Oh Happy Days. . .

 We have just had the most AMAZING, most ALASKAN, week of our lives. It was full of many firsts.

Here's what it looked like:

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20TH

1ST TIME ON SNOWSHOES

After having just received our snowshoes, you know we had to try them out!

Yeah, it went something like this. Minus the hurdles. It was a great work out and lots of fun. We explored Independence State Mine at Hatcher Pass.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 22ND

1ST ALASKAN ICE STORM

Roads were DANGEROUS!

And schools were closed for Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving!)which meant no work for me!!!

So that on . . .

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23RD

1ST PECAN PIE FROM SCRATCH

. . . I could concentrate on making a Pecan Pie from scratch. (a special request from Austin)

See previous post: Pie in the Sky

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24TH

1ST MOOSE

Oh yes, that is exactly what it sounds like.

This post is going to be bigger than the moose itself, so stay tuned this week for all the juicy details!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25TH

CONT. . .

1ST THANKSGIVING

Well, not the first Thanksgiving ever, obviously, but the first Thanksgiving we cooked by OURSELVES!

We won't take all the credit.

 The Turkey came smoked from a local wild game processor and if you've never had a whole smoked turkey, well then, I'm sorry, you must be dead because you certainly have not lived.

 All the recipes came courtesy of Austin's, mama, aunt, nana, and the Pecan Pie aficionado, Austin's papa.

Still we cooked all the dishes ourselves!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26TH

1ST DAY HANDLING SLED DOGS

And certainly the best day of the week.

 Austin scored us a volunteering gig with a local, and quite successful, dog mushing team at Sundog Racing Kennel.
It was absolutely an incredible day that scratched the itch both Austin and I have had to experience dog sledding since childhood.
Except the itch is not satisfied.
 In fact, it grows stronger!

We spent the day playing with dogs, harnessing them up, feeding them, scratching their ears, and riding behind them as they pulled ATVs. At the end, we braved a pack of 10-four month old strong puppies as they wrestled each other around the yard.
We look forward to volunteering when we can and gaining as much knowledge and experience as possible.

To be Alaskan is to mush dogs.
It forms a bond between man (or woman) and his (or her) best friends against the always unpredictable wilderness that is the North Land.
Needless to say. . .
We can't wait to have our own team.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27TH

PERFECTING SKIJøRING

While the attempt at skijøring is not a first, it is a sport that all three of us need practice at.
Plus, it's a really good way to tire out the tireless beast.

See previous post : Skijøring

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28TH
1ST AVALANCHE TRAINING

Nobody wants to be caught in this:

So we headed up to our playground in Hatcher Pass, which is heaven for back country enthusiasts, and took an all day Avalanche Rescue Workshop given by the
Alaska Avalanche School.

The class was especially beneficial to me (Katrina) as I have never had any avalanche training.

Now we can be a little bit more prepared for skiing, snowshoeing, snow machining and snowboarding in the Alaskan Wilderness!

Now we are finally wiped out and very excited about getting lots of sleep tonight! 

Hope you had just as good of a week!

Pie in the Sky

Well, not exactly pie in the sky. More like rain. Actually, freezing rain. Yikes!

So, in honor of the ICE STORM and the fact that I don't want to change out of my pj's and leave the house:

I hereby dedicate this day to making home-made pies for Thanksgiving!

Oh, sigh. I wish this was my kitchen. Beautiful and cheery yellow accents (including a stand-up mixer!) complimenting my scarlet apron, my perfectly puckered wine-stained lips, and the whimsical, confusing look on my face.

Well. Actually. . .

Take away the pretty little kitchen and you get me. I have the apron (vintage too!), the wine-stained lips (and teeth), and I almost always have a confused look on my face when I'm in the kitchen.

(I DON'T have radical mustard colored canisters for my flour, sugar, etc. So Santa take note.)

Despite the lack of yellow, I donned my apron and set to work. 

In preparation for T-Day, I made Nana's pie crust (which has been sent down from heaven by angels) a few days earlier and stored it in the freezer.



First up was the Pumpkin Pie.

And because we like to kick it old school up here, you better believe I made it from FRESH PUMPKIN!

Next came the Pecan Pie.

