Fresh Sheet: Special New Year’s Day at Central Food

Start the new year with brunch at Central Food in Spokane’s Kendall Yards.

Jan. 1, the restaurant will offer special food platters meant to serve groups of people.

“New Year’s Day is becoming a bigger and bigger event for us,” said David Blaine, chef-owner of Central Food. “We go all out for New Year’s Day brunch platters. Basically, we fill up each table with food. It’s a fun thing. We don’t do it all the time. We treat that day like a Sunday.”

For more details, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/eatcentralfood.

Central Food is at 1335 W. Summit Parkway. Call (509) 315-8036.

Year of Pulses

The United Nations has designated 2016 as the International Year of Pulses, aka legumes.

This is a big deal in legume land, also known as the Palouse, where the Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative is looking forward to introducing more people to locally-grown lentils, garbanzo beans and green split peas.

The yearlong, international celebration kicks off with a “pulse pledge,” which can be found at www.pulsepledge.com.

For more information about cooking with pulses, visit www.cookingwithpulses.com.

And for more info about PNW Co-op, visit: EatRealPNW.com.

Disposal dos and don’ts

After a recent mishap with the garbage disposal, I’ve compiled a list of dos and don’ts.

This list is mostly for me – to post with a magnet on the fridge – as well as for anyone else who might need a reminder.

The don’ts: bones, pits, potato peels, egg – and shrimp, clam and oyster – shells, tea bags, oil, fat, grease, gristle, coffee grounds, corn husks, corn cobs, stems, leaves, seeds, onion peels, artichokes, celery, banana peels, pulp from the inside of a pumpkin or other squash or highly fibrous foods, flour, pasta, rice, rinds and large quantities in general. These items can clog the drain or dull the blades.

The dos: eggs without shells, very small chunks of boneless meat, soups, tofu, bread, small pieces of cooked vegetables and cooked oats, cereals and legumes.

Some online sources recommend citrus peels as a sort of freshener. I’ve had bad luck with this, too. But I’m told orange and lemon peels work best, not limes – which is, of course, what I had used. If they’ve been in the fridge awhile, lime skins have a tendency to toughen up, making them difficult for the disposal to “digest.”

Whenever you’re using the disposal, be sure to run plenty of cold water.

Do you have fresh food news? Write to: Fresh Sheet, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call (509) 459-5446 or send an email to adrianaj@spokesman.com.