Luna's Restaurant, Spokane

A month or so ago I had the opportunity to visit my friend in Spokane for a couple days.  When a relative heard I was going there she suggested we have lunch at Luna's.  When that particular relative says go to this place or that place to eat I listen up.  She is a gourmet cook herself and knows about good food.  About Luna's Restaurant she said..."Gourmet food made from scratch and interesting decor."  Words I like to hear indeed.

So we did go and we were amazed. The outside appearance when you drive up is nothing special but I didn't let that bother me.  After all, I'd come here by recommendation. Once inside we enjoyed the atmosphere very much.

Here are a few photos I shot while waiting.

Not so busy on a Wednesday at 3:30 P.M. so it was good for taking a few photos.  The staff were relaxed and did a great job of answering our questions and waiting on us.  Nicely done.  I recommend going to nice places like this between meal times so you don't have the noisy din and rushed staff.

Patio seating is nice but it was a little too warm on this particular late afternoon.

Each table had a small potted herbal looking plant.  Loved this.

We already had a dessert plan so just took photos of the tempting made from scratch cookies.

Even the salt and pepper were well presented.

My daughter was a little uncertain about what she would eat at this place.  She likes simpler food than I do. She liked the fruit bowl.

My friend and I split a cup of soup.  Lemongrass, curry, vegetable.  OH MY!  I savored every bite.  Then we split a pizza from their wood fired Italian oven and was it ever good.  Forgot to take a photo of that.

Took this photo for the unique feet on the dessert display case.  White case with gold painted feet.  Like this.

We were amazed by the ciabatta bread and butter they brought to our table while waiting for the rest of the meal.  Unbelievable!  We ate that up and asked for more.  This was NOT going to be a dieting day.  She said they get the bread from the bakery behind them but this did not sink in until later...you will read all about it.

This gorgeous cupboard caught my attention because of my interest in painted furniture.  See my other blog for more details on that.  I inquired about this and was told the marble came from the Paulson Building in Spokane and the upper and lower cupboards were not meant to go together but were salvaged and stacked.

Moved in close to look at the details.  I think I might see some brighter blues peeking through.  Greek blue perhaps?  That might be interesting.

Can't tell if it is a light and shadow thing or if there is a brighter blue on the edge of these doors?

Just cute details everywhere you looked.  Liked how they displayed the bowls and used chalk boards.

Nicely done chalk board wall

Love the shade of green in the hydrangeas; also the aqua lamps.

Like the chandelier and the rough wood ceiling.

The waitress said they have a garden in back.  Rather than ask permission and be told no, we decided to ask forgiveness if we got in trouble which we did not.  What a neato parking lot on the way to the garden.

Close up of the parking lot.

Tara of Bouzie's Bakery saw us coming from the bakery window and whenever she sees a child she takes them to collect eggs.  She came right out and gave us a warm welcome and asked the child among us if she would like to help collect eggs. The photo below shows them on their way to do that WITH PURPOSE in their step.   The waitress had said the bakery was behind the restaurant but we hadn't put that all together until after Tara invited us in to tour the bakery.  This was a wonderful impromptu experience and we did not want to leave.

Stay tuned, there is a lot more, but I have to take a break and get the vacation rental ready.

30th Anniversary...Lunch at Brasserie Four: Cuisine Francaise

This blog is more about the wedding than food this time.  Scroll to near the end for the food part.

It was good to go through the wedding album and pick a few photos in honor of our wedding day 30 years ago.  Weren't we just the skinnies?

I was 97 lbs in these photos.  THAT was short lived!

I was really into vintage anything.  Not much has changed has it?

The dress was quite the story.  Everyone has their own idea of what the most important detail of the wedding is.  For me it was the vintage dress.  I was prepared to make a dress I could wear again and when I showed a drawing of the vintage style calf length dress...

