Skagway Alaska and a bit more Skiing

The Buckwheat is held at Log Cabin, but the after party is at Skagway.

More Buckwheat Weekend

Chris and I headed down to Skagway on Friday afternoon, a little later than we'd originally planned, but still in time to enjoy a wonderful ski out to the great wall of China 'aid station'.

But wait, there's more! This is definitely one of those a picutre is worth a thousand words kinda of deals....

And yes, there's more.

Buckwheat Weekend 2012

There's many more photos from our awesome weekend at Log Cabin, B.C. (part of the international Chilkoot Trail Park) and Skagway Alaska. For now, here's a pic of me at the finish line with my fairy wings flying - photo credit to Lawrence Purdy, a friend from work. Yes, I did the whole ski with those wings on. They didn't make me faster, but they certainly made me happy.

Grandma's Gift

Christopher has an honourary grandma who is a Citizen of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation and an elder of the Northern Tutchone peoples of the Yukon. She is also a member of the Raven clan. This past winter her home burned down to the ground, no one was hurt, but she lost everything. An fibre artist who lives in Dawson has designed a whole line of screen prints of Yukon subjects. One of the subjects she's depicted is the raven. I made a little wall quilt for Grandma May to give her some colour for the walls of her temporary home - a trailer.

Clean Driveway

One of our sometimes neighbours, Travis, came by today to clear the drive of his house with his little Kabota. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And, it was the topic if discussion on the street...

Secret Sauces: mayo

A few years ago my Mom stayed with us and discovered when she was making a sandwich that we were out of mayonnaise; so, she made some. Chris was making a sandwich a few days later and was amazed at the difference in taste of the home made mayonnaise to the store bought version. Some folks may find mayo hard to manage, but with Mom's no fail recipe and a blender you should have no trouble. I believe the recipe originally came with her Oster blender. This recipe makes just over a cup of mayo.
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Method: Put egg, seasonings, vinegar, lemon juice and 1/4cup of oil in blender. Blend for a few seconds. Remove feeder cap (the center part of the lid of the blender) and pour remaining oil in to the blender in a slow, steady stream.
Tips: use fresh eggs and lemon juice. Half way through adding the oil you'll notice the texture change along with a change in pitch of the blender's engine. You can substitute chili powder for the paprika and make chili mayo.

Secret Sauces: house marinade

A few years ago Chris and I did a wonderful cooking class in los Cabos Mexico at an organic farm Las Tamarindos. The guest Chef taught us some amazing and simple recipes including his 'house dressing'. It is incredibly simple and adds flavour to just about anything from animal to vegetable.If you can remember the words to a song, you can remember this recipe; parsley (Italian flat leaf), sage, rosemary & thyme; plus garlic, spring onions, salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. You can adjust the proportions to your taste, or based on what you have on hand to put in.

Silly Pet Photos

Being an Auntie

Despite being ill at a few weekends in a row including the quilting retreat, I did manage to finally finish a little fuzzy quilt for my new niece, Addison Wynter Langard.

Home sick

Chris and I have been suffering with some awful bugs lately. Rather than share this plague, we have quarantined ourselves. the dog has suffered a bit with few walks. The cats do approve of this working at home arrangement however.