Report from the Klondike Highway in the Yukon

View on the Klondike Highway in the Yukon - Skagway Expedition to White Pass and then the Yukon.

It's was my first cruise, on the Holland America Line (HAL), M.S. Zuiderdam - 7 day inside passage to Alaska.  What a wonderful trip!  Other than a bump in the middle when I got sick, the 5 days up and running were great.  Lots to see and do even at sea.  Favorites include tai chi (qigong for detox was especially great), cooking class, movie, crow's nest, ipod art tour of the ship, the Juneau drive through/ Glacier Gardens and Mendenhall Glacier of the Tongass National Forest, Twisted Fish for dinner in Juneau, the Skagway to Emerald Lake and Yukon territory tour on the Klondike Highway, ambling on Creek Street in Ketchikan and the little museum of history there, brews from Alaska, shipboard dining, and all the walks all over the ship!

OK, we know cruise = food.  So for the religious foodies out there, not to disappoint!
I've brought back a couple of recipes and snagged some from various sources, so here goes:

My favorite tops the list:

• The Dungeness Crabcakes with the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce from the Pinnacle Grill on board
• Halibut Caddy Ganty from the onboard cooking class
• Chocolate and Raisin Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, also from the onboard cooking class
• The regular HAL Bread Pudding
• Creme Brulee
• People raved about the morning Muesli, though I stuck to smoked lox, poached eggs florentine, and omelettes.
• Good soups on board - Roasted Shallot and Butternut Squash Soup with Beet Crisps (I'd probably skip the beets steps for ease)

Mangia! Some photos from the week!

Emerald Lake, Klondike Highway, Yukon, Canada

Glacier Gardens, Juneau, AK

Dungeness Crabcake Appetizer at the Pinnacle Grill on board

3 Kinds of Creme Brulee at Pinnacle Grill on board

Baked Alaska before the flame

Baked Alaska being served

Baked Alaska delivered

Scarlet Magnificence - Not Since 1913: an August/September Story

More than 34 million sockeye salmon returned to the Fraser River this year, the highest number since 1913. The run gave the commercial fishery its first opening in four years, and provided native communities with the fish they had to forgo last year for ceremonial feasts. What did it mean for me...low cost salmon at the store!

A slideshow of the Adams River sockeye salmon run this past fall, pretty incredible!  Here's a CBC TV news story of the same thing.

BELLINGHAM - location, temperature, location

Bellingham, WA, 48°45′19.12″N 122°28′43.54″W / 48.7553111°N 122.4787611°W / 48.7553111; -122.4787611 (Bellingham City Hall) --> the northernmost city of more than 50,000 residents of the 48 contiguous states. Further north than all of Maine.

It is a misconception that Maine has the most northernmost point in the Lower 48. However, this is due to the type of map it is. A Lambert Equal-area conic projection, for example, appears to say that the western tip of Washington state is aligned with the northernmost tip of Maine. If you look at a cylindrical projection, you will see that the states bordering Canada west of the Great Lakes are well above the latitude that Maine sits on, and Minnesota has a small triangular tip at the border of Manitoba.

• Northwest Angle/Angle Township in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota 49°23′04″N 95°09′12″W / 49.384358°N 95.153314°W / 49.384358; -95.153314 (Northwest Angle) — northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states
• Sumas, Washington 49°00′09″N 122°15′06″W / 49.00249°N 122.25162°W / 49.00249; -122.25162 (Sumas, WA) — northernmost incorporated place in the 48 contiguous states (Because of a 19th century surveying inaccuracy, the international border lies slightly north of the 49th parallel here.)

Bellingham temperature range:
      Winter  32/51
      Spring  40/67
      Summer  48/71
      Fall  33/58
      Annual Precipitation  36.17"
      Annual Snowfall  8.60"

Monday, 27 Sept. 2010 - CNNMoney/Editors of Money Magazine say Bellingham is #5 of top-25 places to retire:

1. Durham, North Carolina
2. Hanover, New Hampshire
3. Lexington, Kentucky
4. Prescott, Arizona
5. Bellingham, WA

Thursday, 23 Sept. 2010 - National Geographic identifies Bellingham as an adventure town.

