kitchen gymnastics

Someday, Krestia and I will buy some land out in the country somewhere. We'll build a little house. Among other things, that little house will have a kitchen designed just for me, where I will never have to do this to put away the dishes:

Ah well, I guess climbing on counters keeps me young. But still, it would be nice to be able to reach all the cupboards without having to climb.

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone...

I went to the farmer's market over my lunch break this past Wednesday (yes, one of the signs that I am a serious foodie) and saw, to my delight, local, fresh, organic strawberries for sale! I moved closer and saw the sign next to them: "organic strawberries, $7 per pint." Wow. Not even $7 per quart, $7 per pint. Domestic strawberries don't grow well in Alaska. They take lots of time and loving care to yield good berries, and even then the production isn't great. Thus the price. Longing for the taste of good strawberries, I bought one box, and they were delicious. But at about 50 cents per strawberry, I can't afford to do that very much. I'm savoring them like expensive chocolate--one little bit at a time.
Being a native western New Yorker, late June and early July are strawberry season to me. My parents always took us to a u-pick place nearby early in the morning, and for days afterwards we ate our fill in shortcake, sliced into our morning cereal and made into fresh strawberry pie. We made batches and batches of strawberry jam to give us a taste of the glorious fruit all through the winter. Such bounty! (Click here for my blog post last year during strawberry season.)
So yes, I'm going through produce withdrawal. I haven't acclimated yet to what's available here, it seems so scarce and so late. I'm sure I'll get used to it. But it's early still, I've only been here 5 months. I am making some good food discoveries. I bought some locally made goat cheese at the same stand as the strawberries at the market on Wednesday and its tangy, crumbly goodness makes me want to find out more about what else the goat dairy produces. The goat farm is just getting started in the business, check out an article about them here. I know that in August blueberry season starts, and many of the mountains outside of town offer the fruit on bushes all around as a sweet reward at the summit. But allow me a moment of sadness for my lost strawberry season. If you're in a place where local strawberries are widely available--please, pick and eat with abandon.

dinner for 10

Krestia and I hosted 8 people for dinner this past Thursday night. Four of my aunts were here for a week and a half on a vacation to Alaska. We had them over for dinner their last night here along with my cousin, his wife and their two kids. I've never served dinner to that many people. It was a lot of work but great fun. The menu:

Spinach salad with strawberries, spring onions, goat cheese and almonds with balsamic viniagrette
Roasted potatoes with rosemary
Salmon with breadcrumb, olive and sun-dried tomato crust (from epicurious). We made this with fresh Cook Inlet red salmon that I bought earlier the same day from New Sagaya Market.
2 bottles of pinot noir
Rustic pear tart (made by my husband, similar to one he made last year)

Here we are busily cooking together just after the aunts arrived. Note the matching aprons, a gift from my mother. :) (photo courtesy of my Aunt Joyce):



A few things I learned:
1. One more chair would have been nice so Krestia wouldn't have had to eat standing up. :)
2. I need a bigger oven and more baking pans if I'm going to try to bake salmon, potatoes and a pastry dessert at the same time. :) I should have had dessert made the day before but time constraints prevented that.
3. I should have looked harder for roasting potatoes. I used baking potatoes which fell apart with the high temperatures and frequent stirring while roasting. Still, they tasted good.

Now we are prepared for more dinner parties! Come on over, I'll cook up a good meal.