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What else has been going on around here…
- No Fish Camp!?!?! June 10, 2023
- Our Latest Project June 8, 2023
- Getting the greenhouse ready. June 8, 2023
- Dog Life is Good! June 8, 2023
- Lupines for my Loves June 7, 2023
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What foods did sourdoughs eat I wonder?? So I did some prospecting for information nuggets and found some interesting factoids. Besides the well-known home made cakes & breads, we know that Sourdough’s ate a lot of salted meat, hardtack and whatever else local foods they could muster.
Around here, we incorporate traditionally harvested foods in our daily diets. Unlike the traditional Native Alaskan subsistence culture & to some extent, Sourdoughs of the past, our diet isn’t solely based on these foods, but an interesting addition. Except for salmon, that’s an integral part of our diet.
Some years we simply don’t get a harvest of certain foods. Like mushrooms. We may hunt and hunt for morels and just not find more than a meal’s worth. Or we may not be able to go out and hunt at all. But we don’t starve because of it.
Some years we gather a large amount of berries, one variety or another. Last year it was low-bush cranberries, the year before it was raspberries… Then the jams and jellies will be plentiful. And a few tasty desserts. But if we don’t gather any, we don’t starve.
Some years we get a moose, other years we don’t. But, you guessed it, we don’t starve. We make due with what we have and the local grocery stores & a farmer here and there. We have this security and conveniennce that Sourdough’s of the past did not have. Life is less stressful during most years due to this convenience.
Now, add in a couple of years of supply shortages and outages plus sky high inflation, suddenly supplementing our diets with foraged foods becomes more of a necessity for modern wannabe sourdoughs.
Like those leathery old souls of yesteryear, we’re eating things like moose stew and salmon cooked every which way you can. We’re making sourdough bread and capturing Birch sap to add as many varied vitamins, minerals & nutrients to our diet as possible. And flavors. It’s important to have variety.
We’ll be looking for those first shoots of ferns, fiddleheads as they are called, and fireweed shoots. Perhaps we’ll get our timing right for horsetail shoots as well. All of these “spring tonics” to help get the sluggish winter gunk out of our systems and jumpstart us for summer’s busy schedule.
Then we’ll be harvesting dandelions en masse for jellies and maybe a fried blossom or two. Throwing a few greens into our salads. We’ll be drinking “pineapple weed” and spruce tip teas. Both can be made into tasty jellies as well. Then it will be salmon harvest time. You know where to find us then 🤣
We may do things differently than our forebearers did but I guarantee you that we are eating some of the same things. Mostly we are eating Alaska. And being ever so thankful for her abundance. B’H!
Moose Stew
I make moose stew two ways, fresh or with canned moose. I’ll share both with you here.
Start with a pound or two of chopped moose meat, brown in a cast iron dutch oven with plenty of fat (use what you have: oil, butter, tallow, etc).
Once browned and smelling delicious, add to the pot 2 qts of liquid, make due here with broth or water. Two- three large potatoes chopped into bite-sized nuggets. Three or four large Alaska grown carrots or make due with any old local variety, by local I mean imported from hundreds or thousands of miles away. Toss into the pot whatever seasonings you have: garlic, bay leaf, salt & pepper, celery seed or salt, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, or a Cajun spice blend if you’re so lucky to have. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for hours until meat and veggies are tender. Better if you place it on top of the woodstove in the winter, and let it slow cook all day.
After the meat and veggies are done you can either eat as is, soup style or add some thickener for a more traditional stew. I usually prefer cornstarch since it’s gluten free. Make a slurry with about a 1/4 cup of cornstarch and enough water to dissolve it all. Mix it up and pour into your simmering pot of Stew. Stir and cook until the soup is thick and clear, not cloudy from the cornstarch.
You can also thicken with wheat flour in a similar manner. Your stew will have a more opaque appearance then with a clear cornstarch based sauce. It also will not be gluten free then, but if that’s no matter to you, then by all means, carry on!
Usually I make stew with canned moose meat and veggies. I think the moose tastes much better plus half the work is already done. Besides being a quick meal, it’s what we have in the pantry.
