Yesterday we went to the grand re-opening celebration of the new Umpqua Store in Umpqua, OR on Fort McKay Road. They had a ribbon cutting and some hooping and hollering and then we all got to eat! Their menu is all vegetarian and they stock the store with many natural foods (and local foods). For brunch, they served yogurt, granola, strawberries, bananas, pancakes and orange juice. After we ate, we walked around and said hi to people we knew and got a tour of the bakery. Man, those mixers are huge (each can fit the dough for 48 loaves of bread!). The bread oven is awesome. It is built off of one wall of the bakery area and is a wood-fired oven. I can’t remember how many loaves can fit in there, but I know it is tons…
Because of possible conflicts with a professional photographer, I was not able to take pictures. However, they did allow me to take a picture of the kids by the gift shelves. We aren’t the only local craftspeople offering items for this department. The picture’s labels show what we’ve made. The kids made the beaded bookmarks. I made castile soap, merino wool headbands, flax seed packs, and recycled jean tote bags (not pictured).
After our tour around and the yummy brunch, I shopped for our week’s worth of greens and beets. In the gift section, I found a hand-carved slotted wooden spoon. I got it to strain kefir grains, since metal is not recommended and I don’t like to use plastic. I think I know the wife of the man who made the spoon, so it is fun to think that we have something from them in our house now. I’ll use the spoon each morning and think about how nice and talented our friends are.
Very nice, Mom!
Haniya
Very nice to you, sweet Haniya!
It sounds like a wonderful store! I’m glad you had a nice time, and the spoon sounds just perfect.
Good job editing the picture. The opening was really fun. I thought how they kicked the bowl of rice was cool. Fun, fun, fun!
Naomi
Hi Wardeh, do you use the slotted wooden spoon for straining out the kefir grains or a strainer? or both? Any chance you could email me a pic of your spoon?
.-= Marg´s last blog ..More winter prep =-.
Marg – the slotted spoon about which I was so excited developed black spots after the first use – so I stopped using it for kefir, so as not to contaminate the culture. Now I use a plastic strainer (like the tuna-can size one) or a stainless steel fork. I know using metal isn’t recommended, but I’m not convinced the stainless is harmful, especially when the contact is quick. I can email you a photo of the slotted spoon – do you still want it?
I was wondering what it would be like using wood with kefir. No, I guess you don’t need to send me a pic. Thanks, though!