Health & Home 10/04/2021 by The Inlander

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PEERING INTO THE FUTURE • SUPERFOOD CAPTURING CALM • THE US JOURNAL

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Trans-Siberian Orchestra CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF

Christmas Eve And Other Stories

Experience the rock Holiday Tradition OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021

FROM THE EDITOR SPOKANE • EASTERN WASHINGTON • NORTH IDAHO also at inlander.com/health&home

Stay Connected Email Health & Home Editor Anne McGregor at annem@inlander.com. The conversation continues on the Inlander Facebook page, and stay in touch with us at Inlander.com/Health&Home.

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Pie and Perseverance BY ANNE McGREGOR

here’s no shortage of opinions on pretty much any topic these days, but I think we can all agree on at least one thing: Pie is really good! In this issue, Just American Desserts’ founder Eva Roberts, who just a year ago was appearing on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, talks about her journey as a baker (page 34). Like any endeavor, baking carries its share of risks, and Roberts is candid about being thrown into situations she wasn’t totally prepared for and having to regroup when things didn’t go as planned. She overcame setbacks by analyzing what might have gone wrong, and trying again. And again, until she got it right. This time, we’re the lucky beneficiaries of her research — she shares her recipe for her enchanting Maple Cream Pie. We also check in with Amanda Parrish, executive director of the Lands Council and owner of Parrish and Grove plant store, about her search for solutions to vexing environmental problems (page 46) — including research conducted right at home, in her own South Perry District backyard. Cheers!

1227 W. Summit Parkway, Spokane, Wash. 99201 PHONE: 509-325-0634

EDITOR Anne McGregor

annem@inlander.com

ART DIRECTOR Ali Blackwood MANAGING EDITOR Dan Nailen EVENTS EDITOR Chey Scott CONTRIBUTORS

Stacey Aggarwal, LeAnn Bjerken, Jonathan Hill, E.J. Iannelli, Young Kwak, Nate Sanford, Matt Thompson, Bob Slack, Samantha Wohlfeil ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Kristi Gotzian MARKETING DIRECTOR Kristina Smith SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Carolyn Padgham ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Adrianne Haunert, Jeanne Inman, Tracy Menasco, Carolyn Padgham, Autumn Adrian Potts, Claire Price, Wanda Tashoﬀ ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jess Kennedy PRODUCTION MANAGER Tom Stover SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Derrick King

CONTRIBUTORS

CIRCULATION Frank DeCaro, Travis Beck BUSINESS MANAGER Dee Ann Cook CREDIT MANAGER Kristin Wagner PUBLISHER Ted S. McGregor Jr. GENERAL MANAGER Jeremy McGregor

E.J. IANNELLI is a writer, editor, translator and regular Health & Home contributor based in Spokane. In this issue, he takes a look at how pets can benefit kids (page 40). “As a dog person, I was guilty of defaulting to the idea of dogs when discussing pets. It was good to be reminded that the benefits of pet ownership appear to extend to the entire animal kingdom: horses, cats, rodents, lizards, birds, you name it.”

CARRIE SCOZZARO is an artist, teacher and regular Health & Home contributor. “Creativity comes in so many forms: food, art, architecture and even horticulture. That’s what I discovered when visiting with artist Karol Startzel (page 32), whose whimsical welded sculptures were equally as interesting as the way she integrated them into her artfully curated landscape.”

Health & Home is published every other month and is available free at more than 500 locations across the Inland Northwest. One copy free per reader. Subscriptions are available at $2.50 per issue: call x213. Reaching Us: Editorial: x261; Circulation: x226; Advertising: x215. COPYRIGHT All contents copyrighted © Inland Publications, Inc. 2021. Health & Home is locally owned and has been published since 2004.

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EVENTS

Music to Celebrate BY CHEY SCOTT Points North

or the third Masterworks series concert of its 75th season, the Spokane Symphony is joined by guest cellist Inbal Segev for a performance of Grammy-winning composer Anna Clyne’s cello concerto “DANCE.” Clyne was a student at University of Edinburgh at the same time as Spokane Symphony music director James Lowe, who conducts this concert. The orchestra also performs Mendelssohn’s “Hebrides Overture,” a piece inspired by the landscape of the Scottish Highlands, and a fitting inclusion for a concert program themed around “exploration of the North.” Sat, Nov. 13 at 8 pm and Sun, Nov. 14 at 3 pm. $19-$62. All ages. Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony.org (509-624-1200) NOTE: Proof of COVID-19 vaccine or negative COVID-19 test taken 48 hours prior required for ages 12+; face masks required. Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection This fall, the MAC celebrates the legacy and craftsmanship of acclaimed Art Nouveau glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose gem-hued lampshades remain an iconic contribution to the annals of American design. The show borrows pieces from Chicago’s Richard H. Driehaus Collection that have never been shown, until now, in such a comprehensive exhibition. Oct. 3 through Feb. 13, 2022; open Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) Halloween Hike Seasonal chills and thrills await during the three-night run of the Friends of Coeur d’Alene Park’s annual walking tour through Browne’s Addition. The guided, after-dark jaunt through the historic neighborhood includes tales of ghosts, mystery and intrigue, along with “pumpkin” carols and apple cider before setting out. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Friends, which supports the park through maintenance, community events and more. Fri, Oct. 29 through Sun, Oct. 31 at 6:30 pm. $20. All ages. Starts at Browne’s Bistro, 1928 W. Pacific Ave. tinyurl.com/BrownesTours (509-850-0056) Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats Longtime culinary entertainer and cooking expert Alton Brown is coming back to Spokane on his latest tour combining comedy, music and “highly unusual” cooking demos live on stage for yet another intriguing look into the science of food. Audiences can expect Brown to call for adventurous volunteers to assist him, although things might get messy. Tue, Nov. 23 at 7:30 pm. $45-$125. All ages. Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-624-1200) NOTE: Face masks required; check website for additional information.

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Book Buyers Beware The allegedly haunted Historic Davenport Hotel.

If you plan to give books as holiday gifts, it's best to shop early

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Haunting History D

eborah Cuyle loves a good ghost story. She loves hearing the stories of people who’ve encountered ghosts, and researching the history of buildings considered haunted. Perhaps it’s just her natural curiosity and love of history, or perhaps it’s because being a survivor of a near-death experience herself, she has an unusually open mind about the possibility of spirits hanging around after their physical forms have shuffled off this mortal coil. Whether they believe or not, local readers will find a lot to enjoy in her new book, GHOSTS AND LEGENDS OF SPOKANE, published by the Haunted America division of The History Press. She divides her book into sections on haunted mansions, haunted buildings, haunted hotels and haunted “hot spots,” and while locals might be familiar with some of these tales, when they’re all collected in one place as Cuyle has done, it’s hard to deny her assertion that, thanks to its “countless ghost-infested old buildings and spooky places,” Spokane is high on the list of haunted cities. Cuyle attributes much of our ghostly activity to the city’s history as a booming city in the Old West. As the population soared in the late 1800s and early 1900s and many miners had rags-to-riches successes, the city also saw a shocking number of murders and disputes, situations that led to old Patsy Clark and his wife, Mary, continuing to haunt the Patsy Mansion. Same goes for

