lummi island wine tasting april 5 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Semolina w/ Fennel & Raisins – Using a levain, also known as sourdough, and made with bread flour, semolina and some fresh milled whole wheat. A little butter for a tender crumb and fennel seeds and golden raisins round out the flavors. Judy A. says this is her favorite! These flavors go really well with meats and cheese, but it also makes pretty darn good toast – $5/loaf
Spelt Levain – Spelt is an ancient wheat grain with a nutty, slightly sweet flavor and less gluten than modern 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
Note: Pastry this week goes to fortify those who participate in Annual Island cleanup on Saturday morning, starting from the Grange at 9:45.
Saturday Concert April 20!
Make your plans now! Our Annual Spring Concert with singer-songwriter-minstrel Robert Sarazin Blake! This year’s concert will be from 2-4pm on Saturday, April 20 in the wine shop!
As Robert’s many local followers know, he is a modern-day troubadour who travels widely (mostly here in the Pacific Northwest , Germany, and Ireland) to share his craft, very often in pub atmospheres like our dear wine shop. And to all venues he brings his sonorous voice, open heart, wry humor, and engaging songs to weave a web of well-being around you. For those of you who have not attended any of our concerts, know that our little shop is a great venue for Robert’s style, which is is always engaging and energizing.
Suggested performance donation is a modest $20 per person, and a selection of wines will be available by the glass. And since space is very limited, please confirm reservations soon!
Note our regular Saturday wine tasting will follow the concert, from 4-6pm. Learn more about Robert’s music here.
This Year’s Robin
We returned home last week to find a new robin’s nest in the eaves over the entryway. Unlike last year’s nest, which was high above the seldom used back deck, this one is right over the entry, where there is the highest traffic.
We saw the nest the day after we got home, but saw neither mama bird nor signs of young. I climbed up and found three eggs, but supposed they were abandoned. Not until today did we see mama leaving the nest and chirping to distract us as she flew onto a nearby limb. She stayed in the vicinity and after twenty minutes or so worked her way back toward the nest. We worry that if she takes off every time we or one of the dogs comes onto the deck the eggs might not incubate enough to hatch.
So, we are monitoring. If necessary we may have to find another way in and out for a few days. Hopefully all eggs will hatch into healthy fledglings. Stay tuned!
Mar a Lago Update: Standing Up to Existential Grief
We mentioned last week that our March road trip was hard to relax into. Having been home for a week now, a new perspective and accompanying resolve seems to be forming. Most of us have been in a kind of trance since the 2016 election, waking up every day somehow expecting that Today the Horrible Mistake would somehow be set right. However, since the mid-term election and even more since the too-little-too-late Mueller Report, the Intense Grief of seeing our once-proud Country turned into an ongoing Media Cartoon Soap Opera Circus seems to be undergoing a Catharsis.
Perhaps the Grim Realization that we are stuck with at least another two years of the Mitch and Tweetie Lie-Fest that keeps our planet accelerating toward Mass Extinction is creating an Urgency that no longer allows the Luxury of Hopelessness. Rather, it has become manifestly clear that Republican Reality in this Congress and this White House is none other than the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, where Nothing Makes Sense, and Nothing Ever Will.
So the first thing we have to do is stop paying attention to these Bozos. It is a waste of time and energy to try to dialogue with people who assert the logical equality of Established Science and “Alternative Facts,” as if the established laws of physics, chemistry, and thermodynamics were just another Opinion we can safely ignore. We have spent two years now leaning our heads against tree trunks and whimpering Charlie Brown’s Default Mantra: “I Can’t Stand It!”
Turning all this around at this late date in the growing Climate Crisis is by no means a slam-dunk, even if everyone on Earth joined together wholeheartedly. The best we can do in our country is to do everything we can to replace Mitch and Tweetie with bright, sane, kind, wise leaders who will commit to the long-term goal of a Better World for Fewer People.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 9,451 as of 4/1/19\
This week’s wine tasting
Treana White ’16 California $16
Seductive blend of viognier, marsanne, and roussanne. Aromas and flavors of pineapple, dried apricot, peach and Clementine orange with floral notes of honeysuckle and elder flower and sweet notes of marzipan, honey, graham cracker and cinnamon.
