Last week I had a few hours in between cooking classes before I met my friend Linda for a drink in Mission Bay, and then we went to the cooking class together. So I drove out to La Jolla. For those of you who don’t know how to pronounce it – it’s la hoy-ya. The J is prounouced as a y, as in yah. I’ve heard people in other parts of the world trying to say joll-a, as in jolly. Nope. Anyway, since I grew up in San Diego (La Jolla is a very upscale northern suburb of San Diego, right on the ocean) I know the main streets and the back roads. I parked at La Jolla Cove, a rather famous San Diego/La Jolla landmark and took out my pens, pencils and brushes and did some drawing and painting. It was very relaxing. I snapped this photo a few blocks from the Cove, although it was quite overcast. Cool too. Since we live about 10-15 miles from the ocean, we rarely go there, so it was nice to listen to the lapping waves and the squawking shore birds for a couple of hours.
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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.
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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):
Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.
A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.
Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.
Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.
The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.
If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.
The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.
How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.
The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.
The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.
The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.
The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.
The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.
The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.
A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.
The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.
A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.
Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.
North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.
A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.
Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.
Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.
Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.
All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.
The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.
Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.
Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.
The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”
Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.
Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.
Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.
The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.
A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.
The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.
In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.
Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.
The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.
Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.
Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.
Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.
Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.
The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.
Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.
The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.
Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.
Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.
The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.
The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.
My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.
Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.
Tasting Spoons
My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.
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Posted in Travel, on November 9th, 2008.
Posted in Travel, on October 13th, 2008.
The north side of Mt. Lassen, California.
We’re actually home – got home late last night – but I hadn’t posted photos of some of the places we visited. I’m not back into the cooking routine yet, but hopefully will be by tomorrow or the next day.
If you’ve never driven the I-5 (it goes from the Mexican border clear to Canada) then you may have missed driving through the northern reaches of California with the high peaks. I posted a picture of Mt. Shasta a few days ago. You can see Shasta from the freeway, it’s that close. But we decided, this time, that we would also drive to Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is further inland (about 80 miles east of the I-5). It’s a much smaller National Park, but the drive through it a few days ago was really spectacular. There are a few steam blow-holes within the park, but with the temperature below freezing and the wind blowing, we opted (well, I opted) not to park and walk to see the small geysers.
Mt. Lassen from the south side where the sun melted much of the snow. It was 29 degrees and blowing like crazy when I snapped this picture.
Some years ago I bought a National Park Senior Pass (a lifetime pass available for seniors at a reasonable cost, and allows the car – and its passengers – I’m in to enter every National Park in our land at no charge). The morning we drove into Lassen it was a weekday, and we encountered just a handful of other cars. There’s something very special about viewing spectacular scenery when you’re the only people looking at it. It always makes me think about the westward-ho pioneers, and what they thought when they came by covered wagon through those parts.
Mt. Lassen has several lakes within its boundaries. This one is very near the north entrance.
Accommodations in and outside of the park are a bit sparse. After looking online I decided we wouldn’t stay there, which is why we spent the night before in Shasta and made Lassen a morning drive instead. Next time you’re up there, don’t miss it.
Posted in Travel, on October 12th, 2008.
The Jerk Pork Chop at Bistro 33, Eldorado Hills, CA
We drove to Placerville – the town where one of our daughters lives, with her family. We came specifically because Dana celebrated her 40th birthday on the 11th. I can’t quite believe I have a daughter who is 40. Wow. So we came a couple days early and had some good quality family time with them, and had a big family party – all the food Dana wanted to eat. Her mother-in-law, Ann, is a really good cook, and her claim to fame is Mexican food. I’ll likely write up a post about the dinner we had at some point.
Niman Ranch New York Steak with Four Sauces at Bistro 33, Eldorado Hills
One night we went out to dinner – just the adults – and went to a relatively new restaurant near where they live. Eldorado Hills is a mostly bedroom community, I think, with a very large contingent of custom homes for people who commute into Sacramento. Placerville, named for the placer mines during the Gold Rush, is about halfway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. It’s woodsy, at a mid-altitude, so they don’t get as much snow as at Tahoe, and not quite the heat they do in Sacramento in the summertime. A happy medium I guess you could say.