Ellen, the ghost in the old Davenport Hotel of a woman who accidentally plunged to her death on the historic spot’s marble floor. I particularly enjoyed sections on scary spots I’d never heard about before, like the “haunted intersection” of Division and Sprague, with scary sightings going back to 1890, and the ghost children who lurk in Minnehaha Park. A perusal through the “haunted hotels” section will have you questioning ever staying in a Spokane hotel again! Cuyle writes succinctly, with a clear passion for her subject. And she admits that while she did a lot of research into all the places and ghosts she writes about, she found plenty of contradicting dates and stories. So take the stories in Ghosts and Legends of Spokane with a grain of salt. But if you’re looking for a fun little history book that fits the Halloween season perfectly, this is a good one. — DAN NAILEN

ur publisher sales reps have all been advising us to stock up early on some titles because of likely shortages this holiday season,” notes Kerry Mayer, assistant manager of Auntie's Bookstore. “We're all trying to minimize the impact as much as possible, but there's no way to know for certain which titles won't be available right before Christmas.” A perfect storm of paper and labor shortages as well as bottlenecks in overseas transportation are all contributing to precarious availability for the upcoming holiday season. The shortages are coming at a bad time for the industry, which saw sales of print books jump more than 18 percent in 2021 over the previous year, according to Publishers Weekly. Gift book sets, cookbooks and art books are expected to be particularly vulnerable to shortages. On the bright side, independently owned bookstore staff can often help you find a suitable replacement that’s already on their shelves. — ANNE McGREGOR

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021

PEERING

INTO THE

FUTURE How virtual reality is revolutionizing health care » BY NATE SANFORD

irtual reality has come a long way. Twenty years ago, the technology cost tens of thousands of dollars and weighed 50 to 100 pounds. Today, you can find light-

weight models for less than $100. Strapping on the headset allows the user to immerse themselves in a 360-degree environment that feels almost real. While much of the VR world is focused on entertainment and gaming, the technology is increasingly being applied to health care settings. In Spokane, the Northwest Counseling Center uses VR to help patients confront their phobias and practice mindfulness. Burn patients in hospitals across the country use a VR game set in a snowy

paradise to help manage burn pain. And at Western State Hospital near Tacoma, new staff train with a VR module that puts them in the shoes of a patient and helps them understand what it’s like to experience a mental health crisis. VR worlds aren’t indistinguishable from reality, but they’re getting close.

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OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021

Washington’s Western State Hospital trains staff using a VR course that immerses them in the life experiences of Lena, a fictional woman with schizophrenia. PHOTO COURTESY OF TYLER HEMSTREET, WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

“PEERING INTO THE FUTURE,” CONTINUED...

MENTAL HEALTH

You’re called to the front of a large, nondescript conference room to give some sort of speech. The subject isn’t important; what matters is the audience. There are at least 50 of them — dressed in drab corporate attire and talking among themselves as you take the stage. You try to stammer out a few words, but they don’t seem very interested in what you have to say. You feel yourself getting anxious. Their murmurs get louder, and with a twinge of horror you realize they’re talking about you. “They seem nervous,” says one audience member. “I think it’s their first time,” whispers another. Out of the corner of your eye, you see that people are starting to stand up and leave. Someone in the audience asks you a question but you’re too distracted to even think straight. The speech is a complete disaster. Thankfully, none of this is real. When you take off the VR goggles, you’re transported back to the office of Dr. Roger Yoder, founder of the Northwest Counseling Center in downtown Spokane. Yoder started incorporating VR into his practice shortly after opening in 2016. He now uses the technology to treat a variety of anxieties and phobias — including fear of public speaking.

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By exposing patients to their phobias in a controlled, safe environment, Yoder is able to help them work to gradually regulate their response and get to a point where they can safely partake in the activity in real life. The VR training doesn’t normally start with the intensity of a speech in front of a hostile audience. Yoder will start patients on an easy simulation and then gradually work up the intensity while continuously monitoring their heart rate. The goal is to get to a point where they can confront the source of anxiety or trauma without triggering their flight or fight response. “You can’t just take a person with a fear of heights on the first day and throw them on top of the tallest building,” Yoder says. “You’re not helping them at all there. You have to work up to it.” For someone with a fear of flying, that might mean starting the session in a simulated living room watching a TV program about a deadly plane crash. Once the patient is able to comfortably sit through that without their heart rate spiking, Yoder moves them to the next stage: a simulated taxi ride to the gate and a walk through the terminal. After that, they’ll board the plane and experience the flight itself, which is aided by a small motor in the patient’s chair that vibrates to simulate turbulence. On his computer, Yoder controls the experience in real time. He can turn up

the turbulence of the flight, add thunder and lightning, or make the other passengers on the plane start panicking. He keeps an eye on the patient’s heart rate throughout the session to make sure things aren’t getting too intense. “You can monitor the person to gauge where they’re at so you don’t ever get them to the peak of their fear,” Yoder says. Yoder says patients have seen tremendous success with the VR therapy model. Patients are sometimes able to overcome their phobia in as little as six to eight sessions. The VR simulations are designed by a company called Psious based in Spain. They have dozens of simulations that help patients confront common fears like spiders, needles and elevators. If a patient has a more specific phobia — like walking across Spokane’s Post Street Bridge — Yoder can use his 360-degree camera to create a module tailored to their individual needs. There are also VR modules designed to help patients with mindfulness and meditation. Yoder said he’s excited about the prospects of the technology. Most insurance companies, including state insurance, now cover VR therapy. You don’t have to let your fear dominate your life, he says. “There’s help there; go get it,” Yoder says.

HEALTH EDUCATION

“When a Voice Returns” is a five-part virtual reality training module administered to new staff at Western State Hospital, a psychiatric institution near Tacoma. The training tells the story of Lena, a fictional patient at Western State Hospital who suffers from schizophrenia. Over the course of the two-week training, staff follows Lena as she deals with her symptoms while navigating the legal system and the long road to recovery. James Ortega, the instructional safety administrator at Western State Hospital, says the training elicits a powerful reaction among staff, sometimes even causing a few tears. “It’s changed some people’s perspectives about what it’s like to be a person who suffers from mental illness,” Ortega says. Building empathy for patients is a vital part of mental health care. Staff at psychiatric institutions like Western State Hospital are regularly placed in volatile situations where managing their own

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emotional reaction can be just as important as addressing the patient’s. “In crisis intervention and de-escalation, one of the things that we really want to practice is self-regulation,” Ortega says. “We don’t want to let our emotions get the best of us or let our adrenaline spike.” With that goal in mind, a team at the Department of Social Health Services set out to create training that would place staff in the patient’s shoes and help them understand what it’s like to be hospitalized with a condition like schizophrenia. Sara McCaslin, the creative director for the DSHS Office of Innovation, Strategy and Visual Communications, began working on the project in 2019 after discussions with state officials about how to improve safety at state mental hospitals. McCaslin says the decision to use VR was guided by research. The immersive, 360-degree audio and video experience helps to submerge staff into an experience that’s otherwise hard to describe. A 2018 study from Stanford found increased levels of empathy and information retention in people who use VR. “VR has a higher stickiness level, a higher memory retention level than watching a traditional video,” McCaslin says. The project was guided by social workers, mental health technicians and nurses. The team also conducted in-depth interviews with real patients who shared their personal experiences, something McCaslin says was a key part of the process. With their help, the team at Western State Hospital was able to design the training so it was true to the patient’s lived experience and not over-dramatized, she says. The training follows a set script, but McCaslin says she is interested in exploring ways to make the training more interactive. In the future, staff could potentially be presented with different choices that would take the story in different directions, sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure novel. McCaslin says her office has received calls from institutions in several other states who are interested in adopting the training. They are also looking to implement the training at Eastern State Hospital soon. The VR training follows Lena throughout her entire recovery, including its conclusion when she leaves the institution and returns to her family. It’s a part of the recovery process that staff don’t usually get to see, and Ortega says it can be one of the most rewarding parts of the training. “That’s why most of us got into this job in the first place,” Ortega says.

