Why is it that ‘just a quick stop at Costco’ is never really quick? For one thing, no matter which day I stop there I run into–sometimes quite literally–a friend or neighbor. Or, like today, across from the meat aisle, I found a line-up of five Washington wineries represented by winemakers and/or owners. Of course I had to stop.

First winery was Terry and Vivian Flanagan’s Ryan Patrick Vineyards. Terry was there and we talked about this new wine event being held today and Saturday. No tasting, but the attractive tabletop displays of wines available right now in Costco caught the eye of passers-by and kept the wine people busy talking about their wines. Ryan Patrick Vineyards displayed the 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Rock Island Red (a big seller in the tasting room), the 2006 Naked Chardonnay (non-oaked and nearly sold out of this vintage. The 2007 should be out in a couple of months), and the 2007 Estate Chardonnay. The Rock Island Red and the Naked Chardonnay are Costco regulars, but the Reserve Cab and Estate Chard will be there only for this event, until they run out of what Costco has stocked. And the prices are fantastic.

At the table next to Terry was Bob Broderick of Chelan Estate Winery. Located on the south shore of Lake Chelan, it is often overlooked by those going to Chelan and Manson for wine tasting. Big mistake! Bob makes several excellent wines, three of which are on display today and Saturday…and again, at excellent prices. The wines are the 2004 Stillwater Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2004 Stillwater Creek Merlot, and the Stillwater Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a true Meritage style blend of the five Bordeaux varieties of Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. All these are from estate grown grapes. Did I mention the unbelievable prices?

Two out-of-local-area wines were next. First was Gordon Brothers from Pasco WA, represented by winemaker Tim Henley. He was enthusiastic about his 2007 Reserve Columbia Valley Chardonnay, and rightly so. Made from first run juice, this organic wine was aged in 80% French and 20% American oak. I really wished they were tasting, but I think you all know the WSLCB rules! Tim also had the Gordon Bros. 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Merlot. And then, there on the table was the 2003 Tradition. This wine, a superb blend of 48% Cab, 48% Merlot and 4% Syrah, is a real winner. The Tradition annually wins awards at wine judgings all over the country. And check out the prices!

Pete Hedges of Hedges Cellars was there with his wines, also. Known for consistent excellence, Hedges Cellars was displaying the CMS Columbia Valley White, the CMS Columbia Valley Red, and the 2005 Three Vineyards Red Mountain Red. Again, the prices are great. Am I repeating myself?

These four wineries will be at Costco Saturday, November 22. This is a good chance to meet winemakers and learn something about some of Washington’s great wines…and perhaps take home a bottle or two for dinner, or for the holidays which are upon us. Joining them Saturday, and by itself on Sunday, will be Arbor Crest from Spokane, with their 2005 Merlot, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Syrah, and the outstanding 2002 red blend, Dionysus. All are highly rated and worth checking out.

I didn’t mean to get so lengthy, but when it comes to wine I often get carried away…especially when the prices are so good. Because of my quest for bargains, particularly now, I am very excited about these. I hope you are, too.

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Recently some misinformation about the Red Cross was posted under comments on the house fire in Brewster. My browser will not let me comment on news events, so I am blogging it. I went to a reputable site which gives out information on hoaxes, urban legends, and other misinformation, and found this about what was said about the Red Cross.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/emergent/redcross.asp

This site is also a useful source for checking out all those emails which want to WARN YOU OF A NEW VIRUS THAT WILL SPOIL EVERYTHING IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR IF YOU DON’T SEND IT ON IN 35 SECONDS, or which tell you that by forwarding it to everyone in your address book, MICROSOFT WILL SEND YOU $4321 or the American Cancer Society will DONATE MONEY in tribute to a DYING YOUNG GIRL WHO WROTE A BEAUTIFUL POEM (really written by a psychologist). All are untrue.

So every time you read about something too good–or too bad–to be true, it probably is. But you can find out for yourself. Go to Snopes.

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Checklist: Five cheap things to do that look like fun.