The delish lamb and pork meatloaf at Bistro 33, Eldorado Hills
Anyway, we ate at Bistro 33, a hip, upscale Pacific Nothwest-style restaurant in the fancy Town Center (kind of looks like a narrow Paris street) in Eldorado Hills. It was really, really good, and I’d definitely go back! It was crowded, noisy (the bar was jumping the entire time we were there), and the food was very good. You’ll see some pictures here (not very good ones, I’ll admit, because the lighting was so dim I had to use flash), interspersed within this text of some of the things we ate. For appetizers we had a good crab and artichoke dip, and an ahi poke too. Dana had a big Caesar salad, and she and Todd shared a Niman Ranch New York Steak prepared with four sauces. Dave had a pork chop prepared Jerk style on a bed of grilled corn and tomatoes. I ordered a meatloaf (lamb and pork) that came with chunked mashed potatoes and asparagus spears. And for dessert we had some great, GREAT pumpkin gelato. Am going to have to go on a search for a recipe for that. It was exceptional.
Dana knew about this restaurant because she knows the chef there. Lisa Marie Murtadh used to run a sandwich shop (and catering company) in downtown Placerville. At one time Dana’s office was just upstairs from this shop, so she visited there often. She got to know Lisa Marie really well, and was so thrilled for her when she was offered the job as Chef at Bistro 33. Judging by the crowd, I’d say she’s doing a great job with the food!
Eldorado Hills isn’t going to be on the radar for a lot of people who read my blog, but it was worth the trip (it’s about 30 minutes from Placerville toward Sacramento), but if you’re ever up this way, or on your way to Tahoe, make a reservation (a must, I think, on weekends).
Posted in Travel, on October 9th, 2008.
We’re back in California after a moderate day of driving. Our last night in Oregon was in Coos Bay (the only thing memorable was an exceedingly inexpensive dinner at a great old-style Italian restaurant called Benetti’s). Dave took a walk on the docks across the street from the Best Western we stayed in, and had asked a local where to eat. So the next morning we headed inland (we decided we really didn’t have time to drive down the coast to Eureka and still do the things we wanted to do in the next day or so), so we headed toward Roseburg and then onto the I-5 south.
My cousin Gary spends time every year in Ashland with a group of friends at the Shakespeare Festival, and he’s raved many times about the charming town, the great restaurants, and all about the variety of theaters. Unfortunately I hadn’t planned on us staying there, so we just stopped for lunch, and will have to stay there next time we go through. Had a delightful lunch at a café right on the stream that meanders through town. It was cool, but sunny, so enjoyed sitting outside soaking up some warmth and a delicious hamburger that Dave and I shared, along with the restaurant’s specialty – fries with garlic and feta cheese. Eh. Not memorable except for the location.
I’d scheduled us to stop in Mt. Shasta (the town at the foot of the peak), so had written down one B&B I thought we’d like, and one highly recommended restaurant. Wow, did we luck out. Since we weren’t sure where we would stop, I hadn’t made reservations. Good old Trudi, our GPS, got us right to the door of Shasta MountINN. As luck would have it, there was one room left. The B&B is a few blocks from downtown, has a stunning view of Mt. Shasta (covered in snow above), and has many amenities (like the high-speed internet I’m using to blog), a sauna, even a massage studio. We sat outside in the cool mountain air and read books and relaxed for a couple of hours before leaving to go to dinner. The picture above I snapped from the front porch of the B&B.
I’d also researched restaurants and had read up about a place called the Trinity Café (no website and it’s about to change its name to Salt H2O at Trinity). By looking at several sources, it was a sure thing. And if you’ve ever been to Mt. Shasta, the town, it’s not very big, so it was amazing to find such a great restaurant in this town. We absolutely lucked out on all counts. Our dinner was more reasonable than many we’ve had on this trip, and is worth a stop if you’re ever up this way. The restaurant has a new owner and chef since many online reviews were written.