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Above: Certified trauma counselor Roger Yoder uses VR at his Spokane office to help clients overcome fears and phobias. PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGER YODER Below: SnowWorld was the first virtual world designed to reduce pain. ARI HOLLANDER AND HOWARD ROSE, COPYRIGHT HUNTER HOFFMAN, U.W.., WWW.VRPAIN.COM.

Brain activity captured by functional MRI shows reduced activity in areas of the brain related to pain perception during the use of VR. IMAGE BY TODD RICHARDS AND ARIC BILLS, USED WITH PERMISSION FROM HUNTER HOFFMAN, VRPAIN.COM

“PEERING INTO THE FUTURE,” CONTINUED...

PAIN REDUCTION

Recovering from a burn injury can be a long, painful process. Patients have to endure bandage changes, stretches and physical therapy, all of which bring back the pain from the initial burn. It’s a uniquely painful process. Medicine helps, but there’s a limit to how much you can give someone. Thankfully, there’s no limit to VR. For the past two decades, Hunter Hoffman, a researcher with the University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory, has been studying how VR can be used as a tool to help burn patients manage the pain experienced during recovery. He started the research in 1996, when his colleague Dave Patterson, a clinical psychologist and pain expert at Harborview, told him about his own work using hypnosis as a tool to distract patients from burn pain at Harborview Medical Center. Hoffman was intrigued and began to wonder if the immersive power of VR could help take distraction to the next level. “It’s basically just a distraction on steroids,” Hoffman says. Hoffman and Patterson collaborated to create SnowWorld, a VR game that places the user in a calming snowscape with igloos, penguins, woolly mammoths and snowmen who throw snowballs at the player. Paul Simon’s “Graceland” plays in the background as players throw snowballs back at the snowmen. Hoffman says he intentionally avoided incorporating the colors red and yellow so the player wouldn’t be reminded of fire. The game is simple, but it’s been remarkably successful. Patterson and Hoffman have published multiple papers showing that patients who used SnowWorld during procedures experienced significantly lower pain levels. Physiological factors like fear, antici-

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pation and anxiety play a large role in how people experience pain, but SnowWorld helps block out those negative feelings. “The nice thing about VR is it kind of creates a white noise,” Hoffman says. “It’s like you’re not really thinking about other things, you’re not even really aware that your pain is reduced.” When Hoffman and Patterson first studied the applications of VR for pain reduction, they compared the pain experienced by patients who played Nintendo Mario Kart during procedures to patients who used SnowWorld. They found that the latter group experienced lower levels of pain, which Hoffman attributes to the visual immersion of VR; patients are much less likely to think about their wounds if they can’t see them. In the two decades since Hoffman and Patterson started their research, the cost and portability of VR have both improved dramatically. More than a dozen hospitals have used SnowWorld for pain prevention, and many more have adopted similar VR models. VR has been used to help distract patients during dental procedures, blood draws, childbirth pain and countless other health care situations, Hoffman says. VR has also been shown to be effective at preventing long-term chronic pain, although more research is needed. Hoffman recently conducted research on the effects of SnowWorld at a burn unit in Texas that specializes in treating children from South America who have experienced severe burns. Hoffman remembers one young child talking in Spanish as he prepared to undergo physical therapy. Instead of complaining about the pain he was about to experience, the child had his mind on the game. “Watch out, penguins,” the child said as he entered the room and prepared to don the headset.

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ATTRIBUTES

Jicama boasts an impressive nutrient content with almost half of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C in a single serving, plus folate, iron and potassium. This root veggie also boasts a very high water and fiber content, and it’s low in calories. And it’s packed with antioxidants including vitamin E and beta-carotene.

SUPERPOWERS SUPERFOOD

Crunchy, Cool and C-Worthy

icama is a circular root vegetable with white flesh and a thin brown skin and is often eaten raw. Sometimes referred to as the Mexican water chestnut or Chinese turnip, jicama has a sweet, nutty flavor and a juicy, crunchy texture.

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As a veggie high in water content and fiber, but low in fat and calories, jicama is a satisfying but weightloss-friendly food. Additionally, all that fiber is great for gut health and promotes digestion. Jicama is also good for the heart. The soluble fiber may help reduce cholesterol, while iron and copper help keep red blood cells healthy. A small study of adults found that consumption of jicama juice was linked with a reduction in blood clots.

WEAKNESSES

Jicama can’t grow freely in much of America, since it needs consistent warm weather and no frost in

the cooler months, so unfortunately, you won’t easily find this veggie at our local farms here in the Northwest. Even if you can get it to grow, beware — the greens and beans this plant grows above ground are toxic to humans and other animals, so make sure to only stick to consuming the root portion.

HOW TO USE IT

Jicama is most commonly eaten raw, which is the best way to preserve all of its nutrients. It can be added to your next salad for a sweet and juicy crunch or eaten plain with a squeeze of lime and just a sprinkle of salt. Its unique flavor complements either fruit or veggie mixes, and this versatile root can be cut, sliced or diced to make a refreshing, healthy addition to any party platter. — STACEY AGGARWAL Stacey Aggarwal received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Washington. Now she writes about biology, health and nutrition while running a lavender farm in North Idaho.

LIFE WITH PETS

Capturing Calm

ears ago, when Bailee, my springer spaniel, and Shilo, a yellow Lab, were still alive, we took evening walks together in the woods near my home in Colbert. They always anxiously awaited my return from a long day’s work at my veterinary hospital. The memory is as vivid as if it happened yesterday. When I turn into the driveway, there they are, my two canine hunters, tails wagging as if to say, “It’s about time you got home!” They know me; they know I have trouble saying no to their passion to explore the woods together. When I step from the car, they greet me as if I’ve been gone forever. They have a well-choreographed welcoming I call their Happy Dance, a dance of boundless enthusiasm, an excitement I’m sure all you dog lovers have experienced with your own pets when returning home from your busy day. Their contagious energy begins to melt away the fatigue that

has followed me home. It’s a foregone conclusion: Their walk with me has already been decided by this dance of theirs, a dance that will follow us into the woods. I change into my hiking clothes, and we are off. When we reach a familiar vista, I pause to watch my two companions explore their surroundings. I notice the graceful rhythm of their movements, so light and unencumbered as they curl so effortlessly through the twists and turns of our hiking trail.

Their sharp senses notice everything around them: smells, movements, sounds… nothing escapes their attention. They seem so alive, so happy… so present! I’m suddenly struck by the thought that my four-legged companions are completely caught up in the present. And I become seduced by their dance. I want what they have — to be captured by the moment. I’m reluctant to admit to myself that I’m often consumed with thoughts that pull me away from the present, thoughts that draw me back into my hectic day, ruminating over all that has gone on before, wondering what I could have done differently — mindless ramblings of a busy mind. Oh, I’ve tried to change, to be more like my two pets who lived in the World of Now. I tried tai chi, joined a “mindfulness” group and practiced meditating. Anything to calm my busy mind. Nothing worked until I finally surrendered to the lessons on living in the moment that my two dogs were trying to teach me all along. — BOB SLACK Bob Slack is a retired veterinarian living in Spokane. He currently works with people struggling with addiction.

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Eileen Grimes: “What kind of world do I want to leave for my kids?”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EILEEN GRIMES

Getting to Know You First-time local author Eileen Grimes took some lessons from the pandemic — and an assist from Kristen Bell — to create The Us Journal BY ANNE MCGREGOR 7.5” wide by 2.37” high

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s one of six kids, Eileen Grimes says, “My parents did a wonderful job!” But with so many siblings, Grimes, now a GU education grad who lives in Spokane’s South Perry District, sometimes felt a little lost in the shuffle. So when her own two kids came along, “I would make a very specific time to spend with each of them,” she says. Then along came the pandemic. “It was a moment of existential crisis, and legacy building,” says Grimes. “What kind of world do I want to leave for my kids?” She says she felt a need to create something real, something to help people connect outside of the digital world, something, “that will allow us to see our kids more wholly and completely.” And so The Us Journal was born. The colorful, interactive book aimed at 5 to 9 year olds features questions and prompts for kids and their adults to reflect on and then share.