Thinking that Mike Irwin’s checklist was a great idea, I decided to see which of the activities we would enjoy.

Parades (Tuesday, Nov. 11) Tuesday wasn’t our day to go to Wenatchee and parades of any kind aren’t high on our lists of fun things to do. So, no to that one.

Writers & Readers (Thursday, Nov. 13)  Write on the River: again, no. I could never read my own stuff to anyone. It sounded like an interesting thing to do, however.  

Art Exhibit at WVC (Nov. 14) — I was looking forward to this one, as we have attended other years, but an unforeseen trip to Wenatchee in the morning changed our minds. By late afternoon I was finished for the day. We hauled milk in the early p.m. to the Community Cupboard and a couple of other places. Lifting about 30 gallons of milk–one or two at a time for me–is very wearing. So the closest I got to art was admiring the “Starry Night” label on a bottle of very nice wine.

Latest James Bond movie? I don’t think so! First, I haven’t been inside a movie theater since I saw “Good Morning Viet Nam” in 1987 in Connecticut. Second, were I to go to a movie, it certainly wouldn’t be this one. I don’t do violence, blowing up things, or shooting people.

Multicultural Festival? Yes! We walked through all the exhibits, had some interesting conversations with those at the booths, ate a tamale and a Russian apple-filled bun, and watched some performances. Some of those were Indian dances, a youthful Mariachi band, Japanese drummers…all performing to an enthusiastic audience. As we had dinner guests coming, we couldn’t stay for everything but we did enjoy our visit to the Museum and the Festival.

One thing our trip to the Museum accomplished was to remind us that we need to renew our membership, which we will do. That is something the rest of you might consider, as the Museum is interesting, has some fun activities such as today’s, and is worthy of our support. 

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Recently I stopped in at Pretiola, a bakery and cafe’ at the bottom of Fifth, just down the hill from Wenatchee Avenue. For a while Pretiola was also in Apple Annie’s in Cashmere, where I used to drop in more frequently.  As it was early and the place wasn’t crowded yet, I was able to have a few moments with Lisa Jackson, who, with her husband, Steve, own and operate the place.

The display case was filled with baked delights: cinnamon rolls, twists and bars, plus quiches and other savories. The shelves were lined with breads made from flour they grind daily themselves, I particularly like the honey wheat for my morning toast.

The several small tables were filled with regulars, sipping coffee or lattes and eating pastries.  Some drop-ins ordered lattes and left.  Lisa said, “You came on a good day; this is “raw-food Thursday.”

Puzzled, I  asked her what she meant.

Lisa told me that on Thursdays they have, besides their regular soup, salad and sandwich menu, a raw food vegan menu. On the counter near me  was a plate of flat, seed-filled discs labeled “Lisa’s Bird Seed Cookies” so of course I had to ask if they were bird food or people food. Lisa laughed and said that they were definitely people food and were part of the raw-food menu.  She went on to describe some of the other menu items, such as red-eye gravy over vegetables, Italian sausage pizza (no meat, remember), apple crisp and chocolate pudding….all made from organic raw materials and never cooked. All were served at room temperature. 

I had to ask! How do you make uncooked, meatless Italian sausage? Lisa brought out a meatball from the refrigerator, apologizing because it was colder than room temperature, and had me try it. Mmm. Texture was that of a meatball, with a fennel flavor, and other Italian seasonings. Chewed like a meatball. I was impressed.

Previously I had read some articles about the raw food movement but had never attempted to try it or learn more about it. Now, here it was in front of me. Lisa asked if I would like to try the vegetables with red eye gravy and the apple crisp. I would and I did. A crunchy blend of diced fresh vegetables was topped with a tempting red sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, all at room temperature and very tasty. The apple crisp consisted of very thinly sliced fresh apple, a sprinkling of cinnamon and a topping of mixed ground nuts and fluffy cashew vanilla cream. Very good! Then came the crowning touch: a chocolate macaroon made of raw coconut, raw chocolate, and agave syrup. The chocolate was deep and rich and the coconut was deliciously chewy. Almost as good — for how can anything be quite as good as chocolate — was the vanilla macaroon, with ground almonds and coconut. I saved part of the chocolate for my spouse, who almost turned the car around to go back and get another. As we were almost back in Leavenworth, we decided we could wait until next week. Besides, this coming Thursday is taco day.