Oregon Solidarity Pinot Noir Rose ’18 Oregon $16
When a California winery canceled huge contracts for pinot noir grapes two days before harvest, area wineries united to buy the fruit, make the wines, and save the vintners’ bacon. This is the rose, to be followed by a chardonnay in May and a pinot noir in August.
Airfield Cabernet Sauvignon ’17 Washington $14
Bramble fruit aromatics from blackberry to ripe raspberry; A hint of strawberry preserves leads into an intriguing layer of exotic spice. The palate is round and displays rich secondary flavors of boysenberry and pomegranate that exits with a silky, lingering finish and a lively burst of fresh fruits.
Altarocca Rosso Librato ’15 Italy $14
Unoaked blend of canaiolo and cab franc from volcanic soils in Umbria, Zesty, spicy, lush, and smooth.
La Rocaliere Lirac Classique Rouge ’15 France $16
Grenache, mourvedre, syrah from sandy and pebbled soils; floral and spicy bouquet reminiscent of garrigue scrubland. Powerful and full-bodied, it finishes crisp and rich, matching perfectly with the spirit of contemporary cuisine.
lummi island wine tasting march 29 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy seeds – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour, yeast and water overnight. This results in a very active pre-ferment which is mixed the next day with the final ingredients which includes a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors in this loaf. – $5/loaf.
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of grains grown on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal, and loaded up with poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar for a little sweetness. – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Cinnamon Rolls – These are made with a rich sweet roll dough that is full of eggs, butter and sugar. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Then rolled up and sliced into individual rolls for baking. And boy are they delicious!! – 2/$5.
Saturday Concert April 20!
Make your plans now! Our Annual Spring Concert with singer-songwriter-minstrel Robert Sarazin Blake! This year’s concert will be from 2-4pm on Saturday, April 20 in the wine shop!
As Robert’s many local followers know, he is a modern-day troubadour who travels widely (mostly here in the Pacific Northwest , Germany, and Ireland) to share his craft, very often in pub atmospheres like our dear wine shop. And to all venues he brings his sonorous voice, open heart, wry humor, and engaging songs to weave a web of well-being around you. For those of you who have not attended any of our concerts, know that our little shop is a great venue for Robert’s style, which is is always engaging and energizing.
Suggested performance donation is a modest $20 per person, and a selection of wines will be available by the glass. And since space is very limited, please confirm reservations soon!
Learn more about Robert’s music here.
Mar a Lago Update: The Increasing Plausibility of the End of Life on Earth
We arrived home from several weeks on the Road to our little Paradise here on Lummi Island this beautiful, sunny afternoon. In several ways it has been more challenging than relaxing to have been away in the trailer the past month– March came in like a Big, Bullying, T-t-teeth Ch-ch-chattering Lion that rained all day and Froze at nigh, both here and in Oregon. Hard to relax– not exactly, you know, hammock conditions…! Throughout the Northwest, though, the last ten days have been mostly sunny, comfortable, and reassuring. Spring is here, and it has rarely felt So Welcome. Ahhhh!
That’s the Good News.
The Bad News is that we listened to a very interesting and disturbing interview on the radio a few days ago between Ralph Nader and Dahr Jamail, author of “The End of Ice,” that brought into Sharp Focus what David Suzuki said to an audience member here in Bellingham ten years or so ago who asked him if we should be Worried about Global Warming. Suzuki’s answer was, “You should be Sh*#ing Your Pants!”
Similarly, Jamail quite matter-of-factly lays out the Reality that the current concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is historically consistent with an average temperature seven degrees higher that now, and a sea level tens of feet higher. Even if we immediately stopped emitting CO2 altogether, temperatures could continue to rise for decades or even centuries, exceeding the ability of most species to adapt or successfully migrate to survivable habitats. Bottom Line: it may already be too late to avoid a Mass Extinction severe enough to destroy all Life on Earth, and caused by Human Beings. WTF is wrong with us??