Pediatric Orthopaedic Specialists Sports Health & Medicine As a self-publisher, Grimes worked with The Collective Book Studio to bring her idea into a print-ready format. Then came the task of funding the publishing effort. After a successful Kickstarter, including a fortuitous boost from actress actress Kristen Bell (Frozen, The Good Place) — Grimes reached out to her on Instagram, saying “‘If you’re looking for someone to support…’ And she did! It was incredible!” — the printed book will be available November 9. Donors have already purchased more than 100

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copies in advance for Ronald McDonald House Charities. And there’s more to come, says Grimes: “The goal is to make a whole series. The next thing is going to be a teen journal.” The Us Journal ($17) is available online at thecollectivebook.studio/theus-journal and also scheduled to be available in local bookstores.

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Above the Rim

An art-infused, earth-forward Tom Kundig home rises from Spokane's West Plains BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

ocation, location, location. That real estate mantra takes on new meaning with a house designed by acclaimed architect and Spokane-native, Tom Kundig. Among the numerous earth-forward design features in what Kundig calls the Rimrock House is the location of the house itself, especially how it honors and communes with the surrounding landscape, the critters who inhabit that landscape and the extraordinary humans who hail from the Inland Northwest. “The property was historically a game trail, leading from the upper forest and cliff through a gap to a path where animals could get down to the [Spokane] river,” says Kundig, an owner and principal at the Seattle-based firm of Olson Kundig. “It’s been an important passageway for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years, so keeping it as intact as possible was an explicit agenda from day one.” To do that, Kundig designed the 5,200-square-foot home in a “T” shape to complement the natural features of the “rimrock” — defined as a rock wall above a plateau or canyon — overlooking the Spokane River. The portion of the home that contains the three-car garage sits on top of one side of a small, gently-sloping gully on the rim of the cliff while the body of the home adjoins the garage portion, forming the “T” and spanning the same gully. The “gap” allows for wildlife to continue to pass through the area, going under the home, just as they always have. Owner Paul Mack says he and his wife Suzanne have observed cougars hunting deer on the home’s 20 acres, and a moose and two calves were once spotted cozied up near the house. Creating the home was a lengthy process, running to 22 months. “Everything is custom,” laughs Paul, “Everything.” Just acquiring the property entailed a protracted negotiation process lasting nine months. “Every day I’d come home and Suzanne would say, ‘You didn’t lose that did you?” ...continued on next page OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021

An infinity edge pool reflects clouds floating by along the cliff’s edge perch of the Rimrock House owned by Paul and Suzanne Mack (inset). The home features numerous pieces by Spokane artist Harold Balazs (below) YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

“ABOVE THE RIM,” CONTINUED...

Embracing Balazs He didn’t, and slowly the house took shape. Rimrock

features carefully sourced materials, including the 90-95 percent reclaimed steel paneling for the exterior of the home that the Macks sourced locally. The metal, says Kundig, is durable and low maintenance. “Rather than using a material that takes on nature in a sort of defiant way, the metal is more soft, in a sense,” he says. “It embraces the way nature changes, in the same way that we age and change.” Paul puts it more succinctly, “It rusts,” slowly developing a hue that perfectly complements a vast blue sky. Likewise, he says the growth of native vegetation in the years since the home was completed have brought it seemingly closer to the land. Heading up the walkway through a swirl of silvery grasses, a Harold Balazs steel sculpture perches above a narrow rectangular reflecting pool, greeting visitors to Rimrock and leading the eye to an audaciously bright red front entry door. Once inside, a perhaps surprisingly modest vestibule is flanked by a set of sliding carved wooden doors, also by Balazs and of reclaimed material, which serve as a fully functioning gateway to the home’s secondary bedrooms. Throughout the home, Kundig’s and the Macks’ affinity for Harold Balazs — both the artist and his work — is on full view, even including a work Balazs created on the lid of a washing machine, a work that appropriately hangs in the laundry room.

...continued on page 24

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It embraces the way nature changes, in the same way that we age and change

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After proceeding through the vestibule (below), vast views in the home’s main living area are dramatically revealed. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER PHOTO

“ABOVE THE RIM,” CONTINUED... “I think some of my favorite features are the ways that the house embraces [Balazs’] art, and the design makes those pieces important within the building,” says Kundig, whom Balazs mentored for several summers when he was a young man, inspiring Kundig's approach to materials and instilling in him a sense that art and architecture can be seamless. The two remained close until Balazs died in 2017, with Kundig taking part in the eulogy.

the design makes those pieces important within the building Proceeding down the sedate entry corridor leads to a carefully crafted dramatic reveal in the form of a flood of light in the home’s living area. Expansive, 270 degree territorial views through the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows include the Spokane River winding far below to one side and the home’s natural treed landscape on the other. But inside the home, the views are equally rewarding. Over the fireplace, a Robert Motherwell print, which Paul says is one of his favorite pieces of art, anchors the space. A glass display case tucked in among the kitchen’s walnut cabinetry reveals three colorful Dale Chihuly bowls. Paul’s love of Oaxacan art is also frequently on display, with colorfully painted wooden figures tucked into display cases throughout the home. Hmong tapestry art thoughtfully adorns a bed in a guest room, while a nearby quilt stand features a quilt created by Mack’s great-grandmother. Upstairs, the primary bedroom features water colors by Paul’s mother. ...continued on page 26

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The Rimrock House was purposely designed to preserve a game trail that now passes beneath the home’s main living area. Inset: Locally sourced steel siding, “embraces nature in the same way that we age and change,” says architect Tom Kundig, who also designed the home’s doorknobs (below). YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

“ABOVE THE RIM,” CONTINUED...

Honoring the Landscape Kundig’s attachment to Rimrock is also personal on many levels. “The clients came to me specifically because they saw me as a local boy who did all right,” says Kundig, whose accolades include an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and election to the National Academy as an Academician. He recently completed the acclaimed Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus. Kundig’s regional experience informs several components of the design. “I understand how to live in that environment and how to be thoughtful about that kind of extreme climate – both opening up to it and providing protection from it,” says Kundig. “In terms of snow specifically, the way the home hovers above the landscape also prevents snow drifts from collecting directly against the windows, which in turn allows us to have full-height glass to take in those big views,” he says.

...continued on page 28

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The Rimrock House rises out of cliffs above the Spokane River. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER PHOTO

“ABOVE THE RIM,” CONTINUED... Additional environmentally friendly features include automated shades on the exteriors of all windows, which allow the owners to tame the intense sun, thus reducing the energy needed to cool the interior. Those shades also have a side benefit in the main living area that’s suspended over the wildlife pathway, notes Paul. Even while lowered, the shades still afford clear visibility of the wildlife crossing, but since the animals can no longer see in, they aren’t startled by human movement in the house.

I wanted to celebrate the landscape as something bigger than us A geothermal heating system built into the concrete keeps the house warm, while a rainwater collection system funnels roof water slowly back into the water system, minimizing erosion. Overall, the impact of Rimrock is meant to be less, not more, but by taking a minimalist approach, it is more. And it reminds of how famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed an iconic Pennsylvania home known as “Fallingwater” to blend harmoniously into the sloping hillside punctuated by rocks, trees and a natural waterfall. “I wanted to celebrate the landscape as something bigger than us, certainly more beautiful than anything we could design,” says Kundig. “The design strives to be somewhat silent to the landscape – from the colors and natural weathering of the materials to the proportions – and to blend respectfully.” Additional reporting by Anne McGregor.