We got it on good record to candy the pecans (which we did with Agave) and add some good old-fashioned bourbon to the custard.

I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THE PECAN PIE! DELISH!

I'll have an update with pictures of the finished products come Turkey Day.
(If I can snap a few before they are gone!)


Whoever said making pie is hard lied to you. Yes, they can be time consuming, but it is sooooo worth it!

Otherwise they are really quite easy, almost as easy as. . .

pie.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  

Skijøring

What the...? I said the same thing. So we figured that to further our pursuit of being true mountain people, we had better get some Nordic skis. Calling somthing Cross country doesn't sound as cool, and I relish any opportunity to make anything I am doing sound somewhat Vikingish or to refer to myself as a Norse God...anyway, where was I? Ah yes, Nordic skiing. So we took our new skis up to Hatcher's Pass (our new playground a short thirty minute drive away in the Talkeetna mountains) and found that cross country, er, Nordic skiing is actually pretty fun. Although a little awkward at first, it is a great workout, and a lot quicker way to get around on packed trails than hiking. And the best part? The Play it Again up here has the most radical 80's and 90's gear!

Norse godlike?

Alpina "Neo-Gator" circa 1993, hell yeah...

So there we are on the mountain, with Seabass of course, when we hear some dogs barking and coming up the trail. All of the sudden appeared two dogs hauling butt and dragging behind them was a dude on skis. Instantly I was jealous. Katrina informed me that I was watching someone skijor. I looked over at our ninety pound mixed northern breed dog and got excited. What is more fun than skiing? Skijoring. True, I had never done it, but I was certain it had to be more fun.

We decided to do a little experiment. We found a slight downhill on the trail and I put the leash on The Beast. Katrina went ahead about seventy yards and started calling Seabass. He started freaking out wanting to run to her. He took off and although he didn't have to pull me very hard, in about three seconds we were at full speed flying towards Katrina. Success!

Later on that evening I went online and started looking for skijoring gear. I called a musher who was selling a bunch of stuff and had a set up for skijoring. The next day we met her and got Seabass a harness, a skijoring belt, and an eight foot tow line with a built in bungee. She threw in eight booties for Beast's paws. Forty bucks for $175 worth of gear = awesome!

I also read on the internet about some techniques to start training him with. There are three basic instincts dogs have that you can use to get them to skijor. Dogs love to chase things, they like to run along trails, and they like to run in a pack. We figured chase would be our best method to start with.

Back at Hatchers pass we found out a couple of things very quickly about skijoring. One: It can be difficult to teach a dog it is oaky to pull when he has been taught for six years not to pull on a leash. Two: When you do finally get said ninety pound dog to pull you downhill at a full sprint make sure you know how to snow-plow well enough to slow down. Needless to say it was an interesting first day. The most important thing we were trying to convey to Seabass was that skijoring is fun. He is so happy when he is in the mountains.

Second time out on Archangel Trail

The second time out was a lot better, we took a different trail at Hatchers Pass and had him pulling for a hundred yards or so at a time on a slight downgrade. He is getting better with the commands, which are the same as with mushing dogs. Hike means go. On by tells him to keep going past any distractions. Whoa means stop (thankfully Bass is the best at this one). Haw means left and Gee is right. We haven't practiced these that much yet. I took him out for the first time without Katrina last week. It was tough because we couldn't do the chase technique. At first he was reluctant to keep tension on the tow line but by the end of the run he had good tension at a trot. He is almost perfect at on by now too.

We are thinking of joining a skijoring club so that we can get some tips and Seabass would definitely chase another skijor team. We have a long way to go but by the end of the winter we should have it figured out! There will definitely be more updates to come.

Meet the Beast

As some of you may know, the aforementioned Big Black Beast is our dog.

He is the most handsome, most intelligent, most magnificent creature that any higher power has ever placed on this planet we call Earth. Yes, I am going that far. It's not just that I am obsessed with my dog, because I am, but it's all true. 

See for yourself 

Yes, he can sit, shake, lay down, roll over, and even "dance like a dancing bear" on his hind legs when commanded. He'll also give you a kiss, but only if you ask in Spanish.

Like all great things, The Beast (now 6 yrs. old) has evolved over time.