To a large Dutch oven add 2 jars moose meat, 2 cans carrots and 2 cans potatoes, season to taste as above recipe dictates and heat through. Once heated, add thickener of choice and cook until thick and hearty. Serve with sourdough rolls, hardtack, pilot bread or matzos if the timing is right. Enjoy!
Thing 2 has been interested in kayaking for several years now. I bought him a starter kayak about 4 years ago I think. We don’t often use it but every once in a while a kayaking opportunity arises and we must go!
We’ve been kayaking to Cain’s Head out of Seward, across Kachemak Bay out of Homer and on Arc Lake and Stormy Lake. Once again we had the opportunity to kayak to Cain’s Head with IDEA for our beginning the year field trip.
We booked a cabin for the night before at Miller’s Landing. It’s a quaint little Alaska campground. It started out as a family homestead and the campsites are named after people. There’s a Wes and a Janet among others. I don’t recommend “Matt” as he’s a muddy mess with lots of tree roots!
Our cabin was a “tree” cabin, Alder, and sleeps 4. Me, my teens and one extra: Thing 2’s buddy, since it was his birthday trip and all. Trips like this are always the best because our friends are with us.
Staying over the night before is important, a 7:30am roll call on the beach with a two and half hour drive before isn’t very fun! So overnight it was.
We managed to get to the beach on time and started out paddling at 8 am.
The weather wasn’t awful but it wasn’t stellar either. Overcast and light to moderate rain all day. We had a brief moment of partly cloudy skies then the rain returned. But we managed to stay mostly dry with good rain gear. There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.~ old Norwegian saying.
Five miles out to the North Beach access. A nice uneventful paddle. Lots of birds and jumping silvers. We saw a jellyfish waiting to make our landing.
Then a two mile hike up to Fort McGilvray. An altitude gain of 650′, a “moderate” hike on the difficulty scale.
We saw so many berries on our way up. Thing 1 was taking photos every other step. Moss, mushrooms, flowers, berries, her boyfriend, me…. Trees and rocks and … Everything.
We made it to the top and a quick walk through the Fort and then lunch break. Thing 2 discovered that he forgot to pack his lunch in so we all shared a bit of our lunches to help him out.
While eating lunch he spotted a porcupine up in the top of a tree above us. Strange creatures porcupines. Stellar Jays we’re fussing at us the whole time. We were in their space.
Then we started our descent. The trip back is always quicker. Too quick to pick all the berries I saw. I hate walking past berries and not picking them.
Safe to say that we’re all pretty tired at this point. Five miles kayaking, 4 miles hiking. Now another 5 miles back. Oy vey
All the muscles fussed at us on the way back. Even those we didn’t know we had. But by 3:03 pm we were back on the beach at Miller’s Landing.
These children decided they deserved ice cream after their efforts. We headed into Seward for ice cream and coffee for the Moms. There were still some congratulatory posters and banners up for Lydia Jacoby which was cool to experience.
Looking forward to the next kayaking adventure! But maybe not so far next time? Maybe.
#aklife
#kayaking
2020 was another epic year, but not because we got a lot of fish. We were on the beach June 10th and left June 25th.
Mr P had the idea to make our kitchen on his trailer. So he and Dean put it together on the beach after much assembly at home. We covered it with tarps and clear plastic and moved in!
Having the elevated, separate kitchen was wonderful! It kept most of the sand out as well as the young ‘uns.
The dinning hall.
Our solar chandelier.
Welcome to “On the Rocks Bar”.
Cheers to another year of fishing, friends & fun!
Mo & I set up camp a few days early, in hopes to enjoy a slower pace before the fishing frenzy began. Not sure that worked out for us, but we did enjoy the extra time. It allowed us to slowly set up camp and get it just right before everyone else showed up.
We were missing Niki and Chris this year, felt a little strange without our fishcamp buddies. But we still had Mr P & Mrs Jane and Mr Jimmy.
Mr Jimmy had come out earlier in the year to set out some stakes. We found them with the help of Mr P and began the job of setting up camp.
Once we all arrived we had 300′ of beach sprawl to allow three nets for four families to use. Two potty tents, a kitchen, dinning hall, storage areas, kids canopy (with carpeting), four main campsites with a hodgepodge of tents, campers and canopies. Two four-wheelers and a dozen or so kids running around, give or take a few.
