Yet Another Rainy Day

With the increasingly chilly rainy weather here, I have started to tackle tasks that have been waiting for my attention.  Namely, my basil plant.  Growing beyond its limits, something had to be done.  Though I have been using the basil occasionally in my cooking, the plant was like a untamed beast, ready to devour my dining room table.

The Beast

I considered my options.  Dry it, freeze it, cook with it, wear it.  I chose pesto.  I figured how hard could it be.  One batch of burnt pine nuts later, I was reconsidering.  However, I was in the full swing of pesto making and there was no turning back.  It all worked out in the end.  I used a basic recipe off of the Food Network website but if any of you have a tried and try recipe, please share.  Here is the one I used, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basil-pesto-recipe2/index.html.

Basil Pesto

 

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

I combined all the ingredients, even the cheese and canned the pesto for later use.  I also finely chopped my basil instead of processing it in the food processor because I wanted larger basil chunks. Doubling this recipe left me with 2 half-pint jars full.

I also had a hankering for cabbage rolls, or as we used to call them "pigs in a blanket."  Nothing like the pigs in a blanket that people normally think of, cabbage rolls can be made with a variety of meats and fillings.  Growing up we often used ground beef but as I have a newly replenished stock of caribou (thanks honey!), I went with that.  I also swapped out the traditional rice with quinoa and added some veggies. 

caribou with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, cinnamon, and parsley

Part of the beauty of cabbage rolls is that you can make them however you want, there are no rules.  Here is a general recipe to follow but make it your own!

Pigs in a Blanket

 

Ingredients

12 cabbage leaves

Filling:

1 cup cooked rice or quinoa
1 pound ground meat (pork, beef, lamb, or wild game)
1/3 cup minced onion
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
salt, pepper, and other seasoning (be creative!)
minced veggies (optional)

 Sauce:

 8oz. tomato sauce
14.5oz. canned diced tomatoes
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions

Drop cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well. For filling, combine ground beef, rice, onion, egg, and salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place a portion into the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around filling; fasten with toothpick. Place in a baking dish. For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, and worcestershire sauce and pour over cabbage rolls. Bake covered in a preheated 350° oven 40 to 45 minutes. Remove rolls and discard toothpicks. Enjoy!

This is one recipe that did not disappoint.  Brought me straight back to our farm house in Turtle Lake, ND.  Delicious and healthy!  Try your own pigs in a blanket!

Alaska Fun Facts: In the Inupiaq language spoken by Northern Alaska's Inupiat people, the word for caribou is commonly spelled 'tutu.'

It's the Little Things

Today I got to spend some time with a good friend of mine, Jen G.  We had decided to go hiking and so drove to a trail and headed out.  Armed with vitamin water and cameras, we were unstoppable . . . until about half-way up the mountain.  Multiple mini-breaks later and some talk about riding Sniper to the top, we did manage to make it to the summit and even had a pretty good view despite the clouds and fog. 

We were also rewarded by a pleasant little surprise . . . blueberries!  Having been on this trail previously but never during this time of year, I was surprised by the amount and size of the berries.  Despite being poorly prepared to pick berries, we improvised and were able to gather quite a few.  Some also may not have made it into our bags :)  Sniper and Tacha definitely had their share!  Still a little tart, their were delicious and conjured up thoughts of blueberry pie, crumble, and muffins.  Mmmmm mmmm good!

They were everywhere!  (blueberry patch)

With blueberry stains on our clothes and lactic acid pooling in our muscles, our excursion was a great success.  But nothing can beat the time spent with a friend.  It's the little things.

Alaska Fun Fact: The bog blueberry, also known as alpine blueberry, grows in all of Alaska except portions of the northern coastal plain and western Aleutian islands.  That's a lot of blueberries!

Bountiful Berries

Alaska berry season is coming into full swing!  There seems to be little orbs of color everywhere you look.  Picking berries is definitely one of my favorite past times and this year I hope to make some jams/jellies/syrups to show for it.  Luckily, I have a plethora of berries right in my backyard!  Here is a little look at what is growing.

