Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
Introducing the Getaway Studio Pop Up Restaurant!
The Getaway Studio Pop Up Restaurant features food feasts from the Spokane area. Local ingredients, many from our family farm, are used to create delicious regional dishes of the Inland and Pacific Northwest. The Getaway Studio Pop Up Restaurant is booked by appointment only. To make reservations in advance, please call 509-928-1800. The Getaway Studio Pop Up Restaurant is located on Mountain Valley View Farm in the beautiful Spokane Valley at:
4227 S Chapman Rd
Greenacres, WA 99016
We are also available for catering and hosting small dinner parties—please call to inquire about the many opportunities we offer to create a special event just for you.
Pop up restaurants are an exciting trend in dining that seems to have its origins 25 years ago when the James Beard Foundation began inviting chefs from around the world to cook dinners in James Beard’s house. The James Beard Foundation’s mission is “to celebrate, nurture, and preserve America’s diverse culinary heritage and future,” and the Foundation works toward this goal by holding foodie events throughout the year and continuing to operate the JBF LTD, the pop up restaurant that started it all and continues to push the dining envelope to this day. The James Beard Foundation also hosts an annual award ceremony that honors those who have made significant contributions to the culinary world, including chefs, cookbook authors, and food journalists.
Pop up restaurants are temporary eating establishments that may exist for one day or several months at a time, but even the longer-running pop ups have a planned, limited timespan for their operation. Some chefs use this as a way to determine whether or not their idea for a permanent restaurant is financially viable, while others see it as an opportunity to experiment with new and creative recipes that will delight and tantalize foodies. Pop up restaurants can open in almost any location, operating in another restaurant’s space after hours, in empty art galleries, and furniture stores. In the Spokane area, a pop up restaurant occurred on a bike trail; and in New York, one daring group of foodies created a pop up restaurant on the subway that lasted for the duration of a six-course meal served between 6th Avenue and Sutter Avenue. Some pop ups rotate their location just like the underground supper clubs that are their close cousin in dining. Prices at pop ups can vary widely, from a reasonable $20 meal to an extravagant $180 that includes not just a meal but a wine tasting and a prestigious chef who has flown in just for this one-time event. No matter what form pop up restaurants take, it is certain that this trend has altered modern cuisine forever, providing fantastic new opportunities for food-lovers and cooks alike.
Whispering Pine Press celebrates GetLit!
This week is the 13th annual Get Lit! literary festival sponsored by Eastern Washington University. Events run from April 13-17, and include poetry slams, book readings, panel discussions, writing contests, and workshops. For a full calendar of this year’s events, click here. Over 40 nationally acclaimed and local authors will be in Spokane for Get Lit!; past guests have included such luminaries as Kurt Vonnegut, Salman Rushdie, and David Sedaris. Prominent authors for GetLit! 2011 are Tim O’Brien, Sena Jeter Naslund, Maude Barlow, Sam Kean, Matthew Dickman, Louise Borden, Michael Harmon, Suzanne Morgan Williams, and Ani DiFranco. For a full list of authors attending this year’s festival, click here.
The Big Read is an event created by the National Endowment for the Arts with the goal of restoring reading to the center of a community’s culture by “[drawing] communities together around a single book through a month long series of related literary events.” For Spokane County’s third Big Read event, the book chosen is The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, a collection of stories about soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award. The Big Read will culminate on April 16 at the Bing Crosby Theater, when Tim O’Brien and veteran/poet Brian Turner will discuss their experiences in war and their resulting creative works. This event is also part of GetLit!.
To celebrate GetLit!, Whispering Pine Press is offering a 10% discount on all books from April 13-17. Please visit our website to see our list of children’s and adult fiction, cookbooks, poetry collections, and more. If you have any difficulty getting the 10% discount on our website, feel free to call us at (509) 928-8700.
In honor of GetLit!, we are also giving away one free copy of Frost of Spring Green, Karen Hood’s widely-acclaimed first poetry collection. Click here to read a review of the book, then leave a comment on this post to be entered into the giveaway. Don’t forget to include your e-mail address so that we can contact you if you win! Entries will be accepted through April 23 to give everyone time to participate.
July 4th Weekend
For the Fourth of July holiday, The Hood family packed up their bags on July 1st and headed to Sandpoint, Idaho. They stayed at the Edgewater on Lake Pend Oreille. Dad came up on the 2nd. During their stay there, they had Second Avenue Pizza, along with s’mores and many other treats. Marissa came up, as well as Janelle and Paul, and even Brianne and her husband from Portland. The only missing family members were Mikayla and Kyler. Everyone headed over to the park to play basketball and beach volleyball. The Hoods had more than enough players to make two teams for each of these games. The games became very competitive, and the Hood children ended up playing for hours upon hours.
Interestingly enough, the fourth of July was actually celebrated on the 3rd of July. We were told they changed it for religious reasons. Unfortunately, the Hoods ran into many people who asked about the firework display on the fourth, only to find out they missed it. The second day almost everyone headed back to the park for more games, except Dad and Marissa, who wanted to tour the open house nearby. They ended up asking a man on a bench for directions, then realized it was Ben Stein. Ben Stein is most often recognized as the actor repeatedly saying “Bueller” in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. After this encounter, they looked up more about him and found that he has written multiple books.
Although the weather in Sandpoint was much cooler than usual, with much more rain, the experience was fantastic.
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- Devontay, Rosy, Keisha, Mercedes, and Kianna on the bridge over Pend Oreille river.
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- Corby, Jasmine, Caleb, Rosy, Anna, Kianna, Cheyenne, and Keisha near the city mall overlooking the river.
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- Rosy and Caleb
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- Cheyenne and Kelsey reading on the mat that used to be Grandma Bert’s and was then passed on to Karen’s family.