Dave ordered raw oysters on the half shell, which he said were the best he’s had in years. The bluepoints came from a bay in Canada. I ordered a grilled Caesar salad and a half order of St. Louis ribs. Most of the menu is French inspired, or California French (the chef’s wife is French), but ribs just sounded good to me. Dave ordered cedar-planked salmon. Then we had an order of chocolate crepes for dessert. We had a long conversation with the chef/owner, Norm Henry, about his wines – most of what he carries is Nichelini, one of the oldest wineries in California. Dave was impressed and wants to inquire further about it which we’ll do once we’re home. We’re not going to Napa/Sonoma wine country on this trip.
So, if you’re ever going north or southbound on the I-5, Mt. Shasta is great stopover for a nice B&B and dinner.
Posted in Travel, on October 8th, 2008.
We stopped in one of the small towns that dot the Oregon coast and sat on the short wall watching the waves. Dave said “it looks like an angry sea.” Sometimes this bay is flat calm, but yesterday the current was coming from a different direction (information we got from a local) so the waves were plowing straight into the cove. There’s a blow-hole down below the “Oregon waves” words that the gentleman said sometimes blow clear up over the wall and onto the street. The weather was perfect yesterday – in the 60’s, bright shiny blue sky, puffy clouds and even a considerable amount of mist in the air (from the ocean, not weather type). It was a beautiful drive. We were grateful for the sunshine!
Posted in Travel, on October 7th, 2008.
When we visited Oregon wine country ten years ago I had plotted the trip from the get-go. Sometimes we don’t make reservations anywhere, but more often than not I decide where I think we should stay, get ideas for restaurants and have a general idea of our itinerary. So those many years ago I’d booked us into Salishan, a venerable old (big) country inn/resort. It’s just barely inland from Highway 101, at Gleneden Beach, on the meandering coast road that traverses the Western states. Back then, though, I chose a cheaper room with no view. Even then it was pricey. But after talking about it, in prep for this trip, we both agreed we’d like to come back and splurge for a nicer room, with a view. When we travel we usually splurge somewhere along the trip. Budget travel, to me anyway, means we spend less than $100 a night for a room. Generally, though, it’s a bit over that.
So, why Salishan? It reminds me of 1960-era country club life. It has several restaurants, a golf course, exercise room and indoor pool (the indoor a necessity in this part of the world where it rains about 11+ months a year. But oh, is it green. We, from Southern California, get so used to the dry, desert terrain, and welcome for a short time the lush, moist, wet weather of the Pacific Northwest. There were younger people around when we arrived yesterday, even some young children, so at least it isn’t just catering to the old folks, like us. We had a beautiful room, with fireplace and a deck. Dave sat out on the deck, sheltered from the mist, and read a book while I worked here on my computer, giving you the post from yesterday.
Salishan has a reputation for good food, and indeed it was delicious. Dave ordered lamb chops and I had halibut with a delicious candied pineapple rice with it. And some garlic pan-fried spinach. The staff recommended the Dungeness crab bisque. We ordered one serving, divided between us. It was scrumptious. And then, the server highly recommended the Marionberry crisp with vanilla ice cream. Oh my, yes. It was drop-dead fabulous. Marionberries are unique to Oregon, so remember that when you visit here, try them in lots of foods.
We’re off today, heading south toward California. We’re now on our return leg home, but we won’t get there for several more days. We’re hoping the weather will improve a bit today. We’ve had four days of rain, non-stop.
Posted in Travel, on October 6th, 2008.
It rained heavily the entire drive to Portland (and the two days since). Fortunately most of the driving from Walla Walla was on a 4-lane freeway, so it was a bit safer. I don’t have any pictures of the darling B&B we stayed in, in Portland – you’ll just have to go online to check it out – the Rose Cottage B&B. Except for a one-hour delay because of an accident, our GPS drove us right to the door and we settled into our lovely suite. The B&B, although described as “American Farmhouse,” is very up to date – comfortable furnishings, very comfortable bed, even a fireplace in our room, a jacuzzi tub, and fabulous breakfasts. Sally, the proprietor, outdoes herself making sure nobody leaves there hungry! We would definitely stay there again.
I did all the driving that day (getting to Portland), so was more than a bit tired by the time we got there about 6 pm. We had dinner at a local restaurant (not exceptional, but okay), slept well, and then the following day was “my day” to do Portland.
