Ive decided that I am an action news reporter.?
Why not? A lot of other people are doing it right now.
Putting that label on myself makes me feel like I have my own soundtrack and am constantly looking over my shoulder and striking a heroic pose.
If those TV reporters can call themselves action reporters? every five minutes, certainly I could qualify to be among that self-proclaimed group.
I have the credentials. Ive stomped around in brown boots along the Sacramento River, flown in a helicopter over groundwater recharge areas, tromped through wetlands and restoration areas, driven down dusty roads, dodged falling walnuts during harvest and listened through hundreds of hours of political wrangling.
Whats not action about that?
I think of real action reporters? as people like Marlin Perkins on Wild Kingdom,? racing around in helicopters and shooting tranquilizer darts at large animals. The term makes one think of those guys rolled up in parkas with hurricanes raging behind them, or camouflage-clad journalists giving their reports while gunfire erupts behind them.
This all makes me pause to think about the real action heroes? in this community. It makes me think of Jennifer Oman, who is trying to educate people that all the gunk we put into the storm gutters runs into our creeks.
I think of Bill Such, who runs the Jesus Center. He crusades to help homeless people while encouraging the community to see them as people and not just something to avoid with your eyes.
One of my newsroom buddies brought up Tami Ritter, who worked for the homeless for years and now heads Habitat for Humanity. Another said John Nopel, who shares his fascination with history and helps us look back at our world.
I, on the other hand, will remain a self-proclaimed action figure, battling tomato hornworms and snails.
Seeing green
Weather is changing and the green tomatoes are in abundance.
About a month and a half ago I was lamenting that my tomatoes werent setting fruit. I had many blooms, but they would all just die off. So I contacted Cass Mutters at the Cooperative Extension office and he said to tickle the tomatoes to help pollinate them.
I taught Tommy as well and weve been tickling fools.
The tomato plants have responded, but now the leaves are falling from the trees and the tomatoes are big, but green.
When I first started gardening, I read that you can bring tomatoes in and have them ripen indoors. The University of Minnesota Extension Service gives some tips:
Select good-looking fruits, gently wash and store them in a dark place. The counter, a box or a plastic bag with holes in it is recommended.
They wont be as tasty as the summer tomatoes, but they should be better than what you can buy at the store.
I tried this one year, but found it just turned into a mess. It attracted fruit flies and the fruit got all wrinkly.
Some people delight in fried green tomatoes, such as Jessica Tandys character in that Southern chick-flick.
The Style? section editor was quite excited about green tomatoes when we talked recently. She said that anything, even green tomatoes, when deep fried and dipped in bread crumbs would be yummy.
Of course she is correct.
I found some simple recipes online at http://southernfood.about.com.
Baked up
Take about four green tomatoes and cut into half-inch slices. Arrange in a greased baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Add a half cup of brown sugar, about 3/4 cup buttery cracker crumbs and butter.
Bake at 350 until theyre tender, but still firm, which should be about half an hour.
Fritters
Heres another one that sounds just a little different than your standard fried style.
Take two cups peeled and chopped green tomatoes. Combine with two cups of corn scraped from corn on the cob. Season with sugar, salt and pepper. Add two eggs and a cup of milk and enough for it just to hold everything together. Deep fry.
Another recipe calls for simply dipping tomatoes in cornmeal, adding salt and pepper and deep frying.