A May Visit from the Cousins AND Cooking for July 4th, 2010

Jeannie, Oh Canada Bear, Phyl

The Cousins Visit

Cooler weather this late June and early July.  Not jump in the lake weather until next week.  In the meantime, doing laundry, watching Wimbleton and World Cup.  And yes, Foodie again!

A few weeks back, at the end of May, I enjoyed a visit from cousins Phyllis and Jeannie from Ohio.  Weather could have been worse, but it was most often cold, and wet.  We did some fun things.  Upon their arrival, we drove into Seattle and ate at a Tom Douglas restaurant, Lola, because Phyllis had heard about the donuts on Food Network (Giada De Laurentis). Restaurant had nice middle eastern menu and atmosphere and we enjoyed salmon, lamb and pork kebabs with the honey-harissa sauce on the pork making it the winner. Donuts-first rate. And we caught the Chuckanaut Drive coming back into town... no matter what the weather, always a treat.

Donuts at Lola

On our Bellingham day, we caught the Chicken Tortilla soup at El Rinconcito which I've written about in another post, and walked Fairhaven, totally enjoying, as all the DeMarks would know, our visit to Village Books.  30-year old independent bookstore and here's some of the info on the bookstore's history.


Jeannie and I drove to up to Mount Baker until we could drive no longer...12 feet of snow that hadn't been cleared on the road, right before Ski to Sea on Memorial Weekend.  On our last day together in my home area, we drove to Langley, BC to Vista D'Oro Farms, that I've written about in another post, and we also visited with a friend of theirs for lunch at Bacchus Bistro at Domaine de Chamberton. On our way back to Sudden Valley, Christina hosted us for chocolate pecan pie and coffee - YUM. I'm sure my family enjoyed the Bay, the Lake, the mountains, the visit, if not the weather.  Such an unusual May!


Cooking for July 4th
For the 4th I decided to cook the kind of barbeque that would make me happy.  And so...the menu is

• pulled pork sandwiches with blueberry BBQ sauce and cole slaw
• side of bacon-corn stuffed peppers (cooked on grill) 
• dessert of either fruit (blueberries, peaches, green seedless grapes) or dark chocolate gelato

Details:
About 4 lbs of pork loin in crock pot, rubbed with salt and pepper, then  2 cans of root beer poured along the sides for the loin to cook in.  6 hours on low.  Remove pork and pull apart with fork...hence pulled pork.  I'm sure pork shoulder could be used too and be less expensive. (I actually didn't like cooking the pulled pork in the root beer, so there's probably other better crock pot recipes for this.)

Sorta like this-- blueberry BBQ sauce is actually dark blue.

BBQ sauce: Blueberry BBQ sauce was in the Bellingham Herald (and maybe your local paper too) with a grilled pork chop recipe! I'm including the recipe here:

Ingredients for the Sauce:

• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I actually a couple of cloves of garlic minced)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 TBS water or lemon juice

Directions:

1. Saute shallots and jalapeno in oil in a saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add blueberies, vinegar, brown sugar, Dijon, garlic powder, and salt; simmer until sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes.
2. Transfer mixture into a blender or food processor. Pulse until pureed. Return sauce to pan over medium heat. Stir in water; simmer sauce 1-2 minutes more, stirring often. Remove sauce from heat and it's ready for use. Brush on food for the grill, or I mixed it in with the pulled pork that I cooked.

Simple cole slaw recipe from food52 blog, Amanda and Merrill's blog, although I also favor the one on the Old Bay Seasonings can.  Side dish: Bacon-corn stuffed peppers from Taste of Home magazine online. Haggen's brand gelato from Italy, and fruit from grocers.

Beverage suggestions anyone?

Golfing Again

My adage was

I only play golf if someone else pays.

That worked when I was working in a corporation and I got to golf at Lake Arrowhead north of Atlanta, St. Simon's Island, GA, San Diego's Rancho Bernardo Inn, the signature Jack Nicklaus course at La Paloma in Tucson, the Shalishan Lodge in Gleneden Beach, OR, and more, all on the company's dime. Yes, we were doing company business surrounding these sojourns.

Now, thanks to the women at work and Shuksan Golf Club's Drinks and Divets Women's League, I'm out golfing again. This time on my dime, and I am enjoying it sooooo much. I love how women are so supportive of each other as we play. Nothing like it. And I think our games are getting better.