Because I’m a book lover, it’s almost like a pilgrimage to visit Powell’s Book Store in the Pearl District of downtown Portland. We’d been there before about 8 years ago, but that time I only got to spend about 2 hours there. Not nearly enough. This time the whole day was allocated, but after 4 hours my back was killing me from bending over, up, down, up down, scanning shelves and balancing books on my hip. I had a long list of books that I wanted to buy – all used if I could find them. I’d printed them up on a list, in alpha order by author (most were fiction). All the books were recommended by someone in one of my two book groups. After directing my DH to the section he wanted to see, and agreeing to meet in the coffee shop in 2 hours (the first time), I just went everywhere. After finding about 6 of the books from my list, I deposited them with Dave and I merrily went off for another 2 hours to the cookbook section.
My hope was that I’d find Lindsey Shere’s book of Desserts. I’d found it a few places online (used, as it’s no longer in print), but hoped maybe Powell’s would have it. And yes, indeed, they did, but would you believe the original price was $25.00 and the used copy at Powell’s was $35.00. Guess it’s become a collector’s item. Maybe one day I’ll discover a bookstore – an obscure one that doesn’t know better – and I’ll find a copy for $5.00 Maybe. The cookbook section at Powell’s is the largest I’ve ever seen in any bookstore – but then, Powell’s is one of the largest bookstores in the United States, so it stands to reason. Most of the cookbooks were new, and any that were used were not ones I desired to own. I must have found about 20 new cookbooks that I’d like to own. But no, I passed them up and just bought 7 used paperbacks.
That night we dined a 23Hoyt, a relatively new restaurant in the Nob Hill section of Portland. We didn’t eat lunch (if you could have seen what our hostess at the B&B served us for breakfast, you might go without lunch AND dinner), so we had made reservations early, at 5:30. Our food was fabulous, and I’d definitely recommend the restaurant. It’s a bit on the pricey side, but the food was excellent, so I always feel like the money is well spent if it’s really good food. I ordered grilled scallops on a bed of butternut squash puree that night and my DH ordered a steak served on a bed of roasted corn (I snagged a couple of forks full of the corn and pronounced it excellent too). I also ordered an arugula salad with Asian pear that was very tasty. And I had a Peach Fizz – a mixture of prosecco and fresh peach puree. Yummy. We didn’t have dessert.
So, yesterday morning we headed south to the Willamette (weh-lamm-ett) Valley, the home of most of the well-known Oregon wineries. Dave was in his element, going from one winery to another sampling this and that (mostly pinot noir). He started sampling at about 11am, so I was the designated driver. As for pinot, though, we/he need more pinot like we need a hole in the head, but that’s what this part of the West is known for. As of this morning (after more stops) we have 14 bottles in the back seat of the car. Some years ago when we were here we were fortunate to meet Matt Keene, the owner/winemaker at McKinlay. He’s an elusive kind of guy, but somehow we managed to get him to agree to let us see the winery (it’s not open to the public and apparently he rarely sees visitors). We had hoped to stop there again, but I was nursing a bit of a toothache by that afternoon, and some kind of allergy symptoms, so we went to the drug store for me rather than go to McKinlay. However, Dave was able to find a bottle of it at one of the group tasting rooms he visited this morning. There are so many new wineries here than 8 years ago. Our hostess at the Portland B&B recommended several wineries to us (Arcane, Methven, Bergstrom, Sincanne, among others. We made it to some of them, not all.
The rain has let up today some (more like all-day mist), but it’s still very cloudy. I was going to take a photo of our windshield (the rain) but forgot when it was pouring down. Just what you-all want to see is a windshield full of raindrops, right? So the pictures here are from 23Hoyt that we enjoyed so much.
We’re off now to the Oregon coast, so hope to post another something tomorrow if I can. I do have internet access, but it’s not a strong signal, so uploading is difficult. We spent last night at McMinnville, a really adorable town in the middle of Willamette Valley. Had a passable dinner at the Golden Valley Brewery. My tooth was still bothering me, so wanted something easy. I’ve apparently aggravated the nerve on a tooth (per a phone call to my dentist at home), so need to be careful for a few days, chewing on the other side of my mouth and eating sort of soft foods.
Posted in Travel, on October 5th, 2008.