Then the work began.
Fishing was restricted again this year, we could only fish one tide a day. (Due to lowered king salmon returns.) This allowed for a slower pace but it significantly reduced our overall catch. None of us limited out. Most of us got enough to get us through the year, we hope. You never know year to year how much you’re going to actually go through. Some years we eat way more salmon than others. It definitely is a staple in our diet.In between fishing we always make time for fun and games. The kids come up with their own entertainment, like this duo.
And then there’s the card and board games. I found “Joe Name It” at the thrift store this year and it was a lot of laughs. 
Hmmm…. 
Arts & crafts time. They made jelly fish.
Then there’s the friends who come to visit and bring their little puppers. 
And not so little puppers. Burt still has that puppy demeanor even tho he’s as big as a horse.
Once in a while there’s even time for laying down on the job. It’s a hard life Mr. Jimmy! 
There’s always time for good food though. We do eat well at fish camp. Mo is the “Kitchen Queen”.
These enchiladas were amazeballs.
Dessert even. Oy I ate too much.
Dean does a damned fine job of grilling. He usually works all day then comes down to the beach at night. He can sure cook up some delicious food even after working a full day.
This year was a bit overcast and drizzling so the camp stove was a must. We enjoyed its warmth under our dry canopy.
This old fire pit of Niki’s sure has been handy. One bent leg gets propped up in a rock. And a salvaged oven rack with two pieces of rebar makes a nice cooking surface. Hey, we’re Alaskans, we make do.
The kids are always up for a wienie roast. Which is good for when camp isn’t set up and we have no kitchen. 
Putting the nets away for the night. We pull them, stretch them out and flag repairs, Jane takes the time to carefully mend each one, then we gather and store the nets up beach. Get up the next day and start over again.
Here’s to having a warm, dry kitchen out of the wind. L’chaim!
And that’s a wrap. Another year in the books. Smoked salmon and plain jarred salmon adorn our pantry shelves. Life is good.#alaskalife
#fishingalaska
#subsistancefishing
#bitchescatchfishes
Yesterday the older kids and I embarked on an epic adventure for school, a boat ride along the Kenai Fjords. It was a wonderful experience that I would love to share with all of you. We started out the day rather early, since we had to drive to Seward and arrive by 10:15 am! And ya’ll know how I love my early mornings (in bed, asleep).
Once there, we decided we hadn’t dressed warm enough and layered on anything and everything we could find in the Pearl and I went a picked up gloves for all of us and a headband for myself. Yes, I still occasionally forget to bring everything “just in case”. It is Alaska after all.
Panorama of our cabin mates.
Our group of IDEA homeschoolers gathered together and in the nature of homeschoolers, we sort of boarded in an orderly manner. Well, we all got aboard anyways. I had empathy for the number of passengers aboard who were tourists and not traveling with young children. There were muffled inquiries as to why so many children were on board… Why were these children not in school… Why did you put me on this particular boat… J/K.
The Callisto Voyager.
We boarded our vessel, the Callisto Voyager and settled in for a scenic cruise through Resurrection Bay.
Bear Glacier in the distance.
The weather was a bit dreary, windy and cool at the start but eventually warmed up and became what would be a beautiful day for exploring the fjords.
Our first stop was Bear Glacier. Bear Glacier is very large and part of the Harding Ice Field system. It has a lagoon in front of it with icebergs floating in it. We couldn’t get very close to this glacier so from a distance the ice bergs look quite small. In actuality some were over 80 ft tall.
Next we rounded Aialik (say it with me: eye-Al-ick) cape into Aialik Bay to see, you guessed it, Aialik Glacier. This one was magnificent. We were able to get fairly close to this tidewater glacier, about 1/4 mile from the face. We stayed in this general are for quite some time so we could experiences the sights and sounds of the glacier. They talk to you, groans and pops, sounding like a shotgun blast. You can hear them inching, creeping along the surface. The crew fished a chunk of ice out of the water so all could touch it, examine this piece of living history. The ice that is breaking off is estimated to be around 400 years old.
