the sweet toothed bear

             I had a bit of trouble waking up this morning. I went to bed early or on time, it always depends on the trend of bed times from nights previous. So last night I went to bed early, around 10:30. Every time my alarm would go off I would hit the snooze and go back to sleep, telling myself it was an alarm for something or someone else. Considering my bosses were still out of town I gave myself an extra twenty minutes to arrive to work. The first stage of breakfast, for the crew, would be leftover coffee cake and doughnuts that I had made the day before. 
When I finally left the GQ (girls quarters) and headed up the road towards the dining hall I noticed a crumpled pile of something black in the middle of the road. Had I unknowingly dropped my sweatshirt on my walk home I asked myself, thinking that would have been quite stupid had I not noticed. I then thought maybe something had fallen out of someone's car. When I got close enough I saw that it was a pile of bear crap. Three months ago I would not have been able to tell the difference between horse crap and bear crap, Now I know, bears leave massive dungs that are black as a cast iron. I also now know that when a bear leaves his crap behind the bear was eating. I immediately scanned the properties seeing if I noticed any trash cans knocked over. Nothing. I looked at the windows where one bear had broken into a month earlier. Nothing. I was put to ease then and walked the rest of the way to the kitchen. 
As I opened the screened door I noticed that the trash can INSIDE had been knocked over. We always leave the last batch of trash inside so the bears won't get to it and here this bear was wandering all over my kitchen! It opened the cookie jar and ate all of the cookies, managed to open a tupperware container holding fresh picked raspberry scones, the left over birthday cake was now just an empty plate with it's saran wrap covering neatly placed to the side. My heart was pacing wondering if this bear was still in the building. I walked around assessing the damage. A trail of powdered sugar led into the dining room, where the remaining bag had been left behind and TWO trails of foot prints led out two sets of windows, where the screens now lay on the outside. I walked around the porch that lines the dining room some more trying to figure out how they could have gotten in. A few windows down there was another broken screen and claw marks going through the curtains. A failed attempted it looked like. Two more windows down the screen had been pulled out and the curtains completely torn down, here was where they made their entrance. 
What amazes me is the polite manner in which these two bears handled eating all of my baked goods. Aside from the trail of powdered sugar and knocked over trash there were hardly any crumbs. Ate the cookies, scones, doughnuts, coffee cake, some biscuits and some left over cake and by simply opening the lids on the containers and helping themselves. 
They seemed to have trouble with the peanut butter jar though.

Faux- Jitas

Ah, one night when I made fajitas for the crew one crew member, Lindsay came to me and said, "you should make a hamburger but with fajita toppings."  Our conversation progressed and had many tangents, eventually ending with me promising her that when I opened my restaurant on the menu would be "Lindsay's Faux-Jitas".  Today I had lots of ground beef on hand and decided it would be the right time to try this recipe out.  I decided to take it one step farther and instead of just making a hamburger with fajita like toppings I was gonna put the fajita INSIDE the burger!  I've just finished mixing up the patties and they look so awesome I just had to run to the computer and share this idea with all of you.  I definitely was making them on a whim, so I didn't pay close attention to the measurements.   I can tell you that what I made came out to about 18 patties! yikes.   More or less I think you will be able to get the gist.  

Lindsay's Faux-Jitas

Ten pounds ground beef

3 green/red bell peppers, cleaned and thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

8 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 packets of taco/fajita seasoning (which can be substituted with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 jar of salsa

hamburger buns 

First you want to cook down the peppers and onions.  Heat olive oil in a pan and then add the vegetables.  Once they have started to cook down add the garlic and about two table spoons of the taco seasoning.  Once the peppers have become soft, remove from the heat and let them cool down.

Once the veggies have cooled a bit, chopped them up as fine as you can and in a large bowl mix the beef, cheese, peppers, onions, one packet of taco seasoning and 1/2 a cup of salsa.  Form them into patties that fit your desired size ( I prefer 1/4 lb).

For the sauce mix the sour cream and one cup of salsa and spread on the toasted buns before serving.  

In about a half hour I will be grilling mine and I will let you know the end result.  But really how could all of these things mixed together turn out bad?  My only concern is that the cheese might melt before the burger is fully cooked. 

Check back to hear how the end result was, OR try it yourself and let me know!

cheers!

nyks

the drink list

SPARKLING WATER

*those bubbles give a whole new meaning to "natures tonic" which is what my mother always called regular water.  Naturally carbonated at the source mineral water is even cooler because you're like "What?  God made this water bubbly just for me?"  Of course, they usually are from Italy and Germany and much more expensive.  Lately I've been purchasing the regional sparkling water of Wisconsin and Minnesota and it has proven to be just as refreshing.  Eventually I would like to make my own to cut back on all that plastic and aluminum waste....

- mixing sparkling water with fruit juices takes the juice to a whole new level, almost       like soda!  My fave is oj.

KOMBUCHA

*this fermented tea is native to China and Japan and is known to have many health benefits.  The trend is sweeping the U.S. and many of my friends are brewing their own at home.  