Well, I don’t think I had ever been there before. When I was planning this trip (I do all the trip planning in our marriage, plotting the days, towns, finding places to stay so we don’t end up at a Motel 6 because there’s nothing left, and researching sights to see as well as restaurants) my DH Dave said he wanted to do a little wine tasting in or around Walla Walla. Having never been to the town before I had to do some research. First up was finding a place to stay. There were the usual motel chains, none of which interested me. There is a big, lovely renovated historic hotel in town too, but we generally skip those kinds of accommodations and prefer B&Bs. Sure enough, I found one. The Inn at Blackberry Creek. Now let me just tell you, if you EVER have to be in WW, or are willing to take a short detour off the main highway, WW is one great little town. I measure great little towns in two ways – great place(s) to stay, and great place(s) to eat.
Lest you think that WW is a back horse town, let me dissuade you. It’s not a large town by any means, but if you measure the quality of a town by the quality of its B&Bs, WW is certainly up there in the top 10 of the west. We only stayed one night (a mistake we soon discovered), but that was because I didn’t know anything about this little berg, the wineries nearby, or the choice of restaurants to try. First, before we’d even found the B&B, we stopped at Amavi winery (that’s pronounced ah-mah-vee). The owner or winemaker there recommended we eat dinner at a local restaurant called CreekTown Café, on 2nd street at the far west end of town.
Our GPS has been a life-saver on this trip. It makes navigation such a breeze. We call her Trudi (the car itself, but particularly the GPS voice). The car (mine) is a BMW, and since we picked this car up in Munich when it was new (some years ago now) we decided she needed a German name, and Trudi it’s been. So even though we’re sensible people and know the GPS is nothing but a software program connected to satellite, we still think of the car and the GPS as Trudi/Her. We do talk to her now and then, and even raise our voices occasionally when her navigation commands override the Patricia Cornwell mystery-book-on-tape we were listening to yesterday, when she interrupted to tell us to “Exit the Highway at the Next Exit,” or the worst of all phrases “if possible, make a legal U-turn.” And yes, she told us that a couple of times too. But, we were thankful Trudi was on duty when we got into the thick of traffic in Portland. And even though she didn’t know all the back streets of Walla Walla, her mapping told us how to find the B&B.
So, the Inn: it is beautifully situated on several acres of land, surrounded by trees, and even a large pond and a creek, of course. The house (a vintage Victorian) is roomy and not overly decorated in Victoriana, thankfully. Our room was large, with a small deck and Jacuzzi, on the ground floor. It’s been beautifully restored and brought up to date with modern bathrooms and fixtures. We had wi-fi too, which is how I posted one of my stories yesterday. More and more inns and B&Bs have wi-fi, and for that I’m grateful. They even have a computer that’s available for guests to use, but I couldn’t upload photos from there, so was glad I could connect up my laptop.
We had planned to visit several wineries, but after going to Amavi, my DH decided that he had already purchased enough wine (6 bottles of Cab), and wants to save room for more wines of the Willamette Valley (our next stop on Sunday). He wanted to stop at Abeja, but that winery must make some very special wine – they’re completely sold out. No wine tasting by appointment. Nope. My DH was very disappointed. So, we’re going to have to go back to WW on another trip to be sure we visit more of them.
So anyway, we made phone reservations at the CreekTown Café before we checked in. Washington, Oregon and Idaho are all casual places – even blue jeans are a go almost anywhere. The food was outstanding. I ordered a green salad with blackberries. Oh my. So very delicious. Dave ordered a locally grown beet salad that he thought was about the best beet salad he’d ever had, bar none. Now that’s high praise, as he orders them whenever he finds them on a menu. I didn’t taste it, nor did I get a photo of it, sorry to say. Dave ordered fresh halibut, which he said was fabulous. I ordered a vegetarian lasagna, and although it was good, it wasn’t off the charts. It contained plenty of veggies, and a nice fresh tomato sauce puddle around it, but it just didn’t have tons of flavor. So, since the entrees weren’t all that heavy, we decided to splurge on dessert. I ordered a banana caramel tart, and Dave had a huckleberry cheesecake. If men swooned, he did. My tart was exceptional, I must say. By dessert time, the ambient lighting had been turned down to an 8 pm romance setting in the restaurant, so my photos didn’t turn out. Even trying to enhance them was useless. But at least you get to see the blackberry salad. We also spent a bit of time with one of the owners talking wine. I had ordered a L’Ecole red, Dave ordered a chardonnay with his fish, but later the co-owner brought him a Syrah that he really liked a lot.
