KHTS AM 1220 and our City invites residents to join Mayor Laurene Weste and the City Council for Hit the Trail on Saturday March 20, 2010.

The West Ranch softball team gave the rest of the Foothill League a wake-up call by winning the Hart tournament over the weekend.

West Ranch beat Alemany, 7-3, in the championships game at Central Park on Saturday.

Kylie Sorenson knocked in two runs in the second inning and helped West Ranch build a 5-0 lead.

Bryanna De La Torre earned most valuable player honors for the tournament, collecting a hit and five stolen bases in the championship game against Alemany.

College of the Canyons Institute for Culinary Education (I-CuE) is inviting community members to fill their glasses and raise their cups in search of an answer to the age-old question - beer or wine?

Guests can cast their vote over six flavor-filled rounds of wine/beer tasting and food pairing competitions.  The college's culinary arts students will prepare a menu of exotic cuisines designed to accentuate each selection.

This dish started out as a way to use the last of the sage in my garden before the winter freeze turned it black. It is now a requested dish from friends and family alike. I thought you might enjoy it as well.

I now make these carrots any time during the year as I can buy sage from Albert, the very gracious herb vendor at College of the Canyons Farmer's Market or from my local grocery store.
If I have any fresh sage left, I snip off the stems and put the leaves on a paper plate to dry completely. They can then be stored in a glass herb jar for another use. The carrots are wonderful at the Farmer's Market too. Unless, of course, you invite your teenage daughter to go with you and then you have to wait for her to "get ready" and then, of course, the carrots are all gone! Oh well, there is always next Sunday. But this time, I am going by myself.

I made this recipe last night and to my surprise found that there were some carrots left in the sauté pan when it was time to clean up, kind of amazing for my house. I am going to make soup tonight and I will dice the left over carrots and add them to the soup...yum.

Serves 4

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2 pounds of carrots (approximately 12 carrots) peeled, ends removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt (I use Sea salt)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
Pepper to taste

Cut carrots in half. Cut each half into quarter's length wise. You will have about 6 cups of cut carrots. Put carrots into a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the carrots. Toss the carrots in the olive oil with your hands to distribute evenly. Sprinkle salt over carrots and toss again to distribute evenly. Pour enough water in the bottom of the baking dish to just cover the bottom. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

While carrots are cooking, melt butter on low heat in an 11 or 12 inch sauté pan and add sage. Stir sage and butter together to incorporate thoroughly. Continue stirring for 30 seconds or so, then turn off heat and let rest.

Remove foil from carrots and gently toss with a spatula. Continue to cook, uncovered for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The carrots will start to caramelize.

Remove baking dish from oven, let rest. Turn heat to low under sauté pan and warm sage and butter mixture. Using a slotted spoon or spatula add carrots to the sage and butter. Gently toss carrots in the butter. Taste, add more salt if you like and some fresh ground pepper. Of course feel free to add more butter if you wish.

This recipe can be easily doubled. Please divide the carrots among two baking dishes for cooking. Use a sauté pan that is at least three inches deep for tossing carrots in the sage butter.

I hope you enjoy these wonderful carrots.

-Erin

Erin Walgamuth has been an assistant Food Stylist for television and print for the past 26 years and writes this column using her own recipes.

Two members of the emergency preparedness team serving Providence medical centers in the San Fernando Valley were among a dozen experts honored for their work planning the 2008 ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill staged in part at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.