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Harold Balazs YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Collaborative Spirit The intertwined legacies of father-and-son architects Moritz and Tom Kundig, with the late, great Harold Balazs

om Kundig’s Rimrock House is a synthesis of two significant influences on his life: his father, Moritz Kundig, and an early mentor, Harold Balazs. Moritz trained at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and emigrated to the United States, eventually bringing his European modernist architectural style to Spokane in the 1950s. Notable projects include the Unitarian Church and a South Hill rancher recently renovated by local HDG Architecture’s Josh Hissong and featured in Dwell Magazine.

5” wide by 5” high

Moritz’s career included numerous collaborations with other architects. He co-founded NAC Architecture, a nationally known firm with numerous local projects at Kootenai Health, WSU, Spokane Community College and Riverfront Park; the firm also led historic restorations at the Patsy Clark Mansion and the Bing Crosby Theater.

Tom Kundig JAMES O’MARA PHOTO Moritz also collaborated with local artists, and especially Harold Balazs, who passed away in 2017 at age 89. Balazs produced a prodigious amount of artwork, from paintings, prints and drawings, to public works throughout the Northwest. Balazs was best known for his pioneering enamels, liturgical (church-based) artwork, and commissions, like the fountain in Riverfront Park and the sculpture known as the Lantern featuring Balazs’ oft-reproduced and popular hand-lettered logo admonishing us all to “transcend the bullshit.” Balazs’ Mead Works studio was a wonderland of activity, including metal fabrication and concrete casting, but also Balazs’ trademark assemblages that he made from found objects like old bits of wood and discarded metal. And that’s where a young Tom Kundig worked for several summers, an experience that turned his mind towards pursuing architecture at the University of Washington. Since joining the Seattle-based firm of Olson Sundberg in 1986 — now called Olson Kundig — Tom has designed projects the world over, many of them bearing the combined fingerprints of Moritz’ modernity and Balazs’ ingenuity and fascination with materials. Tom has earned numerous American Institute of Architect awards including for an innovative cabin at Chicken Point on Hayden Lake, with a massive glass door that can be opened to the outside using a simple gear “gizmo” Tom designed. Other regional projects include two wine tasting rooms: at Winescape in Spokane, and at Charles Smith in Walla Walla. On the Olson Kundig website, he describes his approach to design: “I try to redefine what it means for humans to be in a relationship with architecture. Buildings are never finished — materials continue to change, clients move windows and walls and shutters. Materials allowed to age naturally are the evidence of time; they display a sense of history and place. In that sense, they are authentic.” — CARRIE SCOZZARO

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Designer Molly Hustoft says her project dubbed the “Peterson Remodel” took two years to complete, eventually overcoming delays due to the pandemic and supply chain issues. MARY JO RAWLSKY | MAJOR IMAGES PHOTOS

Interior Motives Inside North Idaho-based designer Molly Hustoft’s favorite remodel BY CARRIE SCOZZARO 30

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olly Hustoft enjoys a challenge. Kitchen and bath remodels, for example, involve not only space planning and surface selections but also project management, says Hustoft, the principal at Designer Homes Interiors. For her, that includes scheduling, building relationships with contractors and plenty of problem-solving. “It takes an energetic positive person to be an interior designer, as much as it takes artistic skills,” says Hustoft. In 2008, Hustoft transitioned out of a career in finance to pursue her design degree, opening Designer Homes Interiors four years later. In 2017, she won a National Kitchen & Bath Association industry award in the “Budget Friendly Bath” category. Hustoft says her favorite recent project dubbed the Peterson Remodel tested all involved, with delays due to COVID and supply issues that ended up extending the remodel of the family’s principal bath and great room — living, dining and kitchen area — to two years. Materials proved especially challenging, says Hustoft. For example, they’d ordered custom tiles for the kitchen backsplash, which had a six-month lead time, but a warehouse fire burned the product before it could be shipped. “Honestly, because of this misfortune we probably ended up with something even more stunning than the original selection,” says Hustoft, who found

5” wide by 10.25” high

a granite tile with brass inlay by Spokane-based Northwest Trends instead. Goals for the Peterson remodel included adding functionality and updating the 12-yearold home’s finishes, many of them dark or outdated, such as the yellowish tongue-andgroove knotty pine ceiling. The new design for the kitchen features a white quartz island and matching countertops, with white walls and ceiling combined with wood accents. One bank of floor-to-ceiling cabinets is wood, while two are white, helping distinguish the wet bar from the main kitchen. Gray tones in the seating, backsplash and flooring add visual variety, while brass accents add sparkle. Although it took longer than expected, everyone is happy with the result. The Petersons love the new design, including the 8-foot center island with a double sink that provides plenty of prep space and seating, says Kari Peterson, who shares the home with her husband, Chad, and their two children, as well as two dogs and assorted foster kittens.

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Hustoft works with local businesses as much as possible, the Peterson project included: CABINETS: Freeze Manufacturing, Spokane APPLIANCES: Thermador suite from Ferguson, Spokane COUNTERTOPS: Gargoyle Granite, Hayden FLOORING, TILE BACKSPLASH: Northwest Trends, Spokane LIGHTING: Homestyles Lighting, Coeur d’Alene CABINET HARDWARE: Spokane Hardware, Spokane PANTRY DOOR: River City Glass, Spokane FURNITURE: Ennis Furniture, Spokane PAINT: Jay’s Custom Painting, Coeur d’Alene “We also appreciate our new column fridge and freezer, which provide much more food storage space and are less visually obtrusive,” says Peterson. Looking ahead to winter, she says, they’re really going to appreciate how the great room is much more open and brighter. Hustoft is also happy with the results. “Of course, client satisfaction is my main goal,” says Hustoft, “but also managing their expectations within budget and time constraints is a huge part of this.” With the remodel challenge met, Hustoft is dreaming up new challenges. “I really want to design a beautiful nursery for expecting parents, or a bunk room,” says Hustoft, who recently became a grandmother. “Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do this soon!”

Inside the guide: ANNUAL REPORT

NIGHTLIFE

EDUCATION

SHOPPING

The nation’s real estate hot spot Downtown’s new sports structures Seven big ideas for the region

Live entertainment highlights World’s best axe thrower Music venue survivors

Changes in education EWU’s new president Local university research

The region’s best vintage shops Home transformations Local shopping events

ARTS

RECREATION

FOOD & DRINK

GREEN ZONE

Best of Broadway New work from local writers Spokane’s vibrant murals

New restaurants Chefs from around the world A craft beer lover’s dream

The Inland Northwest bike scene New Ice Age Floods Playground Gonzaga’s sky-high expectations

and more!