... I had in mind to my husband to be, he said no. "Have a full length dress with a train like Princess Diana (she got married the year before). There is no need to wear the dress again."  WHAT!!!???  I thought I knew this conservative man after 6 years of courting. But that took me by surprise.  This was a departure from both of our family's tradition of being practical and appearing humble.

So with the assurance it was what he wanted, I went all out, choosing the most difficult antique pattern I could find from a company that has long since gone out of business called "Past Patterns."  This is the 1905 Muslin Gown.

The vintage patterns were so outdated it was difficult to find things I needed to make it and had to improvise. This pattern called for boning which I'd never hear of before. Thankfully I had been sewing for many years by this time and when I ran up against difficulties I had aunts, a sister and a mother and a talented neighbor who stepped in with help and suggestions.   One of the things that was improvised was that I really wanted this watermarked appearance in the fabic.  I was in love with watermark at that time of my life as were many people in the early eighties.  However, the pattern was for a muslin gown and the fabric I found and bought without knowing better was drapey polyester. (I learned a lot on this project).  The fabric and the pattern so did not go together.  When I was a few weeks from the wedding and ready to give up, my aunt Gwynne suggested taking it to a dry cleaners for pressing.  You see the tiny pin tucks over the hips sewn on the bias polyester fabric were a nightmare that was not going away.  Well that worked and then I was off and running again.  The next hurdle was how the dress hung straight down and the train didn't stand out like it was supposed to.  I was sent to a wedding shop by my parent's neighbor, Debbie, to buy a slip with a hoop.  Voila!  That worked too.  With encouragement and support from the right sources I was able to wear the dress.  However, not as finished as my highschool Home Ec teacher taught me...the hem is still unfinished to this day.  It's sewn up and all, just has a raw edge under there and it's got pine needles and stuff stuck in it from that day so long ago.

And here we are saying our vows in front of our relatives.

Then....and now:

My husband was going to be away for work on our actual anniversary day so we decided to celebrate on the one weekend in August that was available.  It was such a last minute decision that I just loaded up the kids and drove an hour down the road to meet up with my husband, just returning from a week of work 3 hours away and drop off the younger children to spend the weekend with their sister.

We had dinner at PF Changs which was good.  We had never been there before.  Since my husband was gone recently he wasn't in much of a mood to go anywhere so we just headed back home and relaxed all weekend.  It was hard not to tend to things that needed to be done but for the most part we managed.  We went out for one lunch and it was excellent.  I spent some time in the kitchen because we were home.  That's where I usually am you know.  It's why I'm not so skinny anymore.  The skinny began to change about one week into being married and I've struggled ever since.

Brasserie Four is owned by the daughter of the lady I signed up to sell Demarle under.  So this owner being related to her mother and also owning a French restaurant certainly does use Demarle for some of her presentations.

The menu is amazing and so is the food.

We ordered the last item on the menu:  Pizze La Paysanne and here is a photo:

We split that and also ordered a Ceasar Salad.  Love how they stack it.  Great presentation and of course delightfully tasty.

Tick Tock goes the clock.  Fast forward a week and now my husband is gone away for the week to work.  It's the day of our anniversary and my daughter is visiting for the day.  After running errands we come home and this was sitting on the front porch.  Love!

Back in those days we actually printed photos so I put one of our wedding photos out for the week.

Rice Pilaf Substitution by Guest Writer, "Heider Pied" Also a fail proof Alaska Salmon supper.

Whenever anyone asks what our family favorite recipe is this is the first one that comes to mind.  We've passed this recipe on to friends and family more than any other recipe; period.

It was gifted to me by my mother-in-law who I believe got the recipe from a beloved family friend of all our families.  People! I say!  Whenever possible have people hand write the recipes they are giving you.
My mother-in-law has passed on now and I am so happy to have a few of recipes in her hand writing.

Notice above I changed the margarine note to butter as we have a thing going on against using margarine.

Someone in my husband's family organized a recipe card collection for me when I was first engaged.  I think this is the main one I keep going back to though I've made this so frequently it is in my head.

