Dolores Prosser

Dolores Carriere Prosser was born during the depression in 1934 in Estevan, Canada (in the Canadian prairies near the North Dakota border).  She grew up on a farm with eight siblings where they raised cattle and grew wheat, learning how to run a tractor and milk cows from a very young age.  After high school, Dolores trained to be a registered nurse so she could travel the world.  Upon her graduation she went to California and landed in the Bay Area of California.  She met her husband-to-be Jim Prosser in 1958, but left for Texas shortly thereafter and didn’t stay in touch.  She got a nursing position in a new hospital on the Gulf Coast of Texas, but decided that the weather was too hot and the pay too low to make it worth staying.  She returned to San Jose, California six months later, and accidentally bumped into Jim’s roommate who told Jim of Dolores’ return.  Jim and Dolores rekindled their relationship and were married a year later.   They moved to Bend, Oregon in 1974 and took over a local hardware store.  They expanded over the years and eventually became a home center.  (They retired in 1996.)  Jim and Dolores have 7 children and 12 grandchildren.

Dolores was raised around good food and healthy meals.  She was raised on produce that was grown and put up on the family farm, so they ate salads in the summer and pickled vegetables in the winter.  Because home made bread and roast beef were available all the time, it was a special treat to get white bread and bologna from the supermarket.  She remembers holiday gatherings at her paternal grandmother’s house where it took three seatings to feed everyone.  The oldest were first, then those in their 30’s-40’s, and finally those in their 20’s and the teenagers, who complained that all they got were the chicken tails. (The children ate in the kitchen.)

Dolores didn’t become interested in cooking until she got married.  She would try a different recipe each week until she built up a repertoire that her family loved.  One of her daughters (a designer for Nike) put together a beautiful cookbook which was given to all the siblings and was shared with us for this month.  Another one of Dolores’ children, also named Jim Prosser, started J.K. Carriere Wines, named after some of his favorite people, his two grandfathers.  They make amazing Pinot Noir right here in Oregon, and we’re featuring it along with Dolores’ delicious food this month.  Cheers!