Farmers Market Eats!
July 9, 2010 by Robin Salts Beckett
Edward Messer, 5, eats a snow-cone from the shaved ice stand at the Yakima Farmer's Market
By Robin Salts Beckett
Photos by Sara Gettys
Yakima’s Farmers Market on Yakima Avenue and Third Street has long been known as the place to find fresh, local fruit and vegetables for dinners at home, but it also offers a delicious array of food that’s ready-to-eat; in fact, it’s a veritable outdoor food plaza, with dishes like pad thai, lumpia and even the decadent and ever-so-French pain au chocolat beckoning hungry shoppers to stop and stay awhile. Visitors can follow their nose, grab a bite and find a nice place to sit and taste the flavor of the market right there on Third Street.
La Maison de Falaise: Enter as strangers, leave as friends
May 7, 2010 by Robin Salts Beckett
Kathy Sali
By Robin Beckett
Photos by Chad Bremerman
As soon as you walk through the door and inhale the smells wafting from the stove, you’re hooked.
During one of her recent cooking classes, Kathy Sali’s home kitchen filled up quickly. Students streamed in and mingled with each other, and the smells of garlic and mango being chopped on a cutting board by guest chef Frank Magana of Prosser’s Picazo Seven Seventeen restaurant.
A Living Museum
May 7, 2010 by Robin Salts Beckett
Grace and Jacob Russel play in the pond at the Joyful Garden.
By Robin Beckett
Photos by Patty DiRienzo
It’s not exactly hidden.
Anybody driving on I-82 – and that’s most of us — has passed Exit 34 and the stands of trees and the Jewett Interpretive Center at the Yakima Area Arboretum. There might be some irony in its location. We buzz about on the freeway, too busy with our day to pay attention, yet an oasis of calm is right there outside our car windows.
If you haven’t been there, go. The arboretum is one of Yakima’s gems.
Sip into Spring
March 5, 2010 by Robin Salts Beckett
By Robin Beckett
Photos by Sara Gettys
Roll out the barrels, Yakima…it’s time for some wine-tasting fun.
Around here, we don’t often need a good excuse to taste good wine. There are plenty of those: our proximity to some of the finest wines in the region if not the nation; the friendliness of local tasting-room staffs; the fact that it’s Friday.
But if you need a better excuse, Spring Barrel Tasting is mere weeks away. Come April 23-25, Valley wineries will offer samples of their newest vintages — sometimes straight from the barrel.
Getting into an Ellensburg State of Mind
January 8, 2010 by Robin Salts Beckett
CWU's rock climbing wall in the SURC. Photo courtesy of CWU
By Robin Salts Beckett
Whether you’re a Central Washington University alum or not, a good way to kick off a day trip to Ellensburg is with a stroll through the campus of the town’s picturesque university. With its eclectic mix of modern and late 19th century architecture, the campus provides a gorgeous backdrop for a leisurely walk — even in winter. Two things not to miss: the Donald L. Garrity Japanese Garden and the new Student Union and Recreation (SURC) building, which is truly a marvel.
A Cup of Joe
November 2, 2009 by Robin Salts Beckett
More than a Cup of Joe
Photos by Andy Sawyer
Inside Le Cup coffee shop in Yakima, Wash.
Local coffee shops offer more than just your morning cup
Don’t be fooled by its diminutive size – Le Cup packs a lot more into its storefront than your favorite soy latte. Keri Roehl, who opened Le Cup earlier this year on Front Street, makes brown-bag lunches, English Muffin breakfast sandwiches, and a popular Saturday morning breakfast that changes each week (anyone for a blueberry and bacon waffle?). Read more
Bon Appetit!
November 2, 2009 by Robin Salts Beckett
Members of the Bon Appetit dinner club trade laughs while in the kitchen.
Photos by Chad Bremerman
Today’s foodies might find themselves in a bit of a pickle: loving to cook, yet lacking the time it requires to don an apron, turn to the dog-eared page they’ve been salivating over for weeks and get chopping.
Enter the dinner club.