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Community sampler: Cooks, nature lovers, businesses share their wares

March, 2012 Posted in Community

By Mary Owen

Will Satak started cooking in Dutch ovens while camping in his youth.

“I discovered I could not exist on cold beans and so learned how to bake yeasted breads in the campfire – in a peach can,” said Satak, the director of Trails End Dutch Oven Society. “I enjoyed using ‘hobo’ and Native American methods to prepare camp foods. The ingenuity required when one has no proper pots is intriguing and satisfying. When allowed the use of an old and almost abandoned cast iron Dutch oven, my world of camp cooking broadened considerably.”

Satak will bring his expertise to the Santiam Marketplace Trade Fair and Outdoor Show on Saturday, March 3. The event, which showcases local merchants and nonprofits, takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stayton Middle School.  Admission is a can of food for the Stayton Community Food Bank, and shuttle rides will be available from Roth’s, Lakeside Assisted Living and Marian Estates to the school, no charge.

“The Marketplace will showcase over 100 local retail and service businesses, organizations and crafters,” said Kelly Schreiber, executive director for the Stayton/Sublimity Chamber of Commerce. It’s an opportunity to come together, to realize what we have to offer in our own area.”

Shreiber invites folks to “come and have fun while supporting the community!” Not only will Marketplace attendees get to purchase items and gather information, but they’ll also get to know the people behind the name, logo or product, Schreiber said.

“And vendors will be able to meet face to face with potential customers, share information, and provide some of that great customer service they’re famous for,” she added.

Glenn Hilton, co-hair of the event with Diannah Dolby, reported a scavenger hunt for adults will take place for the chance to win a prize.

“You pick up your registration form and go around and get stamps from different vendors,” he said. “At the end when you turn in your form, you are entered for a chance to win a prize, usually some kind of electronics.”

Hilton is also excited about Upward Bound’s Nature Museum, housed in a trailer that has been especially modified to showcase the wonders of nature, including animal tracks and traces and insights such as how creatures’ feet are designed for their survival.

“It’s their first showing in the area,” he said.

Hilton encourages people to come see the Nature Museum as well as Silver Falls State Park’s interpretive nature display, build a birdhouse, eat some fabulous food for sale (proceeds to Stayton High School FFA), visit the alpaca petting zoo, or just browse the many booths.

Satak and his wife, Corinne, will demonstrate their skills at the Marketplace, one of their favorite places to teach others about Dutch oven cooking.

“The camp Dutch oven can be used to prepare food quickly or very slowly, depending on your schedule,” Satak said. “Many heat sources may be used, making this an ideal method for preparing hot meals in emergencies.”

The Trails End Dutch Oven Society, founded as a family-oriented organization to promote the art and enjoyment of cooking in the cast iron Dutch oven, meets on the second Saturday of the month at parks throughout the Willamette Valley. Members have cooked and served thousands of samples at myriad locations, including the Marketplace.

“Folks can ask about all methods of camp cooking and emergency meal preparation during a power outage,” Satak said. On the menu will be tortellini soup, baked yeast breads, butter-fried fruit, peachy pecan cobbler, pie baking, and bread raising and steaming, Satak said. Samples of all the dishes will be handed out at no charge, he added.

“The free recipes for all the dishes we demonstrate may be requested online,” he said. Satak once cooked a complete meal for 200 at the 50th and last meeting of the On To Oregon Cavalcade, a reenactment group whose folks drove covered wagons on the Oregon Trail in 1959 from Independence, Miss. to Independence, Ore. for Oregon’s Centennial Celebration.

“Many of our group routinely cook their entire holiday meals in Dutch ovens and are very knowledgeable in their use,” he added.

For information on the Marketplace, contact the Stayton/ Sublimity Chamber of Commerce at 503-769-3464.