Care to share lunch-box secrets?

It’s time to start thinking about back-to-school and that means … school lunches.

Share your best tips for lunches that are nutritious, delicious, easy-to-fix, and still make your children smile. What recipes do you rely on that are sure to please? Do you have a trick that makes the daily ritual easier for everyone?

Send your tips, recipes and tricks to the address at the end of this column by Aug. 25 and we’ll consider using it in an upcoming story on lunch-box favorites.

Back to school, too

The kids are heading back to school, so why not join them? Learn to innovate in the kitchen, treat your family to some down-home Southern cooking or spend less time in the kitchen in one of a handful of classes offered through the Institute for Extended Learning. Pick up the latest catalog from the Community Colleges of Spokane and browse through the continuing education classes for fall. You can find it online at www.iel.spokane.edu.

Latah Bistro Chef David Blaine is the featured chef in the Spokane’s Best Chef series. For $43, spend the evening with Blaine as he demonstrates using different techniques with seasonal produce and local products for a four-course meal. The class is Oct. 2.

Lesley Parker, owner of the local restaurant Scalawags, is also teaching three new classes. The former home economics teacher will teach the essentials in a “kitchen survival” class on Sept. 18, demonstrate easy ways to get a meal on the table in 30 minutes or less on Oct. 2. and walk students through the basics of traditional Southern cooking in a third class Oct. 16. Those classes are $28 each.

To sign up for any of these classes or find out about the other classes offered, call the Institute for Extended Learning at (509) 279-6000.

Fire-Roasted Coffee Moves

On Sacred Grounds, which serves coffees roasted over a wood fire, has moved.

The shop relocated from downtown Spokane to Valleyford. It is now at 12212 E. Palouse Highway, about 15 minutes from the South Hill, said owner Elaine Rising. The phone number is the same (509) 747-6294.

Rising serves Wood-Fire Roasted Coffee made by former Spokane resident Tim Curry.