8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
Local
Warm comfort foods
3 tablespoons
butter
¼ cup fl our
1 cup heavy
cream
Place tomatoes,
basil, garlic, salt,
pepper, onion,
cream and broth
in crockpot.
Cover and
cook 2 hours on
high or 48 hours
Homemade Goodness
on low.
30- 40 minutes
By Eileen Driver
before serving
use hand blender
You have probably no-
to puree till smooth.
ticed but it is really, really
Prepare roux in medium
cold outside!
This of course means that sauce pan by melting but-
ter over medium high heat.
we need warm comfort
Whisk fl our into melted
foods to counteract that
butter until clumps.
cold. One of my favorite
Slowly whisk in heavy
comfort food meals as a
cream until mixture is
kid was tomato soup and
thickened and smooth.
grilled cheese sandwiches.
Add roux and parmesan
I still love it today, but as
cheese to crockpot, stir
an adult I need just a little
together. Cook another
more zing.
20-30 minutes till cheese is
This version of tomato
melted, give it a good stir
soup is creamier and
and serve.
zingier than that stuff you
It takes a little more
get out of a can and is
work to make this from
loaded with comfort and
scratch but it is well worth
homemade goodness.
Parmesan Basil Tomato it and you won’t want to
open cans of tomato soup
Soup
ever again. You can either
3 pounds ripe red toma-
have a regular grilled
toes chopped (can substi-
tute 2, 15-ounce cans diced cheese sandwich with the
soup, which is good, or
tomatoes and 1, 10-
you can have this kicked
ounce can tomato sauce)
up version. Since you have
¼ cup fresh basil, fi nely
time to make this while the
chopped
soup is cooking you might
3 teaspoons minced
as well give it a try.
garlic
Spinach and Artichoke
1 tablespoon salt
Melts
1 teaspoon pepper
Makes 4+ sandwiches
1 medium white onion
1 tablespoon butter
diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fl our
4 cups vegetable or
½ cup milk
chicken broth
1 ounce cream cheese
2 cups fresh shredded
½ cup shredded moz-
parmesan cheese
zarella
Roux
½ cup grated parmesan
½ cup greek yogurt
½ teaspoon crushed red
pepper fl akes (optional)
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup frozen chopped
spinach, thawed and water
squeezed out
1, 6.7 ounce jar marinat-
ed artichokes chopped
8 slices sourdough bread
butter for grilling
Melt butter in a skillet
over medium high heat
Add garlic and cook a
few minutes.
Whisk in fl our until it
makes a paste.
Cook over medium
low heat a minute or two,
whisk in milk, stir and
cook 1 minute.
Add cheeses and stir
till melted. Remove from
heat and add remaining
ingredients.
Stir till smooth. (Will be
thick so use those muscles)
Heat a griddle or skillet
over medium low heat.
Butter the outside of each
bread slice then spread a
good amount of fi lling to
the inside of half of them
and top with second slice.
Cook on each side, fl ip-
ping gently, until golden
and crisp and cheese is
melted.
I love dipping my grilled
sandwich in my soup and
enjoying the two together.
Makes my mouth water
just thinking about it.
And for my vegetarian
friends who have been
requesting recipes to spice
up their meal times, these
would be perfect for you.
If you are a meat
lover you can add chopped
grilled chicken to the
sandwich spread and be in
heaven.
For those of you who
haven’t escaped the cold
and fl u season this year,
this next recipe is for your
comfort and hopefully will
speed you on the way to
good health.
It tastes great too.
Creamy Chicken and
Wild Rice Soup
3 tablespoons butter
4 medium carrots, peeled
and diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion fi nely
diced
1 pound raw chicken cut
into bite size pieces
½ teaspoon salt black
pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup wild rice or rice
blend, uncooked
3 tablespoons fl our
2 cups milk
Melt butter in large stock
pot over medium heat. Add
carrot, celery and onion.
Stir, cover and saute.
Add chicken and spices
and stir fry 35 minutes
till outside of chicken is
mostly cooked.
Sprinkle with fl our and stir
to coat.
Slowly stir in broth ½
cup at a time until smooth.
Bring to a boil and stir in
rice. Reduce heat to me-
dium low, cover and cook
for about 30-40 minutes.