Washington’s cannabis rules Find the right edibles for you Celebrity cannabis strains

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Heavy Metal Happiness Spokane Valley’s Karol Startzel makes the most of metal with her welded sculptures STORY AND PHOTOS BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

arol Startzel can’t help herself. Humor and creativity flow effortlessly from her. Her art studio, for example, has a sign on it with the numbers 1-4-3. It’s the number of trips she and husband Todd made to the hardware store to build it, she quips. Beneath the sign, several of her whimsical welded critters — she favors birds — welcome visitors to her shop, which is packed with remnants of old machines, tools and assorted scrap metal in boxes with labels like “Weird” and “Weirder.” But weird is wonderful in Startzel’s

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world, which includes her studio, and a matching Victorian two-story she shares with Todd, Penny the rescue dog and Eve the indoor kitty. The couple built the house in 2004 in central Spokane Valley, on a rocky outcropping that for many years served as the region’s unofficial salvage yard. Karol was only too happy to transform some of what she found during home construction into sculptures, all of which she gives names to according to what they’re made of. She used hand shovels for the Trowel Trout, for example. The stork-like creation

with the hydraulic hammer piece for a head? Alice Cooper, of course, because it’s “heavy metal,” says Startzel, with perfect comedic timing. The ’48 truck at the entrance of their modest acreage, however, is a remnant from Startzel’s childhood on a fourth-generation Pullman wheat farm. That’s where she first became familiar with the mechanics of welding by watching others, all the while absorbing a mindset of repurposing and problem-solving that’s inherent to farming. Startzel left the farm to pursue horticulture at Spokane Community College, funded in part by a track scholarship in 1980. She returned to work in their horticulture program — the “queenery of the greenery,” she says with a laugh. And about 10 years ago, she took her first of many classes in welding. “What I love about welding,” she says, “is if you need something you can just make it.” So for her daughter’s wedding, she made four chandeliers and set them amid the gazebos, hidden alcoves, chicken coop, mason bee condos, and hundreds of plants and trees that Startzel has carefully curated and tended on her Spokane Valley property. In 2018 they built the 12-foot-by20-foot shop, which is the second of two art spaces for Startzel, who is also a member of the River Ridge Association of Fine Arts and sells her work through Rosarium Garden Center. On the lowest level of their home, Startzel has a warren-like space filled with evidence of her lifelong interest in art. The fabric and beading are a testimony to the influence of her mother, who also did stained glass. Nearly every surface is covered with framed artwork, family photos and other ephemera, including a disco ball and a volleyball painted to resemble the face/handprint of Wilson from the movie CastAway. “I am fortunate as my art does not put food on my table, so I get to create mostly for the joy of it,” says Startzel. “It makes me feel bad when people say they are not creative,” she adds. “I think we are all creative in our own way and fear sadly keeps us from trying.”

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Just Rewards Eva Roberts reflects on 35 years of baking and making memories with Just American Desserts STORY BY CARRIE SCOZZARO  PHOTOS BY YOUNG KWAK

f ever there was a time for a little something sweet, it would be now, and Eva Roberts has just the thing for you at Just American Desserts. Located in Spokane Valley, JAD is the result of a lifetime of persistence and a little bit of luck for Roberts, who started the business with her sister and mother in 1986. “We came up with the name as we thought we were traditional, like grandma used to make… American style desserts,” says Roberts, who also credits her late husband’s support for building a business that in 2009 garnered a coveted Agora Award from Greater Spokane Inc. Roberts now runs the business on her own (with the help of loyal employees, some of them dating back 20 years), dividing her time between the bakery and related ventures like teaching classes for My Fresh Basket in Kendall Yards. In December 2020, she competed on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, making it to the finale in a field of 12 and finishing fourth. “My whole goal was just to stay in the game,” says Roberts, recalling how difficult it was physically, but also mentally. When she blanked on a recipe for sponge cake she could otherwise make in her sleep, Roberts gritted her teeth and persevered. It wasn’t the first time in her 35 year career that Roberts has faced challenges. In the ’70s, she got a job at Patsy Clark’s as a part-time pastry chef, wowing the general manager with her chocolate fudge cake. A week in, however, she was thrust into the head position after the chef quit, taking all her recipes with her. “Having no training, basically being a home baker, it was like drinking water from a fire hose,” says Roberts, whose scratch-made desserts resonated with customers.

“I believe in using real ingredients in their natural state,” says Roberts, who can tell the difference in a scratch-made versus box-mix cake just by the smell. While Roberts learned on the job, she also made the most of every mistake. Scaling up for the restaurant, for example, she once ended up with omelets instead of the batch of delicate sponge cakes she’d tried to make en masse, so she tried again. And again. And again, if that’s what it took to get it right. “Everything I did was through the school of hard knocks,” says Roberts, who got interested in baking at age 10 or 11. She had discovered her mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook, especially the dessert section. “I love the way baking is exacting and not as forgiving as regular cooking,” says Roberts, who was also influenced by the family’s early Air Force travels. “I remember the pastry shops in Japan that had a very strong French influence,” says Roberts, who learned the important lesson of presentation from those very elegant displays. Another influence is her food idol: Alice Medrich, who introduced a burgeoning Berkeley, California, food scene to French truffles in the late ’70s with her acclaimed Cocolat dessert shop. “To this day, I make similar style chocolate truffles, and I cherish her Hot Milk Sponge Cake recipe, which I still use today for my Yule Logs,” says Roberts, who also makes cheesecakes, pies, pastries, cookies, sheet cakes and more. And she’s making memories, says Roberts. “Just American Desserts sees people mostly during their celebratory times,” she says. “I will do a wedding cake, then the baby shower, all the birthdays, graduations and then the wedding cake for their children.” RECIPES ON NEXT PAGE 

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021

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TRY IT!

Maple Nut Pie This pie combines all the favorites: creamy custard, flaky pie crust and a crunchy topping. If making your own pie crust, be sure to bake it and let it cool first. The key to custard is moderate heat, wellstirred ingredients and not overcooking it. Crust 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Bake and cool a 9-inch pie shell of your choice. Nut Crunch Topping • 1/3 cup sugar • 1/3 cup flour • 3 tablespoons butter • ½ cup chopped pecans or cashews 1. Combine sugar and flour in a small bowl. 2. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. 3. Stir in chopped nuts. 4. Spread on an ungreased baking sheet. 5. Bake 5 minutes or longer, stirring twice, until golden brown. 6. Remove from oven and cool. Maple Custard • ¼ cup sugar • 2 tablespoons flour

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• 2 tablespoons cornstarch • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1¾ cups whole milk • 4 egg yolks • ¾ cup maple syrup • 1 tablespoon butter 1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. 2. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and egg yolks until smooth. 3. Stir milk/egg mixture into saucepan, then stir in maple syrup. Keep stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil. 4. Stir and boil for one minute, no longer. 5. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, which will thicken the custard even more. 6. Gently pour hot mixture into baked pie shell. 7. Sprinkle with nut crunch topping. 8. Refrigerate 3 hours or longer. Garnish with whipped cream and nuts if desired.

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Our Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Nothing says fall like pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves. Pick up an extra can of pumpkin so you can whip up this easy yet delicious cake that is so much better than using a packaged mix. This recipe makes a large cake, enough for 24 servings. Cake • 1½ cups sugar • 1 cup vegetable oil • 2 cups all-purpose flour • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 can (15 ounces) solid pack pumpkin • 4 eggs • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1 teaspoon baking soda • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 1. Grease a 10” x 15” baking pan. 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs. 4. In a different bowl, combine flour, baking pow-

der, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cloves. 5. Gradually add dry to wet ingredients and mix well to combine. 6. Pour batter into greased pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 7. Set aside to cool. Cream Cheese Frosting • 6 ounces cream cheese, softened • ½ cup butter, softened • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 4½ cups confectioners’ sugar

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1. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. 2. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. 3. Spread over cooled cake. — RECIPES COURTESY OF EVA ROBERTS AT JUST AMERICAN DESSERTS

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIBERTY LAKE WINE CELLARS

Growing Together Liberty Lake Cellars matures along with its hometown BY LEANN BJERKEN

iberty Lake Wine Cellars has had deep roots in its community from the start, having been established the same year Liberty Lake became an incorporated city. Founders Doug and Shelly Smith started the winery in 2005 as a boutique lakeside operation, but in the years since, current owners Mark and Sarah Lathrop have grown the winery into something much bigger. The Lathrops, who met while pursuing MBAs at Eastern Washington University, say they started off as wine club members but decided to take on the winery in 2016, when they heard the Smiths were retiring. “We’d developed a friendship with Doug and Shelly, and we’d been looking for something we could do together,” says Mark Lathrop. “It was one of those opportunities that just kind of fell into place.” By 2017, the couple had moved the