Hmm. It appears that Thursday may quite well become our day of the week to go to Wenatchee.

Pretiola (664-9079) is open Monday-Friday, 8-4 and Saturday, 8-2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism 

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To all my friends and acquaintances: By the time this is published, the election will be over. Some of us will be rejoicing while others of us will be gnashing our teeth and saying, “Don’t these idiots realize what they’ve done?

Some of you, my dear and valued friends, will have voted contrary to my vote. I won’t hold it against you. In return, I hope you will reciprocate. I don’t value you because you are a copy of me, with the same opinions and ideas. I hope you value me because I am different from you.

Politics can be a very disruptive influence on our lives; family and neighborhood feuds have developed because of it.  No matter what the outcome of this, the 2008 election, I sincerely hope that we will continue to care for one another and value one another in spite of — or because of — our differences.

Whichever way it goes, we’re all in this together.

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                 OK, I have had it. For the third time in as many weeks I have had the opportunity to attend events… worthwhile, fundraising dinners…only to discover that the main dinner item was breast of chicken. This diatribe against the most overused and tasteless source of protein consumed by Americans today was triggered by the latest invitation to spend lots of money for the pleasure of facing yet another plate of dead chicken breast. I knew the preparation would be well done, and with the addition of other foods, seasonings, and sauces, the rest of the meal would be tasty.  The base, however, would remain the same: a flat white piece of chicken breast! 

In the case of the chicken, white meat is the ultimate diet food: low in calories, high in protein, low in flavor. Because we as a nation are obsessed with reducing our body fat (and a good thing that is for many of us), we are suckers for any foods advertised as part of a diet guaranteed to help us lose weight.  Who cares that it has no flavor of its own and has the texture of wet cardboard? It’s a ‘diet’ food, and therefore a ‘must’ on every menu.

Why not check out the stats on dark meat, which has flavor and texture and not enough additional calories to make a difference? And it has more essential nutrients. Yet we continue to eat at fast food places which proudly proclaim that their menu items are made with ‘all white meat chicken.’  Many of us go to banquets, parties, conferences and dinners where we quietly and desperately chew and swallow, and silently complain. 

No more. It has become my personal crusade to create, on all menus everywhere, equal opportunity for ‘the other end of the chicken’: the Dark Meat. If you agree with me, speak up at the restaurant or fast food place you frequent and request that they offer a choice: white and dark.  Isn’t that what we all really want,  the ability to choose, to have reasonable options, whether in our dining or elsewhere?

Yes, I have ‘white meat’ friends, and I value them in spite of their preferences.  But I find much enjoyment in those who like the whole chicken, who taste the pleasures of diversity, and who have experienced the values added to their lives from their contacts with that which is ‘different’.

The next time you shop, pass up the overpriced packages of chicken breast and reach for the less expensive but better tasting drumsticks and thighs. In this one action you will have increased the nutritional level and improved the flavor of your meal, and these days, with prices increasing almost daily, that is reason enough.

Recipe for delicious chicken thighs:

Tsardust seasoning: salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, marjoram.
www.penzeys.com/images/recipes/tsardustChickenThighs.jpg&b=search%3Fs_it%3Dtopsearchbox.search%26query%3Dpicture%2Bof%2Bcooked%2Bchicken%2Bthighs&icid=snap-pic 

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As mentioned previously, Pasek Cellars shares a tasting  room with Willow Crest Winery from Prosser WA.  As many of us travel less right now, being able here at home to try wines from other areas  is definitely “a good thing” (thank you, Martha Stewart).

I first went to Willow Crest in Prosser the year it opened: 1995.  The owner, David Minick, was already known to winemakers for his quality grapes.  Not having tasted his wines for awhile, I was looking forward to trying them here in town.   Earlier, the tasting room was up a very long flight of stairs, so I seldom made the attempt. Now the tasting room is a cozy, friendly place on the main floor in the 900 block of Front St., and I am very glad it moved.

