| I
knew it was
going to happen! I drew The Book Loft from the Guest’s advertiser stable and was delighted. For the past 26 years I have worked in what many call one of California’s best bookstores. It’s been a great job, interesting people; constantly changing stock and challenges galore…but the best part has been my association with the Mullins family. Most of what I know about Kathy comes, literally, from osmosis. Blessed with an amazing gift of retention and re-call, Kathy easily chats with customers from near and far. And, from these snippets of conversation I’ve gleaned some facts. She and her husband, the late Gary Mullins, loved to travel. They shared many interests, including life-long passions for reading, each other and their family. Much of that comes through when she reminisces. The other side of the coin or, in this case page, is that I hadn’t learned much about Kathy’s upbringing, so I cornered her and peppered her with personal questions. Born and raised on a ranch in La Sal, Utah, Kathy’s father, Charles Redd, was a multi-faceted man. He was a sheep and cattle rancher, businessman and philanthropist, fathered eight children (Kathy being the eldest) and served for a short time in the Utah State Legislature. Her mother, Annaley, kept busy with her brood and the chore of running the domestic side of ranching life. She was interested in children learning, felt that they should have a “perfect” school attendance and taught for a short time in a country school. I never met Kathy’s father, but was charmed by her mother. Vivacious and outgoing, I could easily imagine Annaley at the ranch or in the drawing room. I see much of her in Kathy. At the age of 12, Kathy left the ranch to attend boarding school, Wasatch Academy in Mt. Pleasant a small town in Central Utah. “Wasatch,” Kathy explained, “is in the Sanpete Valley and there are a lot of Danes there. We, the students, worked at ‘institutional duties’ as part of our tuition and a lot of our fellow staffers had names that ended in ‘sen’.” Sounds a little prophetic to me… It was while at Wasatch that Kathy met Gary Mullins. They “dated for a while,” Kathy said, and added that they “kept in touch” even after she moved to Provo to finish high school. After high school and three years at Brigham Young University in Provo, Kathy finished her college at the University of Minnesota, received her degree and moved to San Francisco where she worked for Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising Agency. In the meantime, Gary, according to Kathy, had finished college and joined the Air Force. “He was stationed in Cut Bank,” Kathy said, “and after wintering in Montana decided that he needed to be married.” Gary, it seems, did some multi-tasking during those years, combining visits to brother Boyd in San Francisco with courting Kathy. Then in December of 1958, after a somewhat lengthy and sporadic courtship they were married and Gary, still in the Air Force, took his bride back to Cut Bank. Even though married the Montana winters were still hard and, after less than a year, Gary took a job with Boeing and they moved to Seattle. Next it was Florida for a couple of years and another one in Canada before trekking west. In 1963 Vandenberg beckoned and the Mullins family (now including daughter Wendy) moved to the Santa Ynez Valley. By 1970 the Valley was “home,” there were two more daughters, Heather and Lynn and their thoughts turned to books. “We wanted to stay in the area,” Kathy said adding that they missed having a local bookstore. “So,” she continued, “we decided to try our hand at the book business.” They started small, in an upstairs shop on Alisal in the space that Rasmussens’ now uses as their offices. The shop was a success, Gary quit Boeing and The Book Loft became a Valley institution, moving in 1974 to its present location on Mission Drive. Kathy is the quiet presence that has shaped the shop. By guiding, choosing and keeping up on the trends she has earned a solid reputation within the book community. Over the years the store has grown and expanded both in size and content. Used books were added in the early 80s and in 1989 The Ugly Duckling Foundation was formed to establish a museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen. An extensive collection of exhibits, photographs and books by and on Andersen are on display upstairs in The Book Loft’s building. Over the years, Gary and Kathy took time to travel, they enjoyed collecting western art, books on Americana, playing golf and tennis. Gary was active in the early years of Theaterfest, headed up the Solvang Business Association, supported the town and took part in community events right up to his sudden passing in 1996. Kathy continues to be active outside the store and is on the board of both Elverhoj Museum and Theaterfest. Grandchildren are in the picture too, Paige, Savanna and Kai (Wendy), Dillon and Austin (Heather) and Chase, Blane and Alexis (Lynne). Wow! A busy and full life. I’ve learned a lot from Kathy and it’s been a pleasure to be connected with all the Mullins and their families. Now, not to forget what this is all about…Kathy is a great cook too and I’m happy to report that I have several of her recipes and they always get raves. Kathy agreed to share her recipes for meatballs and her famous chocolate pie. The meatballs can be used as appetizers or as a main dish. “I like to serve them with parsleyed noodles,” Kathy said, “and a green salad. I’m known in some circles,” she said with a laugh, “for my salads and like to give salad bowls as wedding gifts.” I can attest to the tastiness of her salads. They are always good, dependably so and while somewhat predictable never boring or quite the same. As for the pie, it’s a real winner. Easy to make, simple ingredients and, one of the best things about it, never (read NEVER) “weeps” into the crust. Try both of these soon, your family and or company will thank you and then you can send your thanks to Kathy. |
| KATHY'S
MEAT BALLS Use a large bowl and combine caraway seed and minced onion
with vinegar and let stand for ten minutes. Add meats, breadcrumbs, milk,
egg, salt and pepper and mix well. Shape into balls the size of walnuts,
roll in flour and brown in hot fat. Lower heat and simmer for ten minutes.
Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water, pour over meatballs, cover and simmer
for another 30 minutes. Stir flour into sour cream, add to pan and simmer
for another five minutes. Sprinkle with fresh dill and serve. Makes about
32 appetizer sized meatballs or can be made bigger and served as a main
dish. |
CHOCOLATE
PIE Melt chocolate with sugar, salt and milk in the top of a
double boiler.* Remove from heat, cool slightly and beat in the egg yolks
thoroughly, one at a time and stir in vanilla. While chocolate mixture
is cooling, beat egg whites to the stiff stage. Fold beaten egg whites
into the chocolate mixture. When completely blended, pour into pie shell.
Cool in refrigerator and top with lightly sweetened whipped cream flavored
with vanilla and, don’t cheat, use the real stuff. |