Aialik Glacier
Glacier Doula
We watched the glacier calve a few times, small chunks, nothing enormous. It happens so quickly and without warning that it was really hard to catch it on film. But I was there, experiencing this moment, silently supporting the massive sheet of ice break off her babies, the glacier doula.
Then we were off again, back out Aialik Bay, and the weather started to turn a bit nasty, winds and waves picking up. We saw a few whale’s blowing in the distance so we headed that way. We eventually came upon a few humpback whales feeding and were blessed to see them come up for breath and dive down again. One young fella put on quite a display for us even flipping his tail up for us. No one breached though. And like the calving glaciers, so difficult to catch on film. But we have the experience forever. I was sitting at the back of the boat with Lil Bit, who after the bumpy ride was feeling a bit green around the gills. She and I got to see the whale show together. Something about sharing such an awe inspiring moment with one of your littles.
Stellar Sea Lions on the rocks.
We stopped at the Steller Sea Lion rookery and observed and listened to the sea lions. So amazing to see these creatures in their natural habitat, outside of the confines of a zoo. It was the first time for me to observe these creatures, and puffins, in the wild. It is such a good feeling to know that my kids get to see these creatures in the wild, and that will be normal to them.
We circled Harbor Island and began our return. There were some major waves and wind. More than a few folks were feeling the effect of the seriously rocking boat.
Glacial moraine on Fox Island.
On our way back into Resurrection Bay we went around Fox Island and got to see a large glacial moraine that has standing dead cedar trees from the great 1964 earthquake. It is quite amazing that these trees are still standing after all this time and all of the weather than they face.
Back to port and a quick group photo-op, then off to a picnic dinner at the park in Seward before heading home.
This was an amazing trip, and one that would not have been possible if not for being offered to our school. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to go and see a part of Alaska that can’t be seen any other way. And what a great experience to share with my Solstice Sisters Moira and Niki!
I’ll post various other pictures for your enjoyment, of course the camera just doesn’t do Nature any justice. Thanks for sharing in our adventure!
Thing 2 and Thing 1 ready to shove off.
Lil Bit and Mama ready to shove off.
Friends out on deck as we head out of the bay.
Friends on the upper deck.
Cheesy smile, before she lost the glasses.
An eroded cave in the face of the cliff.
A lil island growing lil trees.
More rocks and caves
The determination of this tree!
Rocky majesty.
Break time.
Lil Bit blowing in the breeze.
We are under way.
Tidewater glaciers reach all the way down to the water.
a large chunk of ice.
Ice floes in Aialik Bay.
All friends on deck!
Holding a piece of history, 400 years old, incidentally after she lost the glasses.
Alaska has a lot of wildlife that we like to see, and we see frequently. Caribou are one of the critters that we rarely see here on the Kenai. We have a small herd, and occasionally see them from afar. This morning we were blessed with a special visit from a small herd right here crossing our property!! So cool!
Bull, checking me out.
The dog was barking and caught the bull’s attention, then he spotted me. He kept a watchful eye on me for a few minutes while I snapped some pics from up the drive.
A few young ones.
My photos are grainy, that ol’ bull wouldn’t let me get any closer. I didn’t get an accurate count but I think there were 8-9 altogether.
Crossing the drive, headed for the trees.
They crossed through our pit then headed off into the trees.
Hoof print.
I could safely follow along now, and the neighbor boys joined me as we went looking for them. We spotted their tracks headed into the trees…
Tracks up the embankment.
And then we spotted them through the trees before they disappeared.
Bye bye Bou!!
It was so awesome to get to see them so close. The kids got to look at them from the window, they crossed over not far from the house so the vantage point was good. I love Alaska. ❤
Today is our one year anniversary in Alaska!
This was our first glimpse at the beauty surrounding Homer last June.
June 2013 overlooking Kachemak Bay
We’ve seen all four seasons cycle, bears, moose, a wolf, a few caribou, and so much beautiful scenery. One never grows weary of it all! We’ve been awed, inspired, stuck in the mud, stuck in the snow, on adventures we never even dreamed of… Alaska is a good fit for us. Being surrounded by nature, learning, exploring, living and loving…. a great way of life!
