Gobbla Gobble Tor-Key!

Bork Bork Bork!

Still working on my shucking

This has been a pretty big year for Kelly and I. She got a tenure track job, we got married, we renovated our living room, and then for good measure, we moved to Alaska. None of that really compares though to our first Thanksgiving together. Thanksgivings in Pennsylvania meant bouncing around between families and general craziness. This year though, we had the chance to make our own dinner and start some new traditions. Our first new tradition is watching the Muppets. Wednesday night we saw the new Muppet movie. It was absolutely phenomenal. There was an excellent balance of nostalgia and Muppet style humor. As excited as I was about the Muppets, I was that much more psyched to prepare our first Thanksgiving dinner. We planned a menu starting at lunch that included dilled creme fresh and smoked Alaskan salmon on crackers, steamed clams in white wine sauce, Alaskan Oysters, and fried herbed almonds. Served with Alaska barleywine.

Brining the turkey the night before

Roasted deliciousness

 

Halfway carved/halfway butchered

I should've eaten more.

After lunch, the afternoon flew by doing the rest of the prep. The turkey was joined by beet and sweet potato stacks, stuffing, cranberry-persimmon sauce, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. We both ate entirely too much. Fantastic! It was a big strange having such a quiet dinner and we both missed being around family, but for Thanksgiving on our own, I think we did an awesome job.

Bubbling Away

Every once in a while Anchorage gets serious about snow removal. That was the pile in the middle of our cul-de-sac

Sorry for the gaps in posts that seem to keep popping up. It's cold and dark almost all the time now (the sun is out for 6hrs everyday, but it's a half-hearted effort). Consequently, we haven't been doing much outside of working and watching tv. Last week, however, we had some of our new friends over for a home brewing session. Kelly and I were the only ones who had brewed before, leaving us to be the experts on the process. A scary proposition if you're familiar with my homebrew "success."

A Dunkel kit ready to go.

Sanitizing - the most boring, but most important step.

We got started once everyone arrived. There's not much that's exciting about the brewing process - it's just standing around watching the water boil. Most of the process involved drinking beer and sharing recommendations for places to eat and drink around Anchorage. We came up with quite a list, I should've written them down.

"I know I know the name of that place..."

Just finished steeping the grain

Once we finished steeping the grains, we added the malts and boiled for an hour. After the boil cooled the wort, pitched the yeast, and racked it to the fermenter. Two days after racking, our yeast really took off. Thanks in part to prior experience, I knew we could have foamy beer shoot out of the air lock on top of the fermenter. I took the precaution of covering it with a trash bag - good thing too. It foamed for almost two days. As long as I add the right amount of sugar when we bottle, we should have a pretty good brew. Stay tuned.

Grains after steeping. One of our friends made a nice loaf of spent grain bread

Swaddled the beer in the remnants of my Beaker costume to keep it warm.

...And What are you Supposed to Be?

It was a very nerdy Halloween

 Our first Halloween in Anchorage was one for the record books. Living in Narberth we never had many trick-or-treaters. Something about living on a poorly lit, dead end street made parents hesitant to come by. Not so in Anchorage. We had nearly 50 kids, which, when you consider it was dark at about 6pm and snowing, was a pretty good turnout. It was tough to tell what most of the kids were supposed to be - everyone was bundled up against the cold.  Even still, it was fun to answer the door in costume. Some of the kids got it, almost all of the parents did.

Maybe a muppet combo next year?

Our First Visitor Part II: This Time, It's Personal

One of two seafood dinners we cooked for my mom - dungeness Crabs

After returning from our day on the glacier and brief nature walk we stopped off at a local market for some halibut. Saturday was my parents 34th anniversary and I thought it'd be a good idea to make a nice dinner for my mom. I suppose I owe my dad a similarly delicious meal. I made the prosciutto wrapped halibut from one of my earlier posts. It was delicious again.

