lummi island wine tasting july 7-8 ’23
Open Friday AND Saturday, July 7 & 8, 4-6pm
courtesy toiletovhell.com
PLEASE NOTE!! Beginning July 7, we are expanding our summer hours to be open both Fridays and Saturdays from 4-6pm!
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Pear Buckwheat – The preferment in this bread is a poolish, made with bread flour, water and a bit of yeast and fermented overnight. Mixed the next day with bread flour and fresh milled buckwheat. Since buckwheat has no gluten using the preferment allows the dough to begin to develop before the final mix. The addition of toasted walnuts and dried pears soaked in white wine makes for a really flavorful bread – $5/loaf
French Country Bread – A levain bread made with mostly bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and and a bit of toasted wheat germ. After building the levain with a sourdough culture and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. Not a refined city baguette, but a rustic loaf that you would find in the countryside.
and pastry this week…
Gibassiers – A traditional french pastry that incorporates the flavors from the southern France region. Made with a delicious sweet dough full of milk, butter, eggs and olive oil. The addition of orange flower water, candied orange peel and anise seed bring great flavor to these pastries. After baking they are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with more sugar. Ooh La La a delightful pastry to go along with your morning coffee or tea
To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Bodega Garzon Tannat Reserve ’18 Uruguay $15
Bodega Garzón vineyards, Uruguay
Tannat originated in the Southwest of France near Madiran in Gascony, in the shadow of the Pyrénées, where it has thrived for many centuries. It has long been known for its muscular tannins and was often blended with Bordeaux varietals cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. It was planted in Uruguay by Basque settlers in the nineteenth century, and has evolved into the dominant red wine of the country.
The Uruguayan evolution of the grape has developed wines characterized by soft and elegant tannins and complex blackberry fruit notes. Over many decades, several new clones have been developed which as a group have brought more ripeness, but higher alcohol and lower acidity and fruitiness. There is ongoing development of the wine’s potential by blending it with cab sauv, merlot, or cab franc. At present it offers a unique array of flavor and textural characteristics unlike any other varietal that some of us find irresistible!
Bodega Garzon Tannat Reserve ’18 Uruguay $15
Opaque deep, dark red; opens with an enticing, delicious aroma of very ripe, dark fruit and berries stewed in their own liqueur, with a melange of spice, wood. The palate is steeped with vermouth-like spice, herb, and licorice notes that are seamlessly balanced and integrated with the robust tannins of this rustic grape.
This week’s wine tasting
Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc ’21 France $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon,with a lingering palate of rich white peach.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’20 South Africa $12
Aromas of dark coffee beans, red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice turning to dark berries and smoky plum; rustic yet silky and juicy, with smooth tannins, balanced acidity, and comforting intensity.
Bodega Garzon Tannat Reserve ’18 Uruguay $15
Opaque deep, dark red; opens with enticing, delicious aromas of very ripe, dark fruit and berries stewed in their own liqueur, with lingering notes of spice, herb, and licorice on the seamless finish.
Economics of the Heart: Undiscussed Elephants
Okay, okay, I promise this will be my last post regarding our parochial little ferry finance issue!
Several weeks ago, a unified community was able to get the County Council to postpone any action on the County’s stiff-arming attempt to get a new ferry rates ordinance passed that would allow it to charge any outrageous expense against fare revenues. A little breather, we all thought…
Instead, a subgroup of LIFAC, a County citizens committee that reports to the Council on ferry matters (I am a member), called a “special meeting” on two days’ notice that would change that decision and instead endorse the County’s new draft ordinance, with no public discussion of its many alarming faults. That meeting was called off at the last minute, ostensibly because it seemed to violate the WA Open Meetings Act. It is good that it was called off.
At this point it is important to note that there are several Very Large Elephants in this room that have been studiously ignored by Lifac for many months, never making it onto the agenda for the detailed and thoughtful discussion they deserve, despite extensive citizen resistance, including:
- A thorough validation review of at least the highest ten unprecedented O&M charges between $30,000 and $428,000 for “regular and routine” maintenance since 2013;
- A lengthy, thoughtful, detailed review and discussion to clarify, point by point, the language and intent of WCC 10.34 (Ferry Fares) with a particular focus on ease of interpretation and fairness to all stakeholders;
- Establishing an easily calculable rule to set limits on the allowable annual variation in the total fare box burden.
One place to start such a discussion is shown in this chart. Between 2013 and 2022 there were ten unusually large maintenance charges, ranging from $30k to $428k. There is nothing “regular, ordinary, or routine” about “maintenance” expenses of this magnitude, which in no way qualify for inclusion in the fare box burden.
In the chart there are two lines. The blue line links the total O&M costs charged against fare revenue of the years the expenses occurred. The red line shows how removal of just these ten, vastly higher costs than have ever before been passed off as “ordinary maintenance” substantially increases the “regularity” of total expenses from year to year. And these are just the most glaring examples!
This is the Main Event, folks. This is what the last six months have been about: underhanded changes of the rules in an unscrupulous effort to make ferry users pay for keeping our very old boat afloat. Well, no one elsewhere in the County pays for repaving the road in front of their house, or repairing the bridges they cross to get to work or shop. We are just fine with paying our fair share and maybe a little more. But this way, way, way past a fair share.
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2072 Granger Way