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Monday, August 26, 2019
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Summer Harvest Penne Pasta
DORY’S DIARY
DOROTHY SWART
FLESHMAN
Picking up
huckleberries
well worth
the effort
Have you ever picked up huckleber-
ries?
No, I don’t mean off the bush in the
mountains. I mean off the fl oor.
Off the fl oor where you just spilled a
small container of them meant for your
breakfast bowl of cereal; those hard-
picked by one of your sons and delivered
to your door for your later enjoyment.
It is a sight to behold as you stand
there with the little empty container in
your hand that you had just bumped
against the freezer door and the lid and
huckleberries spread over the kitchen
fl oor.
One’s fi rst thought is of horror over
your clumsiness and loss of those hard-
won purple berries. These are the ones
with the sharp taste with which you
grew up and prefer over the lesser fl avor
of those more like blueberries. These are
the ones you can no longer go into the
local mountains and spend the day pick-
ing, one by one, hoping not to share them
with a bear or two. These are berries of
the past which your youngest son has
spent his time picking and sharing with
you so that you can enjoy them all year
’round because of having frozen them in
little cartons.
Now you stand there looking down
at what appears to be initially a tragic
happening. One’s thoughts are of horror
over your loss of those hard-won purple
berries and your own clumsiness. Should
you cry or get angry?
Then you consider your broom and
dustpan standing in the corner as
against your regret in losing the addition
to your oats and bran awaiting.
The berries are frozen so they could
be picked up and washed. No loss but
one’s own time and attention.
See Dory/Page 2B
BETWEEN
THE ROWS
WENDY SCHMIDT
Sunflowers
bring smiles
on every trip
The drive to Boise is usually not as
interesting, but with the hoards of cheery
sunflowers lining the highway, I couldn’t
help smiling.
I’d like to return in a few weeks to col-
lect seeds so that I could have some of this
happiness in my garden and share it with
the neighbors and everyone who walks
by on the sidewalk.
Normally Kansas is the sunflower
state, but perhaps the early pioneers
brought the wild sunflowers with them
from Kansas.
Sunflower, helianthus. Compositae. An-
nuals and perennials. All zones. Coarse,
sturdy plants with bold flowers.
All are tough, tolerant plants for full
sun, any garden soil. Perennial kinds
spread rapidly, may become invasive. Not
for tidy gardens. All bloom in late sum-
mer, fall.
H. annuus. Common sunflower. An-
nual. From this rough, hairy plant with
2- to 3-inch-wide flower heads have come
many ornamental and useful garden
varieties. Some ornamental varieties
have double yellow flower heads 5 to 7
inches across; others have large orange,
red brown, or mahogany heads.
The best-known form is coarse, tow-
ering to a 10-foot-tall plant with small
rays outside and cushiony center of disk
fl owers, 8 to 10 inches across.
See Sunfl owers/Page 2B
Linda Gassenheimer/TNS
This pasta dish features summer’s bountiful vegetable harvest.
S UMMER V EGGIES
M AKE P ASTA S HINE
• Make sauce.
By Linda Gassenheimer
Tribune News Service
Gather the best summer vegetables for
this tasty penne pasta dish. The sauce is
fi lled with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers
and ripe tomatoes and fi nished with a little
cream. If you can’t fi nd really fresh, ripe
tomatoes, use good-quality canned plum
tomatoes.
Helpful Hints:
• Any type of short cut pastas such as fu-
silli, elbows and rigatoni can be used instead
of penne.
• All green or all red bell pepper can be
used instead of using both.
• 5 garlic cloves can be used instead of
minced garlic.
Countdown:
• Prepare all ingredients.
• Put water for pasta on to boil.
Shopping List:
To buy: 1 small eggplant, 1 small zucchini,
1 small red bell pepper, 1 small green bell
pepper, 1 small jar minced garlic, 8 plum
tomatoes, 1 container heavy cream, 1 pack-
age penne pasta, 1 small bunch fresh basil,
1 small package broken walnuts and 1 small
piece Parmesan cheese.
Staples: olive oil, onion, salt and black pep-
percorns.
