Eating and Drinking in Alaska

Our seven-week camper trip to Canada and Alaska has left me with some wonderful food memories.

Anchorage has many excellent restaurants! My favorite meal this time around was lunch at Muse, which is the cafe at the Anchorage Museum. I had a halibut sandwich and my mouth is watering now as I remember it. Although the place was busy, great care was taken with every detail: the fish was cooked so perfectly, and the bun buttered and toasted so that I had to eat every crumb. In Girdwood we lunched at Maxine's, where I had the lunch special, a duck quesadilla. In addition to the duck, the filling had a spicy homemade peach jam and a mild jack cheese. And slow-cooked onions, if I remember correctly.

In Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory, Dad had a birthday lunch of fish and chips, but in this case the chips were "yam fries."

Russell cooked some beautiful things for us at home, particularly this sockeye salmon that he caught and filleted. Together he and I made a rhubarb-raspberry cobbler with rhubarb from their garden. The topping was made with Bob's Red Mill gluten-free cornbread mix with a little sugar added.

Camped out in the forest above Hope we intended to make martinis but had forgotten the olives. So, inspired by a Spruce Tip Vinaigrette I saw on a menu in Homer, we invented the

Spruce Tip Martini

Gin

Vermouth

Fresh spruce tips

Ice

Estimate amounts of gin and vermouth in plastic glasses. Muddle with spruce tip and serve with lots of ice. Best enjoyed in cool, rainy forest setting.

Misadventuring in New Mexico

Our trip to Hillsboro became an adventure. It rained hard after turning north from the Hatch cutoff, in fact so hard that we stopped at the first dip--and indeed, it was full of rushing water. We waited for 20 minutes, a couple of other vehicles came along, and it subsided enough that we crossed it although it had a strong current and was up to mid-tire. Two miles later we crossed a shallow running stream (over pavement) and then came up on a big new drainage coursing across the road. We decided to turn around and take the long way on the freeway, but on the way back a new wash had occurred, a big one, so we were trapped between two flash floods. We contemplated spending the night in our car--no problem, plenty of food and wine on board, and we were on fairly high ground. In a half hour the far stream had subsided and we drove on.

We got to Hillsboro at dusk and the town was so dead, we thought the power was out. Not so--the town of 200 people or so was just quiet, asleep. We had reserved a room at the single motel, but there was nobody there. Dad checked his notes from making the reservation, and Room 7 was mentioned. The door was unlocked, so we made ourselves at home. The owner came over later in the evening to give us a key. We took a walk around town in the lessening rain, and then ate our cold supper of smoked salmon, Jarlsberg, crackers, fruit, and chocolate, with champagne--we were prepared, as usual. The room was clean and comfortable.

The next morning the town's single restaurant was open for breakfast and we found two stools at the old-fashioned counter. We waited an hour for breakfast because apparently the whole town was there, but it was worth the wait: I had a bowl of homemade pinto beans topped with a fried egg, melted cheese, and Hatch green chile. This absolutely replaces the loco moco in my book.

On the way we had lunch in Deming, New Mexico, which has a terrible freeway presence and we usually avoid. But we found a nice little shady downtown area with several restaurants, including Campo's. I had the best chiles rellenos of my life. They were advertised on the menu as "lightly crisped." I can't decide if they were lightly floured and deep-fried, or lightly battered and sauteed--anyway, it was mostly chile stuffed with cheese, and on top of that, a homemade tomatillo sauce. Wow. The place was busy, mostly because of a large family having a First Communion lunch with a little girl in a white lace dress.

After that lunch we visited the local winery, Luna Rossa, which had lovely vines hanging with grapes, and the wine was pretty good. We bought a couple of bottles. We'll share them when you visit us.

More about Road Food

We care a lot about food, in case you hadn't noticed--I guess we bought a camper so we could drag our kitchen around. I hate eating junk. Now we are on this freeway/motel trip from Tucson to Cape Cod, and here is how we survive. We eat out only once a day, usually dinner, and avoid chain restaurants, looking for anything local or ethnic or fresh--not always possible, but it's fun to look.


We take a small ice chest and a plastic box of food and utensils, and a paper bag with fruit. This five-day trip the cooler contained Jarlsberg cheese, English Coastal Cheddar, a package of fancy Italian cold cuts, mustard, a couple of kinds of hummus, small cans of tomato juice, baby carrots from the garden, grapes, cherries. The box contains a small cutting board, a roll of paper towels, a tablecloth, a knife, a corkscrew, silverware, a box of RyKrisp, a loaf of whole wheat sliced bread, a tin of herring fillets with black pepper. The produce bag holds two avocados, a small bunch of bananas, apples, peaches, plums, etc. which we eat as they ripen. All this costs less than a few fast food lunches! And we only spent an hour apiece assembling the ingredients--Dad at Trader Joe's, me at Sprouts.