Recently I got a phone call from one of my sisters letting me know she didn't have everything she needed one evening to make the usual recipe but came up with a wonderful substitute.  I asked for photos and and text for adding to this blog.

From My sister "Heider-Pied":

"Planned dinner tonight was to consist of Baked Salmon, Rice Pilaf, and Salad.  
I pulled the salmon out of the freezer this morning and plopped it in the baking dish.  I sprinkled it with garlic powder, onion powder, dill, oregano, a little pepper, and some garlic salt.  I tend  to avoid the sugar recipes when I do salmon, because our family LOVES salmon chowder with the leftovers.  The spices that I used work well in the salmon chowder. In the oven for 350 degrees until done.  I usually plan on 45 minutes to an hour.

We also love rice pilaf when having Salmon.  Our favorite recipe is (my sister's) Famous Rice Pilaf.  However, after sticking the butter and onion in the pan, I realized that I was out of white rice.  Oops!  Well, I don't want to drag all three kids to the store when we have a t-ball game in an hour!  Time is of the essence!  After double checking the cupboards and  considering using instant rice, my eyes landed on the Quinoa.  Hmmmm.....The directions say simmer for 15 minutes. Well, that may just work.  So I measured out the same amount of Quinoa as the recipe calls for rice and put that in, saute it for a bit in the butter then add Chicken Base, water, and the noodles and let it simmer until the water is gone.  

The smell was a little different than the rice, so I was in doubt. I gingerly stuck it in front of my three children and awaited the groans as normally rice pilaf is one of their favorites, and here I was messing with it!  Success!  All three of them loved it!  So did I!  I have made Quinoa before and two of my kids like it just fine and the third puts up with it!  We will be doing this again!  They all had seconds!"

Breakfast Muffins with Changes

The other blog is also updated, so don't forget to check it out.

Yesterday I got a morning call from daughter #1.  She wondered what was up with us and I soon discovered she was lonely.  Soon after that she was on her way to visit for the day.  What a nice day we had.  At the end of the day, I commented to her, "This is why I did not want you to move too far away from me."  We LOVE getting together SO MUCH!

Her main project for the day was to make 72 Breakfast Muffins.  If you refer back to one of the early posts you will find she did a guest posting on this recipe.  She makes these about once a month so her husband can get off to work in the morning with a healthy breakfast.  Not many people would put the effort into making these fresh each morning or at all for that matter.  For sure I would not be making them fresh each day.  But to make a large batch and freeze them is great.  I've been the recipient twice of needing a quick breakfast and enjoying this particular offering courtesy of my organized daughter.

As she has made this recipe several times there are some changes.  This time the change was using 2 ovens.  It cut the process down significantly so I hope you are putting a double oven on your list of things to add to your next kitchen remodel.  Since I lived many years without this wonderful feature and now have it, I'll say I MUCH prefer having a double oven in my kitchen.

Another change is to use fresh potatoes instead of frozen hash browns.  We think they must be healthier, but there is a little more work involved.

The ingredients are assembled.  Yes, that's 5 dozen eggs and 6 packages of cheese and precooked sausages.

Grating raw potatoes.

Putting raw grated potatoes in Demarle cupcake tray.

While those bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes, she is breaking dozens of eggs into the mixing bowl.

 Can you tell I like close up shots?  These were later ground up and put on the tomato plants.

Mixing eggs.

Now that the eggs are mixed together, she adds several bags of grated Mexican cheese.

Adding seasonings.

Placing the cooked sausage on top of the baked grated potatoes.

Same thing, closer view. 

Now spoon the egg, cheese, spice mixture over top of the hashbrowns and sausage.

And bake using both ovens for 13 minutes or so.

While those were baking she started on a second batch.  She does not grate all the potatoes at once for 72 breakfast muffins because they turn brown quickly.

