Alaskan Smoked King Salmon!!!

salmon fresh from the smoker and a cold beer...very close to heaven on Earth...

How to Can Beach Asparagus

"Beach Asparagus" is an inter-tidal green plant that grows on some beaches profusely in Southeast Alaska ( I have also seen this plant growing in California beach marshes). In Port Alexander there is along tradition of harvesting this plant and canning it for future gourmet feasts ---preferably served with plenty of fresh caught fish. Yesterday, my friend Sue and I set off on a beach asparagus harvesting expedition.....

The first step (after rising at 5:30 am to take advantage of the low tide) was to get into this little punt and row to the head of the trail---we planned to hike about 15 minutes to a secluded beach---locally called "Ship's Cove, because there are the remains of an old minesweeper lurking there...visible at low tide.


Here are some views of Ship's Cove-----


We used scissors to cut the beach asparagus

filled our bucket and hiked back---rowed back to the dock, and took the harvest home....we were back at the Lodge by 8:00 am....

Of course, then we had to find the canning jars, wash them and then after soaking the beach asparagus in fresh water (since it grows inter-tidal--beach asparagus can be quite salty if you don't thoroughly rinse it in fresh water)---we filled the jars, packing the greens down firmly....

loaded the jars into the canner---and "canned"them--ie: first let the canner steam awhile, then sealed it---and raised the heat until the gauge was at 1o pounds and then adjusted the stove so the canner stayed at this place until we were done....

and viola! 25 pint jars of canned beach asparagus greens for future consumption...

Although I had not done this--(or canned anything!) for about 6 years or more...the whole process was familiar to me from many years of doing this each summer...I also used to also regularly can salmon, halibut, and crab. There is something special about eating food you harvested in the wild yourself....somehow it tastes better.

“Some sensible person once remarked that you spend the whole of your life either in your bed or in your shoes. Having done the best you can by shoes and bed, devote all the time and resources at your disposal to the building up of a fine kitchen. It will be, as it should be, the most comforting and comfortable room in the house.” ---Elizabeth David (1913-1992) French Country Cooking

Abundance Dream

I believe in abundance---that is---I believe that everything good is readily available. This morning I woke up from a dream with this phrase in my head: "Do what you love and the money will follow."

Then I saw myself making a page in my journal with this phrase which was resonating in my head, so I got the colored pencils from my suitcase and started drawing. For months now I have been adrift without a job, living on savings while I reconstructed my life and pursued the elusive perfect next chapter of my life.

Thank Goddess my friends and the universe threw a good summer job my way---in a few days I am off to a small town in Alaska---where I lived for many years in my youth---to work for the summer. I will be cooking (a chef!!) at the Laughing Raven Lodge for the guests and staff--a fun job, working with good friends---but also hard work. I have done this job before a few years ago--so I know what it entails. I will be living and working in Port Alexander on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska until the end of August--then who knows?

I have put much energy out into the universe requesting and searching for a meaningful job---because at this stage of my life a job is no longer about the $$$ money, it is about doing something meaningful that gives back to my community---and I do not doubt that a new door will open and I will step through it into my next adventure.

"When nothing is sure, everything is possible." ~Margaret Drabble. For several months now this has been my motto---I have tried to stay open to all the possibilities, rather than fall into despair each time I applied for a job and was rejected. Of course, I was living in Portland, Or---a state that is second in the nation in unemployment---where a job is advertised and 6oo people apply. Talk about fierce competition! I am glad to be going to Alaska to work awhile and feel blessed to be graced with this job.

I have stored 99% of my belongings in storage locker--freeing me up to go anywhere the next escapade leads me. After moving all my stuff--down one flight of stairs (no elevator) and up 3 flights (freight elevator) and stowing it all away, I wanted to sell most of the stuff---all my books, artwork, furniture, shelves etc. and take the $$$ and hit the road as a travelin' gypsy. Who needs all that stuff anyway?? Memories are what count---not material possessions.

