Wednesday, June 17, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Farmer’s Market — cooking hard
By Audrey Tehan
Columnist
Thank you to all who
joined us during the Sisters
Farmers Market! It was an
incredible experience. Many
local partnerships have blos-
somed to make the event
possible and safe.
Next week we will have
even more vendors so make
sure to check out the weekly
Farmers Market email that
will pop in your inbox when
you subscribe. Picking up
your fresh goods is just the
beginning. The kitchen holds
the key to transforming
those kohlrabies and napa
cabbages into a centerpiece
for sharing your day, hold-
ing space for tough times,
or simply providing some
energy to help you achieve
your goals each day.
At times I feel like I am
wrestling with the kitchen.
The lack of time, the pots,
the pans, the mess, the veg-
etable scraps 4really my
cooking style is an expres-
sion so much of myself. A
friend walked into dinner
one night to see three pans
sizzling and filled to the
brim, veggies scraps on the
floor, and the music blar-
ing. They proclaimed my
personal cooking signature
style was <cooking-hard.= I
laughed and then thought, I
guess you are right. I truly
feel like I am <cooking hard=
these days. I am also really
working on cooking hard,
but a little less messy. It
has become another expres-
sion of myself; my meals,
the flavors, the process. As
we grow through the mar-
ket season I invite you to
explore your cooking style!
In all reality, a sil-
ver lining of COVID-19
is how it has pushed me
above and beyond what I
thought I had time to do in
the kitchen. I love dining
out and enjoying our local
community. However, the
past few months allowed
me to be more intentional
with my shopping and time.
Creativity and substitution
in meals became essential.
Sometimes this resulted
in an incredible new dish,
and at times, even my dog
got a questionable meal.
But through trial, error, and
necessity I discovered ways
to integrate those odd cans
of coconut milk, sardines,
pinto beans, and taco sea-
soning that linger in the back
of the cupboard. Mind you,
I did not put these all in a
recipe together. Phew.
At the end of two months,
I was so proud of myself,
realizing that I was able to
take simple, limited pro-
cessed ingredients and make
nearly all of my meals from
scratch. This also happened
during our busiest season on
the farm where time seems
to be evaporating. Not that
this is my goal for life, but I
would have never thought I
would have had the skills to
prepare every single meal for
myself for two months with
the temptations of Oliver
Lemon9s sushi, Open Door
beet salad, Saloon burgers,
Boone Dog pizza and more.
I am sure we have all
had our own COVID-19
food journeys these past
few months. I urge you to
embrace some newly devel-
oped habits and feelings of
self-sufficiency. How can
our local products, newly
discovered resourceful-
ness and creativity come
together to make this your
most unforgettable year in
the kitchen? Or perhaps just
an opening to a new chapter.
Join us at the Farmers
Market to explore commu-
nity resiliency. I encourage
you to brainstorm a goal or
two. Something that seems
attainable. Last year my goal
was to preserve one item a
week. Now, did this happen
every week? I will never
tell...
Perhaps your goal is cen-
tered around food preserva-
tion or maybe it is trying
three new recipes a week?
Maybe you want to get your
kids involved, get through
those weekly greens, or per-
haps attending the market
and trying a new veggie was
your goal for the year 4 that
is all a journey!
Examine your goals, pri-
orities, and then set yourself
up for success. What do you
PHOTO PROVIDED
Sisters Farmers Market staff were
pleased with inaugural 2020 event.
need to help yourself along
with this goal? Some sug-
gestions could be a meal
planner, a trip to the store to
stock up on all those cook-
ing staples, better cooking
resources for using up those
greens, a freezer for pres-
ervation, lessons for can-
ning, quick recipes, more
food storage containers and
tips for healthy meal prep?
Please share these needs on
our Facebook page so we can
all support one another. For
myself last year, a freezer
was instrumental in my local
food journey. It allowed me
to quickly freeze items from
bountiful times for winter. I
was able to find a used one
at Habitat Restore and from
that moment my local food
journey was transformed!
Join the Sisters Farmers
Market on Facebook for our
vendors, tips, and tricks:
https://www.facebook.com/
SistersFarmersMarket/.
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Hardtails plans to rock
summer music series
After three long months
entirely closed down due
to restrictions imposed by
the COVID-19 pandemic,
Hardtails Bar & Grill was
expected to reopen this week.
Owner Steve Macey told
The Nugget that the bar is
planning to go ahead with
their traditional summer
music series of rock tribute
bands, in a climate where
most music events have been
canceled.
<We have seven con-
firmed,= he told The Nugget.
<Most are returning favor-
ites from past shows: The
Cars, Fleetwood Mac, Tom
Petty, Bruce Springsteen,
Van Halen and a few new
ones 4 The Police, Styx and
one to be named yet.=
Macey said they were cur-
rently selling only 100 tickets
to each show due to spacing
restrictions, but he believes
they may have the square
footage to safely have 150 in
the venue with required phys-
ical distancing.
<Our first live music will
be July 3,= Macey said. <Free
show, outdoor stage, kicking
off the Independence Day
weekend with a Portland
band...called Nightlife.
Classic rock and more.=
The show starts at 6 p.m.
The first ticketed show
will be SOS 4 A Tribute to
the Police, set for July 11,
followed every Saturday
night through August 29
by a different tribute band.
Unchained, a Van Halen trib-
ute band, will close out the
summer series.
WE’RE BACK!
NOW OPEN
11 a.m.
to midnight
OUR DINING ROOM
IS NOW OPEN!
175 N. Larch St.
Sun-Thurs 11-9 • Fri-Sat 11-9:30
Menu at SistersSaloon.net
hardtailsoregon.com
541-549-RIBS | 190 E. Cascade Ave.
541-549-6114
Facebook darcymacey
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