When rice is done (taste
to make sure) stir in milk
and return heat to medium.
Bring to a low boil and
cook a few more minutes
till heated through.
Tips: if you like a
thicker soup reduce broth
to 3 cups.
If you like a clear soup,
omit fl our and milk and
add more broth
This soup is wonderful
with crackers or a crusty
bread. It will make you
feel better in no time.
Hammonds Imprisoned
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 7
The congressman contin-
ued quoting the judge, who
said, “‘When you ask, you
know, what if you burn
sagebrush in the suburbs
of Los Angeles, and there
are homes up the ravines,
it might apply. Out in the
wilderness here, I don’t
think that is what the Con-
gress intended. In addition,
it just would not meet
any idea I have of justice
proportionality. It would
be a sentence which would
shock the conscience, to
me.’’’
Walden added, “Senior
Judge Mike Hogan, when
he did the original sentenc-
ing. But, you see, under
this 1996 law under which
they were charged and
convicted, it turns out he
had no judicial leeway. He
could not mete out a sen-
tence that was proportion-
ate to what the crime was.
“So yesterday, Dwight
and Steve went to prison
again. Dwight will be 79
when he gets out. Steve
will be about 50.
“Meanwhile, in Harney
County, on the ranch,
Susie will continue to try
and survive; 6,000-acre
ranch, she needs grazing
permits to make this hap-
pen. It would be a cruel
and unjust act, by the way,
if access to those grazing
permits that allow that
ranch to work were not
extended. What possible
good could come out of
bankrupting a grandmother
that was trying to keep a
ranch together, while the
husband sits in prison, her
son sits in prison? What
possible good?
“They will serve their
sentences. There is noth-
ing, short of clemency that
only the President can of-
fer, that we can do. But we
can change that law, and
we should, so that nobody
ever is locked in like that
for a situation like this,
where a senior judge, liter-
ally, on his fi nal day on the
bench, says this goes too
far, it goes too far. They
appealed that, by the way,
and lost. But I believe that
the judge was right.
“We have to listen to
the people. We have to
understand why events
like this are taking place in
our communities. They are
taking place in cities. We
have witnessed that, and
we try and get our heads
around it.
“There are more people
from the cities, so there are
more Members from the
cities. There aren’t many
of us that represent these
vast, wide-open, incredibly
beautiful, harsh districts-
like the one I do.
“The people there love
the land. It was the ranch-
ers who came up with the
concept of the coopera-
tive management. It was
the ranchers who loved
Steens Mountain that know
that for them to survive
they have to take care of
the range. They are good
people. Their sons and
daughters, by a higher
proportion, fi ght in our
wars and die, and I have
been to their funerals. So
to my friends across east-
ern Oregon, I will always
fi ght for you. But we have
to understand there is a
time and a way. Hopefully
the country through this
understands we have a real
problem in America: how
we manage our lands and
how we are losing them.”
Walden concluded,
“There is a better solution
here. The President needs
to back off on the monu-
ment. The BLM needs to
make sure Susie Hammond
isn’t pushed into bank-
ruptcy and has her ranch
taken by the government
and added to those that
“It is not too late. We can
do this. It is a great coun-
try. We have the processes
to do it right.”
Rep. Greg Barreto of
Cove responded, “I want to
thank Congressman Greg
Walden for his forthright
message on the tyranny of
the current agencies.
“I agree with Rep.
Walden that in no way do
I agree with the armed
protest that is going on,
but do understand the
anger toward the federal
government. We in Oregon
have witnessed this time
and again with the BLM,
the ESA, the EPA and the
USFS. The recent ‘Town
Hall Meetings for citizens
participation’ were no
more than lip service.
The 1,296 miles of roads
scheduled for destruction,
roads built with taxpayer
dollars and now taxpayer
dollars will be used to
destroy them, was decided
before any meetings took
place.
“Rep. Walden is right,
enough is enough! We
need to be better at hearing
people from all walks of
life and all regions of our
country and understanding
this anger that is out there
and what we can do to
bring about correct change
and peaceful resolution.
at the monument should go
home, and Congress needs
to enact laws to prevent
this abuse of power.
“The BLM and USFS
have destroyed hundreds
of thousands of acres of
land through reckless man-
agement and there have
been no consequences.
