More Life In Coeur D'Alene Lately

We've been in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a while now, so I thought it was time for another installment of "Life in Coeur d'Alene Lately" - see here for the original post. 

Scott has been doing more sailing on other people's boats. He has been racing pretty much every weekend out on Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho. 25 races in six weeks isn't too shabby. I'm not too sure how many races they've won, but I know he has been very happy to be back out on the water. Scott also got the opportunity to tag along while a new racing buddy of his checked out a boat that he was thinking of buying. As we're starting to look for our next sailboat, it has been great experience for Scott to watch someone else go through the boat buying thought process. (If you don't have a boat and you want to get out on the water, check out this post with some thoughts from Scott on how to sail on other people's boats.)

We love Ethiopian food. This isn't your ordinary love. This is the real deal - we really, really, really love Ethiopian food. I think you get the idea. And guess what? One of my sisters-in-law loves Ethiopian food too! She took us to Queen of Sheba in Spokane, Washington the other night for dinner. It was delicious! I was so excited about the fact that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in this neck of the woods. When the food came, we all just started snarfing it down so fast that I forgot to take a picture until after a fair bit had been devoured. So the picture above isn't really the best. But it does give you an idea of what the food is like. You eat with your hand (right one only please!), scooping up the stewed lentils, vegies and meat with injera bread from a communal dish. If you haven't tried Ethiopian before, you had better get yourself down to your local restaurant pronto and order some doro wat and miser wat. Once you do, you'll be hooked. (If you want to read more about our love for Ethiopian food or if you want to sail to Ethiopia one day - check out this post.)

We've been going out for drives lately. We have the worst maps ever, so usually we just end up driving around back roads without a clue where we'll end up. Not knowing where you're going is often the best way to explore an area. You never know what you'll end up seeing. Like these two llamas standing by the side of the road. They were really focused on something over in the distance. The goats, chickens, cats and other critters came over to check us out, but the llamas ignored us completely. Maybe they're camera shy. Or maybe they're just rude.

Do you know what this is a picture of? If you do, you probably grew up in North Dakota or Minnesota - the land of the hotdish. Hotdish is a type of casserole which usually has some sort of starch, meat, frozen or canned vegies and canned soup.* Being married to someone from North Dakota, I've heard about hotdish, but I've never actually seen one before. That is until the other night, when we had a tater tot casserole. Yes, that's right - tater tots. If you're not American and you don't know what tater tots are, they are these weird little tubular hashbrown concoctions that you got served at the school cafeteria. If you're American and you don't know what tater tots are, then you've led a very sheltered life. If you've never had them before, run out and get some. They're delicious. Grease, sodium and potatoes generally are. 

It was thanks to a friend of another one of my sisters-in-law, that I got to experience hotdish culture the other night. She very kindly brought over a couple of casseroles for the family. She's from Minnesota - they're nice folks out there. In addition to the tater tots, she also brought us a chicken curry hotdish topped with toasted Rice Krispies. Yes, you read that right - Rice Krispies. Not sure that it is a traditional topping which is served with curry in India, but, surprisingly, it works.

Well, that's more of life lately in Coeur d'Alene. What's been happening where you are? Have you had anything interesting for dinner lately?

*Note: Scott will claim that the term "hotdish" only refers to a particular type of casserole his mom made with ground beef and elbow macaroni. Other folks use the term more generally.