Latah Lounge

When fog and snow envelope the valley I just want a warm mocha and a cookie. Is this strange?

Friendly Latah Latte girls

Fresh Abundance, an organic and whole foods store, now has three Spokane locations.

Division  -  2015 N. Division St

South Hill  -  1001 W. 25th Ave

Valley  -  3324 S. Best Rd

Heather and I visited the Division store today and got a tour. They are in the process of expansion to provide a cafe, an indoor/outdoor market, and even an area for $5 yoga classes. Stop by and check it out.
This is the first store I have seen in Spokane that really does make it easy for people to buy local healthy foods for reasonable prices. They are passionate about sustainable food systems and are very careful where they source their products by visiting farms and developing relationships with local growers.

It’s a true grass roots project with a great direction. Now they just need our support.

We will be closed Thanksgiving to spend time with our families. See you soon.

Brad Keeler is playing this Wednesday (11/26) night 6:30 - 9pm. He has a wonderful and unique sound playing acoustic guitar and singing vintage style folk, jazz and blues. Come say hi.

Do you like truffles?  Good, because fresh Oregon Blacks are in and they smell wonderful.
Sometimes I wonder if we are pushing our own flavorites (my own sniglet) on others without testing our market, so in a weak attempt to justify our latest truffle purchases I am posing the above question. If you like them, please let us know how. If you don’t like them, you should.

Just kidding, but it’s hard to understand how anyone could miss the amazing earthy blend that truffles add to a meal. If you are unfamiliar with truffles you can read up here.
My all time favorite breakfast is truffle risotto topped with quail eggs. If you store the truffles in the arborio rice that you use to make the risotto, it will infuse more flavor into the dish. This also works when storing them with eggs. You have not lived until you eat this rich breakfast with French Champagne like maybe, 1996 Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne or an even more indulgent, Krug.

Here is the recipe for a delicious morning…

Black Truffle Risotto
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
Arbario or Acquerello rice
1 black truffle, finely shaved
mild chicken or vegetable stock
finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
butter, and 1 quail or chicken egg.
Prepare the Black Truffle:
Clean the truffle with a firm brush to remove any traces of dirt that might still be attached. When cleaned, shave the truffle to give you fine slices.

Place a little oil and a knob of butter in a deep pan over a medium heat and when the butter has melted add the chopped onion, carrot and celery.

Cook this until softened but not colored and then add the rice. Keep stirring to ensure the grains are coated with the butter/oil and cook for a minute or two.

Add a little boiling stock to the pan - this should fizzle and be absorbed almost immediately. Keep stirring and add another ladle along with a third of the shaved truffle.

Keep adding ladles of stock as they are absorbed by the rice. Add another third of the shaved truffles halfway through the cooking.

When you add the last ladle of stock add the remaining truffle slices. Finally add a generous amount of butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir it vigorously into the cooked risotto. This gives that beautiful creamy and velvety finish to your risotto.

In a non-stick frying pan, fry a single quail egg in butter sunny side up. If you don’t have a quail egg a regular chicken egg will do but the richness of the tiny quail egg is better. As an alternative to frying, you can also poach the egg in the chicken broth.

Serve in a bowl topped with the quail egg, cork the champagne and indulge.

Hope to see you soon.

What happens if neither team scores?
This year the Apple Cup will be played to decide who is the biggest loser. Both WSU and U of W are both winless in the Pac 10. Being a cougar alumni, I am hoping old Wazuu can hand the dogs their very first no-win season.  At least the Cougs beat Portland State this year.

Go Cougs!

While hiking in the woods near my house in the Qualchan area, I came across an area of ground where deer had been rooting up mushrooms that I had never seen before. Having done a fair amount of mushroom hunting, I was surprised to have never seen these before especially so close to home.

After sending this photo to some experts around the region, I am confident that I have a proper identification; Russula Brevipes.  As a matter of fact the first person to positively identify was local wine and mushroom connoisseur, Kelly Chadwick. Apparently they are edible but not entirely tasty. I think I will toss them in some spaghetti sauce and give them I try and let you know later.

NODLAND CELLARS 

HOLIDAY WINE FESTIVAL

FREE Wine Tasting and Live Music!!

Open 11-5pm, Music from 12:30-4pm

FRI-SUN Nov. 21-23, 2008

11616 East Montgomery  (Pines and Montgomery in the Spokane Valley)

Friday, Nov 21, Nick Shilling Guitar and Chris Moyer Saxophone

Saturday, Nov 22 Danny McCollim Piano and Chris Moyer Saxophone

Sunday, Nov 23 Danny McCollim Piano and Chris Moyer Saxophone

Recently a guest commented that they felt this photograph that hangs on our wall in the back hall by our bathrooms is offensive. It is titled “American Girl In Italy” and was taken in Florence Italy by Ruth Orkin in 1951. This now famous photo originally appeared in Cosmopolitan in 1952.

Having traveled to Italy many times, Heather and I find this captured moment in time not only brilliantly artistic but historically telling. When a photo can tell a story with such grace as this I personally feel it should not to be hidden from public but celebrated by all.

But I have to consider the experiences of our guests as more important than my own opinions so I would like to hear from you about whether we should replace this wall hanging.

When I came in today I was enveloped in the amazing aroma of apple wood smoked bacon, one of the most delicious smells. On the stove were the sizzling samples ready to eat - nice timing.  Yes, we make our own bacon and smoke it ourselves. Sometimes we use hickory, sometimes we use apple or cherry but the end result makes a huge difference in the final product. Tonight this smoky bacon will be incorporated in the scallop special, the spinach salad and the wild mushroom ravioli sauce. Enjoy.