Quarantine Korean Cooking

One of the last days we were able to checkout brooks from Seattle Public Libraries, Brooks and I visited and I went immediately to the cookbook aisle.  I grabbed two books on Korean cooking, one I'd read before ("Koreatown") and one new one, "Seoul Food".

I checked out "Koreatown" from Juneau Public Library before we sold the house and moved into 1-bedroom rental

While Brooks was out of town skiing at Crystal, I stayed home and reviewed the cookbook while chowing down on bbqd raddicio, something I knew Brooks wouldn't love as much as I would:

New recipe to eat while I search for new recipes to cook... and a little NPR spotify playlist

Once Brooks returned, the Korean cooking commenced! A lot of these recipes call for 1 day for marinade flavors to meld and then two days with the meat in the marinade.  We also had to take a trip to Uwajimaya for some traditional flavors! I went in with gloves and face mask and when I returned, Brooks met me with hand-sani and Clorox wipes to wipe it all down with. (Those of you feminist friends out there, before you get irritated that I went in and Brooks didn't go with me, let me just remind you how much LESS you purchase when you don't have your man tossing bags of candy in the cart AND how much faster shopping is...)

Notice the gloved hand--needed Brooks' approval before purchasing his rice topping

Brooks loves his Tamaki Gold rice and because rice is flying off the shelves lately, all they had was a 50# bag... check out our pantry!

That's what a 50# bag of rice looks like, friends, just like a bag 50# bag of dog food...

We started with tried-and-true Bulgogi.  We made this before in Juneau when I checked out this book.  This time we used an elk flank (pretty sure we used Elk brisket in Juneau because I remember not liking the chewiness of it... yes, I'm particular).

We're out of bbq gas, so we used the inside grill-mark pan and sauteed some bok choy
Brooks is the grillmaster!

Dinner!

Koreatown recipe for Bulgogi

Hank Shaw's Buck, Buck, Moose also has a Bulgogi recipe that's delish as well as a Korean BBQ sauce on his website.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention him as his cookbook really opened the world of cooking red meat for me.

Then we moved on to Kalbi.  First, we made the marinade.  Then we did the meatball recipe as it took fewer days to marinate.

Koreatown Recipe for Kalbi meatballs.  Unfortunately, we did not get photos of our plates or the cooking process... like I said, only my selfie camera is working so I'm relying lately on Brooks for all my photos.

Then we moved on to Kalbi meat.  Now, this is usually served with ribs, but we don't do ribs, ask Brooks why--funny story, well, several of them.  So, we again used flank.  Much sweeter marinade (lots of fruit: Pineapple, pears, and apples, oh my!) than bulgogi.

Koreatown's Kalbi recipe

Kalbi! Yum! We did lettuce wraps for everything!

It's been a fun adventure! Last night we did two recipes from Cook's Illustrated from the magazine that came in the mail.  Brooks came in as sous chef just at the crux! We made Salade Lyonnaise and Banh Xeo, aka Sizzling Vietnamese Crepes.  No portk or shrimp in our crepes; I substituted mushrooms we had in the fridge that needed to be eaten.  Not quite Korean, but Italian & Vietnamese so we're still traveling with our culinary destinations.

What have you been cooking?

Valkyr Week! February 2020

Heli into Valkyr Lodge, photo by Jacob

Brooks organized a week at Valkyr Lodge with 10 friends from Juneau this past February and we had an amazing time!  Last year, friends Meredith & Jason organized a week at Meadow Lodge, which wetted our interest in these activities. Last year we had a great time with each couple serving a dinner and a breakfast to the group, a wet sauna, and a maintenance man to keep it all going in the dry cabin sans electricity.

Some ladies stuff bras with TP, I stuff my jacket with skins. Photo by Yvonne

THIS YEAR, we got spoiled.  First, we had a cook who catered all our meals and our group's many dietary restrictions: Rory.  She was a 50+ blue-collar spitfire! On day 1 she gave us our two touring group radio handles: Twat Waddles & the Douche Canoes.  Amazing.  She cooked up storms of food every breakfast, apre ski, dinners, and desserts every night!  We packed cold lunches, but she put out an amazing spread, including the best brownies on the planet.  Best. Brownies.  They were so rich, one brownie would last you all day.  She even gave me the recipe because I continually complimented her on her brownies!