 From his humble beginnings as an 8-week old, freshly neutered pup in a Humane Society in Phoenix, AZ, The Little Beast came home with no name.

What to call such a little creature!?

On his first trip to the vet, they insisted he had to have name. For some reason I was stuck on the name Sebastian, after the crab in my favorite childhood movie, The Little Mermaid, but it just didn't sound right. I put it down as his name anyway and was discussing the dilemmna with my friend Austin when he suggested the greatest nickname of all : SEABASS.

Yes, SEABASS, like the fish.

Why? 

Uh. . . because it is obviously very funny!

And that is when the glory began

The evolution of the nicknames continues. . .

Seabass

Seabs

Seabee (or C.B.)

Sebassaroni

The Bass Machine

Bass Mach


The Bass Mach Indian Dog

Bass Maquina

And whatever other gibberish spills forth from our lips.

He responds to it all.

As his ears went from Floppy to Straight,

 his attitude went from Puppy Love to Destruct-o Hound.

We often found him in sticky situations

The Beast enjoys gnawing on fresh caught salmon,  devouring milk bones, conquering mountains, eating fresh snow, hanging out with his best friend Monito (a yellow stuffed monkey), harassing squirrels, stink bombing entire rooms at inopportune times, tackling grizzly bears, and being anywhere we are.

Like most canines, he is a loyal and integral part of our pack, and now that we have moved him to Alaska, he is also leader of the North Land. I'm not kidding. Just look at him.

He is fully in his element up here. 

He literally leaps and bounds through the crisp (as in 10F) air.

He is our best friend.

And we love him so much!

He will faithfully follow us into all of our adventures,

which we will be sure to keep you updated on!

Leche de almendras: milk of almonds.

Remember in that first post how we said something about making your own milk. . . almond milk specifically? 

Well we had actually just tried it for the first time the other day, but it turned out wonderfully! We always buy raw almonds in bulk anyway (because they are so awesome even The Beast enjoys them as a crunchy snack), and the milk we DRINK is almond milk, so. . . .why not just make it ourselves?

Now, without taking all the credit, we did get the idea from an ABS-OH-freakin'-LOOT-LEE amazing magazine, READY MADE. Ever heard of it? If not, check it out, because it will change your world.

Here is the basic recipe, if you're bold enough to try it yourself!

     2 cups whole raw almonds
     8 cups water

... yep, that's it! Sounds easier all of a sudden, doesn't it!?

     1. Soak the almonds the in the 8 cups of water overnight (or up to 15 hours) in a bowl in the fridge.

     2. Puree the almonds - using the water!- in batches in a blender, food processor or the magical Magic Bullet (Austin's favorite!) and strain the pulp in a medium-mesh strainer.
     
     3. Pour into a jar and refrigerate. Will keep for 5 days!


     4. If you want, sweeten it up a bit, like Austin did, with vanilla extract, cinnamon and agave nectar!(did someone say horchata?) Or use honey, maple syrup or sugar! Shake before serving!


We used ours with Mexican hot chocolate:

P.S. What to do with all that pulp?? Spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it at 200F for 6-8 hours (yah, its kind of a commitment, but what are you doing this weekend anyway?) then add it to cereal, yogurt, muffins, cookies, or, like us, smoothies!

We took the road less traveled.

It has been a long and highly anticipated journey and the culmination of many hopes, dreams, and aspirations. After a short 12-day car ride covering more than 4,000 miles from AZ to AK,we arrived in early October to blue skies and sky-scraper mountains, but not before crossing deserts and rainforests to get there. Soak it up:

 

Leaving the Desert

 The CB in the BC.

Dead King Salmon in British Columbia

Should be a Canadian beer commercial.

 

 

Glacier. Hyder. AK.

 

 The road ahead. . .

 Trying to scare the bears away.

It did not work. . .

 Oh, well, hello sun.

 Camp robber!

Al. most. there.

This is where AZ license plates

come to die.(Yes, that is mine)

The sign post forest. 

 

 Sometimes life on the road calls

 for a little improvisation.

 Baaaaaaa.

 Home Sweet Home.

Yes, this really is the view 

from our front window.

In the short month we have been here we have fully embraced (almost) all aspects of Alaskan life. Stay tuned for all the adventures and mishaps as we attempt to Return to the Land!