Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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When I walk through town, I see flags of all sorts waving in the wind; they celebrate with "Small Town, Big Heart," support the Cougars, Seahawks, and of course, Old Glory. Recently, I noticed a flag holder on our front porch post and deliberated joining the flag fliers. Deciding what flag to fly became a small project. Should I fly the California flag, maybe the Italian or European Union flag for Daniel, or a Go Dodgers or Lakers banner. How about designing a Weinhard Café flag so we can...
I’m almost scared to write about my perfect Sunday (yesterday) for fear I will jinx any future Sundays, but I’m not superstitious, so here goes. Our plans for this weekend were to take off a few days and drive to Portland, sort of a Daniel apology and belated birthday trip for me. However, with the uptick in COVID-19 cases and increased mask mandates, we decided to reschedule for a safer time. But all was not lost! As a result of a catering job we did in Dayton, I recently met a lovely lady who...
Well, I hate to say it, but I've almost set aside the garden for the year. My unwillingness to weed the sunflower starts from the raised beds, and my naivety of thinking they wouldn't get that big has ended in an eight-foot-tall jungle. Luckily for me, the birds love it, I'll consider it not to be a total waste. I've been able to get some small tomato harvests which is better than last year by a long shot. I don't know if it's the cold nights out here or that I get herbicide drift multiple...
Shakespeare wrote in his play The Twelfth Night, "If music be the food of love, play on!" Obviously, Shakespeare didn't have to listen to Daniel's playlist. I grew up in a houseful of music and musicians. My maternal grandfather and all his ten siblings were musicians, mostly violinists. Although the musical talent gene skipped my mother, she did appreciate and love music. My father also came from a musical family. Although he never took lessons, he could sit at a piano and plunk out tunes by...
Although I don't have a "charmed" life, I certainly have it easier than many people. I recognize that in the scheme of things, I have no right to complain. But, I admit, there are some days or weeks when frustrations accumulate, and I begin to feel sorry for myself, like today. The frustrations began when a few patrons at the restaurant graciously complimented me and told me they enjoyed reading my columns in The Times. I was flattered, then had a mini-anxiety attack thinking about what I will...
I recently heard an interview on one of my favorite National Public Radio shows, Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, with Dr. Ellen Stofan. She is currently the Under Secretary for Science and Research at The Smithsonian Institute and was previously the Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum. The “panelists,” who are comedians, were quizzing her with their space related questions. They asked, “did Matt Damon return from Mars?” and “did we really land on the moon?” along with other profoun...
While I'm a sorry excuse for a flower gardener, as anyone who's seen our landscaping would agree, I'm a huge fan of flowers in the vegetable garden. In fact, sometimes the flowers do better than the veggies. One of my favorite annuals is the tried-and-true marigold. There are so many colors, and you can even choose dwarf varieties that will easily fit into the smallest garden. You can also easily save seeds to plant again next year. Nasturtiums are a gorgeous option that gives tons of blooms....
I’ve found that in owning a restaurant, gardening, and life in general, many of the rules and clichés I’ve learned throughout my eons in the business world still apply. First, the 80/20 rule, which I wrote about recently, and another a former boss always touted and of which I was recently reminded: Don’t rule by exception! There are certain items on our menu at the café that we consider to be “rock stars” because they always sell, one of which is our crispy cod sandwich. Occasionall...
It certainly has been hot lately, not only is it bringing out the sloth in me, but it is also obliterating my garden. The combination of my heat-inspired slothiness and my normal forgetfulness has caused some unfortunate plants on the side patio to wither and die. No eggplant this year, I guess they thrive when they are watered. But, lettuce, not so much. I have four varieties of lettuce, all of which have gone to seed and turned into lettuce trees sporting beautiful royal blue blossoms. Like...
The garden is really picking up pace with the hot temperatures and full sun. We took a quick trip to the coast over the holiday weekend and came back to not so much a garden as a jungle. Weeds are a constant battle, and I spent a cathartic few hours pulling them as fast as I could before they could go to seed and cause 10x more weeds next year. The garlic, onion, and shallot beds were close to harvest and woefully full of sow thistle, so I opted to dive in and harvest everything. If you're...
In keeping with my love of old movies, I was recently reminded of: It Happened in Naples. I admit with no hesitancy that I am no Sophia Loren. But sometimes things happen at the Weinhard that are reminiscent of an old movie, and it doesn’t hurt to dream for a minute that I could be a little like one of the most beautiful women in the world. But face it, as lovely as Dayton and Waitsburg are, they’re not Naples. This past Saturday night, a lovely couple came to the restaurant for dinner. As we...
I am an old movie fan, and lately, the classic flick, The Three Faces of Eve starring Joanne Woodward, has been on my mind. Probably because, in a small way, I feel like my life is emulating that story. I know I only have one personality, but I have three "careers" happening at once, on overlapping days and two "start of the week" days. It can all make me a little crazy. Monday morning is the start of my Monday through Friday job as a Los Angeles insurance broker. I field questions from clients...
