A Fall Tradition

Over the years we have acquired some pretty fun annual traditions. One of my favorites is something we started once we moved back to Pullman: cider making. How did it get started? I heard about it from one of my classmates during my first year of vet school, and finally convinced (i.e. forced) Keith to try it out. Good thing we went - We had a blast! Every year we go back to make a few gallons of fresh apple cider.

Cider making means driving out to Garfield WA, which is approximately 30 minutes north of Pullman. In Garfield is a family-owned orchard, Bishops Orchard. Yea for supporting local businesses!! Bishops have old-fashioned apple presses and huge boxes of apples just waiting for juicing. The owners of the orchard always go over the proper way to make cider and what apples ratios are best. They are always right too...it is the best cider ever!

Everything is by hand, so Keith and I get a pretty good workout cranking the press. We take turns cranking the press, pouring in apples, and grabbing more apples from the crates. It is a lot of fun to watch our apples turn into golden goodness, even as apple juice goes flying!

After we fill our jugs, we go out into the orchard for some good 'ole apple picking. The orchard has so many different kinds of apples; ones that we have never even heard of! Thankfully, the orchard has a cheat sheet (also on their website) of what they are best used for and a map so we can find what we are looking for. We have tried a few different kinds and have learned to really taste the differences. My favorites are Gravensteins, which make awesome apple pies.

So we stroll around the orchard, looking for apples. I always have fun looking at all the apple trees and all the people who come out to the orchard. Keith's real motivation for apple picking...getting a Liz-baked apple pie. Who can blame him? After all I am a baking goddess.

Not only is making cider fun, it also wonderful since we can freeze and keep it for as long as we want. This means we have real apple cider all through the fall and winter. Nothing can beat a couple feet of snow as a hot mug of cider. It definitely makes winter a little more bearable! This tradition is definitely a marker for the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

Country Signs

As a budding photographer, I am learning to try and capture with my camera what I see with my little eye. It's definitely not easy, but it is lots of fun! On our recent drive around the Palouse, I saw a bunch of great old signs that needed to be captured on digital film. It was amazing to see all these great signs, especially the painted ones. These are actually pretty common in the area, even though I don't tend to see them on the westside. In fact, after our trip I realized there a few we pass all the time in town that I just stopped noticing. Sad to take for granted such great artwork.

The first sign (Lentil Producer) is my absolute favorite picture! I am so proud of it. We were driving along a backroad in the middle of wheat fields (yup, not lentil fields*) and I saw it on the side of a building attached to a grain tower. I yelled out for Keith to turn in, and he made a sudden turn. I jumped out of the car to take the picture. It turned out terrific and I am so happy that my little photographer eye saw it. By the way, be warned: there will be more pictures on this bloggy. I love my camera and am really trying to learn to take better pictures. But hopefully it won't be too overwhelming and will add to my blogging posts. And let me know what you think of these photos via the comments section!


*After living for so long in the Palouse, I can finally tell the difference between wheat fields and lentil fields. And I know different breeds of cows. And I enjoy country music. Take it as you will.

More Small Town Photo Fun

A town mural downtown. We love the Pride in Oaksdale part.

An abandoned building. Drugs and alcohol...seems like that would have been profitable at some point.

We didn't know what this was at the time, but later learned it was the Barron Flour Mill. Pretty impressive looking!

Rosalia, WA:


Before you ask: yes, we did get some strange stares on our trip. Nothing like a strangers taking photographs of everyday buildings and signs to freak out the locals. Yet no one really seemed to mind and we had a blast! Except for when I was taking pictures of some interesting churches**. Of course there are more picture than these, myself as budding photographer being trained by Keith, a self-proclaimed recovering landscape photographer. But that will have to be in another story for another time!



** Creepy story to be told at a later date. In the daylight. With all the lights on.

Small Towns = Photo Fun

It is about time. Finally getting around to see what is out there in our little neck of the woods. Well, actually there really aren't woods here. Just fields...and farms...and cows. Oh yes, and alpaca. Seriously, there are alpaca ranches out here too. But why no miniature cow ranches? Wouldn't that be awesome? But I digress. The point is that we went on a small adventure recently. Driving around Eastern Washington* with a full-tank of gas, a camera and a sense of adventure...see what we found!

Palouse, WA:

An interesting brick building downtown.

Wheat fields as far as the eye can see.

Tekoa, WA:

More in the next post!


*Turns out this website explains the area we were driving around. Who knew?!

Good Eats of the Palouse

Living in a small town for so many years has had its ups and downs. We have lived in Pullman for a total of - dare I say it - nine years! The limitations are pretty obvious. But I have learned to enjoy what this small town has to offer, mainly a sense of local pride and community. Plus, local festivals and farmer's markets are more fun since that local flavor is unmistakable.

One of the hardest limitations of living in such a small town is trying to find new places to eat. You know it is a small town when the new Applebees is big news! We have learned from living in a small town that local restaurants have so much more to offer than those franchise places. Our new favorite place is this great cafe in the little town of Palouse, the Green Frog Cafe.

The Green Frog Cafe is a little oasis in the middle of wheat and lentil fields*. Driving through the farms is relaxing as we cut through the pretty rolling hills of The Palouse**. The Cafe is found in a small community 20 minutes away from the fast-paced Pullman. They have a great cafe menu, with a bunch of great sandwiches. And more importantly, The Green Frog Cafe has some of the best locally baked goods. Seriously. Best. Scones. Ever. Plus it's funky decor and fun staff make the place a fun place to visit. After a great lunch, there are a bunch of cute antique stores that are fun to wander through. Overall, it makes for a great little afternoon trip for us to get away and enjoy some local community flavor!

*Note: Pullman, WA is home of the National Lentil Festival. And the World's Largest Bowl of Lentil Chili. Why? Because this area produces 1/3 of the nation's lentils. Don't believe me? Check it: The National Lentil Festival

** For those who may be confused this area of Washington and Idaho is called "The Palouse". The town where this cafe is called "Palouse". Glad to clear that up. :)