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Tuesday, June 28, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
JANE
HAGEN
123RF
No topping this
SHRIMP
& GRITS
dish
Unless,
of course,
you have
bacon
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
E
xcuse me for a minute
while I suck up to my
boss.
Not long ago, my editor mentioned in
passing that her favorite thing to eat is
shrimp and grits. Suddenly, and for rea-
sons as mysterious as they are inexpli-
cable, I was struck by a consuming desire
to write about shrimp and grits.
Fortunately, as with practically
everyone who has ever had it, I happen to
like shrimp and grits. I still remember the
first time I tried it: It was at a little neigh-
borhood bistro in Richmond, Virginia,
perhaps 30 years ago. Despite living only
a few hours from South Carolina, where
the dish originated and was popularized, I
had not even heard of it at the time.
I was instantly intrigued. Soft, creamy
grits topped with highly spiced, perfectly
prepared shrimp? It sounded amazing.
And it was. It was one of those dishes that
you know you are going to be ordering for
the rest of your life.
I don’t recall ever trying to cook it
before. But for the sake of my editor (more
sucking up!) I decided to make the best,
richest and creamiest shrimp and grits that
I possibly could.
And then I walked back that idea. I had
initially planned to use heavy whipping
cream in the grits, but no one needs that
many calories in their lives. Half-and-half
will be fine, I thought.
It was more than fine. It was spectac-
ular. Frankly, the heavy cream would only
have gilded the lily and then drowned it in
cream.
GARDENING WITH
GRANDMA
Plants are
ready for
fertilizer
N
Making shrimp and grits is a two-part
process. Part one is the grits. Part two, as
you have already deduced, is the shrimp.
Usually, grits are made just by pouring
hominy (treated cornmeal) into boiling
water and cooking it until the corn has
absorbed the liquid and become soft and
palatable.
But soft and palatable is not good
enough for the shrimp and grits I wanted
to make. I wanted my grits to have
oomph, to have pizzazz. I wanted them
so good that it would be an insult to call
them grits.
I began with stone-ground grits, which
are to grits what whole-grain flour is to
all-purpose flour. It includes the outer
part of the kernel, the part that gets stuck
in your teeth when you eat popcorn. This
process gives the grits more texture, but
that is less important than the fact that it
also gives them a richer taste of corn.
More significantly, I did not boil them
in water. Good cooks know that grains
always taste better when they are cooked
in a flavorful stock, so I used chicken
broth for half of my cooking liquid. The
other half was half-and-half.
See, Shrimp/Page B2
ow that maximum day-
light hours are here, our
plants will be growing
at their peak rate so this is a
good time to remember to fer-
tilize. For indoor plants, it’s
recommended that fertilizer be
applied at half strength. This
reduces the chance that full
application rates would burn
plants that can’t escape their
potted confinement.
All outdoor plantings made
just this year will also ben-
efit from a diluted strength
as well. Once root growth is
slowing down, a full-strength
application is fine. For estab-
lished perennials and shrubs,
they will be able to handle the
full-strength amount. How can
you tell when the root growth
has slowed down? When your
plants set flowers. This gives
you the go ahead sign to give
them that extra boost they will
need.
Mulching with two parts
garden compost to one part
steer manure is a good, general
purpose fertilizing mixture. It
also gives the added layer of
protection for soil temperature
stabilization. Plants that had
a leaf layer as winter protec-
tion should have had that layer
removed by now.
See, Fertilizer/Page B2
I was
instantly
intrigued.
Soft, creamy
grits topped
with highly
spiced,
perfectly
prepared
shrimp? It
sounded
amazing.
And it was.
123RF
Several types of blackberries
grow in the Pacific Northwest,
both native and invasive.
WENDY
SCHMIDT
BETWEEN THE ROWS
Blackberries
and their
yummy kin
Shrimp and grits, topped with
crispy bacon.
Hillary Levin/St. Louis
Post-Dispatch-TNS
Exploring the history of Goss Motors’ current home
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
T
he 1904 Sanborn map
shows there was a large
dwelling at 1416 Adams
Ave. in downtown La Grande.
Checking the city directory, we
find this was the home of Zora
E. Patty, where she offered fur-
nished rooms for rent. Records
show she was there until at least
1912.
The 1930 Sanborn map shows
a blacksmith shop at 1418 Adams
Ave., and the city director indi-
cates this was Bay & Barn-
baby Blacksmith. The shop
had been located there in 1893
when the Bay brothers were the
proprietors.
Until the early 1930s there
were a variety of wooden struc-
tures located in the eastern part
of this block. Prior to being
razed, various new and used car
dealers and other small busi-
nesses such as W.H. Lowe’s
Second Hand Store, Kemp’s
Second Hand Store, Ambrose
Wright Vulcanizing, Duffey’s
Confectionery and Art Jones
painting, paper hanging and
decorating shop occupied the
wooden buildings located at 1418-
1420 Adams.
Around 1930 Jullius Roesch
cleared a portion of this area,
next to the building now known
as Pat’s Alley, to construct a brick
building to be used as an annex
for Larison-Frees Chevrolet.
About this same time, Walter
Price and George Anderson
were planning to expand Piggly
Wiggly grocery sales by adding
store No. 2 into the original
Mackey Building, one of the last
wooden buildings, which was just
east of Roesch’s new building.
However, the city commission
determined the building wasn’t
safe and would not permit the
expansion. This was remedied
early in 1930 when it was decided
to tear down the existing building
and construct a brick building at
1422 Adams, the current Mackey
Building, for the grocery store
and to use the vacant lot on the
east side for a parking lot.
After Piggly Wiggly left
in 1942, the Mackey Building
was vacant for a time. The F&T
Trading Post was located there in
Fred Hill Collection
Downtown La Grande around 1927.
1945, followed by Fritz’s Trading
Post, Globe’s Used Furniture
and, in the 1980s and 1990s, Dol-
vin’s Appliances. Today, Goss
Motors occupies both the Mackey
Building and the building con-
structed by Roesch to the west.
Who was C.L. Mackey?
Claude Lebbeus Mackey was
born in Illinois in 1882. When
he was in his early 20s he moved
westward and arrived in Albany,
Oregon, where he was employed
in a food stable for four years.
There he met Nora Grace Bus-
sard, and the two were married
on Aug. 27, 1905. Right after the
wedding Nora and Claude left on
the train. After stopping in Port-
land for a few days they came on
to La Grande where Claude had
purchased a feed store, one that
happened to be in the 1400 block
of Adams.
See, History/Page B2
H
imalayan (Rhus arme-
niacus or R. Bifrons)
and evergreen (Rhus
laciniatus) blackberries are
invasive species. They grow
into huge mounds and impene-
trable thickets.
Himalayan blackberries
have lobed leaves composed
of three or five leaflets. Their
leaves are dark green on the
upper surface and gray-green
matte lower surface.
Evergreen blackberries
have deeply cut, lacey leaves.
Native blackberry or dew-
berry (Rhubus ursinus), are
vines which trail low to the
ground. Common blackberry
is a species thousands of years
old.
Blackberries are biennial
large shrubs of the family
Rosaceae. They grow from
either seeds or daughter
plants growing from arching
canes whose tips contact the
soil and grow roots. The first
year, blackberry plants do not
bloom. The second year plants
will flower, fruit, then die.
In late summer, berries
ripen and can be gathered for
jams, jellies, pies, and cob-
blers. Berries can be frozen or
canned for use at a later time.
See, Blackberries/Page B2