Full of beans in Fish Springs

The Fish Springs fire station was packed last Saturday, Sept. 8, for the annual spaghetti dinner and hoedown. It was a great community happening all right and most definitely a success. Our volunteer firefighters and their families certainly worked hard to make this a memorable evening for everyone. The main prize was won by Gary Jordan, our good Ruhenstroth neighbor. It was a dinner for two at J.T. Basque Bar & Dining Room, an overnight stay at the Carson Valley Inn - with a bottle of champagne and breakfast.

There were so many great raffle and auction items donated to the fire department. The auction raised $1,500, mostly from the donations of one of Mimi Jobe's beautiful limited edition prints that was framed by the Lone Tree Gallery and Karen Aleman's limited edition print of "Mustang Morning" framed by Art!Rageous. A giant thank-you to everyone who participated in any way. Did I mention all the folks who brought those decadent desserts and the ladies who manned the dessert table? Thanks to you all. The proceeds from this annual dinner-dance will go back into the community in the form of firefighting equipment and emergency medical supplies.

Green beans out your ears

Every day last week my husband picked a grocery bag full of his big, beautiful green beans. They are very easy to grow, even if your soil is not so great and a killer frost hits you in July or September. We were vacationing around the western states for a few weeks this summer and we didn't get home until the third week of June. No worry, Norbert planted the garden during the fourth week and even though we live in a short-growing season climate, we could still harvest a bountiful crop of delicious, nutritious, organic vegetables.

The green beans made it in 60 days from planting to picking. They can stand a lot of heat - which we certainly got this year. Bush green beans will keep on producing for several weeks, just as long as you continue to water them and pick them regularly. I like them best when they are young and thin. The older beans aren't as tender or juicy. I seldom can our vegetables as it seems like too much work. But I do like to freeze green beans when Norbert brings me a bunch just freshly picked.

After washing them and cutting off their ends, I scald them for one minute in boiling water and then quickly chill them in ice water. I dry them on paper towels and then put them in quart-sized freezer Ziploc bags. We really do love the frozen green beans and usually eat them all up within half a year. And now, would you like to hear my very special recipe for scrumptious green beans that are served at the Fish Springs Volunteer Fire Department's annual spaghetti dinner?

Sauté lots of fresh garlic in extra virgin olive oil until tender and then set aside. Then sauté lots of sliced fresh onions until cooked. Combine those two wonderful ingredients and add green beans and stewed tomatoes and simmer a couple hours until everything's cooked and delicious and the house smells wonderful. Then I add more seasoning - salt, pepper and yes, garlic powder.

Norbert (and me too I guess) once won a gardening contest from the "Mother Earth News" magazine as "the best organic garden in the western United States." Wow, that was a shock to both of us. And this was during a short 90-day growing season. That was back in 1985 and I remember it particularly because we vacationed in Hawaii to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in July so Norbert programmed the drip irrigation system to automatically water the crops. The prize was $200, a Weed Eater Power Hoe, a Ball canning set, an extension of our magazine subscription, and our pictures in the magazine's centerfold. Oh, did I forget to say lots of fan mail. Pretty cool, huh?

-- Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.