Methow

All week last week my news feed was flooded with weather reports of an ‘atmospheric river.’ Torrents of water were predicted to flow from the skies. I was gruntled, the opposite of disgruntled, looking forward to a pleasurable weekend filled with hot tea and book reading while rain flowed in rivulets on the windowpanes. The […]

In early summer, I welcomed a new cookbook into my kitchen. Aspen Grove owner Hannah Cordes highly recommended “Simply Julia, 110 Easy Recipes For Healthy Comfort Food,” by Julia Turshen. Time and again, I’ve turned to “Simply Julia” for elegant, easy meals. Post-it notes mark over a dozen favorites. Each recipe begins with a personal […]

Awkward social situations are my modus operandi. After a long day of laughter and reminiscences with a childhood friend, I anticipated tumbling into never-never-land in the embrace of fluffy hotel pillows. Fate had different plans. I slid the hotel key card in and out of the lock, heard a solid click, and opened the door […]

Early Sunday morning, before the birds sang the opening notes of a sunrise, a torrential rain beat rhythmically on the roof. The windows were wide open to cool the house from the heat of summer, the earthy scent of petrichor filled each room. As the downpour continued throughout the morning, it brought to mind weather […]

Dear Upper Methow friends, I am so sorry these fires are happening close to your homes. While the lower valley can relate to your level 3 evacuations, the feeling is different. The destruction in 2014 was relatively quick, allowing us to assess loss and get to work — actions that gave us a measure of […]

The Whiteout Racing Kennel puppies — Sarah, Bill and Percy — are 3 months old and looking more and more like athletes, racing around the yard and tumbling into one another. Owner and trainer Christina Gibson named the pups after a trio of characters in the children’s book “Owl Babies,” by Martin Wadell. The book […]

I’ve called the Methow Valley “home” for over a decade and I still enjoy finding hidden gems that are new to me. Here are a few key tips to enjoying the trails while helping to preserve and protect this wonderful corner of universe: Leave only footprints. When bears develop a taste for discarded apple cores, […]

The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is an epic tale of travel and raucous parties, mixed in with a little drama and detailed descriptions of food. Years ahead of his time, Tolkien was offering up a modern-day recipe blog that introduced an entire saga before getting to the food. It had everything: […]

Hannah Cordes, owner of Aspen Grove in Winthrop, loves to share her passion for cooking. During the COVID shutdown the store had to close for three months, but when Hannah opened the business back up, she was overwhelmed with gratitude for the support shown by the community. People were cooking more at home, and Hannah […]

Exciting things are happening on the TwispWorks campus. As we all emerge from our winter COVID cocoons to gather in outdoor areas, the Methow Valley Interpretive Center (MVIC) is opening the doors to drop-in visitors for the first time in over a year. During the past year, MVIC upgraded and expanded all indoor exhibits. The […]