Spokane Playground's Guide to Charming Cheney
From coffee to groceries and dining to drinks, Cheney’s growing food and drink scene is lighting up the small town and is giving people a reason to visit. With a population of roughly 12,200 and only a quick 20-minute drive from Spokane, Cheney is best known as the home of Eastern Washington University. But who knew that there were so many noteworthy food and drink destinations?
Learning the ABC's of Difficult Fruit with Spokane's Kate Lebo
Spokane author Kate Lebo is known for her love of pie, whiskey, and the local arts community. In The Book of Difficult Fruit, Lebo explores a variety of tasty but troublesome items. This exploration of produce ranging from the mundane to exotic is sure to teach you something new make you think twice next time you’re offered fruit salad!
Diedrich Roasters Makes a Global Impact From the Mountains of the Idaho Panhandle
Despite its global influence and larger-than-life reputation, Diedrich remains headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho, its home home since the early 1990s. Specialty coffee roasters are utilizing the company’s machinery not only in the Inland Northwest but across the world. They’re trusting Diedrich with their beans for some very good reasons.
It's a gouda time to open a bakery
After years as a pastry chef and consultant, Ricky Webster used COVID-19 to make himself the client. The result is his Browne's Addition bakery & cheese shop, Rind and Wheat.
Local woman-owned business revolutionizes the way we gift this holiday season
In 2019, two powerful women came together with one question: "How can we make gifting unforgettable?" After a holiday season of gift-wrap waste, forgotten cards, and overwhelming junk—Jane Park and Taylor Hoit thought up the coolest and easiest way to make your gift truly memorable: The Tokki Bow-Card!
River City Youth Ops Teaches Spokane Teens to Grow Produce and Their Horizons
River City Youth Ops seeks to create opportunities for youth to grow and enrich their community in Spokane's West Central neighborhood. Teaching adolescents what it takes to get food onto a plate from seed to sale, students use a small plot of land as the site of their urban farm and sell the produce they grow at local farmers markets.
Sourdough Goes Viral: The Rise of the Bread Community
Stacie Kearney never expect her bread-making hobby to go any further than the confines of her home kitchen. But when COVID-19 shut down businesses and yeast flew off store shelves, Kearney sprung into action selling loaves of her Lucky Lady Bread and sharing her beloved sourdough starter “Carl" with those in the community in need of a little lift.
Little Free Pantries Pop Up in Spokane to Fight Hunger on the Street
Free Little Pantries (LFPs) is a grassroots effort to fill the gap in our food system, ensuring that there is access to food 365 days a year. LFPs are popping up all around the country, and the Inland Northwest has taken this mission to heart. Spokane has 20 locations and counting.
Spokane Community Garden Alliance Uses Public Spaces to Feed Neighbors in Need
With a mission to provide access to good, clean food, volunteers with the Spokane Community Garden Alliance use public spaces to grow healthy, fresh produce to the under-served and local families in need.
After a year stuck inside, these adults-only hotels offer a change of scenery and the chance to Get Out
Sometimes you want to relax, get some peace and quiet, and sleep in. In many lodging establishments, this isn’t strictly possible. A quiet moment with a book beside the pool becomes a splash-fest with sound effects. The buffet breakfast is punctuated with negotiations over how many more bites must disappear from a small plate. The walls can be thin, and the hours different from the ones you’d like to keep.
Food is Love: Sharing a Passion for the Spokane Community With Celeste Shaw of Chaps
As the owner of Chaps and Lucky Vintage & Pretty Things, Celeste Shaw is one of the most recognizable personalities around Spokane. While all her outward achievements are enough to keep her busy 24/7, Shaw’s benevolent work behind the scenes doesn’t get as much attention. So it should come as no surprise that in the days following the COVID-19 shutdown, Shaw devised a plan to benefit others. The message being spread was simple, but universal: “food is Love.”
From Farmers to Families: The Hyper-local Movement
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program takes local food surplus and gives back to the community. Focusing on service and supporting neighboring farms, this program benefits all.
Revival Tea Company: Fueling Spokane's Great Tea Awakening
Since launching Revival Tea at local farmers markets in 2019, Drew and Cerina Henry have opened a Downtown tasting room, a second production facility, and can be found on retail shelves and menus around town, fueling Spokane’s tea scene.
Gander & Ryegrass: A Welcome Fine Dining Addition to Spokane's Liberty Building
Tucked into a prime spot in downtown Spokane’s historic Liberty Building, Gander & Ryegrass offers refined, unhurried, multi-coursed dinners, which chef-owner Peter Froese describes as “Italian-inspired long-course meals.”
Joe on the Go: A Visual Guide to Coffee Drive-Thru’s
After years as a pastry chef and consultant, Ricky Webster used COVID-19 to make himself the client. The result is his Browne's Addition bakery & cheese shop, Rind and Wheat.
YaYa Brewing in Spokane Valley: Brotherly Beers with a Purpose
Creating New England-style ales and with local ingredients from the Inland Northwest, co-owners Chris and Jason Gass of YaYa Brewing in Spokane Valley have a hit brewery on their hands, but success doesn’t come without a few arguments. Of course, that perhaps should be expected when brothers start a business together.
A Year to Grown On: Washington Farmers Face Winter, Water & Wild Weather
With 30 years of ranching under their belts, the Wieselers aren’t always tending calves in their bathroom. During a typical winter they have a straw-filled cattle trailer in the field and a hospital barn set up to handle bad weather, but as Washington faces more and more extreme temperatures, farmers like the Wieselers are having to improvise in order to protect their livelihoods.
Rapt in Tradition: Eastern Washington Families Pass Down Recipes to a New Generation.
The process of making tamales can be labor intensive. Many Hispanic families make it tradition to craft and enjoy tamales around the holidays, allowing for family members to learn the process and help along the way.