lummi island wine tasting jan 12 ’18
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Bread this week
Sweet Corn & Dried Cranberry – Made with polenta and bread flour, then enriched with milk, butter and honey before being loaded up with dried cranberries. Has great corn flavor but is not a traditional quick cornbread. A delicious bread that makes great toast – $5/loaf
Spelt Levain – Spelt is an ancient grain similar to wheat and has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. It has gluten but it isn’t as strong as the gluten in traditional wheat. This bread is made with a levain, or sourdough, traditional bread flour and about 1/3 spelt flour, fresh milled whole spelt and fresh milled whole rye. It is a great all around bread – $5/loaf
For pastry this week one of our baker’s favorites:
Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a chocolate glaze before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like. I can only make a limited number so be sure to get your order in early. – 2/$5.
Hell Freezes Over DESPITE Global Warming
It’s always been The Yardstick of The Unlikely. But here it is in the news: temperatures recently dropped well below freezing in Hell, Michigan. We suspect that upon hearing the news, many young (and not-so-young) men began making phone calls to those ladies they had crushes on all those years ago…“Okay, it Happened! NOW you Have To Go Out with me!!!” And at the same time, Congressional Republicans will no doubt be showing up on the Floor with Snowballs proving there is no such thing as Global Warming.
So let’s take this opportunity to spell out once and for all that the rapid shift in Climate Behavior the World has been experiencing for the last several decades is Way More Complex than “Warming.” If you throw a Stone into a still pond, you will see ripples spreading out over the surface. If you throw an Alligator into a pond where there has never been one, Every Living Thing in the pond knows Immediately and starts changing its behavior. It’s a System, Stupid!
And so it is in Hell. It’s a Zen thing: when it’s Cold, put on your parka; when it’s hot, take it off. Pretty simple, oughta work, right? Well, yes, BUT…Hell being what it is, when you change one thing it changes other things, which change other things, on and on. Hell can freeze over in Michigan while forest fires rage in California followed by rains that dissolve hillsides into Rivers of Mud. The Real Hell of it is that it is Just Beginning, and it’s going to get A Lot Worse. Or to put it another way…sticking your head in a hole is only gonna make it a Lot Worse!
Lost and Found
Every year after our Awesome East Coast New Year’s Eve Party, we invariably are left with items our guests forgot to take home with them. Is some cases we know who they are, but in many we do not. Last year someone left a very nice, relatively new down jacket. Since no one ever called or picked it up, I have recently started wearing it and enjoying it, with gratitude to our anonymous benefactor. But hey, if it’s yours, come by and claim it!
This year we invite your attention to a lovely blue plate left over from someone’s food contribution. It is ceramic, looks hand-painted from Indonesia, the sort of plate one would like to have back.
We also have a lightweight, white Columbia quilted vest, worn enough to be someone’s favorite. Zips like a man’s jacket, but has a feminine feel and a diminutive size…i.e., too small for me!
Mar a Lago Update: Our Tax Bill for Your Kool-Aid
It is really quite Breath-taking how after nearly an entire year of Grumbling and Hand-Wringing, Congressional Republicans are now falling all over themselves Rationalizing What a Great Man and Insightful Leader is the Tweetster. If your teenagers came home from the Dance with a values shift like this, you would immediately suspect they had suddenly become opioid-addicted. Or, worse…you can never completely rule out…Zombies!
Yet here they all are in the last week, making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, waxing eloquent about how they have come to respect and value the Penetrating Insight and Strategic Acumen of their CIC. Most disturbingly notable among them is CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who dissembled all over himself relating the Great Respect he had for his nearly daily conversations with His President on Matters of National Importance.
At this point we would like to interject that Mr. Pompeo graduated First in his class at West Point in 1986, left the service in 1991 and became a Lawyer. He got into politics in Kansas, and with a great deal of help from the Koch brothers, won a House seat in Congress. He is a Very Bright Guy, no doubt, who had Unlimited Potential to do Good in the world. Our editorial staff has spent some time discussing this, and we find ourselves Deeply Disappointed that someone with Mr. Pompeo’s gifts seems to have learned So Little about Honor in his years at West Point. He could have been So Much More. But he chose the Dark Side, as did so many of the Tweetster’s Appointees. Playing politics is part and parcel of Cabinet posts; but we aspire to a certain Neutral Objectivity in our Intelligence Agencies, and Mr. Pompeo is obviously Deeply Partisan. And that is Deeply Troubling.
One year down, three to go. Dog help us…!
This week’s wine tasting
Folie a Deux Chardonnay ’15 California $16
Good example of Russian River appellation style; bright acidity and seductive notes of pear, apple, pineapple, apricot, nutmeg and vanilla—all framed by a richly textured palate.
Perazzeta Sara Rosso ’15 Italy $12
90% Sangiovese, 10% Ciliegiolo from the Tuscan south; bright and full-bodied with cherry, crisp acidity, and tantalizing earth tones make this pretty wine a winner with savory dishes.
O Wines Red Blend ’10 Washington $9
A Chateau Ste. Michelle project to help send low income, capable young women to college; Rich, dark color with dried herbs, cedar and blackberry with anise. Palate is fruity and has blackberry, anise and black cherry with some black olive.
Ded. Reckoning Cutlass Cabernet ’14 Washington $18
80% cab sauv, with cab franc and merlot. Appealing aromas of cocoa, mocha, herb, cherry and barrel spice lead to full fruit flavors. Muscular, slightly drying tannins.
Esplugen Priorat ’14 Spain $17
Garnacha, carinena, cab sauv; Priorat’s famous slate soil and arid climate give this wine great intensity and structure, with deep and complex aromas of rich ripe fruit, toast, and a long pleasing finish .
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2072 Granger Way