Remember this!

"In Wine there is Truth, in Beer there is Strength, in water there is Bacteria." A few fun tidbits to share over a glass:
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get service, resulting in today's phrase, "Wet you whistle".
We are getting ready for the first ever competition between wine and beer at the Poster Unveiling & Wine vs Brew Tasting, June 9th, 6-8pm at the Holiday Inn. This event, sponsored by Beasley Realty, is pitting our local wineries and breweries together to compete for a coveted trophy. Who will win? Barley Boys or Swirl Girls? Come and find out! 509-334-3565 for reservations.

75 varieties of lentils & they taste all the same...

I've had this said to me a number of times and feel this is actually a benefit of our lovely little legume! Among one of the world's oldest cultivated foods, lentils have the unique property of taking on the flavor of what they are cooked with. This makes them extremely versatile! Which is why the processed food biz is looking at lentils to provide tasty, protein-filled snack chips and crackers. So be sure to add the spices and seasonings, garlic, onions, etc. to your lentils when cooking and you wil find the flavor to be as individual as the recipe!

Sorry for the technical difficulties!

Whew! The Lentil Festival website is now fully functional. It was supposed to go live midnight April 1st, but Lentil Lady here was experiencing technical difficulties and it took a few hours more to sort out. If you see anything else I could fix on the website, drop me a line! Stay tuned for updates about our Poster Unveiling!

2011 National Lentil Festival

Welcome to the Feel Good Family Festival! The 2011 National Lentil Festival will be August 19-20, 2011 in Pullman Washington. A great line up of entertainment has been planned. New additions have been made to make our children's Lentil Land better than ever. Stay tuned for updates - as they happen! Lentil Fest! It will be here before you know it!

It's Lentil Time Again!

It is time to start thinking about the Lentil Festival again. We are only a few months away from the August 20th kick-off to the 22nd Annual National Lentil Festival so here is a little bit about what we have been up to at lentil central.



Thursday, May 28th at ourAnnual Poster Unveiling and Wine Tasting David Hoyt, the artist, presented our beatiful poster to a full crowd at the BellTower Event Venue. This years poster features many elements of the Palouse countryside highlighting lentils in the foreground. For more information about the artist and to purchase the poster visit our website at: http://www.lentilfest.com/. This year we also have commemorative postcards, notecards, and t-shirts. Visit the Pullman Chamber or our website www.lentilfest.com/shop to view these new items.



Let's talk about the famous Lentil Cook-off. It is time to submit your entries to this year's cook-off. Last year we had submissions from 38 states and our goal for this year is all 50! Submit your recipe to be entered into the contest and to make it into our 2010 Lentil Festival Cookbook. To submit your delicious lentil-recipe visit: www.lentilfest.com/join-us/contest-applications/. Submissions are due July 2nd.



Registration is now open for all other events as well. If you want to get your blood pumping this August, be sure to register for the Tase T. Lentil 5k run, the 100K Tour de Lentil Bike Ride, or one of the other events.



Now the Lentil Festival is quite a large event, and we are always in need of volunteers. If you are interested in helping with this years festival please call the Pullman Chamber: 509.334.3565 or visit our website to sign-up.

So much to say...

The National Lentil Festival is August 20-22 this year but we have been working on it since last October. Here's a quick update on what's going on this year:

-We are finished selling sponsorships because it is almost time to unveil this year's poster! This year's poster will feature local artist David Hoyt who most recently did the artwork for the Pullman Civic Trust trailhead signs.

-The new Lentil Festival site will launch on Monday! Check it out at www.LentilFest.com

-This year's microbrew tasting tent will feature our three local microbrewers: Palouse Falls Brewing, Paradise Creek Brewery, and Riverport Brewing.

-Vendor apps pouring in, get yours in today!

More updates soon, contact us now for tickets to the Poster Unveiling & Wine Tasting!

Overdue Report

My goodness, the last post was almost two months ago. I am terrible at this blogging thing. Well the Festival was wonderful, pictures posted on our website at www.lentilfest.com.

Despite being a down year for the economy sponsorship was still up. We added a third day to the Festival with a new golf tournament and expanded the beer garden. We used all new bands this year that received rave reviews and the Kid's Area renovation was very popular. Attendance was just as high as last year despite the very warm temperatures and the parade lasted well over an hour with nearly 100 entries. The Festival went green with more biodegradable containers and a new park & ride system as well as "green" merchandise and additional recycling options. All in all, a fantastic time.

Plans are already under way for next year and several new ideas have been added to the list. Send us your thoughts, we are open to anything.

Want to know what is going on with Pullman when we aren't lentiling? Every month I will post a new list of my 10 things to do in Pullman for under $10. Check back soon for the October list!