We eat breakfast in our motel room and have a picnic lunch wherever it happens. We've been lucky with dinners on this trip and even though we've driven 500 or 600 miles per day, ended up with New Mexican food the first night, then barbecue, last night sushi, and tonight a sort of hometown Pennsylvania seafood/Italian thing.

Getting Lucky in Kansas

We arrived at our motel in Ottawa, Kansas after 7:00 last night, in a downpour. We have driven 1200 miles in two days, on track to get from Tucson to Cape Cod in five days.

There were "restaurants" all around us: Applebee's, Wendy's, McDonald's! We really wanted barbecue, so we looked in the Yellow Pages and there was indeed a barbecue joint--and they delivered! I ordered a rib plate and a chicken plate with spicy sauce, and twenty minutes later it arrived. $7.85 per plate. A miracle.

We had been lugging around a bottle of champagne, waiting for something worth celebrating--and this was definitely it.

Food for Travelers

I always make soup or stew for company arriving by airplane, because terrible things can happen to the timing of dinner. If possible, I leave it in the crockpot while we drive to the airport.

I love Laurie Colwin's essay "Jet Lag and How to Feed It" from More Home Cooking. She recommends lentil soup, which is perfect for jet lag. She is a wonderful food writer.

Eva arrived early and without trauma at the airport yesterday from South Carolina, but I was still happy to have dinner simmering. We had posole, tortilla crisps, a big salad from the garden with blue cheese dressing, and lemon bars.

A Beach Camping Trip

Nothing derails this blog like its two authors meeting up in real life, huh? We had a great time camping, cooking, and drinking with you, Mom (and Dad).


Here's dinner from the second night of our family trip to Edisto Beach State Park: shrimp from Flowers Seafood, marinated in lime juice and assorted spices from your camper (cumin, chile powder, oregano, salt) and grilled over an expensive wood fire; green beans with tomatoes and cheese; and a quinoa pilaf that was surprisingly toasty and nutty for being made in a nonstick pan over a tiny burner. Excellent job with that, Mom.

The firewood was purchased from the Edisto Piggly Wiggly and cost $3.99 for a tiny bundle. It came with a sewn-on carrying handle.

100% oak AND hickory.

I still can't believe all four of us (plus Emily the dog) comfortably ate dinner in your trailer.

Mountain Macaroni

Unlike the last time we went to the mountains, we brought food this weekend and cooked it.

It was a fairly eventful trip: our friends Ken and Melanie and their baby came. When we got up to the house Friday night the power had been off for several days, long enough for all the food in the freezers and fridges to spoil and for various horrendous goos and oozes to leak out all over the kitchen floor. We started up the generator, and the power company restored the power a few short hours after Lawson called them, and we avoided opening the fridge all night. The next day Mel and I cleaned it out, which involved throwing out a lot of economy sized tubs of mayonnaise and frozen shrimp and rancid orange juice concentrate. Also some odoriferous baby back ribs. Yuck.

Otherwise we were fine: we hiked, we drank, we pulled ticks off the dog.

Lawson smoked some ribs. They were salty and delicious. I steamed some okra. Lawson made a salad of Vidalia onions, red bell pepper, cucumbers, lemon, olive oil, and blue cheese.

And I made Southern macaroni and cheese, the baked kind.

I've had plenty of variations, eaten it at potlucks and holidays and barbecue joints, but I never knew much about it. Melanie explained to me that there are a few major schools of mac and cheese preference: the egg school and the creamy school. Lawson's family is the former, as is Ken's. Mel's family is split, with Mel in the creamy camp. I tend to like creamier kinds, I guess, especially because prior to moving down here I considered "macaroni and cheese" a synonym for "Kraft dinner." But I understand the appeal of egg.

I've made lame mac and cheeses in the past by following various recipes, so this time I decided not to use one, and I was very happy. I made a pretty good hybrid of the two styles unintentionally. I'm almost embarrassed to write it down, Mom...it is calorific redneck hiking food, that's for sure.

Mountain Macaroni

Cook about 12 oz. macaroni until not quite al dente.

Meanwhile, saute in olive oil until soft:
- one small fresh onion, diced
- one small fresh red chile or bell pepper (I used a mild Anaheim), diced

Remove to a bowl. Mix in:
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- several T mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 oz (1.5 smallish blocks) sharp cheddar, cut into cubes

Mix all together with the pasta; pour into big casserole dish; bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour.

Halibut and Spinach

I am trying to include a photo of where we were eating these dishes. This day we hiked to a spectacular waterfall in British Columbia, then ate a meal of fresh halibut accompanied by spinach and rice. I love having both English and French on Canadian products.

Food was SO expensive in Canada and Alaska, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. In Anchorage I paid $2 apiece for Gala apples. Russell gets a CSA box and it is so important there. You talked about sharing a CSA box with a friend--are you doing that?

On the Road Again

We just returned from driving to Alaska and back--10,000 miles and a morally reprehensible amount of gas--but we get good mileage in more ways than one!

