It's that time of year again!!

What time you say? Canning time!

I happened to be in possession of 20lbs of pickling cucumbers and I am itching to get them pickled and canned.

Rather than use the same recipe I concocted last year, I've decided to try a few trial recipes.  I looked up 4 new recipes and made one jar of each to determine which one I liked best. 

The differences in the three aren't drastic, but the ratio of water/vinegar/salt is different, and one recipe called for apple cider vinegar rather than regular white vinegar.  One called for peppercorns and another one uses spices from a pickling packet (thanks Mom!).

I didn't can them so they are refrigerator pickles which means I'll be able to taste test them in the next week or so... stay tuned!

It's too bad that my pickle connoisseur friend Greg isn't here to help judge.

Fish On!!

This past week has included tons of driving, lots of casts and a few Advil-- but it sure has been worth it! My buddy Matt invited me down to float the Kenai and fish at his parent's house.  I was hesitant to go at first because the last time I fished with Matt, we almost got eaten by bears.. but I decided to go anyway.

The first day, Matt took myself and two of his friends, Chuck and his wife Andy, down the Kenai in a boat (rowed by Matt).  We stopped to fish unsuccessfully a few times but the views and wildlife kept us intrigued.

Then we got back to the house to enjoy more fishing and a few catches.
The house backs up to the blue water of the Kenai River with a large patio area, fire pit and gazebo for shade.  The place was filled with people from California to Virginia who were enjoying this epic summer we're having here in Alaska.  I left with a cooler full of fish and a great experience under my belt.

Fast forward three days and my brother and I decide to try our luck at fishing.  Matt said to come on down and did!  We made the 2.75 hour drive in about 3 hours because of the ridiculous amount of traffic, but showed up to a beautiful day on the river.  We didn't catch much (Mike=2, Beth=0) but my time was spent making dinner and soaking up the sun.  The drive home was a horrible way to end an amazing week of fishing- cars backed up 2 hours south of Anchorage going 5-10mph almost the whole way home.  Add in being tired and having drank too much water and it was not a pleasant drive home!  

Either way, totally worth it.

Our Last Hurrah.

It's been 4 years since Greg and I first camped together, and now after several amazing trips our journey together in Alaska is over.  He is heading to Denver, leaving me with no camping partner. Here's a look back at 4 amazing years:

Greg attempting to cross a river along the Denali Hwy. It was freezing cold; we didn't make it across.

Greg on Byron Glacier

Portage Glacier hike

Gull Rock.  The best camping spot EVER!

Halloween. We were Vigilantes from, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

Greg, Jeff & I on our way to McCarthy

Pirate Party @ Darwins with the crew.

 

Spring hike @ Hatcher's Pass

I sure am going to miss that guy.  I guess I'm going to have to find another camping/hiking/biking/backpacking partner soon or I might go through withdrawals.  OR I just might have to make my way down to Colorado and continue where we left off here.  :)

House of Broads

My household is all females so I was thinking of witty titles for this post and came up with House of Broads.  The thing is, being deemed a broad isn’t so flattering.

Urban Dictionary defines the word broad in several ways:

1)    Word for a woman. Less respectable than lady but much more respectable than bitch.

2)    A term originated in the 1930's meaning woman; derived from the fact that the most defining characteristic of all females are their hips, which are proportionally wider than the hips of their male counterparts.

3)    A woman who is very difficult to respect. Usually wears very tacky clothing (fake fur, sequence dresses...etc) and reaks of cheap perfume. Widely known for being easy in the sack.

As I pondered each of these definitions I think I could easily fit into all 3. Let me explain:

1)    I am a woman.  I would definitively say I’m in the middle of being a lady and a bitch.  I can lean one way or the other depending on the situation, but generally I’m in the middle.

2)    I do have hips; of which are probably wider than most men’s. I wouldn’t really know though because I’ve never actually thought about it or measured it.

3)    I wouldn’t say I’m difficult to respect.  There are times that I wouldn’t respect me.. ie: any soccer or softball game where the ump/ref makes a bad call.  I may get a little vocal. Although in my own defense, I’ve gotten MUCH better and haven’t been 86’d from a game in years.  I suppose I can be known to wear tacky clothes.  I sit here typing this in shorts with paint splatters all over them, and a tank top that has something that resembles chicken poop on it.  Side note: my perfume is not cheap and I will not even mention whether or not I’m easy in the sack.   Define easy.. wait, just kidding. 

ANYWAY, I digress..   This whole post was to introduce you to the new additions to my brood so here they are!

 

Blanche- Friendliest of the bunch,  always willing to come say hello.