We have done a lot of tree removal since moving to our place and now we have a lot more space for berry bushes!  In the spirit of this, we planted some raspberry bushes earlier this summer.  Usually you can expect not to have any fruit production the first year but we have been fortunate in the fact that both of the bushes we planted have multiple berries on them.  We planted one red berry bush and one yellow berry bush.  I have not had the yellow so I am pretty excited about those but they are not as mature as the red yet.  I ate the first red raspberry last evening and it was delicious!  I can hardly wait for the rest of these to ripen up! 

Red Raspberry

We have also found multiple wild highbush cranberry (aka Mooseberry) bushes scattered throughout the yard.   They are quite tart right now and need a couple more weeks to fully ripen.  I have never used these berries before but am excited to try a jam/jelly from them!

Highbush Cranberry

 
One of the previous owners of the property planted two chokecherry trees.  However, only one of the trees has ripe berries at the moment.  Despite my previous vow to never pick another chokecherry as long I lived, I find a hankering for some chokecherry syrup.  Perhaps my hard-earned chokecherry picking skills from my youth will serve me in this endeavor!

Chokecherry

Twisted-stalk fruit or "watermelon berry" is a delicious, juicy berry that does not taste like watermelon.  Why it is called this, I don't know.  Apparently, you can eat not only the berries but also the leaves.  It is said to have a cucumber-like flavor.  I have not tried this but do enjoy eating the berries from time to time.  We only have one small plant so I will not be able to make any syrup or jelly this year.

Watermelon Berry

Among the edibles, there are an equal number of poisonous berries.   Elderberries falls under this category.  I did find that cooking these berries may make them edible but I value my life so will not be attempting this.  

Elderberries

Baneberry, aka snake berry or doll's eyes (creepy!), is another poisonous beauty.  Despite its deadly potential, it is a very interesting plant because the berries go from bright red, below, to a stark white in full maturity. 

Baneberry

Not addressed in this post was the all important blueberry.  I hope to have a chance at those later this year.  Until that time, I will have to enjoy the more accessible blueberries via Costco!

Alaska Fun Fact: Eskimo ice cream, akutaq, is a common food in western Alaska.  It consists of whipping animal fat and berries.  Cranberries, salmonberries, crowberries, cloudberries, and blueberries are commonly used.  It may also be made with meat, leaves, or roots. 

Just A Few of My Favorite Things

As summer comes to a close and autumn approaches, I have been pondering all the wonderful things in my life.  Other than the obvious (faith, family, friends), my nostalgia centers around all the things that bring a smile to my face and a warm feeling in my heart.  Thus, my Julie Andrews inspired post.  Here is some background music to enhance your blog experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfbB0p-yyLA 

Coffee with a touch of cream - from its beautiful caramel color to the delicious smell and flavor, there is nothing I don't like about coffee, nothing!

 

Autumn - though I can appreciate a warm summer day, I love a crisp autumn day with all it smells and colors

 

Books - be they fact or fiction, there is nothing more entertaining than a good book and a little imagination!

 

Singing in the car - with the right circumstances (alone, in a car, good song turned WAY up) I am a rock star, and I love it :)

 

A good romance - though too many to name, my current obsession: North & South

 

Flowers - maybe it is the girl in me but I love all flowers, in a garden, in a vase, really any place!  haha!

 

High heels - instant confidence booster, you could be wearing a garbage bag but with the right pair of heels, instant couture

 

Bubble baths - I think that this is something we never outgrow, it just transitions with age, from bubble beards and toys to lavender scents and candles

 

Sheets fresh from the dryer - the smell of downy, the ambient warmth, the freshly made bed, it calls to me

There are so many more things but I don't have all day!  May this inspire you to think of your own favorite things and smile!

Alaska Fun Fact:  (Another of my favorite things: glaciers.  Especially as pronounced by David Attenborough, English naturalist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fBg8XcCcc8)  Alaska has an estimated 100,000 glaciers, ranging from tiny cirque glaciers to huge valley glaciers. There are more active glaciers and ice fields in Alaska than in the rest of the inhabited world. The largest glacier is the Malaspina at 850 square miles. Five percent of the state, or 29,000 square miles, is covered by glaciers.