“Five years for 129
acres is unbelievable and
cruel and unusual punish-
ment. To me, this is an ob-
vious attempt to grab land
through bankrupting and
incarcerating hard work-
ing citizens to promote an
agenda. Our federal gov-
ernment is bankrupting our
Country in more ways than
one. They are bankrupting
the peoples’ trust.”
Status of the Refuge.
At the time of print, Am-
mon Bundy has spoken to
multiple media sources and
posted video online.
Since holing up in the
refuge, no shots have been
fi red either by the group,
now known as Citizens for
Constitutional Freedom, or
law enforcement.
Bundy says the group
is prepared to stay put in
the Wildlife Refuge for an
indefi nite length of time.
One of their goals is to
draw attention to federal
agency overreach, another
is to see the transfer of
federally-managed lands
back to local control to al-
low local use of resources
existing in those lands.
Volunteers
needed for
book sale
Friends of the Baker County Library are looking for
volunteers to help sort books on Thursday, January 21st,
to work as cashiers during the fi rst weekend of the Winter
Book Sale, January 22-24th, to neaten and re-stock dur-
ing the week of January 25-31st, and to pack up books
on February 1st. New volunteers will be paired with an
experienced volunteer on each shift.
Volunteers can sign up at the circulation desk at the
library, 2400 Resort Street, or by calling 541-523-6419.
Shots fired at
patrol car in
Umatilla
On January 2, 2016 at approximately 1:17 a.m. an Or-
egon State Trooper attempted to stop a 1992 Honda Ac-
cord on Fulton Road near milepost 2 in Umatilla County
for speeding.
The vehicle attempted to elude troopers at a high rate of
speed.
The pursuit continued on rural roads where a trooper
successfully deployed spike strips fl attening at least one
tire. The vehicle continued to elude and entered the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation.
Once on the reservation, the vehicle came to a stop
and a female passenger got out of the vehicle. The driver
drove off at a high rate of speed, continuing to elude
troopers. While eluding, it is believed the suspect fi red a
fi rearm at a pursuing patrol car striking it twice.
Near the intersection of South Market and Tutuilla
Church Road both the suspect and his vehicle were
intentionally struck by two Oregon State Police patrol
vehicles.
The adult male suspect was seriously injured and was
transported to St. Anthony's Hospital in Pendleton, then
transported by air ambulance to a Portland Area Hospital.
The troopers were uninjured.
This incident is being investigated as a Deadly Physical
Force incident. As per protocol of Deadly Physical Force
Incidents and Senate Bill 111, the Oregon State Police
has requested the Pendleton Police Department lead the
investigation.
Three Oregon State Police Troopers have been placed
on paid administrative leave which is standard practice in
deadly physical force incidents.
This is an ongoing investigation and no further infor-
mation will be released at this time.
Agencies assisting in the investigation and at the scene
include the Oregon State Police Criminal Services Divi-
sion, Pendleton Police Department, Umatilla Tribal Police
Department, Umatilla County Sheriff's Offi ce and the
Oregon Department of Transportation.
Names released
in train / Jeep
collision
Oregon State Police (OSP) is continuing the investi-
gation into a fatal collision involving a train and SUV
south of Union in Union County. The names of the three
occupant were released following confi rmation of family
notifi cations.
Preliminary information indicates that on December
29, 2015 at approximately 2:54 p.m., a Union Pacifi c
Railroad train was traveling eastbound and approach-
ing the Curtis Road and Miller Lane crossing when for
unknown reasons, a blue Jeep Cherokee was traveling
east on Curtis Road and turned left onto Miller Lane, in
the path of the train. The train struck the Cherokee and
all three occupants, as well as a dog, were ejected and
pronounced deceased at the scene.
The occupants of the blue 1998 Jeep Cherokee were
Clayton Forrest Colpitts, age 43, Penny Jo Colpitts, age
40, from Union, and James Austin Johnston, age 20, from
Chiloquin. It is still undetermined who was driving the
vehicle at the time of the crash.
The rural area train crossing displayed crossing signs
with a stop sign but did not have crossing gate arms. The
train did not derail and no injuries were reported aboard
the train.
OSP was assisted by Union County Sheriff's Offi ce,
Union Fire and Ambulance, La Grande Ambulance, and
Union Pacifi c Railroad representatives.
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