HOME & LIVING
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
Keep summer flavor going with tomato jam
PLUMS
By Gretchen McKay
The Italian prunes have such
a short season it’s easy to miss.
Italian prunes are good for bak-
ing and drying.
The wild yellow plums grow-
ing wild along country roads are
diffi cult to notice. Once you no-
tice them, you’ll fi nd a lot on the
ground. I brought some home to
try making wine because they
have high sugar content. Deer
see the yellow plums, also; but
deer can’t reach the high fruit
(neither can I without a ladder).
Grapes are also ripening.
Lawns will see slower growth.
It’s time to think about hunt-
ing and hibernation, as winter is
the time to rest and renew.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If you’re like me, you want to keep
on tasting summer for at least an-
other couple of weeks. I am especially
reluctant to say goodbye to the many
shades of homegrown tomatoes I’ve
been stuffing myself silly with for the
past two months.
Luckily, I still have quite a bit of fruit
on my vines (a benefit of planting late
this year). While I plan on making
much of it into sauce, I’m also turning
some of these juicy orbs into a jam.
Tomato jam requires just a handful of
ingredients and minimal effort, and
it is as easy as making applesauce.
All you need are ripe tomatoes, some
warm spices, a sharp knife, a heavy
sauce pot and patience for a few hours
as the jam cooks.
Most recipes call for using plum or
Roma tomatoes, but I used a com-
bination of yellow, purple and red
heirlooms, with a few cherry tomatoes
thrown in for good measure. Feel free
to play around with the spices —
grated ginger and red pepper flakes
add some heat while vinegar coun-
terbalances the sweetness. You also
could add cloves, paprika, coriander or
allspice.
This recipe makes two 8-ounce jars
of jam that will keep for a couple of
weeks in the refrigerator or for months
if processed in a hot-water bath.
The jam can be spread on toast
Gretchen McKay / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
or biscuits, spooned on top of eggs or
Homemade tomato jam is easy to make, and dresses up every-
cheese, or used as a condiment for
meat. But it’s especially good slathered thing from eggs to biscuits to grilled cheese sandwiches.
inside a crispy grilled cheese sandwich,
with more on the side for dipping.
GRILLED CHEESE WITH
TOMATO JAM
For jam
3 pounds tomatoes, cored
and coarsely chopped
HOOPS
Continued from Page 1B
But when Nash became
a free agent, Suns manag-
ing partner Jerry Colangelo
headed a contingent that fl ew
in a chartered plane to Dallas,
aiming at luring the point
guard back to the desert. It
worked.
D’Antoni had the perfect
point guard for the super-
high-speed style he envi-
sioned, one whose goal was
to get a shot off in 7 seconds
or less.
In 2004-05, Nash’s fi rst
season back in Phoenix, the
Suns won 62 games, a 33-
game improvement from the
previous year. D’Antoni was
named NBA coach of the year
and Nash the MVP.
The team’s style was new
for its time, with three sharp-
shooters on the perimeter
and Amar’e Stoudemire the
undersized but powerful
center.
The Suns never made it to
1/2 small yellow or red onion
or 1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon grated or
the NBA Finals with Nash,
falling to San Antonio (2005),
Dallas (2006) and the Los
Angeles Lakers (2010) in the
Western Conference fi nals.
Other teams borrowed
from the Suns style and the
so-called “small-ball’’ can
be seen around the NBA,
particularly in the Golden
State Warriors and, of course,
D’Antoni’s Houston Rockets.
The leader through it all in
Phoenix was Nash, a fantas-
tic playmaker who made his
teammates a lot of money
in future contracts with his
greatness at distributing the
ball.
He has an interesting
back story. Nash was born in
Johannesburg, South Africa,
and moved to Victoria, British
Columbia, as a child because
his parents did not want to
raise him in the apartheid
system in place at the time.
The Suns played so fast I
had trouble keeping up tak-
ing notes. Nash and D’Antoni
have said in recent interviews
minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Pinch or two of red pepper
fl akes, or 1 hot chile pepper,
seeded and minced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
that the Suns should have
played even faster and taken
more long shots.
“Everyone was telling us
you can’t win shooting all
those 3s,’’ Nash said in an
ESPN interview. “Now we re-
alize we didn’t shoot enough.’’
That Nash did this with a
bad back that forced him to
lie on the fl oor near the team
bench when he wasn’t on the
court.
The Suns added Nash to
the team’s “Ring of Honor’’
in 2015, joining the likes
of Charles Barkley, Tom
Chambers, Walter Davis and
Connie Hawkins.
Nash likened his style to
that of a soccer player attack-
ing the net. He loves soccer
and played it and hockey
growing in Canada. But bas-
ketball was where he shined.
The league, it turns out,
was watching those frenetic
Suns.