The first wine I tried was the 2007 Pinot Gris, with its aroma and taste of fresh apple. This wine is very popular with tasters as it has just a hint of sweetness, balancing the nice acid.

I then skipped right to the reds, as I was eager to taste the 2005 Grenache, a wine I favor right now because it goes so well with so many foods,  the way Sangiovese does. It was excellent, with a wonderful aroma that lingered. It’s not heavy and tannic, like a cab, but has a wonderful fruity, spicy aroma and flavor, and a good mouthfeel. It’s a bit pricey for Grenache, although not for this area, or for the quality of the wine.

The 2005 Willow Crest XIII  is a smooth blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre, with the added touch of 2% Viognier for aroma and color.  It, too, was excellent, and brought to mind rack of lamb and rice pilaf.

Other whites and reds add to the line-up of good wines there, and the knowledgeable staff makes it a worthwhile stop on a wine walk through town.

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This morning I came across this picture while reading the online World, and was very impressed…..moreso after reading the article. If you read my blog “The Value of Darkness”, you know that I favor darkness at night, one reason being to make the stars more visible, but these people take it to extremes. If you haven’t seen it, go here to view it.   http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081025/EXPLORE/710259998/1040/NEWS90 

I wonder what Van Gogh would have done with this scene?

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I believe the mind has its own energy, and that we can often direct that energy to help ourselves become more positive, more helpful and more useful. Of course, we can direct it in the opposite direction, and become negative and unkind, but that is not what we need right now, or ever.

Some people believe in prayer, which can be a form of positive enery; however, not everyone prays or believes in prayer in the typical religious sense.  Still, one can have that positive energy of the mind, and direct it in a positive manner, no matter what the individual religious or non-religious conviction is.

Right now a very special person is in Central Washington Hospital, and in need of all the positive energy or prayers he can get.  By this time almost everyone must know that our own Dr. Edward Farrar, a noted orthopedic surgeon, has had a terrible accident. www.wenworld.com  Dr. Farrar is special to many of us;  his skills have not only saved lives, but have made life easier and better for many needing those special skills.

Recently Ed had just begun to show another side: his blogging talents. He has been an informative and humorous narrator of bike racing and of the world of racers. http://blogs.wenatcheeworld.com/author/efarrar/  and many of us watch regularly for his latest blog.

So please join me in your support of Ed’s recovery in whatever way is best for you.

Ed, we all love you and are thinking of you every day.  In the past nineteen years you have helped five in my own family alone, so this is from us all:  Joanne, Julia, Byron, Zach and Katie

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Coming into Leavenworth from the east on Hwy.2, if you turn left at the one light in the heart of town, and turn left again at the end of the first block, you will pass several shops on the right. The last one is the wine-tasting room of Pasek Cellars from Mt. Vernon and Willow Crest Winery from Prosser. Several out-of-area wineries have chosen tourist-rich Leavenworth as a site for a tasting room; Pasek Cellars and Willow Crest joined forces to share one.

Pasek Cellars makes mostly non-grape fruit wines of varying degrees of sweetness. The cranberry wine is extremely popular during the holiday season. After tasting it, I could see why. A bottle will be on our table this coming Thanksgiving. The Loganberry, my favorite of all berry fruits, appears here in a delicious port style, and is a great complement to my son’s cheesecakes; and the Late Harvest Viognier, with its apricot aromas and delicate flavors, is excellent with an onion, apple, apricot tart. The apple-scented, slightly sweet Chardonnay is very food-friendly and popular, also.  These wines, along with a friendly, pleasant  pouring staff, make for a good start in the exploration of Leavenworth wine tasting.

As with most wines, each variety has its adherents. Whatever your favorite is, don’t let anyone disparage your choice; if you like it then it is a good choice for you. There is no need to be self-conscious or defensive about your preference for a certain wine or wines.

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