lummi island wine tasting Halloween weekend ’15

(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)

Friday Breads (email us to get on the preorder mailing list! )

dscn1364 (Modified)Barley Rye with Pumpkin Seeds – What to do with all those pumpkin seeds? Why put them in bread of course! This bread is a nice mix of flours, regular bread, barley, fresh milled rye, and whole wheat with a little buttermilk and honey along with those pumpkin seeds. – $5/loaf.

Semolina Levain – Made with bread and semolina flours with a touch of freshly milled whole wheat and a bit of butter which softens the crumb. Semolina makes for a beautiful golden loaf and adds a nice nutty flavor. – $5/loaf

Egg Bread with Honey & Dried Apples- Aka “the best Shiksa Challah ever.” This bread is loaded with eggs, honey, butter, milk and apples. Then, instead of braiding into a large challah loaf it is made into a single braid roll and sprinkled with poppy seeds. A delicious treat – 2/$5

 

Reflection Reflection

dscn1362 (Modified)Again today. saw Heron on today’s walk. Again didn’t have camera ready when it spotted us, took off, landed further down the slough, so settled for a shot after landing. As you can see in the reflection, LI’s reefnet fishing boats have now been hauled out for the season, and Heron stands in their reflection amid a Monet-inspiring fall tapestry…!

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

dscn1360 (Modified)Last week our friend Sam came in ready for Halloween, just a week early! Those glowing pumpkins on her head bob around merrily (or ominously, as you prefer) as she moves, reminding us that this Saturday is Halloween and we are Open for our usual hours, 2-6! Guests are encouraged to don costumes, face paint, Hallow-bling (?) and the like in celebration (yes, Friday, too, why not?).

Most original “costumes” win free tastings!*

(* yes, yes, clip-on pumpkins Are Cute, but you are gonna need Something More to get those free tastings…just sayin’!)

 

 

Lamenting the Loss of the Free Press

Okay, so I admit I am Grumpy about the Debates. It’s a Small Thing, really, and now I’ve had time to reflect on it, I do find I am more Accepting. But, yes…still Grumpy. That’s because out here on the Fringes of Civilization, there hasn’t been Free TV for a decade, since TV went Digital. Before that, we were quite content for fifteen or twenty years with the daily rituals of holding the Rabbit Ears in one hand and carrying them around the living room, holding them This Way and That Way in order to bring in one of the three or four stations available (sort of) to us. During those years our primary choices were Canadian, and we learned a lot about Canadian politics and “humor,” and that was fun. I regret to say that picture quality was never sufficient actually to follow the puck in any of the eighteen or so hockey games broadcast every day for, oh, eight or nine months of the year, so I never have figured out what exactly was going on on the ice; but, ah, I digress.

The point here is that for the last ten years or so, we have not been able to access Ordinary Television. Internet, yes, Television, no. That’s because with the Shift to Digital, it became impossible to watch television without a Cable Connection. Fast forward to Now: if you are a Citizen with a Legitimate Interest in the Next Election, and you want to watch or listen to the Candidates’ Debates, you must purchase a Cable Subscription. Just think about that for a minute, because it’s a little breathtaking, another Important Public Perk (read: “right”) that the Corporations managed to Privatize and Charge us for.

Maybe it has always been this way. Maybe we Elders happened to grow up in some Halcyon period when the technology of radio and television outpaced for a few decades our genetic predisposition to Feudalism/Oligarchy, so maybe I should be grateful for the giddy little lapse we enjoyed between WWII and Ronald Reagan. But I have to say, at some gut level, I am Very Disturbed by the fact that unless you pay, you can’t listen to or watch debates among the candidates for President of our Country. I mean, really, is this Really Happening?

Neverclear Tonic Water

According to legend, an Inca suffering from malaria some 500 years ago took a drink from a pool of water under a cinchona tree and was cured. However, the first documented use of cinchona bark against malaria was 1630, also in Peru,  and for the next 300 years quinine (kwahy-nahyn) extracted from its bark was the only known “cure” for malaria across the world. British soldiers in India, required to take quinine daily to ward off malaria, found that in therapeutic doses it was unpleasantly bitter. Informal but motivated research eventually proved that mixing it with soda water (and maybe some lime) made it much more palatable and no less effective. Thus began the evolution of the gin and tonic!

The first commercial tonic water was produced in 1858. Though it has been nearly a hundred years since quinine was used against malaria, the bitter refreshment of “tonic water” has remained popular worldwide. Unfortunately it is often sweetened with high fructose corn syrup or sugar, and the quinine itself is extracted from the bark using heavy-duty hydrochoric or sulfuric acid.

Enter our Local Hero, Jim Campbell, who, finding those techniques were Too Harsh, has developed a more user-friendly extraction technique using citric acid. He then combines the quinine with his own natural herbal extracts to make his Tonic Water Syrup: just add soda water and lime (and gin or vodka as you prefer), and Voila, the World’s Best G&T, Natural and Delicious! link

And YES, we ARE pouring samples this weekend (sorry, no gin or vodka!)

 

This week’s wine tasting

Mionetto Gran Rosé sparkling wine     Italy   $16
An unusual blend of Lagrein and Rabosa; Persistent bubbles with notes of pink grapefruit, pomegranate and black currant, with a hint of wild roses, with intense flavors of fresh raspberry and refreshing acidity.

Cougar Crest Viognier ’14    Washington    $14
Heady floral, citrus, and melon aromas aromas; rich texture with pear, peach and tropical fruit flavors and a smooth honey-like finish.

Anciano 5-year Tempranillo   Spain    $11
From 30-year old vines; aged one year in oak and four bottle. Dense aromas and flavors of rich fruit compote, vanilla, coconut, and licorice, and soft tannins– a great value!

Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico ’08    Italy           $14
Spicy red currant, strawberry and herbs on the nose, with tobacco and smoke nuances emerging with air. Pliant red berry and succulent herb flavors show an appealing sweetness, buffered by fresh minerality.

Lost River Massif ’12    Washington    $27
80% Malbec, 20% Cab Sauv; a big, dark red wine with dense but supple tannins, a deep mid-palate of blackberry flavors, and a long, satisfying finish.

Wine Tasting

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