My Top 10 Favorites in Yakima

This is for all my Yaktown friends, who I miss dearly!  Okay, so here are my favorite places to eat and shop in Yakima.  1. Ummelina's, this is a day spa retreat, it is a must do if you live in Yakima or are visiting.  This has to be one of the best spas on the planet!  It feels like you've been taken to an exotic land.  You can choose different excursions, Marrakech, desert, or a tropical rain forest.  You can relax in tranquil waters, have a massage, sip on herbal tea, whatever you choose it takes all your cares away.  Oh, and they make all their organic teas, soaps, oils, and shampoos.  They have 2 locations; one being in Yakima and the other in Seattle.  You won't be disappointed!

2. Escencia downtown artisan bakery and coffee shop.  This is a perfect place to start your day with a cup of  locally roasted coffee and a homemade pasty.  A great place for lunch too!  They serve homemade soups and sandwhiches, menu changes to daily specials and sometimes they offer red chicken curry, yum!!

3. For a downtown nice restaurant, I always enjoyed Cafe Melange.  Especially during autumn, they offered
butternut squash ravioli with a cream sauce with sage and walnuts, oh it is the best!!  They also, have pasta with their in house basil cream sauce.  I like this little quaint place, nice atmosphere and good food and they use local produce and serve Washington wines.  Advice, not a cheap meal, but a nice date out.

4.Now, for a cute, ladies lunch place, try White House Cafe.  It is an old white house, they has a little country gift shop and serves breakfast and lunch.  They make a great chicken salad sandwhich and soup.
They do a great job with their garnishes and desserts.  A great place to take your girlfriends.

5.My favorite restaurant, Taj Palace (indian cuisine).  They serve a lunch buffet, which is great for newbies to indian food and dinner off the menu, except Sunday nights, they offer a dinner buffet.  I love this family that owns this restaurant, they are sweetest, nicest family and they do a great job with their food and atmosphere, welcoming and making sure every customer is happy when they leave.  My favorites, veggie samosas, chicken karahi, navrattan korma, chicken biriyani, kabuli naan, chai, keer pudding, and rose lassi.
Okay, don't order all of this, just some of my faves from there.

6. Kabob House, an Iranian restaurant, a great lunch place that serves gyros, kabobs, and other mediteranean dishes.  It gets busy and crowed, but great for lunch and they also, have a side grocery where they sell their products.  Iranian tea, excellent!

7, 8, 9, and 10 Shopping, Garden Girl, fun downtown boutique that sells plants and unique gifts.  Patina, is also, downtown on Yakima Avenue and it is a fun shop of used goods that sells, clothing, homeware, jewelry, shoes, just a fun artsy shop.  Okay, at the mall a fun, trendy, cheap clothing store is Romy.  It's based out of Seattle.  Last, but not least, the Little Soapmaker.  A little shop downtown, where the owner makes her own soaps, lotions, and candles.  She can even create whatever scent you like.

Okay, hope that you enjoy my top 10 in Yakima and let me know your faves.

Happy Diwali! Topic, indian food

Well, since it's Diwali today, I've got indian food on the brain.  Oh, how I wish I could celebrate Diwali today at an indian festival.  I miss Taj's Diwali festival back in Washington.  They would have dancing, skits, and amazing food!  Lots of it too!!!  I'm really missing my favorite indian restaurant back in Yakima,Washington, Taj Palace.  Okay, so now that I"m thinking of indian food and craving it.  I want to share some of my favorites with you.  First off, indian food is my favorite cuisine and I guess I was born into the wrong culture.  So here's some favorites and let me know what yours are:
Chicken Karahi(sp? chicken with green peppers curry sauce), chicken korma is good too!(chicken curry with a coconut sauce), my husband likes anything with lamb curry.  I also, love Navrattan Korma, it's a vegetarian curry with coconut sauce and vegetables.  Oh, I can't forget my other favorite dish, chicken biryani(flavored rice with vegetables and chicken, comes with yogurt sauce), yum!!!  I'm getting hungry now.  As for appetizers: my fave is always samosas!  A puffed, fried pastry with potatoes, cilantro, peas stuffed inside, served with mint chutney and tamarind chutney.
Dosa is another great item to try.  It is a long pancake type, stuffed.  Not all restaurants carry these dishes, it depends on what region they are from, north and south have different specialties.  My favorite naan, is Kabuli.  It is naan, which is an indian bread stuffed with cherries, nuts, and anise.  A sweet bread!  In closing, my favorite dessert is: keer pudding(rice pudding with cream and cardamom).  Cardamom is my favorite spice!!!  Oh, I almost forgot, you have to order their chai tea, it's the best or if it's hot outside order a lassi(a yogurt drink, that you can get salty, mango, or rose flavored.)

Now, I hope you all go out for some indian food and get back to me with your favorite dishes.  Enjoy!!!

Books: Dog stories

I love to read, I just finished a good book today and if you are a dog lover like me, it's a must read, it's called:  A Dog's Purpose, by W.Bruce Cameron, have the tissues handy because you're going to need them.  Another great dog story is: The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein.  Both books are told from the dog's perspective.  There are a lot of dog stories out there right now in the market.  Let me know if you've read any good books lately.  Now, I am going to start the book, 3 Among the Wolves, by Helen Thayer.  I guess I'm on the dog genre.  I read just about anything I can get my hands on, so let me know what you're reading.