So, the bottom line is – make a side trip to Walla Walla, and be sure to book a room at the Inn at Blackberry Creek, and have dinner at the CreekTown Café. Okay? Got it?
Posted in Travel, on October 4th, 2008.
How could you ask for anything more beautiful than this? The other evening when we were having dinner with our friends from Cougar Gulch (SW Coeur d’Alene), they included friends of theirs, Mark & Alicia. Now Mark is an outdoorsman of the first order. So we were told, year around in these parts (where it snows and ices with regularity in the winter months), he used to bicycle to and from work, some 10 miles each way. He’s retired now, but still does a lot of active sports. So, it came as no surprise that one day recently he bicycled and hiked up to the top of the one of the peaks around Hayden Lake. And he snapped this photo. Mark reads my blog, I discovered, so perhaps he’ll put in a comment and tell us which way is north, or where the town is in this picture. I don’t know the lake well enough, although most of the homes are around the north, west and south sides, closer to the town of Hayden. But is that shot not gorgeous? Thanks, Mark, for sharing your exquisite photo. (We’re way west of Idaho now, in Portland, Oregon, to be exact, but I couldn’t leave Idaho without showing all of you this pretty photo.)
Posted in Travel, on October 3rd, 2008.
A view of Lake Pend Oreille in Northern Idaho, from our friends, Bob & Barbara’s boat
Sorry I wasn’t able to post much in the last couple of days – no wireless network to connect to – and I know what a difference it makes to see photos rather than just some text – otherwise I would have just posted a short message with no photos. Our other friends, Bob & Barbara, live on Hayden Lake, a town about 15 miles north of Coeur d’Alene. And yes, Hayden has its own lake that is just gorgeous. When we arrived at our friend’s home, almost immediately we took a tram down their steep incline below their home and went out on their pontoon boat for a champagne cruise. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful if we’d ordered it. Bright sunshine, sparkling water, surrounded by a bounty of trees (mostly pine, also some cedar, I think) and steep hills and mountains. I forgot to take any photos. So sorry! I was having just too much fun.
We went out to dinner that night to a place in Coeur d’Alene, then the next day they took us north to a town called Bayview. There is a lake further north of Hayden that is gigantic – huge – with 50 miles of shoreline. It’s called Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced pen-door-ray as in French). It’s a natural lake, over 1000 feet deep in places, and has a U.S. Navy research facility there where the government tests submarines. It’s off limits, of course, but we did spot one of the odd-looking ¾-size subs they use for the research. But, in Bayview there is a community of homes as well as “floating homes.” Our friends own one of these cute floating homes. You walk out on a dock and most of the homes are about 15 feet wide (that’s a guess), and about 30 feet deep (that’s also a guess). They sit on cedar logs, have no propulsion on them, and are either one or two stories high. Bob & Barbara own a 2-story one with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a “garage” that houses the little fishing boat that sits in the water year around. So, off we went on that little boat for another hour or so cruise on just that part of the lake. It was interesting to see the variety of floating homes (there are strict laws about these homes – they’re not permitting any new ones – period – and dock vs. floating home spaces are at a premium. These homes cost anywhere from $50,000 to over a million. Imagine that! We went into a beautiful cove at the very tip of one of the fingers of the lake, also spotted a variety of mountain goats munching away on grass on the steeper inclines.
That night I sort-of made dinner – I just made the entrée – my chicken with mustard crumb topping served on a bed of onions. Barbara made a green salad and some delicious green beans. Their house sits right on the water, and watching the sunset from their home, which faces west, was just beautiful. We had such a nice visit with them. Thank you, Bob & Barbara! They also own a home in Palm Desert, like we do, so we will see them again in a few months when they come south for the winter. As beautiful as Idaho is, the winters up here are long and dreary. The snow and ice don’t make driving very easy either.
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