We are looking forward to new adventures this summer! Spending time at the beach searching for treasures beyond measure, maybe doing a little fishing… who knows??
To all of our loved ones, we miss you and send you lots of loves!! XOXOXO
June 21, last Friday, was the day that we had set aside to ride out to the cabin, for just a day trip, to check the trails and hopefully do a little trail grooming/clearing and playing in the mud. We rode out to the end of the road, unloaded the wheeler, parked the truck and took off for the beach. We rode out on the beach half way to Leif’s Creek and then went up “Jacob’s Ladder” to the trail above. Four wheeling on the beach was fun, but wow, what a muddy, messy ride up Jacob’s ladder. Lots of holes and a really messed up trail from all the rough riders ripping and tearing through there. 😦 Really hard to navigate plus you are right on the edge of the bluff.
Finally made it to the main trail, remember, still have about 5 miles or so to go as Leif’s Creek is the half-way point. Through mud. Some places were so dry that we kicked up some dust, but mostly, it was thick, sticky mud, and water holes covered with stagnant water and mosquitoes.
The first part of the ride “my driver” (ha ha, I sound like Miss Daisy) took it easy on me and went slow through the mud. We got stuck in a deep hole that we just couldn’t get the wheeler out of, so we had to use the wench and pull it out. I fell into the mud bog trying to move around in the middle of that big mud hole, holding the rope tied to a tree and the wench. Muddy pant legs from the knees down. Muddy gloves, mud in the gloves. While stopped there I saw some large wolf tracks in the mud. (that’s for you Makayla!)
We went on up the trail till we met some friends on the way, Tami and Mike. Stopped to visit with them a bit. Mike gave us a good summary of the trail in front of us, told us where to avoid and where to go around the bigger mud bogs. Talked about mosquitoes because they are big news this year, they are so bad! And talked about Dad. Heard more stories about him, I don’t think I’ll ever grow weary of hearing people talk about him.
Then we were off again. We forded a water crossing with water up to mid-calf and away we went. The rest of our trip went well, since we had good instructions from Mike about the bad spots and we made it to the cabin with only a few more “stuck” spots. We saw some bear sign on the trail (that’s the nice way of saying bear poop) and lots of moose tracks.
Checked on the cabin, watered the garden, killed some mosquitoes, ate some lunch that we packed in, smashed sandwiches taste pretty good when you’ve worked up an appetite battling the mud! 😉 After a short break, back to the trail to get out. We had to be back in town by 4 pm, and we were racing the tide, needed to be off the beach by 3:30 or so we thought, so we had to get going.
For some reason, the trip back was a little more muddier than the trip in. Someone decided that it would be more fun to baha through the mud more and although he was right, it was a lot more fun, it was also a lot more muddier and bouncy! I nearly bounced off that wheeler a couple of times. My arms are still sore from holding the rack. It was quite the initiation to the summer Gray Cliffs mud and trail, and 4 wheeling.
Ran into Tami and Mike again, who had a few extra friends with them. I love being introduced to new people as “This is Chuck’s Daughter”. LOL Some of them actually ask MY name, others are just fine with Chuck’s Daughter. I need a name tag that says “Hello, my name is Chuck’s Daughter” and just wear it around town. While we were stopped we saw a cow moose and her twin calves coming down the trail at us. She got pretty close considering the noise the 9 of us were making!
We made it to the beach at 2:10 and the tide was coming in. We probably didn’t have until 3:30. Learning these tides is a whole new experience to be sure. There’s the timing of the tides, and the height or how far in they are coming, and learning where that mark is on the beach, and learning the beach… I feel like I’m cramming for final exams.
I’m glad we went in though, gave me a good understanding of the difficulty of the mud trail, and what all we need to get done before Dad’s memorial in July (which is A LOT!). And the reality of how out of shape that I am! Wowzers! There’s no way we could ride the kids in on wheelers in that mess. Maybe a track rig or a 6 wheeled rig, but not a 4-wheeler!
