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Tag Archives: AK

Pumpkin Pie

Way back in October, Lil Mister asked for a pumpkin when grocery shopping. I asked him why did he want a pumpkin? And he replied because he wanted a pie. So of course we got a pumpkin. It sat on the table for fall decor until Thanksgiving.

Lil Mister’s pumpkin, preparing for the slaughter.

He had bugged me almost daily for a month as to when we’d make his pie. When I told him we were getting the pumpkin ready for pie making he got really excited.

Top off.

I honestly expected him to reach into the seeds and “guts” as we call the pumpkin insides and declare it too gross for him and quit. Well he did say that it felt gross and weird but he persevered. He emptied that pumpkin with some assistance from Lil Bit.

Peeling the pumpkin

Then we started the peeling process, which took a while. He helped until the whole thing was peeled and chunked up. It filled the instapot to the max line. Mom set it to cook and then started in on the rest of Thanksgiving dinner.

Mashing the cooked pumpkin. That’s my cool birthday gift from Mo in the background. She decoupaged some recipes I found out at Dad’s cabin onto an old spoon rack. I can’t wait to put it up in my kitchen!

Needless to say, Mom had way too much to do for Turkey dinner and we decided to let the pie wait until the next day (Mom’s birthday) for pie making.

Lil Mister was bright eyed and bushy tailed the next day, ready for pie making. Mom had to go work on a tile project so Big Sis took the reigns and she and Lil Mister made two pumpkin pies, one gluten free.

They did an amazing job, the pies turned out nicely, even after a last minute adjustment, Big Sis forget eggs in the wheat pie… But it all turned out good.

Sadly, I didn’t get any pics of the finished pies. Trust me that they were delicious and didn’t last long. Mom rather likes pumpkin pie for her birthday. And Lil Mister was super proud of himself for making pumpkin pie from scratch!

#thanksgiving

#kidsinthekitchen

#scratchcooking

A Day in the Life of These Alaska People

No work for me today so the kids and I spent some time outdoors. We took a little walk to the sawmill. Little Mister wanted to go help Dad at work. So we leashed up Panda and went for a walk. Once there, Lil Mister went to work shoveling sawdust while Panda explored these new surroundings.

Doggie supervisor, note ear protection in Lil Mister’s ears. Safety First!

Then Lil Bit and I went berry picking for more lingonberries. And a botany lesson for good measure.

The start of our berry harvest and an unusual uprooted tree stump.

Just a regular day.

Making a solar print.

We got about one cup of berries this time, they are slowing down. Might get out once more for a few more. We’ll freeze these for making cranberry nut bread for Thanksgiving dinner.

#alaskalife

#lovealaska

#wildcrafting

Totally unhealthy and sugar laden

Pumpkin parfait
Snickers salad

It’s Sukkot and that means lots of gathering together to eat all those special things we don’t normally eat. Like these two dishes.

I loosely based my pumpkin parfait on this recipe. I substituted granola for the Graham crackers and dark Mexican style caramel sauce for the Torani’s. It was a smashing success and no leftovers.

For the Snickers salad I used this recipe. I know, I know, you can’t believe I made a dish with candy bars in it. What can I say, Alaska changes you. I portioned this one out so everyone got a little, so we actually had a bit of leftovers. I hid them in the fridge so the kids don’t know.

Tonight we’re having a Mexican themed taco night. I’m off the hook for dessert but I’m making a few savoury dishes like halibut mango ceviche and cilantro lime slaw.

Happy Sukkot!

Wildcrafting

Wildcrafting. Verb. The practice of harvesting plants from their natural, or ‘wild’ habitat, primarily for food or medicinal purposes. Also called foraging.

Wild crafting has been a way of life for me but since moving to Alaska it has gained significance. Foraging is a cultural practice here as Native Alaskans have been doing for eons. Plus there are simply so many edible things here in the wild. From spruce needles to mushrooms (multiple edible species), flowers and teas and berries. Oh the berries.

It’s autumn here and that means lingonberries, or as the locals refer to them, low bush cranberries are ready.

Britannica.com says this about the Lingonberry, (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), also called cowberry, foxberry, or rock cranberry, small creeping plant of the heath family (Ericaceae), related to the blueberry and cranberry.  And they are delicious.

I’ve been checking them since moose hunting to see if they were ready and finally they are. We’ve had a few good hard frosts and that always makes them sweeter!

A cluster of cranberries.

My berry buddy, Lil Mister, came along and we went exploring. He’s a good berry picker and with his lower-to-the-ground perspective, finds many that I miss!

Little hands picking little berries.

My favorite parts of berry picking are the conversations which span the entirety of the 6 year old imagination, and that little hand slipping into mine and strolling hand in hand with my littlest one. It just melts my heart.

With this batch we’re going to try our first attempt at cranberry cordial. I’m using this recipe as my guide, but I reduced the sugar by half.

Now the hard part, waiting for it to macerate!

#aklife

#wildcrafting

Here Moosies Moosie

Last few days of moose season. Tried out my moose calling skills, not so sure about this!

But the scenery sure is lovely with these fall colors.

#aklife

Reminiscing Mom & Richie’s Visit

Since I never made that follow up post about their visit, I thought I’d share a few highlights.

Waiting for them to come through the gate.
Our first meal together at Kriner’s in Anchorage.
A pit stop along the way home.
Photo op near home.
One of my favorite memories, seeing Papa and the kids walking hand in hand along the beach.
Had to stop in for a Salty Dog at the Salty Dawg.
Had to host a cookout for our friends to meet my folks. The weather was right for a bonfire.
And another salty dog. Someone forgot the salt tho, so I guess it’s a greyhound.
These two…
So long, farewell, adieu, until we meet again…
And they’re off. Love you! Come back soon.

Moosies

I love moose.

They are so goofy looking.

Such majestic large creatures.

They taste great too!

In trying to perfect my moose calling skills for hunting season, I’ve been watching YouTube how to videos. Then I stumbled across this, The Best Moose Documentary Ever!

It really is!

It’s about a Russian moose farm and is quite thorough in moose life cycles, habits, behavior and full of tons of cute little baby moosies.

Watch it some evening!

#alaskalife

#lovealaska

#moose

Card Street Fire

Up the road from us about 10 or so miles. Prayers for those in harm’s way. Rain would be good Abba.

Card Street Fire information.

Central Emergency Services from Soldotna, the Nikiski Volunteer Fire Department and Kachemak Bay Emergency Services also responded with engines and firefighters to assist in suppression efforts. Three air retardant tankers were called in to drop retardant on the fire and two helicopters conducted bucket work on the fire and another was enroute. There was also a U.S. Forest Service engine that responded to the fire.. Despite the aggressive initial attack efforts, the fire continued to grow and was estimated at 75 acres by 3 p.m.
The evacuation was expanded to include residential areas on the north and south sides of the Kenai River after the fire jumped the Kenai Keyes Road. The fire doubled in size to 150 acres by 5 p.m. and was estimated at 640 acres about an hour later. The fire was threatening to cross from the north side to the south side of the Kenai River but that hadn’t happened as of 7:30 p.m., though the fire had spotted across the river in a few spots. A helicopter was being used to extinguish those spot fires to prevent the fire from becoming active on the south side of the river.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Services Department set up an information center for resident to get information about the fire. The center can be reached at (907) 714-2495.