The cabin, photo by Kevin

The sunset sauna, photo by Brooks

In addition to a cook, we had another great maintenance man: Reagan.   A very nice young man.  We also had ELECTRICITY and RUNNING WATER! That meant we had showers, sinks, and toilets! No pee hole in the snow for us this year (which translated into no pee birds... sorry trade-off).  Our sauna was a dry sauna, unfortunately, but it was still incredible to get hot, hot, hot!   Yvonne even talked me into jumping in the snow once we got overly hot.  Yvonne is a lot of fun.

The weather was amazing! It snowed enough on days 1 & 2 that it filled in previous group's tracks and then we had bluebird skies up until we left!

Brian's photo.  Amazing weather!

Twat Waddles:

From left: Jacob "Tomahawk," Sarah, Matt "Rat Patterson," Jordan, Brian. Photo by Brooks

Douche Canoes

From Left: Kevin "Heli Teli," Brett, Jeannette "J-net," Lindsey, Yvonne, Brooks

The Ladies of Douche Canoe on the ridge. Photo by Brooks

Brian captured our ski lines down Namaulten from inside the cabin

Yas injured her knee on day 2, but was a champ in the lodge the rest of the week. Photo by Kevin

Sarah captured an amazing photo

Plenty of skiing and plenty of falling. Photo by Brooks

Some falls were on purpose. Photo by Yvonne

Brooks captured one of my descents.

These BCA Links are worth their weight in gold in backcountry skiing. Everyone needs one.

Livin' large! Photo by Brett

Whooosshhhhhhh! Photo by Brooks

Is this what prom king & queens feel like? Photo by Sarah

The crew! Photo by Reagan

Brooks on the skin track. Photo by Kevin

Goodbye, Valkyr! Photo by Sarah

Exit through the gift shop! 

Birding 101

Upon return from Valkyr, Brooks and I attended Seattle Audubon's Birding 101 class.  It was a lot of fun nerding out on birds for a few nights that week! This past fall, Brooks and I took the new scope down to Seward Park to do some waterfowl scoping. We also put up a hummingbird feeder and have been watching Anna's Hummingbirds come to feed and have identified their calls. Pretty fun new hobby we're dabbling in!

We learned about birding resources: books, online tools, apps, courses, Master Birder classes, and more:

WA State Bird Festivals
Sept/October
April

Identification Books:
Sibley

Online Tools
eBird app
eBird online
Sibley app

Some birds I'm identifying & learning about:

American Coot


American Wigeon


Common Merganser (only saw the male; I could have identified the female)


Red-winged blackbird



Anna's Hummingbird

New Ski Boots

My first pair of ski boots five seasons ago were hand-me-downs of Greg.  The Kodiak community is a big family; I mentioned to a few people I was looking for a backcountry setup and immediately Lisa and Greg came to my rescue.  Greg wanted to get rid of the used boots and Lisa was looking to sell her lightly used backcountry setup that was too large/long for her.  I had dynafit boots, a Volkl Nanuq set up with dynafit bindings and I was ready to go! (Lisa even picked up the one helmet at the thrift store she could put her hands on and lent me her ski bag so I could take my skis to Juneau for an upcoming weekend trip to visit Brooks back in our Kodiak-Juneau long-distance days.

The skis are still rocking but the boots have lived a long and great life.  It is difficult to get them to not slip out of the front latch of the binding due to the cavity on the boot being worn down over time.

I did some looking around online and a quick text volley with Ben sent me to ProSki Seattle for a boot fitting.  While my initial boot fitting sent me home with ill-fitting boots, their commitment to their customers that brought me there initially, ensured that when I returned with said boots, the owner of the shop sat with me for an hour trying on boots, talking about boot fit, in-bound vs. out-of-bound boot fit, widths of boots, volume of boots, different latching styles of boots, and more! 

