1. Today Christy, Carol, and I blasted over to The City of Spokane Valley to enjoy this month's sibling outing. I was in charge of our itinerary and, building on our enjoyment of the MAC in Spokane and the Jundt Gallery at Gonzaga, I decided we would go check out the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum.
It's a cozy museum housed in the historic Opportunity Township Hall building, featuring archives, artifacts, photographs, books, maps, stories, and other ways of understanding how the Spokane Valley as we know it came into being, the innovations that helped move its development along, and the men and women who had significant impacts on everything from irrigation to agriculture to aviation to commerce.
The museum also displayed the fraught history of Native American tribes, so the museum didn't flinch from the history of achievement and cruelty.
2. Not long ago, Christy mentioned at one of our get togethers that she had never eaten food from India.
To remedy this situation, we followed up our visit to the museum with a late lunch/early dinner at The Mango Tree.
Our server was eager to help us understand important details of the menu -- giving special attention to the spicy heat level of different entrees -- and with her helpful aid, we made our orders.
I thought (and I was right!) that a mild appetizer would be fun and ordered Samosa Chaat, a wonderful blend of chickpeas, vegetables. yogurt, mint chutney, tamarind chutney, fresh tomatoes, and onion.
The three of us shared this very delicious starter to our meal.
When Debbie and I lived in Greenbelt, MD, one evening we joined other employees of the Prince George's County School District for dinner at a place in Beltsville called Swahili Kitchen.
It was a Kenyan restaurant and among the superb platters of food we all shared and dug into together was a spread of goat meat.
It was one of the most memorable and delicious servings of food I'd ever eaten.
So, today, when I saw that The Mango Tree listed goat as an option for its Vindaloo bowl, I seized upon the opportunity to once again enjoy a spicy and beautifully seasoned goat entree.
Our entrees came with golden naan bread and delicate basmati rice and I loved the symphony of flavors and sensations that filled my mouth as I enjoyed this Goat Vindaloo.
3. Today was a superb day for food.
This morning, I dropped in to Beach Bum Bakery to check out Rebecca's bagel supply.
Because she had temporarily run out of everything seasoning and sesame seeds, she decided to see how cheese bagels generously enhanced with Gouda cheese would work. I got to be her first customer to try her new style of bagel and, honestly, it was one of the best bagels I've ever eaten.
Rebecca thought it might be a problem that she used a white cheese instead of, say, cheddar cheese.
But, ha!, since I've been on a Swiss cheese jag lately, the white cheese atop and inside this bagel worked absolutely perfectly for me!
(I think the cheese was Gouda. I get things mixed up and might not have heard this right. One thing that won't change: it was an awesome bagel!)