Though we will probably never know what is actually in the Mueller Report, we do know there was massive Russian intervention the 2016 election, without which the Tweetster could not possibly have “won.” We also know is that if the Whole World of Human Beings doesn’t Step Up to meet the Existential Threat of the Growing Climate Crisis we have created, the Whole Game is Over. And we are also coming to see that the Survival of Life Itself is not of particular concern to Republicans.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19\
This week’s wine tasting
Robert Ramsay Mason’s White ’17 Washington $17
100% roussanne; aromas and flavors are bright and lemony and lightly effervescent, with the more typical honeyed richness of this grape appearing late on the mid-palate for a tasty and refreshing– but decidedly less sensual–interpretation.
Oregon Solidarity Pinot Noir Rose ’18 Oregon $16
Last fall a California winery canceled contracts for 2,000 tons of grapes from the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon a mere two days before harvest, citing possible smoke taint from area wildfires and leaving vineyard owners in the lurch. A community of area wineries bought the fruit, made the wines, and saved the vintners’ bacon. This is the rose, to be followed by a chardonnay in May and a pinot noir in August.
Airfield Bombshell Red ’17 Washington $14
Bramble fruit aromatics ranging from blackberry to ripe raspberry. A hint of strawberry preserves leads into an intriguing layer of exotic spice. The palate is round and displays rich secondary flavors of boysenberry and pomegranate that exits with a silky, lingering finish and a lively burst of fresh fruits.
Martorana Nero d’Avola ’17 Italy $14
From Sicilian volcanic soils; full-bodied and fresh with big notes of ripe plums, berry cobbler, dark chocolate, and almonds, melting into earthy flavors with good minerality.
Dynasty Cellars Zinfandel ’14 Washington $25
Following the Dynasty style with lots of new oak that gives a soft texture but challenges the more subtle flavors of the dark and ripe fruit.
lummi island wine tasting march 21 ’19
Note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Uh-0h, No Bread This Week!
As all of you on the Bread Mailer already know, Janice is away this week, so no bread pickup this Friday.
Also, of course, we are away as well, so no wine tasting this weekend either.
In fact…and this will be repeated below…the Wine Shop will be closed both Friday and Saturday this week.
NEXT WEEKEND, March 29-30: Bread Friday as Usual! (expect your usual bread email pre-order info sometime Sunday).
And…since we will be back as well, the wine shop will be open as usual Friday, March 29 from 4-7pm, and Saturday, March 30, from 2-6pm. Looking forward to seeing you!
Another Short Blog this week
Apparently the Oregon Coast is Terra Incognita for our cell phone server, so we are still finding wifi connections few and far between. Therefore, with apologies, we are limited to another short post this week.
March Wine Shop Schedule
To reiterate from above, Wine Shop hours for the rest of March are:
Friday-Saturday, March 22-23: CLOSED
Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30: OPEN BOTH DAYS AS USUAL!
Mar a Lago Update: 2020 & the Senate, Cont’d…
Last week we explored the vital strategic importance of control of the US Senate after 2020 in determining the Future of Human Civilization, and our belief in the Absolute Existential Imperative for Democrats to win control of the Senate in 2020. In summary, the Democrats (plus a couple of New England ‘Independents’) are currently four seats in the minority, and that’s a Big Haul for any Party in a single election.
Added to that is the fact that Republicans, being what they are, have the combined Advantage and Disadvantage of, you know, sharing the One Brain. They all look alike, talk alike, dress alike, bow to the Great Reagan four times a day, go to the Spa and soak in steam-heated Greenbacks for Deep Relaxation, eat kittens and puppies as Snack Food during Floor Debates, and all Wish They had invented themselves as the Tweetster. The point is that Republicans are only concerned with money and power, and from a practical political standpoint, they are all completely interchangeable.
In contrast, given the mathematical properties of the two-party system, Democrats are therefore Everyone Else Who is Not a Republican, and this necessarily creates a an ongoing Chaos, not unlike Harry Truman’s observation about Economists: If you laid all the economists in the world End to End, they would Still All Point in Different Directions.
