Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 25, 2016
By Pat Edwards
Things are pretty quiet in Lorane these days as far as news is concerned. The Lorane Growers’ Market continues to be busy. Jim brought home some luscious prunes that were left last week. He only brought me about a dozen to eat – which I did in short order – but he said there was a whole large box of them and they went fast once people discovered them. Pears were also brought in and lots of apples, squash and other produce. I need to get some of my ripe tomatoes down there, too. I don’t have a large garden… just a few tomato plants, one zucchini and one crookneck squash plant… but they are keeping us in fresh produce. Even our dog, Outlaw, is benefiting. I’m trying to get him to lose the weight… or at least not gain any more since he went on phenobarbital for seizures. The medication tends to increase appetite. I dice the large zucchini and cook and store it in the refrigerator to supplement his dry dog food. I was told to do this with canned green beans, but he likes the zucchini much better and gobbles it right down along with his pill. My plant production is slowing down, so I may have to begin checking out the growers’ market for oversize zucchini. That’s a first!
Speaking of zucchini… since I don’t have much community news to report… I’d like to thank Veneta resident, Karen Vosika, for sharing this great recipe with Groundwaters many years ago. It’s always a big hit with Jim and me this time of year when my mini-garden is producing. It’s called “Victory Garden Skillet” and best of all, it’s easy. Ingredients: 1 lb. hamburger; about 2 or 3 cups of diced zucchini, 1 cup of uncooked rice; 1 large diced onion; 1 or 2 sliced tomatoes; 3 beef bouillon cubes; ½ tsp dry mustard; 2½ cups water; 6 slices of cheddar cheese; salt and pepper to taste.
Brown the hamburger in large skillet; add rice, onion, zucchini, bouillon cubes, dry mustard and water. Boil, stir and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in or layer on top (I prefer to layer) the cheese and tomato. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes so the cheese will melt over the top. Delicious!
I just completed the layout for a new book that Groundwaters was asked to publish by author, Joe Blakely. It will be of interest to not only local baseball fans and history buffs, but to our own community because it is about Lorane’s neighbor to the southwest, Drain, Oregon. It’s called The Drain Black Sox of Oregon vs The Alpine Cowboys of Texas; The Glory Days of Semi-Pro Baseball: 1930-1960 by Joe Blakely. It’s a great book that contains a lot of names of those who played for the Drain Black Sox that most sports fans will recognize. The book recounts in detail the 1958 National Semi-Pro Championship game between these two teams. “Who’da thunk” that such a small community could field a championship team?
We published the book this past week and more information on it can be found on the Groundwaters website at http://www.groundwaterspublishing.com/Bookstore.html.
School for the C-A-L School District starts on Tuesday, September 6… the day after Labor Day. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
All Things Lorane 