Saturday, May 23, 2009

No More Luscious

I'm in Walla Walla this weekend, and it's been six months since I've been here. So much has changed. I realized when I left that it would never be the same people-wise, but I expected the rest of it to remain untouched. I was wrong. Some of my best memories here include great food with good friends at many of the this town's fine restaurants. 

I drove around early this morning and was surprised that so many restaurants had closed. So many good places gone, they will be missed. Grapefields, Luscious by Nature and The Verve, just to name a few. I'm very disappointed about Luscious by Nature closing. Whether I was getting cocktails with friends, having Sunday brunch,  or the occasional dinner out, I loved that place. The atmosphere was always so fresh and I enjoyed the outdoor seating. Everything was so light, airy and white. It will be missed. It is good to see a few familiar businesses around. I'm glad to see Colville Street Patisserie is still in business.

Living in Portland, I take for granted that everything I usually buy is from a local business or farms. I accidentally got Starbucks this morning and then realized that some local businesses here had closed. Somewhat ironic. For the rest of my stay here, I will be sure to buy local. It is so important to support businesses that you care about, and not the huge corporations. I usually don't rant about this stuff, but it is so relevant. Be careful where your money goes, especially now that there seems to be less of it to go around!

Ps. I got a new haircut. It is exciting!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Yay Asparagus!























I went grocery shopping and ended up at Powells bookstore on Hawthorne. I was looking for a seasonal cookbook so that I can just eat well and cheap at the same time. I found an amazing book from the San Francisco Farmer's Market. It has a lot of really fresh recipes and they are very easy. I am really excited!

I made the asparagus salad. It consists of thinly sliced asparagus, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. Delicious! I almost forgot, there is Parmesan/Romano cheese on top... :)