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winery into a newly built, 4,300-squarefoot production facility and tasting room at 23110 E. Knox Ave. The winery has five part-time employees, and all production takes place on-site, including crush, fermentation, barrel aging, bottling and storage. “I do most of the wine production, and Sarah runs front of the house,” says Mark Lathrop. “We’ve grown production from 500 to 2,500 cases annually, and 2021 production is slated at 2,700 cases depending on harvest.” Liberty Lake Wine Cellars specializes in red wines, with the majority of their grapes sourced through the Red Mountain AVA, south of Richland. “It’s one of the smaller AVAs in the state, but it’s also the hottest, so it offers good grapes for making those big, bold reds,” he says. While the winery specializes in red wine, it also offers a chardonnay, a riesling,

and a rosé, under the label Tahija, which takes its name from Sarah’s family. Lathrop says that since taking over the winery, the couple has added production of new varieties including malbec, zinfandel and gewürztraminer. “We just released our Bordeaux blend and petit Bordeaux in late August, and have plans to release the malbec and the carménère this November,” he says. With so much variety, the couple says there’s no one wine that’s the definitive customer favorite; instead, there’s usually something for everyone. “We source many varietals from Red Mountain, and try to keep them rotating through the tasting room,” says Sarah. “Our philosophy is letting people who come in try something new every time.” Lathrop says all of Liberty Lake Wine Cellars’ wines are all made dry, which means they pair well with savory dishes.

“Sweet wines go better with desserts, but red with herbaceous or savory flavors like ours add more to the zesty dishes,” he says. “Red wines also cut fatty dishes well, so we make a good steak wine for sure.” Lathrop says one thing that sets Liberty Lake Wine Cellars’ wines apart from other wineries is referenced in its tag line “Red Mountain Unfiltered,” which refers to the fact that it doesn’t alter its wine during the production process. Rather than just relying on grapes, some wineries adjust the acidity of wine with additives. Lathrop prefers to let the grapes shine. “We choose very specific pick dates and haul our grapes at just the right time so we don’t need to use additives to get the wine to taste as expected. Most larger wineries aren’t able to be that selective; but if you’re able to do it that way, the fruit does most of the heavy lifting.” In addition to crafting wine, the couple say supporting and interacting with their

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Mark and Sarah Lathrop | MAX LATHROP PHOTO community is an important aspect of owning the winery. “Part of our goal when we created the new location was to make it a space for the community,” says Sarah. “It’s a small town, so we know pretty much everyone, and we enjoy being involved.” As EWU grads, the couple say they particularly enjoy teaming up with the EWU alumni association for events and scholarship donations. Sarah’s currently serving as treasurer of the Spokane Winery Association, a group made up of 20 different area wineries. “We participate in the winery association’s events, including the annual Holiday Wine Festival, which takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving,” she says. “This year that’s also the weekend we plan to release our new wines.” Mark Lathrop says that the winery’s connections to the community were part of what helped support the business during pandemic-related closures. “Our wine club in particular is a big driver for our business, and we owe them a big thanks,” he says.

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Animal Attraction The “pet effect“ has intrigued researchers for its therapeutic value. But what does it mean for family pets and kids? BY E.J. IANNELLI

mong certain research circles, there’s a phenomenon known as the “pet effect.” It’s an umbrella term for the symbiotic — that is, mutually beneficial — relationship that develops between animals and the humans who care for them. While there’s certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence from animal lovers to back up the pet effect, it’s still being substantiated from a scientific standpoint. Many of these formal studies have focused on the therapeutic value of the pet effect in particular. One paper published just this year examined pets’ apparent ability to quell some of the darker thoughts experienced by their suicidal owners. Another report from 1997 studied the sense of interconnectedness that pets offer to survivors of sexual abuse. But with an estimated two-thirds of families sharing their homes with at least one pet, the pet effect could very well be broader than any one study can account for. And few things are more indicative of that than the unique bond they seem to have with children. ...continued on next page

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“ANIMAL ATTRACTION,” CONTINUED... “Historically, pets become a very common factor in little kids’ early lives, and we socialize our kids when they’re really young that animals are a positive thing,” says Jane Jenkins, a counselor and wellbeing specialist at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. “If you think about a nursery, that’s all animal themed. Usually a stuffed animal is their first toy. There are thousands of books about animals. So, by the time they get a pet, they’re primed for it to become a positive experience.” As she points out, the intimacy that children experience with their pets tends to surface in their drawings. “When you ask little kids to draw a circle with them in the very middle, and then you ask them to draw all the people that are close to them, they almost always draw their animals right next to them — sometimes even closer than mom and dad or siblings.” That close kinship can in turn lead to a greater sense of stability.

Despite whatever life changes and upheavals might be taking place around a child, the presence of a pet can create a sort of emotional anchor or bedrock for them. “What’s cool is that, if they have a pet, studies have shown that the kids actually feel less anxious and have fewer transition problems when they move or have to adjust to a new school,” she says. “Because, if you think about it, that’s the only constant. Parents go to work, come home, and there are interactions that are happy or sad. But pets are there and the same all the time. It’s the true definition of an unconditional relationship.”

here’s a similar rationale behind introducing pets — and dogs especially — into classrooms, where their non-judgmental companionship could prove beneficial in encouraging students to improve their reading ability. A series of studies in

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2016, 2017 and 2018 looked at programs that followed this approach, known as “animal-assisted intervention,” and found some evidence that reading aloud to dogs had a positive impact on kids’ literacy skills. However, interacting with pets isn’t a one-way street. Because pets mirror humans in having their own individual sets of likes and dislikes, children can learn valuable socialization skills. “Kids learn self-regulation based on interacting with pets,” says Jenkins. “They have to recognize when the pet needs space and they have to learn to give that space to them. So they start to learn boundaries, and they start to gain some external awareness. Like, if I run up to the dog and he runs away, that’s on me. But if I can sit quietly and be still, my dog will come to me. That way they learn to interact with and take cues from a nonverbal being who isn’t telling them exactly how to behave.” Her example raises an interesting point. In most of these scenarios, it’s easy to default to thinking of pets as a synonym for dogs. Yet that’s not always the case. “While much of the research is on dogs, there is research to show that all pets have benefits, including cats and small animals like rabbits and guinea pigs,” says Steve Feldman, president of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). To illustrate, he mentions a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study that examined how smaller animals, such as rodents, helped autistic children improve their communication and socialization abilities. Feldman’s own organization also co-funded one of the largest studies yet conducted on pets in schools. “This included reptiles like bearded dragons as well as some of the smaller

mammals and even some fish. What it showed was that pets in the classroom actually supported the development of prosocial behaviors, like caring for others, and academic performance. Kids just had better behavior, better attention and wanted to learn a lot more about biology when they had these small animals around.”

imilar benefits carry over to domestic life, where routine feeding, bathing, exercising and cleaning up after pets opens up more opportunities for cultivating prosocial behaviors and strengthening the human–animal bond in the process. In fact, basic pet care can even give us the same feel-good rush as our favorite hobbies and entertainment. “Some of the studies on brain chemistry show that your oxytocin levels, often referred to as the ‘love hormone,’ go up when you’re interacting with a pet. Serotonin, dopamine — the good chemicals in your brain — go up, and the endorphins associated with reward increase. At the same time, your cortisol levels, which are your stress hormones, go down. This is why pets can be so beneficial for mental health,” Feldman says. All this might sound like a wholesale endorsement of furry, fuzzy and scaly friends in any form, but Jenkins advises would-be pet owners, especially first-timers, to think about the long-term implications before heading to the nearest breeder or pet store. “I would encourage people to really consider everything that goes into pet ownership,” she says. “Because if you’re already in a stressful household, a pet can add financial and interpersonal stress. Make sure that you’re ready for 10 to 12 years of commitment and that you have all the information before you bring a pet into your home.”

