We are very excited to announce that for the month of February we will be offering more PINK wine than we usually do at this time of year. We realize that it is not Breast Cancer Awareness month, but it is the month of Valentines Day - and what better compliment to Valentines Day than PINK wine?!

This month we are offering several still and sparkling PINK wines to raise awareness and money for Breast Cancer research. While October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, we think that any month is a good time to help the cause. So, 10% of our gross sales of PINK wine from the month of February will be donated to what we believe is a very important cause.

Think twice before purchasing your Valentine's Day wine, and consider purchasing some pink from Salumiere Cesario - you'll be helping to fund a great cause.

Our cheese of the month for February 2010 is Kirkham's Lancashire.

With a history reaching back hundreds of years, Lancashire is one of Britain's most recognizable cheeses. A staple of mill workers in Lancashire who didn't have the ability to cook food, Lancashire cheese was also often the only food poverty stricken citizens could get their hands on when meat was scarce.

Like Caerphilly, Lancashire production suffered during World War II and in 1948, only twenty-two farms had the means to go back to making Lancashire. By 1970, the Lancashire producers dwindled to seven and today there are only three producers making the real, unpasteurized Lancashire.

We particularly like the Kirkham family's handcrafted Lancashire, which has been made on the family farm for three generations. Historically made with the curds of three consecutive milkings, Lancashire has a bright and lemony flavor that is reminiscent of rich yogurt. Lancashire's texture manages to be both creamy and crumbly but when melted -- either over toast or with a slice of apple pie -- the cheese becomes silky and custard-like and gives off an aroma a fresh-baked bread.

We regularly sell this Kirkham's selection for $30/lb but will be offering it for $25/lb for the month of February.

We continue to push the porcine envelope here in Walla Walla by bringing in THE BEST salumi/charcuterie being made in the US. For those of you that have not yet heard there is a second food revolution happening in the world today. A return to better, simpler products like salumi and charcuterie. Many small producers are turning out incredible hand made charcuterie from hand raised, heritage breed pigs. The producers we buy from are, like us, ultimately concerned about quality. They often know the names of the pigs that are used. They are that close to it and they care that much. It is important to us, because YOU are important to us. With out you we have no business, and we want you all to be here for a long time to come. Right now in the shop you will find Salumi's seasonal offering, Winter salame. Winter is very similar to Salumi Salame, but with green and pink pepper corns (think green and red as Christmas colours). Wonderful rich porcine flavour with a hint of pine from the green and a warm pepper kick on the finish from the pink.

We are very excited to announce that our next Gusitamo will be a Beer Tasting! We are currently working out all of the details right now, but if you are a beer fan of any sort, you will want to mark your calendars for Thursday, February 25th at 7:00 pm here in the shop.

We are toying with the idea of working with a distributor to bring a great selection of beer from one region. Another thought is that we taste through similar beers from many regions. All that we know is, that we will be tasting beer, and lots of it.

So, keep an eye out for our event notice via email and facebook, and make your reservation early! We expect this one to be sold-out.

We are still being blessed by the Citrus gods here at Salumiere Cesario and continue to source fantastic winter citrus! Meyer Lemons, Seville Oranges, Oro Blanco Grapefruit and more!

If you aren't really sure what to do with citrus in the summer, come see us! We have lots of great ideas from making a citrus salad, fresh salad dressing, desserts, and you can even freeze the juice to use all throughout the year. How to you think we always have fresh citrus on the salads we serve here at the store?

Fresh Pasta is back and we are mentioning it here again this month! We are making our handmade fresh pasta on Sundays and regularly have taglietelle and fettucini and occasionally have filled pastas too. We are perfecting our gnocchi too, but in the mean time we have a fantastic packaged gnocchi from Italy that is amazing and GLUTEN FREE!

Check with us every Sunday to see what fresh pasta we are making, and check in during the week as we may just have a lunch special featuring our house-made pasta.

We are very excited to be involved in the Julia Child Boeuf Bourguignon Cookoff Contest at Someones in the Kitchen (132 W Rose) on Friday, February 5th from 5-7pm. Our own Damon Burke will be serving as one of the handful of local judges for this wonderful event.

Join us as we watch 20 amateur chefs compete to create the best version of this famous dish. "Julia" will be there to MC and you can enjoy Someone's in the Kitchen's version along with a wine pairing from Sapolil Cellars during the event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Mary's Patient Care. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased at Book & Game, Downtown Walla Walla Foundation office, Destination Walla Walla on Main Street and at the door.

And, if this was not enough, we will be serving our very own rendition of Boeuf Bourguignon in-store all week as our lunch special. You don't want to miss it!

If you are one of our out-of-town customers, consider planning now to getaway to Walla Walla for for one of the upcoming Walla Walla Gourmet Getaway special weekend packages. Enjoy a two-night stay at one of Walla Walla's charming small inns, two seats in a wine or culinary class given by a local culinarian/wine educator, followed by lunch. Each weekend, a different culinary experience will be offered!

However, on one particular weekend (March 13th) Damon Burke of Salumiere Cesario will be leading a class on the art of making fresh pastas. We will be paired with Watermill Winery for a fun-filled afternoon of making your own fresh pastas. You will learn how to make pasta dough from scratch, roll out sheet pasta for making filled pastas and then show you how to turn sheet pasta into fantastic cut pastas. We'll talk through some creative ways to fill your pastas, and we will show you how to cook your filled pasta in broth as done in Italy.

If you are interested, please click on the link below for more information about this very exciting program!

We have been very happy to see our fan base growing on Facebook - we have added over 150 fans in the last few weeks. BUT, we want to add MORE! If you are a Facebook user, please find our fan page and become a fan. We offer special updates, fan discounts and specials, and sometimes even some fan prizes if you are lucky enough to be online at the right time.

While we don't talk much about our breads, we wanted to be sure and tell you this. We have teamed up with Walla Walla Bread Co. to create a unique bread only available at Salumiere Cesario. WWBC is baking a French Batard exclusively for us! Twice the width of a baguette so you get more meal (the inside) to crust (the outside). Slightly crunchy on the ouside and wonderfully chewy and light on the inside, this is true artisan bread. And it's only available here!

We have found that Super Bowl Sunday has become a sacred American institution that you just don't mess with. So, we will be closed Sunday February 7, 2010 to pay homage to the gridiron giants, who are we to argue with an American institution? In addition, we are here for all of your Super Sunday snacking needs, prior to Sunday. We have cheese, salumi, bread, crackers, beer, wine, hummus and artichoke spread for those of you that like a party but not the clean up. We can also put together a tray of snacks and goodies for your party or someone else's. Give us a call or come on in and we'll take care of you. Cheers.

We look forward to serving your fine fooder needs in 2010. Can't wait to see you back in the store! Cheers!

Salumiere Cesario
Damon & Colby Burke