The Dynafit Hojis I really, really wanted, but even in a size larger, my feet were not happy...

I walked away with the Dynafit TLT 8 Expedition CR W and  I LOVE these new boots!  Other than those few minutes of walking around in those too-tight boots I purchased for a week, I have NEVER had hurting fit in ski boots.  Ever.  (Knock on wood!) 

TLT 8 Expedition  CR W

As we make our plan to dash to Crystal Mountain Resort for December 24th and 25th and the following week backcountry skiing Roger's Pass and Revelstoke, I will see how these boots feel in action rather than just while I cook dinner.

Hunting Reflection 2019

As my fifth hunting season has come to a close, and I begin to reflect on another season of harvesting from the land, I know others' hunting seasons continue: Brooks leaves this weekend for the annual elk hunt on Afognak with his friends and Robbins in Montana continues to stalk elk with her bow.

Since my reflection last year, I can add one caribou, one mountain goat, and one Sitka blacktail deer, bringing my total nine animals in my short hunting career.

As the weather turns foul and we await ski season, I find myself staying in and cooking a variety of dishes with our meat and dreaming about all the quilts I want to make with fabrics as delicious as the meals we share.

August 2019: Kodiak Adventures!

In February, 2019, I pulled a North Road System Mt. Goat tag, which opened on August 20.  This determined my August: I would need to wait to punch my deer tags the same week I was trying to punch my goat tag... but then my family decided that since Brooks and I would be in Kodiak, they would also come up!  We went into the week knowing we were booked for great activities, but we had no idea how amazing the week would turn out!

We arrived on a beautiful Saturday morning.  Nearly all of Kodiak's summer has been amazing in Kodiak standards with a lack of rain and a plethora of sunshine!  We gathered final supplies and deer tags, and headed out early Sunday morning to be hunting by daylight.

Crossing the stream by headlamp

Brooks and a doe in a stare-down

We peeked over this ridge, saw our buck, and did a really, really fun stalk.  One bullet and down!

3x3

Butchered and packed up; ready to hike out!

Meat on our backs!

Luckily, Mom was still in Anacortes!

Chopping broccolli....

There was a LOT of fat on this deer! He was nearly ready for winter!

Two days later, we headed out to camp prior to the opening of goat season!

These minibugs came out of nowhere and covered us from head-to-toe!

After a very fun stalk early the next morning, we had our guy! A three-year-old.  Tag punched at 7:30 am!

Not much left on that carcass!

Cleaning the hide

Heading out!

Talking to a goat

Brooks leading us back to the truck

Hiking up a STEEP section when the bill of your hat hits the fun in front and the backpack behind if you flip it, so it must be worn sideways... 

We made it home and cleaned up the goat AND the house before Mom, Dad, Molly & Fam, and Kel & Payton descended on the house!  But we had time (and weather!) to squeeze in one more camping trip before we had to head back to the city, so we went for it!

"He said the trail was right around here..."

"It's gotta be around here somewhere..."

"This might be it..."

"This definitely not the trail..."

"There's no trail around here anywhere..."

"F*#&!"

 Brooks led us up a brutal semi-to-no-trail through the salmonberry canes, pushkie, and devil's club.  It was a physically and mentally exhausting excursion.  We easily made camp to watch deer feed in the sunset.

The next morning we headed up the ridge to watch more deer in a larger bowl.

Eventually, we had to make our way down for Mom's margarita party that night!

We took a different trail down and Dad came to rescue us and ferry us back to the truck... he was impressed by Brooks' battle scratches!

Back home, Mom put Brooks in charge of the lime-marinaded fajita meat.

Party to celebrate baby sister's upcoming nuptials!

Seesters!

Cassidy Women

Girls and Guys

Plus the boys!

Carrie stopped by!

And then we had to head home... no one was happy about it.

Another amazing trip home to Kodiak!  My family is the best! And Brooks is an amazing hunting partner, guide, and sherpa!