sticks (1 cup) margarine, softened

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Topping:

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 cups huckleberries

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

Mix together sugar and yeast, dissolve in lukewarm water and let stand until bubbly.

Sift flour, salt, sugar and Jell-O powder into a large mixing bowl. Cut in margarine until crumbly. Add yeast mixture, milk and eggs. Mix to make a soft dough. Place in a greased bowl, turn greased side up, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Punch down dough, knead on a lightly floured surface and roll out to fit a round pizza pan. Grease pizza pan and stretch dough over it, forming an edge.

With an electric mixer, mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and egg. Spread evenly over crust. Combine huckleberries with brown sugar and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture. Dust with ground cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees about 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Drizzle over pizza while still warm.

Yield: 8 generous servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 732 calories, 36.2 grams fat (45 percent fat calories), 12 grams protein, 93 grams carbohydrate, 101 milligrams cholesterol, 511 milligrams sodium.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Huckleberry Cookbook The Rev. Stan Simonik’s “Huckleberry Haus Cookbook” is available for $10.95 at the Priest Lake store (between mileposts 26 and 27 on Highway 57), or $12.95 by mail, including postage and handling. Write to Huckleberry Haus, HCR 5 Box 139, Priest Lake, ID 83856, or call toll-free to (888) 219-5999.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Huckleberry Cookbook The Rev. Stan Simonik’s “Huckleberry Haus Cookbook” is available for $10.95 at the Priest Lake store (between mileposts 26 and 27 on Highway 57), or $12.95 by mail, including postage and handling. Write to Huckleberry Haus, HCR 5 Box 139, Priest Lake, ID 83856, or call toll-free to (888) 219-5999.