Oh, I just looked for a photo to post of the finished product but forgot to take one.  Well we sample tasted and they sure tasted great.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 12 links breakfast sausage, or equivalent amount of ground sausage or cooked crumbled bacon
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups Shredded 4-Cheese Mexican blend cheese
• Garlic Powder to taste, optional
• Dill Weed to taste, optional
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste, optional

Directions:

• In a bowl, combine the hash browns, butter, salt and pepper.
• Fill Demarle muffin cup molds ½ full, tamp down.
• Bake at 400°F for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, cut sausage into ½-inch pieces, and cook according to package directions.
• Divide sausage among muffin cups.
• Beat eggs and spices, stir in cheese. Spoon over sausage.
• Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until set.

*If I am doing the 6 batches, I will cook the sausage the day before. That part takes about an hour.

Chocolate Champagne Mousse, not too sweet

It feels a lot like summer now and we still want chocolate.  The appeal of gourmet hot chocolate drink is on hold  until fall so I made this today as a stand in.  Talk about rich and delicious.  Also it was easy since strawberries are in season.  I wanted to make something with ingredients I had on hand.  While I don't usually have champagne, a friend gifted us a bottle when she moved.  This seemed like a good way to use it.  I still had some left over and used it in a cake for my daughter's upcoming birthday.  The cakes are in the freezer for next week's celebration. 

Notice the demitasse spoons.  I got them at a thrift store.  They are such a good size for these occasional gourmet desserts.

Recipe for mousse:

20 ounces heavy whipping cream

12 ounces dark chocolate, Lindt 85% Cacoa

½ cup champagne

6 tablespoon organic light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Combine ingredients over low heat and stir occasionally until chocolate melts and blends.

Ladle into demitasse cups , cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Serve with fresh strawberries and pineapple mint.

Worm Composting

A little while ago my grand girls came for a few days.  What fun memories we created.  They were quite interested in watching their aunt and uncle get on the bus.

They feed carrot scraps to the worms.  It was a fine chore as long as they didn't have to touch the dirt which had the potential of touching a (gasp) worm.  Many of you know the fish cleaning stories from my childhood so I'm sympathetic.

The children and I had the opportunity to attend a worm composting work shop a month ago.  As recently as a few months ago I would not have guessed worm composting was going to be on my bucket list.  But sometimes these things just develop.  At my husband's work they needed some people to commit to the workshop.  Even though we were busy getting a vacation rental ready we decided to "help out."

As it turned out it was so well attended we waited a week to go back and build our own worm bins as they didn't have enough for everyone.  That's why the photos show me standing around with my arms folded watching everyone else stick their hands in it.  Eventually I did too.

Here is the process:

Drill several holes in your bin.   Fill it about 1/3 full of 7 month old decayed leaves.  Here is a photo of what it looks like:

Next you add a few large handfuls of soggy, shredded newsprint.  No glossy paper as it gives the worms indigestion.

Dried eggshells only please:

Grind the dried egg shells.  Aaachoo!  It is a dusty process.

Now add a cup of sand because the worms need it for roughage.

  And most of a cup of ground eggshells:

 Turn it and toss it like a big salad:

Add veggie scraps.  Go light on fruit.  No meat or dairy!

Under each of these piles of dirt is a good supply of red wiggler worms.  Whatcha do is pick the worms out of the dirt one by one until you have a cup and then add them to your bin.  This picking the worms took the longest of the whole process.

This is the result you are going for.  The worms digest the ingedients of the bin and turn it into nutrient rich soil.

These squash and cosmos plants were started as examples and we got to take some home.  They were planted just two weeks prior to this photo being taken.  Hard to believe, I know.  They were in a  greenhouse so that also helps hasten the process, but mainly it is due to the rich soil.

Now add a half to one gallon of raw veggie scraps per week.  In about 5 months you will have a bin of great soil to use for your garden starts next year.  Or you can make a tea/fertilizer from your results.