Wednesday, October 23, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Food & Home
13
Western accent makes a house a home
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Autumn is the season when
hearth and home come back
to the center of our lives. As
we go into the long gloam-
ing, we want nothing more
than a cheery fire in the wood
stove, a fine meal, a drink,
maybe a book or a juicy tale
on Netflix&
For many folks in Sisters
Country, the ideal <nest=
evokes the West and/or the
North Woods, resonant of
pine-clad slopes, sage mead-
ows, the scent of pine and
juniper smoke. Some aspire to
the ultimate expression of that
aesthetic: building a log home.
<With a log home, often-
times it9s something they9ve
dreamed of since they were a
kid,= Rebecca Richardson of
Richardson Log Homes told
The Nugget last year. <It9s
something that9s been in their
hearts for years.=
What started as a shel-
ter of necessity on the North
American frontier (with a her-
itage that dates back to Bronze
Age Scandinavia and Eastern
Europe) is now a versatile
style that can go from rustic
cabin to magnificent lodge.
You don9t have to go all the
way in building a log home to
get the flavor of the aesthetic.
Log accents like mantles,
stairs and entry gates to a
property can add a Western
or North Woods flare. Many
people add a touch of the West
to their décor and mix it with
other elements for a particu-
larly Pacific Northwest or spe-
cifically Sisters style.
<It9s usually a mixture of
warm tones and wood,= said
Jaimi Warren of Antler Arts
in Sisters. <You can make a
room 8Western9 just by adding
a cowhide and nothing else.=
Juniper accents are a
particular Sisters aesthetic,
Warren says.
<It9s a native wood and it9s
beautiful,= she said.
Warren says her clients
tend to start with a single
piece and add incrementally
to build their aesthetic. The
centerpiece is often an antler
lamp or chandelier.
<An antler lamp is really
classy,= she said. <It can either
go with a cabin décor or it can
go with a very fancy décor.=
Warren noted a recent cli-
ent who had a very specific
need.
<She wanted a very com-
pact antler chandelier for her
nursery,= she said. <She was
going with a very classy lodge
décor.=
Cozy cabin or grand lodge
4 it9s the kind of home that
fits Sisters Country. It9s an
artistic endeavor in its own
right to pull together the
construction and the décor
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ALABN
Western accents fit any kind of home.
4 log accents, perhaps
some wrought iron; warm
wood furniture and antler
fixtures; perhaps a paint-
ing or a sculpture or two by
some of Sisters9 multitude
of talented artists 4 you
have a home that is a plea-
sure to inhabit as the nights
grow long and chilly and
the winds of winter begin to
creep over the Cascade crest.
What’s the beef with locally raised cattle?
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Eating a steak or a burger
seems like it should be a sim-
ple enough endeavor. But,
like so much in modern life,
we9ve complicated it. Is red
meat healthy or not? Where
does our beef actually come
from? What9s the difference
between grass-fed and grass-
finished 4 and does it make
any difference?
Sisters is now home to
a variety of cattle-raising
operations 4 some as agri-
cultural businesses, some
as church-based charity
operations 4 all offering
locally raised beef on the
hoof. Small, local operations
are suddenly economically
viable.
Q u a l i t y, h e a l t h y
beef sold to the local
market is part of a growing
local-food movement, a cul-
tural shift toward a more con-
nected way of life, shortening
supply chains and improving
diet.
<There9s two components
to it,= said Sisters rancher
Kathryn Godsiff of the grow-
ing popularity of local beef.
<There9s the emotional one,
where you know where your
food comes from and you
know who produces it.=
In an increasingly de-per-
sonalized world, that emo-
tional component is impor-
tant. But it wouldn9t sustain
a local industry if the product
wasn9t good. And Godsiff
says that the product can be
superior.
Raising an animal on a
ranch and on-farm killing
instead of trucking animals
to the slaughterhouse makes
for a better product, Godsiff
says.
<The stress on the animal
is so much less, the eating
experience is going to be so
much better.=
Kathryn and Allan Godsiff
have been in operation for
more than eight years with
Willows Ranch Beef. They
raise grass-finished beef 4
which means that the animal
has eaten grass its whole life,
right up to slaughter, which is
timed for optimal quality.
<The grass is at an active
growing stage,= Godsiff said.
<When the grass is actively
growing, it produces a more
tender cut of beef.=
<The ideal is a high pro-
portion of clover and grass,=
Allan said. <You don9t
want them eating a lot
of sagebrush.=
Preparation of
grass-finished beef requires
a little more care than your
average supermarket cut 4
but not that much.
<Well-done is not your
friend in grass-finished,=
K a t h r y n G o d s i ff s a i d .
<Medium is about as far as
you9d want to go, because
it will get tough. Low-and-
slow works well (for prep-
aration). Instapots work
well with shanks and cuts
like that. Crockpots are
good.=
<It9s really overcooking
that you want to avoid,= Allan
affirmed.
The desire for locally
produced foodstuffs 4 from
produce to beef 4 seems like
it9s here to stay. The Godsiffs
encourage consumers to learn
as much as possible about
their food sources. Take
advantage of the local nature
of the transaction and know
your producer.
<Make sure they actually
have good grass,= Kathryn
said. <It9s all part of being an
informed consumer, isn9t it?=
Local Beef That
Restores The Land
Taste real meat, raised right.
Scottish Highland
cattle are among the
many breeds local
ranchers raise
for meat.
What makes Sisters Cattle Co. beef so fl avorful?
• Foraged on more than 30 plant species
• High in nutrients like B12 and Omega-3
• ZERO fertilizer, poisons, or GMOs
• Raised with regenerative land-management practices
• Owned and operated by a local Sisters family
Order today at
www.sisterscattleco.com
or call 541-514-8598
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