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What else has been going on around here…
- Nostalgia January 8, 2026
- We Made It! December 22, 2025
- We Make Do, So Can You! November 2, 2025
- Twice in 3 Days October 31, 2025
- Processing Day October 26, 2025
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January 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Officially this is my sixth post in this series, month number two. I’ve definitely spent some time researching for these posts and learning new things along the way. There are a few books I’ve discovered that I’d like to read. But I digress.
Mostly during my research I find a lot, a tremendous amount really, of information about sourdough starters, and breads
I used to have my very own gluten free sourdough starter and enjoyed so many tasty morsels made with it. Pancakes probably topped the list. There’s just nothing like a sourdough pancake hot off the cast iron, with a big ol pat of real butter and real maple syrup drizzled over the steaming cake. Oh my.
I’ve tried to get new gf starters going here but for whatever reason, I’ve simply failed miserably. User error, weird wild yeasts, mold, flies, whatever, no good working starter for me.
Recently, our friend Barbara gave Thing 1 a wheat flour based starter and she’s excited to start her own tradition of keeping a starter. I’m excited for her even tho I won’t be enjoying it myself.
She’s made two batches of dinner rolls with her starter so far. I must say the house does smell delicious when they are baking.
Everyone loves them.
Everyone but me, of course, not by choice.
I’m glad to have influenced another generation of humans to experience and fall in love with the tradition of sourdough. Also glad to know they are eating something wholesome and preservative free.
If you’d like to try your own hand at sourdough there’s a few ways to go about it. Find a friend with an active starter and get a bit from them to grow your own. You could buy a starter from an online source. Here’s an Alaskan version. Or you can mix up your own from scratch. Here’s a recipe link.
Just remember, there’s no store bought packaged yeast in a true sourdough starter. It’s basically just flour and pure water (no chlorine or treated water). You’re capturing wild yeasts in the air to build your starter with. This is what gives it the distinct flavors of your local area. If you do build a starter with packaged yeast that’s okay to begin with. Just give it a try. Once you master the feeding and use cycles, try capturing a wild strain! Then you can compare and see if you can tell the difference & which you prefer!
I hope you give it a try! Drop me a line if you do! Happy sourdoughing!
Today marks the ninth anniversary of my Father’s, of blessed memory, passing. As is our custom, we spend this time at the cabin to remember the man the best way we can, in his element. We will lift a glass of rhubarb wine around the bonfire and tell tall tales. Hopefully a friend or two of his will stop by and join us.
I usually plan some sort of project to do while there. Two years ago it was his memorial scrapbook. This year, I’ve got a couple of projects in mind. I’ll put a new wreath up too, of course.
My memorial project is a memory box for Fritz. Dad kept his collar and of course lots of pics of his best friend. I made a dog tag for Fritz and bought some pet themed scrapbook supplies to finish the shadow box frame I picked up for this project. I’ll be able to display it on the wall. Something that was important to Dad, in honor of both of them.
My other special project is going to be updating the 12v lighting. I purchased some light sockets to convert the 3 propane lamps to battery/solar power. Everything I do will be reversible as I don’t want to permanently alter them. If need be, I’ll be able to pull the sockets out and replace the mantles and use the propane again. I also got a switch so these will be able to easily turn on/off.
Over the years I have installed a hodge podge of 12v lighting, over the sink, stove and sun room. I’ll be replacing the lights over the sink and stove with these nice RV lights. Easy single or double light switches for adjustable brightness. Then I’ll update the sun room with one of the lights I took down. That way the kids will have a light over their bed. Every light downstairs will have a switch instead of alligator clips! 👍🏼
In addition, I want to make a hanging light for the center of the cabin. It will be something like the one I made for Jake’s cabin. I just have to finalize a design. I want it to be dual power, AC & DC so either way we can have the light on. But this project will probably be done at a later date.
Nothing like procrastinating until the last day of the month but here we are. Earlier this month I did buy two large boxes of produce: one box of bell peppers which we chopped and put in the freezer; and a mixed box of avocados & tomatoes, which we ate fresh. No other appropriate for canning deals were presented to me! 😉 I really did not think I was going to make it.
Then today, I got a call while at work from my friend Barbara. IGA had boxes of mushrooms for $10 each. So I splurged and got two for us and two for Mo! She even delivered them to me! What a deal!
Once home I put the kiddos to work helping slice up one full box. They a took a turn slicing & dicing. Thing 1 had prepped jars for me and got the kitchen in order for canning. A big help!
Once prepped I started blanching them and filling jars. I ended up with 21 half pints in the canner. I’m going to process at 11# for 45 mins.
A case of canned mushrooms, in the little cans, is about $14 here. So $24.50 if I had bought them the same amount, and my jars are larger than the little cans. Basically I got a 1 3/4 cases of ‘shrooms for $10, less than half price. Great deal!
Besides canning this evening I made some farmer’s cheese with a gallon of fresh goat milk I also got from Barbara! I’ve got friends with the goods!!
All mixed up: chipotle, garlic & parsley. This will be great on tacos or enchiladas! Fresh from the farm cheese.
Besides all this food prep I made dinner. Whew, I’m tired. It feels good to have put up an entire box of mushrooms. The other box will be used divided up between fresh use and dried. Many thanks to my kiddos & Barbara for helping me achieve my March OAMC goal!!
I’m working our booth at the KPBA Home Show. It’s our annual chance to mingle with the general public and show off our handiwork.
Our best way to see what’s available in the area for home improvement! It’s a favorite for kids since all the vendors have 🍬🍭 candy giveaways. Lots of fun for everyone.
One thing a sourdough usually has is time to ponder. Generally in the darkness of winter, when there’s little else to do.
Since I embarked on this series I’ve spent some time pondering what being a sourdough means to me. I suppose it starts with a grandiose sense of adventure, with a stubborn persistence bordering on the insane. More than a can-do, but a will-do-or-be-damned spirit, the sort of determination you don’t run into every day.
If one is successful and survives their first Alaskan winter, (and doesn’t high-tail it for the lower 48,) they begin to shift into a more refined sense of adventure and wonder but still plenty stubborn and maybe a little cantankerous now. One’s mind will be full of a new found respect for Alaska’s fierceness and unpredictability. Hopefully, if said stubborn person is wise, they develop a better prepared can-do spirit that begins to ready for the winter right after break-up. It’s like feeding the sourdough and keeping it warm, it takes diligence and constant care to keep it going.
Get ready, “winter is coming” is their mantra.
After each winter survival the individual acquires more character and unique qualities, not unlike sourdough starter..
Before long they may even start to smell like a sourdough. Much to the shaggrin of the city folk. No worry, by this time, there’s not a care left in the world for what others think.
Time passes, and there’s no real measurement for this period as it varies with each sourdough, at some point the sourdough is perfected, working in harmony with Nature, ebbing and flowing with Her tides. Full of wisdom from experience, maybe not so full of themselves and their abilities but quietly confident & determined. Or maybe damned proud of themselves and more feisty for it. Either way, they’ll be quite content in their own existence.
It’s taken failure upon failure, possibly even a near death experience or two and quite a collection of “awes” and wonders to get here. There will have been a plethora of lessons learned. Many annoyances experienced. Lots of paths crossed and one or two well worn.
It’s a work in progress. A neverending tending to keep your culture. It’s a lifestyle, a journey.
Alaska on my mind... 