lummi island wine tasting jan 5 ’18
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Bread this week
Flax Seed Currant Ciabatta – Made with a poolish overnight preferment before blending bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye flours. Loaded up with flax seeds and dried currants for a delicious bread. This bread is mixed with a lot of water that makes for a very slack dough so it can’t be weighed out and shaped like other bread, it is just cut into pieces. A really flavorful artisan loaf – $5/piece
Buckwheat Rye – Fresh milled buckwheat and rye are soaked for 8 hours without any yeast in a method known as an autolyse. As buckwheat and rye don’t have much gluten this allows what little gluten there is to start developing and really gets the enzymes going before the final mix. This soaker is mixed with bread flour, salt and yeast and a bit of honey. Would go well with all sorts of meats and cheese – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Bear Claws! – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out- 2/$5
January Hours
We will be around through January, and so will our Baker, but for Abbreviated Hours!
Therefore take Note: our present intention is to be open Fridays from 4-6pm and Saturdays from 3-6 pm through January.
Speaking of Bear Claws…
Ulee had his First Birthday on Christmas Eve. If we Bear in mind that most breeders have to come up with maybe a hundred new puppy names every year, it’s not surprising that these pups all got Holiday names. His was “Yuletide.” When we brought him home we shortened it to Ulee, which is most commonly a nickname for “Ulysses.”
Ulee is officially a Mini-Australian Shepherd, which basically means that his lineage conforms to AKC standards for an “Australian Shepherd,” though they are deliberately bred smaller, around 30 lbs. on average. They are very popular pets, being easier to manage than their 55# progenitors, but still intelligent, industrious, attractive, loyal, and attentive. And as in this photo, unlike many dogs, they will Look you In the Eye. The Mini Aussie is derived from selective breeding of smaller Standard Aussies.
Our dear boy Cooper (Best Dog Ever!) was also a Mini-Aussie, who weighed in at about 32 lbs. Coincidentally, this is the same weight as our older Aussie, Tator, who is a Working Dog from the somewhat different genetic lineage of Herding Aussies, which conform to ASCA standards. These dogs are longer, lighter-boned, more agile, and a bit, well…over-focused. Though Tator and Cooper weighed the same, Tator was taller, longer, and faster. The point here is that we expected Ulee to be about the same size and weight as Coopie. We haven’t weighed him for a while, but he is taller, longer, wider and heavier than Tator, probably 45 lbs or so at present. His head is noticeably broader and shorter than most Aussies, and his behavior is boisterous, physical, chewing-fixated, and Enthusiastic.You know…Bear-like!
So, a week or two ago we Realized What had Gone Wrong. Above left is a photo of Tator (left) and Ulee (right– with the “cigar”). Here are a bunch of typical Aussie photos. Ulee’s coloring is definitely Aussie-like, but his Shape is not. So he has been a Dog of Mystery until our Recent Insight: we are currently convinced by a year of Close Observation that the only Explanation that Makes Sense is that Ulee’s Ancestry has to include some creature like this!
Mar a Lago Update: is the Button So Big…or My Hands So Small…?!
First, of course, there isn’t any “Button.” Except maybe in the Satirical View of The Onion. So the Good News is that a Single Madman (you know who I mean) can’t Launch the Whole Arsenal Singlehandedly. It is Less Clear how small a number of Strategically Placed Madmen could launch Enough of the Arsenal to render the question Moot. And to be Frank, there seems to be No Shortage of Madmen in Positions of Power Around the World at the moment. At some point we might want to take a look at that, huh…?
Comfortingly, thanks to Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, Seven Days in May, and their ilk, a Lot of Very Smart People have thought about Accidental Armageddon for a Long Time, and we all hope this is a Case where the Military Philosophy of “Two Backups for Every Alternate System” is In Place, Active, and Foolproof. You know, “more or less,” anyway. All should be Well as long as we avoid basic Economic questions like “um, could you remind me again how we computed the Optimal Number of Nukes to Launch under the Present Scenario…???”
There is not a Lot of Difference between what the Republican-controlled White House, Senate, and House are doing to America and what ISIS has done to Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Their recent Tax Bill has much in common with ISIS’ wanton destruction of World Heritage Art Collections in the Fertile Crescent…any Brutish Idiot can Destroy things, but it takes Leadership, Commitment, and Vision to Rebuild them…precious qualities in Very Short Supply these days.
This week’s wine tasting
Gio Chardonnay ’15 Slovenia $11
From Slovenian vines on the Italian border, this freshly styled chardonnay shows delightful and expressive notes of apple, lychee, citrus, warm croissant and sea salt.
Monte Tondo Veneto Corvina ’16 Italy $12
Ruby red colour; bright lively nose with fresh cherry, black berry and black pepper hints; medium-bodied with moderate acidity and supple, well-integrated tannin – well balanced, dark fruit core with cherry, dark chocolate and spicy notes. moderate length with a smooth, seductive finish and a spicy aftertaste.
Marchetti Rosso Conero ’15 Italy $11
Rich and inviting aromas of flowers, plums, brown spices, and hillside brush. On the palate, round notes of cherries, blackberries, cocoa and spice. Culminates in a satisfying, lengthy finish.
Goose Ridge G3 Cabernet ’15 Washington $14
Rich, deep aromatic expression of plum and dark cherry intertwined with toasty notes of vanilla and savory spices. The dark fruit flavors continue to resonate on the palate over a supple tannic structure leading to a long, soft finish.
Orowines Bluegray Priorat ’14 Spain $17
Named for the licorella slate of Priorat, which yields intense, terroir-specific wines from the harsh soils that challenge local varieties like Grenache and Mazuelo to the utmost, yielding tobacco and spice notes to the raspberry jam flavors. Rustic, earthy, spicy, and wildly aromatic.
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2072 Granger Way