Here is a typical camper meal of sausage pasta sauce served over fried polenta slices with Brussels sprouts on the side. We were staying at Big Lagoon County Park in California (because the California state parks don't allow dogs on their trails).

Pot Roast for Breakfast

I've been on vacation eating other people's food.

This past weekend I was up in the mountains in North Carolina playing in the snow and watching movies and drinking beer. It was a wonderful but truly strange trip in that I did not cook. Okay, I made some rice for the pot roast the second night because nobody else wanted to be responsible (they said their rice turns out gummy), but other than that I cooked nothing. It was a very un-food-snobby trip.

Lawson and I had almost no time to pack, and we hadn't done any pre-trip planning with anyone else, but were assured there'd be plenty to eat, so we brought no food. That felt weird. But these aren't people who care about food all that much, so we didn't want to be too intense.

One friend brought potatoes, baby carrots, beef, and two crockpots and made pot roast on Saturday. It was super-basic (maybe even only seasoned with salt) but perfect after a day in the snow. I ate pot roast for breakfast the next morning, too. Pot roast goes well with good coffee, and Lawson's brother makes the best coffee (it was he who gave me a personally customized old air popper and taught me how to roast coffee in it).

That same friend made green beans using canned green beans and an artificial ham flavoring packet. The ingredients of the packet of artificial ham flavoring were MSG, salt, some preservatives, and artificial ham flavoring. Apparently artificial ham flavoring is an elemental culinary building block, a nutritional morpheme -- it's an ingredient of itself. I do not agree with my friend that the ham packet is healthier than using bacon grease.

On Sunday another friend made chili using canned beans, ground beef, jarred salsa, and tomato sauce. I ate two bowls. There were also cornbread muffins from a box.

At other times I ate Raisin Bran, bananas, tangerines, cheese dip from a jar, tortilla chips, popcorn, and chicken salad sandwiches with lettuce.

I enjoyed eating other people's food and being completely unresponsible for my own sustenance for a little while. But I missed cooking terribly. And it was strange eating such utilitarian food -- food composed of other prepared foods, like a casserole -- food with mysterious salts and preservatives and corn syrups -- food that came in bags and cans. Not that I don't eat those things at other times, but I felt immersed in them this weekend.

It's expensive eating that way. And it's so disconnected from both the source of food and from its preparation. So I'm back home and ready to make messes in the kitchen, to eat Brussels sprouts and eggs and pork fat and to read up on the big bag of spelt my friend the miller dropped off here last week and make some strange brown breads.

Pico de Gallo on the Road

We drove from Tucson to South Padre Island, Texas, in our trailer and just got back yesterday. Just before leaving Dad picked all the jalapenos and cherry tomatoes in his garden to take with. The tomatoes ripened daily, and we also bought more jalapenos on the way, so I ended up making pico de gallo every day, varying it to fit in with the ethnicity of the evening meal. If Indian, I threw in more cilantro and ground cumin.

The usual recipe consisted of:

a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 cloves garlic

Juice of 1 Mexican lime (the little ones)

Salt

Optional additions included fresh herbs, onions, cumin, red chile powder.

Here's a trailer dinner. I had bought foil packets of Saag Paneer and a garbanzo dish. I made salmon patties, pico de gallo, and toasted some tortillas in a skillet to mimic Indian bread.

On New Year's Eve we had a really great meal of fresh Gulf shrimp, black eyed peas, and champagne.

There were lots of wonderful roadside fruit markets on the Gulf coast near Corpus Christi where we bought grapefruit and Texas sweet onions. Some advertised "We have Valley Lemons"--I bought some and discovered that they're Meyer lemons. Wish I had bought a whole bushel, since our crop failed this year.

Trailer Food

Our six-day trip to the Salton Sea and the KOFA wilderness was excellent—more camping and less driving than usual (non-family members can laugh: this means we only drove 1500 miles and camped in only three different places). We hiked in a little canyon in KOFA—named for the King of Arizona mine—where native palms grew, and also visited an old mine and where Dad looked for quartz and other specimens while Emily and I took a nice walk up a wash. We looked at birds at the Salton Sea, drove around Joshua Tree National Park, and revisited the mud volcanoes. I read an old book by Gale Sheehy about Hillary Clinton.

We cooked every meal in the trailer. For dinners we had:

--pork tenderloin with a pan sauce, boiled new potatoes, and Dad’s spinach from home

--hot Italian chicken sausage in tomato sauce with whole wheat spaghetti, and asparagus

--salmon patties, fried potatoes, fresh green beans

--chile con carne with ground beef, tomatillos, and fresh jalapenos, tortillas, and chayote (we stopped at a Mexican market that day)

--clam sauce and spaghetti, inappropriately accompanied by Trader Joe’s Indian vegetables

For breakfast and lunch we usually ate what was left over, although we had provisioned with yogurt, cottage cheese, sliced ham and cheese, olives, nuts, hummus, dates, and lots of fruit. And a partial case of wine and a bottle of tequila.