SUMMER HARVEST PENNE PASTA
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups sliced onion
1 cup eggplant cubes about ½ inch (with skin)
1½ cups zucchini cubes about ½ inch
½ cup sliced red bell pepper
½ cup sliced green bell pepper
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 ½ cups quartered plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ pound penne pasta (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cup broken walnuts
½ cup fresh basil torn into small pieces
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Place a large pot fi lled with water for the
pasta on to boil. Heat the olive oil in a large
nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add
the onion and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add the
eggplant, zucchini, red and green bell peppers.
Saute 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes
and continue to cook 5 minutes. Add the cream
and salt and pepper to taste. Blend well.
When the water comes to a boil, add the
penne and boil 10 minutes. It should be cooked
through but fi rm. Drain and divide between
two dinner plates. Spoon the sauce over the
pasta and sprinkle with walnuts, basil and
parmesan cheese.
Yield 2 servings.
Ban on single-use plastic bags a good start
We all know that plastic
pollution is having a stag-
gering effect on our com-
munities, our rivers and
our oceans.
I don’t know about you
but the pictures of animals
tangled in or full of plastic break
my heart. Plastic pollution is virtu-
ally everywhere now because it
doesn’t go away.
You have seen the bags and
bottles littering our neighborhoods,
and those are very visible. Less
visible but equally, or maybe even
more, troubling is micro plastic.
Over time plastic slowly de-
grades into smaller and smaller
pieces. These small pieces are
called micro plastics and they
never go away. Even rain in the
Rocky Mountains is contaminated
with micro plastics.
Animals and humans now
regularly consume micro plastics
and reports are starting to roll in
about the harm it does to our bod-
ies. People around the world agree
that we need to dramatically re-
duce our dependence on plastic to
protect our health and the health
of our planet.
The Oregon Legislature has
TRASH TALK
CYNTHIA ROBERTS
decided to begin to address the
plastic problem by banning single-
use plastic bags. The statewide
plastic bag ban goes into effect Jan.
1, 2020. It only eliminates single-
use plastic checkout bags at stores
and restaurants, but it is a good
beginning.
During the last eight years, 17
Oregon cities banned single-use
plastic bags. The new ban cre-
ates a consistent policy across the
state and has the support of the
Northwest Grocery Association.
Concerned citizens and legislators
hope the ban will have a meaning-
ful impact by reducing clogged
water systems, landfi ll trash,
unsightly litter, wildlife death and
micro plastic contamination.
State Republican legislators vot-
ed against the bag ban, preferring
to let the free market come up with
a solution to the plastic problem.
Forgive me for stating the obvious,
but if the free market could solve
the problem we wouldn’t be in
this predicament.
Plastic is manufactured from
petroleum, which is subsidized
by our federal government. Some
very powerful corporations are
making tons of money extracting
oil and manufacturing plastic.
Protecting the environment and
our well-being is not their priority.
Sometimes we need our govern-
ment to create laws that protect
everyday citizens, our communities
and our watersheds.
Cities that have banned single-
use bags report an 80% reduction
in the number of bags dispensed
by stores — paper or plastic. Most
people are using their own reus-
able bags.
After one major city banned
bags in 2011 it reported an 89%
reduction in plastic bag litter in
the storm drainage system, a 60%
reduction in creeks and rivers and
a 59% reduction in city streets and
neighborhoods.
Many people reuse the plastic
grocery bags a few times or use
them as trash bags or pet waste
bags. The current grocery bags are
so fl imsy that they are only able to
hold a few items and double bag-
ging is often necessary.
A family may be collecting about
20 bags each week. Some may get
reused, some get recycled at local
grocery stores, but most end up in
the landfi ll or littering our lands
and waterways.
One argument against the ban
is that without these single-use
bags people will buy more plastic
trash bags. True enough. It is also
true that some people will not
want to spend their money on
trash bags and will instead try to
reduce their waste.
Out of concern for our environ-
ment, others will work on waste
reduction and alternative solu-
tions. The solution I chose a year
ago was to stop using trash bin
bags entirely. I compost most all
food waste so I have very little wet
trash.
The new law requires stores to
charge at least 5 cents for thicker,
reusable plastic bags, recycled
paper bags, or some kind of reus-
able cloth bag.
Participants in food assistance
programs are exempt from the
charge.
See Plastic/Page 2B