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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2019)
28 Wednesday, July 3, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Navy takes Sisters man away from comfort zone BOURDAIN: Dinner focused on food and fellowship Continued from page 3 By Kathryn Godsiff Correspondent For centuries, young peo- ple have left the bosom and safety of their home towns and answered the siren call of the sea. Recently, one of Sisters9 own did the same. Chris Epperson, 29, graduated from Sisters High School in 2009 and spent the next 10 years working a variety of jobs in and around Sisters Country. In February, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and completed his basic training at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, north of Chicago, Illinois. Following that he traveled to Fort Lee, Virginia for A-School technical training. Last week he boarded a plane bound for Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan to report to his duty ship, the USS Ronald Reagan. When asked why Navy, Epperson replied, <The Navy provided guiding purpose away from my comfort zone.= He added that he9d worked since graduating from high school and had gotten rest- less. The wider world beck- ons, and while he is grateful to have grown up in Sisters, he now feels prepared to face that world. Epperson is trained as a culinary specialist, one of hundreds who provide suste- nance for the 5,000 personnel stationed on the aircraft car- rier. <Plus, it9s always good to know how to cook a good meal,= he said. In an interest- ing aside, he added that each ingredient listed in Navy recipes is considered a <law- ful order,= meaning that they don9t necessarily have to be added exactly according to the recipe, but they must be in there somewhere. He isn9t just trained to wield a spatula. Each sailor or airman has a duty station and drills are conducted regularly to ensure each recruit knows exactly what to do, should an attack occur. In addition to regular training exercises and patrols, U.S. Navy ships con- duct humanitarian missions if needed. The USS Ronald Reagan has rendered aid after earthquakes and tsunamis in PHOTO PROVIDED Chris Epperson will serve aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. several parts of the world. The USS Ronald Reagan is currently the flagship of Carrier Strike Group Five and Carrier Air Wing Five, the only forward-based car- rier strike group home-ported at Yokosuka, as part of the United States Seventh Fleet. She was christened in 2001 and at that time was the only ship to be named after a liv- ing president. She is nuclear powered and carries out patrols in the Asia-Pacific region. With twice as many personnel as the population of Sisters, she will no doubt satisfy Epperson9s desire to meet new people and explore the world. He added a note to Sisters young people considering enlistment in the military. Each branch has its own culture, and a person has to be mature to cope with the necessary pressure exerted on recruits. Epperson says the most noticeable thing about the changes boot camp brought about in him is his ability to think quickly and be frank in conversations. <I don9t beat around the bush any more,= he said. Epperson9s mother, Peggy Dorsett, is proud of her son. She notes that enlistment has long been on his radar, and now that he9s over the first hurdle of boot camp, she sees that he is being taught things that will hold him in good stead for the rest of his life. <Bourdain taught us about connection and the impor- tance of relationship between our food and the people who provide it to us,= she explained. <My father said that 10 years ago I couldn9t even cook a hotdog,= Sneva explained. <That9s pretty bad when you grow up in a family catering business. Then, with one great tantrum, my daugh- ter influenced me to learn to cook. She9d learned enough about food to understand we weren9t eating healthy, and that wasn9t acceptable.= Sneva now cooks as a volunteer in homeless kitch- ens in New York City nearly every week and loves trying new recipes. The main course was vol- untarily prepared by James Fink, owner and chef at Wild Oregon Foods Restaurant in Bend. Splitting Aces meats were a sprawling feast of skirt and hanger steaks, chicken, brisket, smoked ham, meat- balls and even beef tongue, all grilled on-site after earlier preparation. <All you really need for great meat like this is salt and pepper,= said the chef, whose business was awarded <Rookie Restaurant of the Year= in 2017 and has received a glowing review in the Washington Post and other publications. <You let the food speak for itself.= For the Pikes, this dinner was an opportunity to share their meats with people who may not have been exposed to grass-fed livestock. <We have these animals from midwifery to harvest,= Remington explained, <which makes this a slower process of growth to maturity.= Their livestock are never fed grains nor fattened in feed PHOTO BY BONNIE MALONE Jena Pike (right) and guest at the first Bourdain Dinner. lots. From Seed to Table, Audrey Tehan brought sweet, freshly picked colorful veg- etables on huge platters. Sweet Japanese salad turnips highlighted a spread of beets, carrots, salad greens, radishes and kale. Fennel bulbs were a hit at the hors d9oeuvre table. Also, from Sara Lawrence9s Rain Shadow Organics, there was tasty wheatberry salad. <We can have such posi- tive relationships with food,= Tehan said, a message reflected in the kitchen crew for this event, mostly mem- bers of the Sneva and Pike families. Dessert was back-for- seconds mouth-watering car- rot cake and brownies baked by Isabel Sneva, Catrina9s daughter, using as many local ingredients as possible. Jenna and Catrina9s mother, Ronda Sneva, raised her children catering fire camps across the West and in large venues that included college and professional football games and Tucson Rodeo. Sneva glowed with visible pride as her children and grandchildren contrib- uted their energy and skills to this special dinner at the ranch. <They wouldn9t let me use anything that wasn9t recy- clable,= she said, <so I had to cut napkins from old fab- ric and use paper instead of cloth table coverings for this elegant meal.= Guests dined, met new people, learned about local food and left sated. The eve- ning was enhanced by an ambiance of visual pleasure from a covered gazebo next to a large pond in Lower Bridge. Cattle hovered near fences in lush grass pastures sur- rounding the venue. With every speaker, several of the cows added their own opin- ions in a Chorus of Moo, which created lots of laughter. Guest comments ranged from <what a wonderful experience,= <beyond amaz- ing,= and <so interesting,= to satisfaction from what they learned about local food sources and community. 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