“It’s amazing what we did,’’
Nash said at a news confer-
ence before the Ring of Honor
SECRETS
Then in 1923, in addition to the drug store,
C. D. and Maude opened Putman’s Ready to
Continued from Page 1B
Wear at 1012 Adams. This offered the new-
In January 1914 the La Grande Observer
est and fi nest clothing for the women of La
ran an article introducing C. D. Putnam as
Grande — everything millinery to shoes and
the new proprietor of Hill Drug Store. Clyde
all in between. This was a favorite shopping
Putman, the youngest of nine children, was
place for the women of La Grande until the end
born in 1882 to Jasper Newton Putman and
of 1931. In October of that year Clyde stated
his wife Eliza in Belknap, Iowa. Clyde came to in the Observer that it was “utterly impossible
La Grande with his wife Maude from Milton,
to continue operating our store except by loss.
Oregon between 1907 and 1913.
Too much depression and not enough business
Hill’s Drug Store, located at 1210 Adams,
that’s all.” By the following June, C.D. Putman
in 1914 became Putnam’s Drug Store. It was
and his wife left La Grande and returned to
a Rexall store that offered much more than
Milton. Perhaps the building was named for C.
a remedy for your ills. It fi lled prescriptions,
D. Putnam (or Putman) because his business
developed fi lms, served both hot and cold bever- was located there longer than many of the oth-
ages and created ice cream sundaes. In addition ers even though it was not the fi rst.
it carried a large selection gift items more for
Just as in the early 1900s this block of Ad-
the ladies than for the gentlemen. There were
ams is undergoing construction on two build-
perfumes, powders, purses and, a favorite at
ings that will bring new businesses and new
that time, a variety of praline ivory items that vitality to downtown La Grande. Keep looking
women desired for their dressing tables.
up! Enjoy!
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For sandwiches
2 tablespoons mayonnaise,
divided
4 slices good bread
2 tablespoons unsalted
butter, divided
4 slices cheese, such as
Muenster, Swiss or cheddar
Make jam: Place tomatoes and
other ingredients into a large
saucepan over medium heat.
Bring to a gentle boil, then
reduce heat to a simmer. Cook
until thickened to a jam-like con-
sistency, 2 1/2-3 hours. Transfer to
sterilized glass jars and store in
refrigerator for up to two weeks.
For long-term storage, use a
hot-water canning bath for 15
minutes.
Make sandwiches: Spread 1/2
tablespoon mayonnaise over the
top side of each slice of bread.
Heat a small nonstick skillet
over medium heat and add 1
tablespoon of butter. After it melts,
place the slice of bread, mayo
side down, in the pan. Top with 2
slices of cheese and a generous
dollop of tomato jam; spread jam
to cover. Top with a second slice of
bread, mayo side up.
Cook until the bottom side is
golden brown, about 4 minutes,
then fl ip. Gently press down on
sandwich for even browning and
to help melt cheese. Cook until
second side is golden brown and
cheese is melted.
Remove from heat, and repeat
with remaining slices of bread and
cheese.
Serve immediately, with chips or
a green salad.
Makes two sandwiches.
— Gretchen McKay
ceremony. “People play that
style of basketball almost
throughout the league now
and it was a special, special
time because something big
was happening that we really
didn’t know was happening
at the time.’’
D’Antoni, who coached
Nash for four of his most suc-
cessful seasons, returned to
attend the ceremony.
“Steve is a great basketball
player,’’ D’Antoni said that
night. “But more importantly
Steve, you’re a good man.
I’m honored to have coached
Continued from Page 1B
Garden Chores
• Herbs such as parsley, rose-
mary, chives, basil, thyme, and
marjoram can be dug from the
garden and placed in pots now
for growing and use indoors for
the winter.
• Bring houseplants in for the
winter. Check them for insect
activity fi rst. Re-pot if necessary.
• Pick pears before they are
fully mature. Store in a cool,
dark basement to ripen.
• Bury or discard any spoiled
fallen fruits.
• Sow spinach to overwinter
under mulch for spring harvest.
• Autumn is a good time to
add manure, compost, or leaf
mold to garden soils for increas-
ing organic matter content.
*Seasonal loss of inner nee-
dles on conifers is normal this
time of year. It may be especially
noticeable on pines.
If you have garden questions
or comments, please write to
greengardencolumn@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading!
Steve for four years, but I’m
more than honored to be his
friend.’’
Nash eventually left for the
Los Angeles Lakers but his
deteriorating back brought
an end to his 18-year playing
career.
And the Suns went into a
downward spiral that saw
them missing the playoffs
for the last decade, although
an 8-0 run in the bubble has
the team optimistic about the
2021-22 campaign.
Meanwhile, in a surprise
move, the Brooklyn Nets have
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hired Nash as their head
coach.
He has no coaching experi-
ence. But you can bet the
Nets will be running hard
and shooting lots and lots of
3s.
Bob Baum, who grew up in
Union, retired last year after 43
years with The Associated Press,
the fi rst 23 in Portland and the
last 20 as a senior sports writer
based in Phoenix. He and his
wife Leah live in Island City
with their four cats and two
dogs.
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