Sunday morning my mom and I got up early to head over to Eddie's Sports bar to watch the Eagles. Thankfully the Eagles won last week and we left the bar in good spirits. The weather, on the other hand, was quite grumpy. It was cold and raining. We hung around the house for the rest of the day until it was time for dinner. We were invited to dinner with the same couple who cooked us our first Alaska Salmon. Dinner this time was a wonderful Russian lamb dish.

My mom with Flattop in the background. It was a little cold.

Kelly had to teach on Monday, so my mom and I set off on our own. I wanted to take her up to Flattop mountain so that we could walk around the Anchorage overlook trail. It's a short little walk that offers a great view of the city. Once again, however, the weather impeded our plans. On our way up the mountain we passed through the clouds and into the sunshine. Unfortunately the city was still under cloud cover. The view was still pretty awesome. We even saw some snow flurries.

You're supposed to be able to see Anchorage on the left side of the picture.

Once Kelly was done working we took a little drive down the Turnagain Arm. We were hoping to see some whales, moose, or other wildlife, but we were denied once again. That's okay though it's a nice drive. We finished up my mom's visit Monday evening with some delicious dungeness crabs. It was a great visit and I'm looking forward to see my family over Christmas. I think we're getting the hang of playing host.

Our First Visitor

At the end of the Lightspeed Trail - Pluto!

My mom came to visit last week. She landed at Uncle Ted's airport on the 18th and set out right away to see the sights. We took her around to the coastal trail in hopes we'd get a glimpse of Denali, sadly my mom brought clouds and rain with her and the mountains were hiding. We then went over to Kincaid Park in hopes of seeing a moose. This time, Kelly and my natural ability to repel wildlife struck. No moose. We did see Pluto though.

Friday my Mom and I did the tourist thing in downtown Anchorage. We did a bit of shopping, drove around the city and had some reindeer sausage. We picked Kelly up after school and had a delicious pizza lunch at the Moose's Tooth.

The view driving up the Glenn highway.

Saturday morning got up early and hit the road, heading north, toward Palmer and then to the Matanuska Glacier. We planned on stopping at Musk Ox farm on the way, but it was closed for the season. We enjoyed a beautiful two hour ride up the Glenn highway to the glacier. 

Scenic overlook. This is as close as a real road gets to the glacier.

The road bends very close to the glacier. Just a short trip off the highway, down a gravel road on the edge of a cliff, is a pay station. After paying, we drove down another 3 mile gravel "road" full of ruts, divots, giant potholes and moose droppings. The drive was well worth it. When we pulled off the road, we were less than a mile from the glacier.

Panorama of the glacier. My mom and Kelly kept moving making it look like there are 4 of them.

Mmmm, glacial mud.

The walk was easy, but muddy. It was really thick, glacier mud. The kind that sucks your shoe right off if you aren't careful, as Kelly almost found out. Thankfully, there were some heavy duty pathways set out to keep us and our footwear together. Once out on the glacier we were careful not to venture too far from the end of the trail. We only had sneakers and were not equipped for walking on ice. That didn't stop a group of guys who came down the trail after us. All of them fell more than once. We hung out on the glacier for a while and then decided to head for home. Thankfully, the steep road we came down was not too much for the Yaris and we made it back to the highway.

We stopped off at the Eagle River Nature Center on the way home, in hopes of spotting some salmon and maybe a bear. We saw a few salmon, but no bears. We even managed to spot a moose on our way there, the only one of my mom's trip. It's just not Alaska without a moose. Too bad we didn't get a picture of one.

Me and my mom hanging out on the Eagle River.

That only covers about half of the trip. More to come. Maybe tomorrow?

Cold & Flu Season

Our adventures have been rather lame of late. First I got sick, then because I love to share, Kelly got sick. It's put a bit of a damper on our outdoor activities. We planned on hiking last weekend, but opted for something even more fun - shopping. My mom is coming to visit in a couple days and we thought it might be nice for the guest bedroom to have such luxuries as curtains and bed sheets. We have quite a few Alaskan activities planned for my mom, so stay tuned.