The dog days are close at hand, and with a record heatwave happening as we speak, what better way to beat the heat than to head down to your favorite swimming hole with "Rover" in tow. Few things are as rewarding as a romp in the river or pond with your pup, particularly the variety that enjoy a good fetch and retrieve. My setters are shy on the game of fetch, but a good swim is a home run when the temperatures soar into the 90s and beyond. One of their favorite spots is right in Waitsburg,...
I am now officially and happily the Ice Queen. Just in time for the brutal heat wave that struck this week, we finally have a functioning ice machine. Sometimes, the small pleasures in life (albeit this time an expensive one) provide much-needed satisfaction and relief. Relief that I don't have to stop to buy and then carry 40-50 pounds of ice into the restaurant daily. More importantly, I can generously fill our patrons' glasses with ice water, lemonade, or iced tea. This new modern machine...
It's weird to be thinking about fall when it doesn't even feel like summer has hit its stride, but here I am, planning what seeds I need to start to ensure I have cabbages and carrots galore. Gardens in Waitsburg are typically about two weeks ahead of my garden's microclimate; however, I start planning two weeks ahead of folks in town when prepping for fall. Around my garden, there seems to be some sort of cold spot in how the air settles at night coupled with a higher elevation. As such, I...
My mother, a very wise woman, taught my sister, brother, and I that "you don't kick a man when he's down." A lesson I remembered this week when we purchased a new ice machine for over $3,000. Three weeks ago, after our now-defunct ice machine lumbered to its slow, laborious death, I went online to look at replacement machines. I told Daniel that I found a replacement machine for approximately $2,500. He proceeded to lecture me on how much ice we (meaning me) could purchase daily from the store...
Every time I think I have the garden dialed in I'm reminded that I don't. Such is life. Overall, May has been kind to our garden with stable weather though a bit cold in our area (the last frost was May 20th). It has, however, been incredibly dry, and I'm thankful for drip irrigation on timers. One of the only upsides to the lack of rain is that the weeds aren't too bad yet. We haven't been subject to any herbicide drift so far this season which has also helped the garden flourish. But while...
In 2000, a new celebrity chef was born when Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential; Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly became a best seller. At the time, I was working as a “kitchen slave” for Daniel, the executive chef at famed restaurant Citrus in Los Angeles. Bourdain’s book divulged many truths about the behind-the-scenes antics in many restaurant kitchens. For example: No, kitchen staff doesn’t spit on food or add weird things to your salad as retaliation. If food falls on the fl...
Our jet sled bobbed near the infamous "Buoy 10" in the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a stormy September afternoon with angry Pacific surf bullying its wave action far upriver. Coho were the target, yet no one aboard complained at the prospects of landing anything willing to trounce the cut herring corkscrewing behind the boat as we drifted. Kicking back, we enjoyed the ride, and the experience of fellow fishermen jumping hurriedly for a bent rod, ripped from the complacency of a lull in th...
We’re all exhausted, my hands are raw, my nails are shredded, and my feet are so sore I can hardly walk. Somehow, we made it through the first two weeks as new Dayton restauranteurs. All without killing each other, burning down the building or poisoning anyone. We have had our share of chef tantrums (him), staff silent treatments (me), stare downs (both of us) and pizza lunches. Luckily, to balance out the opening kinks and tiffs, we’ve had many laughs, happy customers and great lunches pre...
We did it! We opened the café! I’m so glad we started with our “friends soft opening” last Saturday; it was a smart move. We found the kinks, what works and what doesn’t (the meat slicer). Also, since it was a private party, guests could bring wine which helped soothe and stall as we worked out various kinks in real-time. Daniel, Jaime, and I each ran a marathon as we filled glasses, turned in orders, and delivered food. We also used the experience to do a test run of our payment system w...
Seven apple varieties, previously believed lost or extinct, have been found in old orchards in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, according to a joint press release by The Temperate Orchard Conservancy (TOC) and The Lost Apple Project (LAP). The re-discovered apples include the Almota, Carlough, Eper, Iowa Flat, Ivanhoe, Kay, and Steptoe. A team of volunteers from the LAP collected the apples in the fall of 2020 and passed them to the TOC, who identified them. The two cooperating projects have now...
Well, it's officially go-time! Those of you in Waitsburg proper should probably be a week or two ahead of me in terms of planting. Living a bit north of town and in a slightly colder spot, we managed to get one very light frost the night of May 7 and still have a slight risk of it tonight (May 10). As such, I held off on planting most of my frost-sensitive crops like tomatoes, peppers, and melons to be safe. Good thing too, as the few plants I rushed into the garden without season extenders had...
My sister and I are good friends when she's not trying to run my life. Being petite and the middle child, she's decided it's the reason (excuse) for her bossiness. Luckily, we agree on politics and most social issues, one of which is the environment. I proudly give her kudos because she does put her money where her mouth is. She has driven an electric vehicle for years (starting with a Volt and recently upgrading to a Tesla), updated her yard many years ago to be drought-tolerant, and she has...
Have you ever had pet chickens? Neither did I until a few years ago. After a nasty bite from a vicious kindergarten class parakeet, it took me a while to venture into the avian world again. While I live a bit outside of town, I wanted to talk about raising chickens in town. It's relatively easy and completely manageable with a few considerations. I'll give a list of resources at the end of this article if you're ready to dive in. The Basics: All chickens need food, water, and safe living space....