Our case in point at the moment is the evolving situation in Arizona, where newly elected Democrat Kyrsten Sinema now occupies the seat held by Republican Jeff Flake, and Republican Martha McSally temporarily occupies the seat held for thirty years by the late John McCain. That seat will be at stake again in 2020. Running against McSally, an atypical Republican candidate with a creditable military career, will be high-profile Navy veteran, astronaut, and husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly. Kelly, in turn, is likely to face a challenge from popular Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego.
A review of the numbers shows that despite Kelly’s high national profile, and because Gallego represents the dominant Phoenix metro area (half of Arizona), and Kelly the Tucson area (1/4 of Arizona), a contest between them could be extremely divisive and result in another Republican win. read more
Sorry, No Wine Tasting This Week, see you next week!
Lummi Island wine tasting March 14 ‘19
Note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Whole Wheat Ciabatta – Uses an italian biga pre-ferment as well as a poolish. A long, slow overnight ferment adds a lot of flavor to the final bread. Made with regular bread flour and fresh
milled whole wheat, olive oil for more flavor and a lot of water. With so
much water this bread can’t really be shaped, just cut into pieces and baked. -$5/piece
Dried Cranberry Walnut – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled
buckwheat and whole wheat flours. Orange juice and olive oil are a unique
combination in this bread that add flavor and keep a soft crumb, then loaded up with
dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Makes great toast! – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Brioche Tarts au Sucre – Aka brioche sugar tarts. A rich brioche
dough full of eggs and butter is rolled into a round tart and topped with more eggs,
cream, butter and sugar. – 2/$5
Short Blog this week
We are finding wifi connections few and far between, so this is a short post this week…
March Wine Shop Schedule
We are still away, been enjoying the Thaw that started here in Oregon pinot noir country the last few days. Nights are no longer freezing, and days are Sunny and Comforting, as seems to be the case across the coastal PNW. For all kinds of reasons it is a Big Relief after all this year’s nasty cold, snowy, and unseasonable Deep Freeze, n’est-ce pas?
Wine Shop hours for the rest of March are:
Friday, March 15: Open 4-6pm for Wine Tasting and Bread Pickup
Friday-Saturday, March 22-23: CLOSED
Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30: OPEN BOTH DAYS AS USUAL
Mar a Lago Update: 2020, the Senate, and Survival of Life as We Know It
The Eyes and Ears of the World are following the pre-game activities in the run-up to the 2020 US elections with Existential Fear. As it has for the last three years, the American News Cycle revolves around the Madness of the Tweetster. What card will he pull from behind his ear next? What animal will he pull from his hair? What group of The Disenfranchised will he disparage? Whose struggles to get by will he make even more difficult? What new barriers can he put in the way of keeping our Planet Habitable?
But regardless of who is in the White House in 2021, if the US Senate remains in Republican hands, the Survival of Life as we Know It on Planet Earth will change from being a philosophical question about the Distant Future to the Dreaded Conversation with your doctor about OMG, How Long Do We Have Left?
At the Center of this all-too-likely Nightmare sits Darth McConnell, the Evil Incarnate, completely committed to the idea that the Ultimate Republican Win will be for the Wealthy to be In Charge at the Final Apocalypse. No Senate leader before him has twisted the rules so Cruelly, scuttled all debate so Blithely, exercised the Privileges of his office so Blindly, or ignored the Responsibilities of his Office so Casually. Piece by piece he has been dismantling the system of checks and balances that keep our system of government functioning.
And while there is some good news in the fact that there are more Republican Senate seats up for re-election in 2020 than Democrats, the Democrats must win back four of them to take control of the Senate and unseat McConnell. It is difficult and unlikely, and Everything depends on it. Scary Stuff.
This week’s wine tasting
Though we are away, for the next two weeks Janice will be choosing wines for Friday tastings from a broader menu we have provided. Please come on by the shop and see what she has decided to pour for you!
2072 Granger Way