Stop in Spokane, WA

We are homeless and we are on the road for - I HOPE - a year. So, for the next 12 months I will refer to ourselves as the 'Homeless on the Road' with no disrespect to those really homeless, because we do have a wonderful traveling home to enjoy while we explore the U.S.

This is my first blog in a long time, so please bear with me until I relearn the ropes.

July 19, 2014

On the way to Spokane Thursday, the 17^th just before we encountered smoke from the fires, the mountains were so clear and close you could almost reach out and touch them.

 

Got settled in our site and unloaded the cooking gear and chairs – first grilled dinner on the road –  roasted cod & asparagus with lemon-caper sauce.

Two-Vine Chardonnay was a great match with the dish.

July 19th

Despite the smoke in the air, we had a wonderful day exploring Spokane. First stop a farmers market to get some fresh corn and of course picked up a few extra goodies. Confronted the first reason I’m sorry we are homeless…I can only buy consumable products – no more little goodies to store away until we get home. This is a big hurdle for me. Especially when I saw this little appetizer plate

 

 

 I would have bought this in a minute!

Had to satisfy myself with the corn, beautiful Yukon Gold ‘tatoes, and goat Parmesan cheese from Chatteroy Cheese Co., a local cheese maker. http://www.chattaroycheese.com/Chattaroy_Cheese/Goat_Cheese.html.  Another product I found is Camelina Gold cooking oil. This oil has a rich full-bodied flavor. http://camelinagold.com/?cat=4

Also, at the farmers market found an herb completely new to me – Lettuce Basil – what a great find and I’m sure going to plant this when I have the opportunity. The leaves are large, so much easier to use in  sandwiches.

From the farmers market we headed downtown to the city library for what I thought was going to be a pictorial display of evolution in this area, but instead were some of the most beautiful pictures of this area and so worth searching for a parking space large enough for a diesel pickup!!

 

 

 wish the pictures had turned out, they were so compelling. The pix on the right is of Sun Lakes and I’m going to try and find out where it is.

Bill & Kathy Kostelec are amazing photographers – here’s a brief description of their work.

 http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/may/01/kostelecs-use-historic-equipment-to-create/

Next stop Twigs Bistro & Martini Bar - http://www.twigsbistro.com/

And a great lunch and one of the best martinis Roy has had. Learned a trick for making his martini (and those of you who know about this, why didn’t you tell Roy??) Here’s their method:

Mist the bottom of a martini glass with vermouth (they used Martini & Rossi), then shake the gin, Bombay was used and pour into the glass. And forget all those flavored olives, he has decided he just loves the simple green olive stuffed with pimento best.

His lunch was -  a Turkey BLT Wrap: Sliced turkey, smoked bacon, white cheddar, lettuce, tomato and basil mayo wrapped in a grilled tomato basil tortilla.

 

 my lunch: Moroccan Beef – sauteed beef tenders with a touch of Moroccan spices served with grilled focaccia poinits, gorgonzola fondue and balsamic glaze. Just outstanding. I could have eaten the entire dish, but I kept thinking of things I could play with with the leftovers, so backed off and brough half of it home. I’m thinking a flatbread topped with the fondue, greens and the beef chopped up. (addition ideas: cilantro, melted fig jam drizzled, toasted almond…….)

More ideas from Twigs menu I want to play with -

Honey Pecan Trout: Pecan crusted rainbow trout over an apricot couscous topped with an orange-rosemary butter sauce.

Huckleberry Streusel Pizza – pizza covered with sweet cream butter, cinnamon, classic streusel topping, baked golden, then topped with confectioner’s icing, wild huckleberry coulis and finished with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Mushroom & Goat Cheese Pizza -  herb-oil roasted mushroom medley, roasted garlic cloves, fire-roasted red bells, chives and Mozzarella.

About 8 more ideas……

One more stop to make – Latah Creek Winery is celebrating their 32^nd anniversary and we’d never had their wines. Beautiful winery and great tastings matched with their wines.

 

 

  Latah winery - http://www.latahcreek.com/

First tasting was cracker topped with Chattaroy’s  Garlic Chevre and a compote matched with a Cab Franc; watermelon salad matched with Huckleberry d’Latah (“The subtle blueberry-like flavors of the huckleberry add nice complexities to the wonderfully intense spice and floral characters of our Riesling”); a pasta salad matched with Malbec; and a feather light lemon cake matched with Riesling. The winery did a superb job of matching the foods with their wines. I’ve been promised the recipe for the lemon cake from the co-owner, Elena Conway, who has 3 cookbooks under her belt. You know I had fun talking with her.

 

The winery is one of only a few family owned and operated wineries within the State. Mike Conway, with over 34 years of winery experience, and his wife Ellena pair together to run one of the most successful small wineries in this relatively new viticultural region. While Mike assumes the management, winemaking and vineyard tasks, Ellena takes on the accounting, fiscal, tasting room, and gift shop responsibilities. Mike & Ellena announced in 2005 that their daughter Natalie would be joining the family business as the assistant winemaker.

We didn’t taste this, but I did buy it anyway – Wildbeary Huckleberry Lemonade which we have been directed to add some vodka and just enjoy!!!!

As we were checking out with our 2 bottles (had promised ourselves only 1 bottle per winery), on the display case I spotted – a wine bottle filled with M&Ms…..had to have.

 

Came home and ended the day splitting the other half of Roy’s wrap. Sigh, love these kind of days.

 

so ends chapter 1 of our travels - we will be here in Spokane for another  3 days and then we head east for another week's stay....but, there are a few more wineries in Spokane to sample. :)