Next time, with rain gear and taller boots I hope, I will have even more fun. Who knows, pretty soon I’ll be riding in on my own wheeler, then we can race, and eventually I’ll win. 😉
Baptized with mud…
The first thing I’ve learned is that kids are amazing. They can do much more than we often give them credit for. My kiddos did great on their first hike into the cabin. Even Little Bit with her tiny self did well. She probably had the most trouble with trip hazards because she just can’t see them with the grass that is as tall as she is. Being the smallest and shortest legs, she was also the slowest which was to be expected. She did get a free ride a few times, up the bluff, through the worst part of the bogs, and over the most difficult terrain. But carrying a 30+ pound pack and a 20+ pound kid is hard work! When we made it through the rough parts, down she went and back to walking herself. She’ll be a resilient Alaska woman one of these days, probably the best of all 3 of us.
Thing 1 and Thing 2 were great. They had found some walking sticks on the beach that they used to go in and out with. They came in pretty handy too, wish I had one! Each of us had a pack (except Little Bit) in which our clothes, water and food was packed. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were carrying their clothes and some extra water bottles, stuff like that. Dean’s pack was the heaviest, probably 60 pounds at least, carrying in most of our water and food. Mine had water, clothes, emergency supplies, and I was packing the heat on my hip. (Thankfully we didn’t need it, but you just never know, always be prepared!) We packed in 4 gallons of water, which we used 3 of, and there was an additional 10 gallons of water at the cabin that we used to wash and clean up with. 5 people use a lot of water even when trying to conserve it!
The return trip was much easier since our packs were not nearly as heavy, we only had dirty laundry and misc things to pack out. Lighter loads make for better hiking! And it was easier to carry Little Bit with lighter packs. I can see where a front pack or at least my rebozo would have been a good idea to tie that child on so I could carry her all the way in. But then again, she needs to learn to do this on her own. Thing 1 and Thing 2 took turns walking with Little Bit and holding her hand. That seemed to help her keep her pace up and gave them something helpful to do. Thing 2 was actually the most helpful. It was so cute watching him pick her up and carry her over the mud holes. He’s going to make a good Alaska Man, a gentleman and capable of doing anything. A great combination!
I have hopes of going in on 4 wheelers next trip. The trail is drying out nicely and hopefully, if it stays that way (no big rains) we can ride in and carry some extra stuff in. I need to change out Dad’s cookware, most of what is left at the cabin now is aluminum (Linda had requested I bring in Dad’s cast iron for her back in April, so there’s not much left to cook in) and I don’t use aluminum. I need to find a skillet, and a few baking pans to take out and leave there so we can actually cook a full meal with out using one pot to do so! 😉
I also want to get Dad’s big moose rack back into the cabin. Hopefully we can get that done before his memorial in July. Definitely need to pack that rack in on a wheeler. Much to heavy and difficult to pack in on your back!
We’ve been in Alaska for a little more than a week, 9 days to be exact. So far we have found an apartment, I’ve interviewed for a job, and we’ve done an amazing amount of exploring in such a short time. The kids are settling in well. One of our neighbors has a child the same age as my son. They are becoming friends.
We’ve been to the beach numerous times, collected ample rocks and shells, which are scattered to and fro through the apartment.
We’ve been to Homer to see the mountains, and the plethora of eagles.
We’ve made a few new friends and found an awesome park in Soldotna.
We’re adjusting to the daylight but still working on bedtime! 😉 It’s hard to go to sleep when you are a kid and it’s still bright outside! It’s hard for Mom too!
The kids got to see their first Moose last week, a young bull right in the next door yard!
I got to see my first newborn moose calf last Saturday. How precious!! And my first wolf tracks.
Nature is so close and still part of daily life here. Not removed or pushed away by civilization.
The one drawback, or complaint, if I could have one… the mosquitoes. They are vicious, and so numerous coming at you in swarms. The locals are saying that this is the worst year that they’ve seen in a long time. What a welcome!
On the bright side, the weather has been simply amazing. High 60s to low 70s since we’ve been here. The kids were even able to wade in the inlet without freezing themselves this week. Not a drop of rain since we’ve been here, but the fire danger is also elevated due to that. Today it is cooler, only in the 50s so far. Need a sweater on today!
I’m blessed with a few faithful friends here. Going above and beyond to help us settle and make our new life here. I thank YHVH for them.
Alaska on my mind... 