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- Jasmine, Caleb, Devontay, and Keisha, sitting at the Dive Family Restaurant. The Hoods wish they would have restaurants like this in Spokane. They serve simple foods like chicken and hamburgers, but people go for the social atmosphere. They have plenty of games all over the restaurant that you can play and compete against others while you wait for your food. This restaurant is located right on the main city street in Sandpoint.
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- Mercedes is watching others play the one of the ball point machines.
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- Here is the parade that everyone watched on the 3rd. This was the Strikers soccer team. They had an assortment of different groups marching down the main street. Some people had old fashioned cars that blew fire out the pipes, 60-year-old-tractors, dance and cheerleader teams, boy and girl scouts, and many more.
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- Jasmine and Keisha in the middle of the street.
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- Kelsey, Karen, and Janelle sporting the sunglasses.
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- Jim and Brianne
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- Jasmine, Kianna, Kelsey, Janelle, Devontay, Caleb, Paul, and Corby playing basketball and fighting for the ball.
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- Rosy and Janelle
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- Keisha, Kianna, Janelle, Kelsey, Devontay, and Caleb playing Bump. Two random kids joined in, not knowing it was one large family with everyone knowing each other.
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- Janelle, Marissa, Kelsey, Keisha, and Brianne before the fireworks began.
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- Fireworks!
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- Marissa, Kelsey, Kianna, Mercedes, Keisha, and Onna grouped together watching the fireworks.
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- Fireworks
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- Fireworks
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- Rosy and Jim on the bridge overlooking the river.
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- Keisha, Mercedes, Brianne and her husband walking through the town to look at the different shops.
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- Hood family. Kyler was the only one who could not make it up to Sandpoint. Mikayla and Marissa are not pictured in this photo.
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- Ben Stein and Jim
Sunday, June 20, 2010 – Father’s Day
For Father’s Day, the Hood children got up early to make crepes for their dad. The family then proceeded to mass, where Mikayla and Jim led the mass congregation through multiple songs that they sang together.
Marissa, the second daughter of Jim and Karen, lives in Liberty Lake and just remodeled her backyard. She had the family over to her house for Father’s Day. Uncle Stephen and Aunt Karen joined the festivities. Janelle and Paul flew in the night before from their vacation in Hawaii. Along with barbecued cheeseburgers and pulled pork sandwiches, Marissa prepared multiple side dishes, watermelon, salad, chips, cookies, and delicious German chocolate cupcakes, one of Jim’s favorites. The Hoods gathered in a smaller comfortable space, enjoying one another’s company.
After lunch the rain stopped, and everyone stepped outside to look around the newly situated garden and play games. Hoochi ball and croquet were played, and things turned very competitive. By the end of the visit, only two were hit by flying balls — Rosy and Paul.
After spending the afternoon at Marissa’s, the Hood clan headed back home. Rhubarb from the garden was made into an excellent rhubarb crisp, directed by Kianna. Father’s Day was great fun for all. We thank Marissa for putting on the party.
Here are some pictures from our gathering at Marissa’s house.
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- Karen and Jim sitting down for the hamburger meal that Marissa prepared.
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- Keisha, Caleb, Kianna, and Kelsey sitting on a bench in Marissa’s house.
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- Mikayla and Marissa
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- Kelsey and Janelle
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- Karen, Jim, Mikayla, Marissa and her dog, Winston
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- Kelsey eating one of the great German chocolate cupcakes.
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- Kianna and Janelle
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- Piling on the couch! Rosy, Caleb, Kianna, Kelsey, Janelle, and Anna
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- More added to the Hood members on the couch. Keisha, Rosy, Caleb, Kelsey, Kianna, Janelle, Jasmine, and Anna.
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- Everyone looking around Marissa’s backyard. She spent weeks on the backyard with the help of Uncle Stephen in designing it.
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- Kelsey, Dad, and Anna
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- Corby and Jasmine
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- Keisha, Karen, Marissa, and Mikayla sitting near the newly built garden box.
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- Paul and Janelle
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- Marissa, Kelsey, and Mikayla
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- Caleb, Aunt Karen, and Jim.
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- Caleb and Paul playing ball. Croquet was also played.
June 6, 2010 – Lunch & Trip to Uncle Stephen’s House
We had lunch at the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant, then we made a surprise visit to Uncle Stephen and Aunt Karen’s house. They were delighted with this surprise visit.
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- Caleb and Keisha are playing the old Mancala game at the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant. Mancala games play a role in many African and some Asian societies. It is compared to chess in the West. (Also in the photo: Jasmine and Rosy)
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- Jasmine
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- Karen and Jim at the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant
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- After leaving the restaurant and heading to Uncle Stephen’s house – Kianna carrying Mom’s large Mary Poppins bag.
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- Kianna, Kelsey, and Mikayla under a big tree.
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- Everyone loaded in the van (Devontay, Rosy, Anna, Jasmine, Cheyenne, Caleb, and Keisha).
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- Uncle Stephen with the five youngest girls (Mercedes, Jasmine, Rosy, Cheyenne, and Anna) after seeing our surprise visit.
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- Anna and Caleb in Uncle Stephen’s backyard. They are standing in front of the cliff.
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- Corby, Anna, Keisha, Mercedes, and Rosy walking around Uncle Stephen’s backyard.
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- Keisha, Devontay, and Rosy walking through the trees.
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- Anna, Caleb, and Rosy taking turns on the old-fashioned swing at Uncle Stephen’s house.
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- On the steps of the porch. Mercedes, Kianna, Jasmine, Anna, Keisha, and Cheyenne. The older kids and mom and dad are in the background admiring the fire glass stones which come in an assortment of colors.
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- Jim and Karen alongside Karen’s brother Stephen and his wife Karen.
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