Most Recent Stories
Nosh On: Oh man, do cinnamon rolls ever deliver
The perfect cinnamon roll is an elusive one. It’s fully cooked, but gooey, bursting with cinnamon and most important, not dry. The dry cinnamon roll is the one that always disappoints. And that disappointment happens way too often. When I was a kid, we occasionally ordered cinnamon rolls at The Bread Board in the Wenatchee Valley Mall. They were good, if I remember correctly. I also remember that my sister strategically ate our shared cinnamon roll, calculating how she’d end up with the center layer, you know, the part that was soft and surrounded by loads of cinnamon suspended in sugar and butter. I’ll give her credit, her method for getting the center part was shrewd. Since we took turns with each layer, she counted, making sure if we alternated layers she’d end up with the center one for herself — she’d even sacrifice a decent mid-layer portion by eating the loathsome outer layer. She’s a smart cookie, and I don’t think she has ever admitted to the scheming.
Nosh On: Summertime and the grilling is easy
Summer has finally arrived. It’s been a long, cold, wet, icky spring, and I’ve been dying to get out and do some real grilling. You know, the kind where you don’t run back into the house between flipping burgers. On the Fourth of July, my husband Brian and I headed up to Lake Chelan to hang out with the family and soak in a little sun. Before we left, though, we went to Costco to stock up on stuff to eat. We must have been hungry, because we ended up with raviolis, chicken, little sweet peppers, Boursin cheese and a few other things. Brian really wanted the Boursin cheese (which you can substitute at home with herbed cream cheese by mixing some herbs and maybe some feta into cream cheese), and I wasn’t going to protest. I love the stuff.
Nosh On: Cheeky dinner
Market-fresh halibut cheeks delight at home as well as in restaurants
Earlier this month, my husband Brian and I made an impromptu trip to Seattle. The motive was to eat oysters during Blueacre Seafood’s “Oyster Happy Hour.” We both happened to have a midweek day off, and we resolved to make the best of it. We got to Seattle, parked our car and headed off in search of fun. We eventually meandered down to Pike Place Market. It’s a very short trip, so we were both pretty excited to get to buy fresh flowers and seafood without worrying that they would wilt or go bad. At one of the many market stalls, we found a pretty and fragrant bouquet of peonies to take home.
Sunny days bring out the big birds
Raptor migration festival shows off Chelan Ridge
PATEROS — With blue skies overhead and a clear view all around, everyone agreed that Saturday was a perfect day for seeing hawks at Chelan Ridge. The ridge is where the Chelan Ridge Raptor Migration Project has counted different species of hawks since 1998, and banded them since 2001. Hawks follow ridges on their migration south, catching updrafts coming off of the ridges to ease their way. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of the birds are typically found during the count season, which runs from late August through late October.
Wings and Wheels reception set for Japanese delegates
EAST WENATCHEE — A reception will be held for six delegates from Misawa, Japan, at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at East Wenatchee City Hall. The delegates will be in town to celebrate the Wings and Wheels Festival Oct. 2-3 at Eastmont Community Park. They will leave East Wenatchee on Oct. 4.
Part of Orondo Street to be closed Thursday
WENATCHEE — Orondo Street, between Columbia and Worthen streets, will be closed between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday. The closure is necessary for paving of a section of road that crosses the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.
East Wenatchee City Hall offers a bit of hidden green
EAST WENATCHEE — There’s a space of green behind City Hall. It’s a bit of a secret. The little park, which isn’t really considered a park by the city, is leftover from a bygone era.
Wheat farmers help their neighbors on the plateau
MANSFIELD— This year has been a whirlwind ride for wheat farmers on the Waterville Plateau. In September last year, some farmers were on their third seeding into the driest soil they’d seen in years. Hopes weren’t too high. The outlook changed in the spring as heavy rains soaked the region. “You get 6 or 7 inches of rain on it and it turned a crop that looked like it was going to be way below average to an average or better-than-average crop,” noted Kevin Whitehall, manager of Central Washington Grain Growers in Waterville. “Rain makes grain, as the old saying goes.”
Fire crews mopping up Quincy-area fire
QUINCY — Fire crews today continue to patrol the remnants of the Baird Springs Fire, a blaze that burned almost 7,700 acres of grass and sagebrush northwest of Quincy. The 140 people assigned to the fire — 90 percent contained this morning — were planning to demobilize today, said Kay McKellar, fire spokeswoman.
The hunt for berries is a cherished tradition here
WENATCHEE — People who live in North Central Washington know where berries come from: They come from the mountains. They’re one of the many gifts the mountains bestow on the fortunate folks of the foothills. In a good year, huckleberries can be found at varying elevations in July through September. Hiking trips take longer as distracted hikers stop to taste the ripening black globes. For some, an extra hour or two is added to the time it takes to cross the passes. For others, trips are made specifically to seek out the hallowed fruits.