Sophia- Friendly, but likes her space.

Dorothy- Very independent and likes to do her own thing.

Rose- The baby of the family at 2/12 months old.

Stan the Rooster- He isn't mine, but he sure comes over a lot!

I sure am enjoying these gals (Stan not-so-much) and love going out and getting the eggs every day.  They usually lay late in the morning, and I am getting 2-3 eggs per day which is plenty!! 

Epic Summer? I think so!

It isn't often I can wander around barefooted in my yard and be in fear of getting a sun burn.  But I can now, and I did! Although it took it's sweet time to get here, summer has been amazing so far, and not just the weather either!  I've endeavored to be a green thumb in the past and it hasn't worked out so well, so this summer, it's ON! 

I live in the heart of midtown in a tiny cabin with a nice big yard. My garden plot is underlaid with tree roots which has prohibited me to garden there in the past; but not this year!  With shovel and axe in hand, I took to tearing up the plot.  After digging out an area of about 3' x 5' I determined that was plenty big to plant my potatoes.  In all actuality, my back was killing me, my feet will never be clean again, and my karma is not looking good after all the earth worm and tree sapling killing I did. 

Here are a few pictures of my mad gardening skills in action. Don't forget, you can click on them to enlarge them.  

Front of the house has: chamomile, lavender, basil, radishes

My radishes are growing like crazy. Oddly enough, I'm not a huge fan.

Sorry it's sideways! My green onions, chives and garlic are doing great!

Growing lots of beets for pickling!

Brussel sprouts, tomatoes, and zuchinni. I am most excited about the 

brussel sprouts!

Zinnia, catnip and some pots with something in it. I can't remember!

In the foreground (blue box), carrots, and peas. Orange pots have herbs.

 

 Long raised bed has pickling cucumbers. Ugly piece of white picket fence has beans in front of it.   My HUGE garden has potatoes, beets, and more cucumbers.

and lots of rhubarb.  Pie, pie, me oh my!

 Ok, let's cut to it. The garden is great and all, but what is even BETTER is that I am going to be getting some chickens.. this Sunday hopefully!  With the help of a friend I built a coop and it's ready to be inhabited by some chickens!  I cannot wait to collect eggs every day!

Seriously.. I can't wait!!

Call of the Wild

Yesterday was the 20th Anniversary of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and to celebrate, they opened their gates to the public.... for FREE!  Having never been there (but always wanting to go),  I took advantage of the offer and headed down to see if it was worth the wait.

The first enclosure we encountered housed the musk ox.  I was excited to see the babies that were born in April but they were actually in a different enclosure.

Two black bears had recently been transferred to their new enclosure.  While one was quite visibly on edge pacing back and forth, her sister wasn't as easily annoyed and was napping instead.

I was also intrigued by the caribou and their not-so-massive-yet antlers.  I couldn't imagine carrying those things around on my head! 

 

But the best part of the day happened while we were gazing adoringly at the 'bou.  One of them, with it's head in an odd angle, was snoring.  Don't believe me? Watch this:

                                  

 

All in all, it was a fun experience (and free) and it was interesting to read the stories of how the animals came to be at the center (most were injured and are unable to return back to the wild).  These were just a few of the animals.  We also saw wood bison, lynx, the top of the head of a grizzly, an eagle, owl, and some deer. Much better seeing them there than in the wild! (with the exception of the birds.. and deer.. and maybe the musk ox). 

The not-so-majestic looking elk.

 

One of the baby musk ox.  He was size of a small pot-bellied pig.

When 35 Feels Like 70..degrees that is!

The weather has been phenomenal lately and I have taken time away from paper writing, house cleaning, and whatever other "important" things I have to do in order to get outside and enjoy every second of the blue skies and sunshine.

A few days ago Greg took the day off and we headed down the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm, with Portage as our destination.

Even though we've both lived here for over 6 years, we are still in awe of this beautiful drive.  Stopping to take the occasional shot, we leisurely drove the 50 miles to Begich Bog Visitor Center where we looked out over Portage Lake.

The snow was somewhat soft and knee deep in some areas but we made our way towards the glacier.  The sun was so hot that we both ended up taking off our jackets and we were still hot in our tee shirts.  At the end of the tree lined edge (in the distance), we took a break, pulled out some snacks, enjoyed the absolute silence and just enjoyed the beautiful day.  Because of the deep snow, and our lack of snowshoes, we never made it to the glacier... but I will be skiing out there before it's too late!
I can't say it gets any better than that.

To see more pictures of this adventure, and many others, 

please visit My Photo Blog