Kathe Murphy first met her best friend, Holly Ramsey Dailey, in Minneapolis in 1971.

At the time, the two worked at Tonka Toys together. Holly worked as a graphic designer, and helped design toys for toddlers.

But very suddenly, in 1977, Holly was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and lost control of fine motor skills, Kathe said. She was unable to hold a pen or write, so instead, she got into book design, and then a new passion — a children’s literature review called The Five Owls.

Publishers sent Holly thousands of books for review, Holly said. They were everywhere in her house — on shelves, under the bed and stacked on the floor.

In addition to the children’s book review, Kathe said, Holly forged her own path, Kathe said. Holly was a speedskater, even in a time when many young women were not encouraged, or even discouraged from pursuing that sport.

“It wasn’t fashionable back in our day to promote girls doing speedskating,” Kathe said.

Holly kept working, alongside her husband Dan Daily. Then in 1991, Holly learned she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer.

Still, Holly continued to work. In a 1998 article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, her husband Dan and friends interviewed said she continued to show warmth and a kind of electricity that drew people to her, friends said.

She worked to make sure her son would get into college, to secure the future of her beloved Five Owls book review, which was passed to Hamline University in Minnesota and spoke, though by this time very ailing and very thin, at a dedication library where she donated the roughly 6,000 children’s books publishers had sent her. Those books in total, Kathe said, were worth roughly $40,000.

A month and a half after that speech, Holly died in 1993. But in her and Kathe’s 22 years of friendship, Kathe said, there was one thing that Holly always made, and that has helped keep her memory alive: A wild rice casserole, sauteed in butter, with almonds, water chestnuts and mushrooms.

“People love this recipe. They love it. Of course, it’s a little hard to find wild rice,” Kathe said, “but I think it’s the better.”

That constant, she said, has given the recipe a special place in her heart. On holidays, Kathe said, if she wasn’t with her own family, she was with Holly’s.

“I have this note [with the recipe] in her handwriting from the ‘80s,” Kathe said. “I’m emotionally attached to the recipe.”

Holly's Wild Rice Casserole

1/2 cup butter

1 cup wild rice

A 6-ounce package of slivered almonds

An 8-ounce can of sliced water chestnuts

A 4-ounce can of mushrooms - chopped

3 cups chicken broth

Melt the butter and saute the wild rice, almonds, water chestnuts and mushrooms together for 30 minutes. Turn frequently.

Pour the saute into a casserole dish, add the chicken broth, and bake covered at 325 degrees for an hour. Stir before serving.

TIP: Leftover Wild Rice Casserole can be turned into Wild Rice Soup by adding to a can of mushroom soup.