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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2021)
B Tuesday, January 19, 2021 The Observer & Baker City Herald BETWEEN THE ROWS WENDY SCHMIDT The joy of growing houseplants When I was growing up, I started keeping houseplants. The fi rst kind of plants I collected were “wandering Jews.” They come in plain green (Trad- escanthia fl uminensis) or variegated purple striped leaves with a silvery sheen (Tradescanthia zebrina). Trades- canthia is the spiderwort family, native to the new world from Canada to South America. They’re easy to propagate by planting a single leaf. The “day fl ower” is also a member of that big family. It is a groundcover vine with the same shape of fl ower, hardy and found growing outdoors. Day fl ower is herbal and medicinal. Spider plants are very prolifi c rela- tives and easy to propagate. All of these plants grow readily from cuttings. African violets (Saintpaulia) are of the gesneriad family — closely related to cape primrose (streptocarpus) and gloxinias. The African violets found growing in the wild today are mostly in Tanzania and Kenya, protected under trees and other foliage, out of direct sunlight. All of the houseplants I mentioned have similar requirements for success- ful growth. • fi ltered sunlight (sunny windowsill not in direct sunlight) • loose soil so that the roots get air and water, and the soil needs to almost dry out before you water again • you can water from the top, but better results are obtained when setting the pot in a pan of water 30 minutes. If you have garden comments or questions, please write to greengar- dencolumn@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading! Making sense of the new federal dietary guidelines Barbara Quinn Monterey Herald They’re here … the long awaited and debated 2020-2025 Dietary Guide- lines for Americans (DGA). What’s the big deal? This document — updated every fi ve years by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) — represents the most current science-based advice on what and how to eat and drink for our best health. If you’re looking for this newest in- stallment to insist you eat this or don’t eat that, you may be disappointed. Rather, the 2020-2025 DGA’s focus on a “pattern” of eating that has been shown to carry health benefi ts. Within that pattern, we can make choices that best fi t our individual needs and prefer- ences. I like that. There’s room here for meat eaters and vegans alike. And for the fi rst time, these guidelines are presented according to our life stages, including pregnancy, infants and tod- dlers. These updated guidelines do, however, advise us to limit — at every life stage — our intake of four dietary components: added sugars, sodium, saturated fat and alcohol. There’s not room for much of these in any healthful dietary pattern, say experts. See Nutrition/Page 2B Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune--TNS Potato hash with poached eggs prepared and styled by Shannon Kinsella. B RINGING B ACK T HE C LASSIC B RUNCH Whole grain, buttermilk, potato, lemon ricotta — we love them all in our family. Brunch. The dine-in restaurant occasion I My pet peeve is the metallic taste of excess miss most during this pandemic. leavening found in boxed mixes and some I’m not really thinking of those all-you- recipes, so I nearly always make my own dry can-eat grand buffets (although that sounds mix. Ingredients on hand inspire the use of decadently delightful). Rather, those leisurely various fl ours, seeds, nut and fruit additions. outings with good friends that involve wait- A love of muesli cereal translated into the staff, luxurious food and a way-early-for-me version below, chock-full of oats, almonds and cocktail or two. A stroll might follow to aid dried currants. digestion and keep the conversation fl owing, I stock bags of frozen cranberries for this before the need to nap pulls me to the couch. speedy cranberry, fi g and ginger jam. Make a These days, working at home means the double batch and package in small refrigera- couch often doubles as desk. The cocktail tor containers to gift to your former brunch hour creeps into consciousness at dusk. The buddies with the dry pancake mix and snack drawer beckons all day. instructions for cooking. This January, I declare time to cook our Bacon and potatoes are a match made own restaurant-worthy brunch dishes. Eggs in heaven — especially when indulging in covered in a creamy sauce, bacon-y potatoes, breakfast-for-dinner. The hash that follows seed and nut pancakes sweetened with jam. can be served in individual skillets topped It makes no matter to the cook when you with an egg — reminiscent of pancake house enjoy them — Sunday morning, Tuesday skillet meals. evening or Friday lunch. Like many, I struggle to poach eggs so I never have enough pancake recipes. they look beautiful and stay soft-set. The JeanMarie Brownson Chicago Tribune best technique I’ve found is simply to keep the barely simmering pan of water swirl- ing when you add the egg. The movement of the water helps coat the yolk with the white. Once done, after about 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon to transfer the egg to a bowl of lukewarm water. The eggs hold in this manner nicely while you reheat the potato mixture to piping hot. Top everything with a lemony, mayonnaise-based sauce — easier than making hollandaise. I always enlist help while cooking brunch — someone to act as the barista and bartend- er while I concentrate on the stove. Serve mi- mosas with the pancakes and bloody marys with the bacon potato skillet. Fortifi ed, we reminisce and marvel at the skills of the staff at our favorite brunch spots. Let’s support them in these diffi cult times by ordering takeout meals, tipping generously and sending donations. New memories are on the horizon. See Brunch/Page 3B The magic of movie theater buttered popcorn, made at home Pandemic-Times Life Hack, that a lengthy fi rst-person preamble Prior to the coronavirus pan- usually must be endured. Let’s also demic, I went to the movies a lot, truncate the parts that explain the often alone, and I’d see pretty much genesis of the idea (pathological anything, because the golden-salty jealousy of friends’ new in-home greatness that is movie theater pop- theater-grade popcorn maker, corn makes seeing almost anything unwillingness to purchase one), the worthwhile. science of popcorn (hey, there’s water I’d order the large size (only a in there!), and all the permutations/ dollar more — they’re practically hardships of the development of the paying you to get it!), eat until my recipe (so many different kinds of mouth hurt, then put the rest in a oil! So many batches!! I’ve been so plastic bag to take home. thirsty lately!!!). Yes, I brought a plastic bag to the Really, all credit here is due to theater expressly for this purpose. the miracle of modern(ish) food And over the course of a dozen science, specifi cally the proprietary pre-COVID-19 Dinner at a Movie process that brings us all Flavacol. reviews, it was my total pleasure This violently orange powder — it to learn more about the nuances of is the exact color of Kraft Macaroni movie popcorn from Seattle Times & Cheese dust — is made of salt, fi lm (and book, and popcorn) critic artifi cial fl avor, two shades of FD&C Moira Macdonald. I miss the movies Yellow and magic. It comes in a and I miss Moira — but I can still charmingly vintage-design quart- see both of them, if only on a home sized milk carton (unless you want screen. I’ve probably missed movie to order, say, a 45-pound pail) from popcorn an inordinate amount over Gold Medal Products Co., out of the last 17 years, I mean, 10 months. Cincinnati (slogan: “Snacks, Smiles But enough about me — it is & Success!”). a special irritant of articles such See Popcorn/Page 2B as this, promising The Best-Ever Bethany Jean Clement The Seattle Times Dreamstime/TNS The golden-salty greatness that is movie theater pop- corn can come to life at home.
