thanksgiving - fairbanks style

we had the best polish (dea's kapusta)/mexican (stacia's chilli rellenos - i swear the best i've ever had)/alaskan (fresh caribou and low bush cranberry chutney) thanksgiving. no turkey, but tim did wrestle down a wild boar for us. and Martin topped it all off with these to die for deserts... no wonder i love this gang! more photos on dea's blog...

the best of eat local...

tuesday afternoon to thursday afternoon...seared caribou with carmalized rosemary shallots (pronounced chalets).
i also made a cranberry chutney that was pretty daen good too, with berries picked in standard creek in august.

Brooks range in November

I went on a crazy trip last weekend with a friend from anchorage,alex. We drove up to Atigun Pass for him to hunt Caribou with his bow. It can be crazy up there this time of year (crazy meaning 50 below windchill) but we were incredibly lucky and had a great trip. We set up the tent on the side of a mountain the first night - it was cold but incredibly clear with dim aurora - it was so ridiculously beautiful that first night. The next morning we saw our first group of caribou as we were taking down the tent, but still it would be a few days before we got close enough for alex to shoot. It was indeed cold - one day it was cold enough that I couldn't get either of our stoves to start, and a gasket on a propane canister must have cracked so when i went to start this little propane heater we had it almost blew up, yeah kinda scarry. i think i told alex on day 2 the trip had already exceeded my expectations by 97%, it was a great trip and we made it back just in time for thanksgiving...

the hunt

Pam Houston (great author, i met her in Juneau last year. Read Sighthound - her most recent book) describes it way better than i can. She writes, "hunting is a work of art, a feat of imagination, a flight of spirit, and a test of endless patience and skill." 20 below, a 70 yard shot with his bow... it was definitely impressive. look closely at this photo - can you see the bou? alex shot one from this group.

butchering

Fortunately I have good friends that were happy to come over and help butcher. Kumi spent a lot of time with reindeer herders in Nome as part of her graduate research so it was great to have her expertise. and Tim has chopped up a few moose in his time and is very meticulous with his meat, good one to learn from. THANKS you guys!

old friends in town

Fun and crazy weekend with Shiway and Ellie both back in town. We had a little baby shower for Ellie yesterday - she's due in little over a month - yikes! Some pics... Shi holding all the home-made baby hats
Owen, the host and ham of the party...
Cletus the fetus obviously has their mom's soccer genes, quite the kicker...
The michelin sisters - Brooke and Shi - going home for the night. We all look like this these days, 20 below here most of the weekend... 

6 min 42 sec

of daylight lost today. i'm in my november cocoon, the daylight thing always kicks my ass this time of year. but got sunset and moonrise on my sunday afternoon run on the trails behind the cabin...
 
  

i'm begging you...

please vote next week!!

ok that's the extent of any political statements on this blog. but i just got hopeful reading the latest of my now almost daily emails from al gore. looks like there are really close races in NH (i wish spence could vote! just a few more years...) and CO among other places. here at home, the polls are really close in the governor race so i'll disown any friends of mine that don't vote - no field work, no cars that don't start - no excuses!!