Beware of Bears and Babies

I really don't know.

We originally planned on hiking the Albert Loop Trail in Eagle River yesterday, but had to change our plans once we found out it was closed due to bears. Another 10 miles up the road from Eagle River is the Thunderbird Falls Trail, an easy 2 mile walk out and back. The view of the falls from the observation deck was pretty awesome, but the view from the base of the falls was even better.

From the observation deck.

We couldn't get close enough to the base of the falls without wading through the water to get a good picture. If we had actually bothered to get proper footwear, we would have. Unfortunately, you'll have to settle for this view.

Walking back up the trail towards the parking lot we spotted the baby in the tree. Alaska is a weird state sometimes. On the way home, we decided to stop off at the Eagle River Nature Center to see if there was another trail we could hike with the Albert Loop closed.

We decided to take the Rodak trail with the hopes we could see some salmon in the water and maybe some beavers. We didn't see any beavers. Sometimes, I think Alaskan wildlife is keeping it's distance from us. I guess, in the case of bears, that's probably a good thing. The walk on the Rodak trail follows a bit of the Eagle River. The views in the river valley were spectactular.

The first mountain snows appeared last week

Finally saw some wild salmon!

Taking a Hike

This is Flattop. Took 1.5hrs to get up.

Yesterday we decided to hike Flattop Mountain. Everyone told us it's a great, easy, day hike. It's the most popular hike in Anchorage, due it's close proximity to the city and fantastic views. On a typical summer day the trail is packed with tourists. We figured since cruise season is almost over, there wouldn't be too many people out and about. It wasn't packed, but we had to wait a while in the parking lot to find a spot.

We took our time.

This was about halfway up.

The trail starts at 2000' and features a 1500' elevation change to finish at a cool 3500', and a walk of 3.1 miles out and back. The hiking book Abby and Brent gave us listed the hike as moderate to difficult, harder at the end when the hike changes from following a trail to scrambling up the mountain. Turns out the book was right. A mile into the trail the going gets rough. The trail essentially disappears into the side of the mountain, leaving us to pick and climb our way up the rocks.

The final climb only took about 20 minutes and was probably the most fun segment. I don't think I'll ever outgrow playing on the rocks. The views from the top were unbelievable.

Looking down towards the Turnagain Arm

This marks the top of the mountain

It was an awesome hike. Probably not the best one to start out with, especially since we're both out of shape, but definitely worth it. Next week we'll hike again, but something much flatter. Hopefully next week we'll see some wildlife when we hike the Albert Loop Trail.

To you it was a great view...

1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

As you may know, Alaska has a certain affinity for seafood. We've been trying to eat more of the ocean's bounty since we've been here (it hasn't been all that difficult). Nearly all the grocery stores and smaller markets have a great seafood selection. A few places even offer live shellfish - I'll be getting an oyster knife very soon. We've had two standout seafood dishes so far, one cooked for us, one I cooked. The first, and our first Alaskan Salmon was a fantastic dinner cooked by a member of the provost office (a formerly retired historian) and his wife (a retired archivist). They made us Green Shawarma Salmon. It was perfectly cooked and delicious. Our hosts insisted on seconds; I felt rude asking for a third helping and held off until dessert.

Last week we bought some Halibut fillets. I put a few sage leaves on each fillet and wrapped them with prosciutto to bake. I melted a unhealthy amount of butter, fried some sage leaves, and covered each fillet with the butter-sage sauce. De-lic-ous. Next up - deadliest catch.