"Do what you love"---? well, I do love Alaska--my first home, and I love cooking (and eating!)so, for now, this job fits the bill...I will be blogging from my trusty new refurbished and very portable Macbook about my Alaskan adventures..so please stay tuned!

Traveling Sourdough (and cactus)

I have two living objects that have traveled with me through all my moves and journeys for over 30 years--my sourdough start and my cactus plant. The cactus I bought in tiny Petersburg, Alaska in about 1970 from an itinerant hippie girl who had traveled from Arizona to Alaska--and brought with her from the Arizona desert numerous small cacti to sell. This cactus sports lovely pink blooms in the spring.

The sourdough start was a gift from another Petersburg resident--long dead now---the purple lady--Ruth Sandvik. Ruth was the school librarian and earned her purple lady status by painting her house purple, wearing mostly purple clothes and having a purple car. This particular sourdough is an old Alaskan start--Ruth told me when she gave this sourdough to me that this sourdough came from Nome, Alaska in the 1890's--which makes this sourdough about 118 years old!

When I was growing up we frequently had sourdough pancakes for breakfast--and the big treat was adding tart Alaskan blueberries to the pancakes--and then dousing them in real maple syrup...ummm.

I always save about a cup of starter from each batch of baking--whether I'm making bread or sourdough pancakes. I keep the starter in a glass jar in the fridge.



Old-Fashioned Sourdough Pancakes

The night before remove your 1/2 to 1 cup sourdough start from the fridge, and mix it with about 2 cups warm (lukewarm--not to hot--too hot and you kill the sourdough) water and 2 cups flour---use a ceramic or glass bowl. Mix well and cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and a towel and set it in warm place to work overnight. In the morning, this should be all bubbly and smell like sourdough. To prevent any contamination---I always wash the jar I store the sourdough start in--and then scald it by pouring boiling water over it and the lid. Now remove about 1/2 cup (or more) sourdough and put in the sterelized jar to save for the next time--this is your "start."


to the remaining sourdough add:

1 tablespoons brown sugar or mollases
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt

and mix well. Heat an oiled cast iron skillet--and when the skillet is hot sprinkle
1 teaspoon baking soda over the mixture in the bowl. Only add baking soda to batter just before you are ready to cook the pancakes. Fold gently into the sourdough batter (do not beat). This will cause a gentle foaming and rising action. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute or two.

Drop batter in your skillet and cook---when the pancake is covered with popped bubbles, turn it to brown the other side. Best served hot with butter and maple syrup or homemade jam.

WANT AN AUTHENTIC ALASKAN GOLD RUSH SOURDOUGH START?
I try to share my sourdough start with anyone who is interested--since it is a venerable old start which I value---and just in case mine dies for some reason, I can always get it back from someone I shared it with. I am happy to share a start with anyone who is interested--but I am not sure how it would survive getting sent via the mail?? but go ahead and e-mail me, if you are interested in a start and we can perhaps figure out how to send you one.

Sourdough is the oldest form of leavened bread--dating form the Ancient Egyptians. Sourdough was the main bread made in Northern California during the California Gold Rush. The bread became so common that "sourdough" became a general nickname for the gold prospectors.

The sourdough tradition was carried into Alaska and the western Canadian territories during the Klondike Gold Rush. Conventional leavenings such as yeast and baking soda were much less reliable in the conditions faced by the prospectors. Sourdough was an important part of every Alaskan gold rusher's stash---since with a good viable sourdough start and some flour the oldtimer could always have pancakes or leavened bread or biscuits.

The sourdough starter, however, had to be kept warm to survive in the minus zero temperatures of the Alaskan gold fields. Experienced miners and other settlers frequently carried a pouch of starter either around their neck or on a belt and were often fiercely guarded. At night the sourdough start shared their beds so the precious start would not freeze. Old hands came to be called "sourdoughs", a term that is still applied to many elder Alaskans.



For an excellent book on sourdough, with numerous recipes --which do not use any additional yeast, I recommend: Classic Sourdoughs: a Home Bakers Handbook by Ed Wood.