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SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE

A Daily Dose of D BY MATT THOMPSON

itamin D is an essential molecule, which means we need to get it from outside our body. Vitamin D plays an important role in immune function, bone health, neurologic and cardiac function. Most of us know that one pathway for getting the vitamin D we need is through our skin when we’re exposed to the sun. However, with good sun-blocking (important) and because the Northwest is well above the 35th parallel, most of the time we can’t count on the sun to get us all the D we need.

We can get additional vitamin D from dietary sources, but unfortunately it is in pretty small quantities in most food So we turn to diet. We can get additional vitamin D from dietary sources, but unfortunately it is in pretty small quantities in most food: Fatty fish has the most, about 200 IU of vitamin D per ounce; an egg has about 50 IU; 8 ounces of milk has about 100 IU. To get to the recommended allowances would require regularly consuming considerable amounts of fish, eggs and milk every day. That leaves supplements as the last option for staying topped up with vitamin D. There are drops, gummies, chewables, tablets and capsules. They can be found online, at any pharmacy or grocery, and at Costco. So, how much is enough? That’s where it gets a little complicated. The Institute of Medicine recommends 400 IU per day of vitamin D from birth to 12 months of age, 600 IU per day from one year until age 70, when it increases to 800 IU per day. However, those values can be considered a daily minimum amount. The IOM committee also gives a daily “upper level intake.“ That dose is considerably more: 4,000 IU per day for adults; 3,000 IU per day for kids ages 4 to 8; 2,500

IU per day for kids ages 1 to 3; 1,500 IU per day for infants ages 6 to 12 months; and 1,000 IU per day for infants up to 6 months old. Meanwhile, the Endocrine Society suggests adults may need 2,000 IU daily to maintain satisfactory levels; for children and adolescents the recommendation is 1,000 IU daily. I extrapolate from these recommendations to suggest it seems reasonable that infants from birth to 12 months get 600 IU per day, increasing to 1,000 IU per day from 12 months to school age, bumping up again to 1,500 IU per day for school age kids, and finally reaching 2,000 IU per day for adolescents and adults. In practical terms, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. While lactating mothers do transfer some vitamin D through their breast milk, vitamin D is a big molecule, so it does not get through in as great a quantity as would be preferred, especially if the mom is deficient to start with. So breastfed infants should get a daily supplement. And, incidentally, while we are discussing this age and supplements, it is recommended that infants who are exclusively breastfed receive some supplemental iron starting at about 4 months of age, either through fortified baby cereal given daily, or with a supplement, at least until they are consuming regular ironrich foods like meats, beans, greens and legumes. After age 12 months, kids, adolescents and adults should get 1,000 IU to 2,000 IU per day on average all school year. There is a caveat: This is a fat-soluble vitamin, so fat cells need to be repleted before serum levels begin to rise. For this reason, it is common for individuals with more abundant adipose cells to require much higher doses than those suggested above, but this should be done with the guidance of a care provider, likely using lab levels as a guide. The vitamin D situation is a good example of how our modern lives do not always reflect that for the bulk of humanity’s history most of our ancestors lived closer to the equator. So, for those of us who are the progeny of migrators, we’ll need to tweak things a bit to accommodate our modern realities. Matt Thompson is a pediatrician at Spokane’s Kids Clinic.

Fish, eggs, and dairy products are all good sources of vitamin D.

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Lands Council Executive Director Amanda Parrish makes use of her own backyard to trouble-shoot promising strategies for improving the environment. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Focus on Solutions Creative thinking on environmental issues guides Amanda Parrish BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

manda Parrish relocated to the Inland Northwest the day after graduating from the University of San Francisco in 2008. A job with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in Worley, Idaho, brought her to do conservation work. Though she found herself a long way from home, the work was close to her heart. As a high schooler, she’d worked in a botanical garden in her hometown outside San Diego and she fondly recalls spending weekends out exploring the lagoons and tidepools in that area. At USF, she pursued an environmental science degree and had the chance to study comparative ecology and conservation for six months in Ecuador. It was an opportunity that has proved pivotal in her career. When she arrived at the Lands Council, work was underway to relocate nuisance beavers to areas where their ingenuity would be better appreciated and needed. “Beavers, through the dam building that they do to create their own habitat, are creating habitat for a number of other species,” says Parrish. “It’s keeping water on our landscape longer, it’s creating wetlands, which act as a water filtration area. Beaver dams are also sources of wildfire breaks.” In that early Lands Council role — “my parents loved

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that my business card said ‘Beaver Program Director’ for a while” — Parrish would literally take her work home with her sometimes. “Our first beaver holding facility was in my backyard in the Perry District,” she says. Beaver families would wait in an enclosure in her backyard before getting relocated to other areas like the Colville National Forest.

ow as executive director, Parrish still takes her work home with her. One of the Lands Council’s latest projects is testing how biochar can be fine-tuned to work in the Inland Northwest. “Biochar is enhanced compost — it’s organic material burned at a high temperature in the absence of oxygen,” Parrish says. “It’s great for restoration, and it’s used in agriculture because it adds a lot of organic material to agricultural fields.” But one of the tricks is figuring out how to make biochar from Eastern Washington biological material that includes pine needles that create a lot of smoke, which can release the very same greenhouse gases that biochar is intended to sequester.

“If we want to have biochar sequestering carbon, there needs to be a low smoke point,” Parrish says. “If it adds to another problem like atmospheric carbon or air quality, it’s not a helpful solution.” So, in August, Parrish picked up and installed biochar kilns in her own backyard that will be used for further experimentation as the Lands Council continues looking at the problem. Parrish notes that many of the Lands Council programs start by diving in to address an issue directly and through that process help illuminate barriers to progress. For example, through the beaver program, Parrish says the council was able to take what was initially just a Washington Fish and Wildlife program to relocate animals that were bothering property owners, and help pass a state law to use those relocated beavers as agents of restoration.

n another project, the council is partnering with the city of Spokane to plant neighborhood trees at properties

with homeowners and tenants who are willing to help water those new plants as part of the SpoCanopy project. This fall the Logan Neighborhood will see 160 new trees planted, and West Central has also benefited from the program, she says. “Just as in so many communities around the country, here in Spokane low-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods that were traditionally redlined are not so coincidentally lacking in tree cover,” Parrish says. “That has environmental justice implications, and it means increased utility bills in the summer because you have no shade to cool your house.” Plants also figure prominently in Parrish’s other role as the owner of Parrish and Grove floral and plant store in downtown Spokane, where she continues to rely on her college experiences. During the time she spent in the Galapagos Islands and Amazon rainforest, “I learned tropical botany,” Parrish says. “It really solidified my desire to work in conservation, and comes in handy owning a plant store,

because most house plants are actually tropical plants.” Similarly, her college experience informs her work at the Lands Council. While in Ecuador she heard from grassroots organizers working on water conservation in the Cloud forests north of Quito, and from scientists working with tribes in the Amazon rainforest as they fought to protect their land from large petroleum interests. Their perseverance working on complex conservation issues was inspiring. “Being exposed to the variety of ways that communities come together to tackle these complex problems was certainly really eye opening,” Parrish says. “It’s often reassuring and can help build your resolve to do the right thing.” On Saturday, Oct. 23, the Lands Council will host its annual Reforest Spokane Day, when volunteers will plant thousands of trees in a single day at Palisades Park. Learn more at landscouncil.org.

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