 

In Brett we Trust

Not sure if I missed the memo and I'm playing catch up or if I'm on the cutting edge (I guess the former) but it seems everyone is adding Brettanomyces to their beer these days. Russian River has been doing it for years, with delicious results. The fairly new, and a bit obscure Anchorage Brewing Company seems to be making a name for themselves doing the same. Their limited release  Bitter Monk 2IPA is fermented a second time in french oak chardonnay barrels and then bottled, where it is fermented a third time. The beer weighs in at a surprisingly mellow 100 ibu's nicely balanced out by the brett. The 9% abv is also a surprise in a beer with such a light mouth feel. The Bitter Monk is grape-fruity up front, with a sour finish, topped off with a nice bitter note from the 4 varieties of hops used.  If Anchorage Brewing ever starts running tours I plan on checking it out. If not, I plan on continuing to buy their beer.

Mile 0

Last weekend we hit the road and headed south for Seward. After beautiful 2.5hr drive down the Seward Highway, through Chugach State Park and onto the Kenai Peninsula, we arrived in Seward.

The rain let up long enough to see this rainbow along the Seward Highway

Sadly, it was pouring rain almost all day, limiting what we were able to do. We didn't see much of the Pacific, or glimpse Mt. Marathon, or see the day's catches down at the docks. We did, however, find the original starting point of the Iditarod. The annual race now begins in Anchorage and runs a much shorter 1112 miles. Kelly and I tackled about 1.5 miles of the course last weekend. Stay tuned as we rack up the rest of trip.

Blast off!

Kelly and I found Jupiter yesterday! We were out for an ordinary walk along the Tony Knowles Costal Trail and as we rounded a corner, we came face to face with the gas giant. We noticed that Jupiter seemed a bit small. After closer inspection we realized we were following the Anchorage Lightspeed Planet Walk. Starting at the Sun in downtown Anchorage it is a 5.5hr walk to Pluto. From the start, it takes as much time to get to each planet as the light from the Sun does. One of these days we'll start at the Sun and begin our journey through the solar system. We might bring out bikes to up the speed to warp 5.

The House of the Midnight Sun

On Thursday, Kelly and I headed down to Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Southern Anchorage to start checking out the local beer scene. Midnight Sun offers free tours on Thursdays, and growler fills starting at $9. We had dinner and some 6oz taster pours before the tour. With beer names like Kodiak Brown Ale, Sockeye Red IPA,  Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter and Panty Peeler Tripel, We knew we were going to enjoy our outing. The food was decent and the beers were delicious. We especially enjoyed the special release Black Light Cream Ale and the Pride - a beer with Brettanomyces yeast added to sour the beer - one of our favorite styles. I got my $9 growler of Black Light and we waited for the tour to start.

Kelly enjoying Pride

About to sample some Sockeye Red

Our tour guide gave us samples of unfinished beer. We got to try Kyoto, which is part of a limited release series designed to incorporate brewing styles and ingredients from all over the world. Kyoto is brewed with rice and seaweed. Unlike those corporate brews, the rice actually added a nice nutty flavor to the beer. The seaweed wasn't very present aside from making the beer super clear.

You can guess where the beer comes out

The current location for Midnight Sun is their second. They used to share a building with Knight's Taxidermy, the shop featured on Mounted in Alaska. As a parting gift, Knights made Midnight Sun an Alaskan Tap Handle.

Unpacking

Easily my least favorite part of moving is unloading and unpacking all of the boxes. We had been at our new house all over 2hrs before the moving company dropped off our trailer. Our stuff had been in Anchorage for about a week. It had been almost 3 weeks since we had seen it. Kelly and I were both very anxious to see how our belongings fared during the long move. Once we opened the trailer, we were relieved to see that the boxes were still stacked much the same way they were when we left. Some slight listing, and a few smushed boxes were the only evidence the trailer had moved at all.

End of Day 1

It's gotten smaller, I swear.

5 days in and we're almost done. The kitchen, bedroom, and dining room are unpacked (it's really easy to set up a dining room when you don't have a table.) We need to get a couch for the living room and some book cases to set up the office, but for the most part, we're done. Next up: Our first Alaskan Salmon.