-depending on what part of the country you are in and how hip your local groceries are you may or may not be able to find the stuff, usually in single bottles.  

www.katalystkombucha.com     is from my home state of Massachusetts.

www.synergydrinks.com  is the Kombucha I've managed to find in the midwest.  

FRESH JUICES

* I try to get as fresh as possible depending on where I am living.  In Northampton, the Haymarket Cafe makes fresh juices to order. In Madison, the Willy Street Co-Op.  Otherwise I have to stick to the bottled stuff.  At least its out there right?   I  have learned to love Spirulina, it just makes whatever drink you put it in seem that much healthier because it looks like a cup of green algae.  I also enjoy Spinach and Beets.  What better way to get your daily dose of veggies than to suck it down in one cool glass?

- My favorite combination would be:

beet, spinach, carrot, apple and spirulina

- If you do have to go the bottled route I suggest anything with the word GREEN in it (i.e. Green Goddess, Green Goodness, oh and SUPERFOOD is a good flavor as well)

FRUIT SMOOTHIE

*Who can deny that this is one of the best parts of summer?  I am a big fan of blenders and they aren't that expensive these days.  Certainly worth the investment.  Beware of used blenders, I purchased one from a flea market and it happened to be missing a very important part and as soon as I started mixing up stuff in it I had spills all over my kitchen floor!  As long as you have some frozen fruit and a juice base, like oj or lemonade you're good to go!  Just remember to omit the sugar! Fruit has enough naturally to keep your drink sweet.

-I like to have frozen strawberries, raspberries, mango chucks, fruit medlies.

- Adding yogurt or Kefir makes it creamy and gives added live enzymes!

ICED COFFEE

*I think most of us know the joy that comes over us when the neighborhood coffee shop starts brewing the ICED brew!  It is a sure sign that summer has arrived.  I've started to make my own at home, this way I don't have to wash my face before enjoying a sweet cup.  And yes, I said sweet.  I like mine with soy milk and sugar (in the raw OF COURSE), agave works as a really good sweetener for the iced drinks also because it is already in a liquid form.

- When I am in the mood for a real treat I go to Rao's in Amherst and order a "Blended Soy Mint Mocha"  it is possibly the best espresso drink there is!  You can also just order an iced mocha with a mint shot, but Rao's gives the option of blending, which makes it more of a milkshake.  Yummy!

COCA-COLA CLASSIC

*Alright, I'm not about to promote mass consumption of soda, it is terrible for you in so many ways.  But honestly, who can deny the awesomeness of a crisp Coca-Cola Classic on a hot day?  The best one I ever had was in South Africa, out of an iced bin outside this roadside convenience store in the country.  I'm pretty sure there were chickens running around.  The cola came in a glass bottle and had some sort of sugar on steroids that I think might not be FDA approved in the US.

don't think DRINK!

As most of us know staying hydrated is very important and not just is the summer months.  Summer however does provide us with a whole new menu of enjoyable, ice cold beverages to consume.  I love drinks!  I am a pretty slow eater - when I go out to eat with friends I have food on my plate for at least ten minutes longer than everyone else, servers come by trying to take my plate or give me a to go box and I have to shoo them away explaining, "I'm still working on it, I'm just a slow eater."  But with drinks, why, I can chug those down in seconds, SECONDS!  There was one summer that I lived in Madison and my friend Alissa and I would frequent the Espresso Royale (mostly upper State Street location, although lower has great outdoor seating for people watching -er checking out the hotties ;)  I would always order a cherry lime flavored italian soda and an iced coffee, I would manage to drink both before Alissa could get through her one iced coffee.  Anytime I didn't order two drinks she would comment.  Those might have been the days I was trying to be a bit more frugal.  

   Nowadays, the beverage choices are getting almost overwhelming!  How does a girl choose between five different flavors of Kombucha?  Even here, at the "End of the Road" Ely Minnesota I can choose from the entire line of Synergy drinks!  So yesterday as I was consuming a spritzer which I had concocted on my own lamenting on how delicious it was I decided I would compile a list of some of my favorite summer time drinks and share them with you.  

Just remember that nothing beats WATER and you want to be sure to get enough of that each day!

Happy middle of summer!

cheers,

nyks

sliders on the grill w/ homemade buns

I'm writing this recipe down now as I prepare this delicious tiny hamburgers!  

What is better than a bacon cheddar cheese burger?  3 tiny bacon cheeseburgers!

Ingredients: (yields about thirty 3 ounce burgers)

5 lbs ground beef

6 cloves garlic (if you don't love garlic, like me, use 3)

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon ground mustard powder

3 tablespoons steak sauce

1 generous squirt of Siracha ("cock sauce")

2 eggs beaten

1/2 cup bread crumbs

* For BUNS see homemade dinner roll recipe- Portion into 2 ounce balls*

Mash all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and knead for about ten minutes until fully incorporated.  Your hands will probably get cold from the beef so a break in between is suggested.  Portion patties into 2 1/2 to 3 ounces.  Grill to desired temperature on a gas or coal grill.

Here are just a few suggestions for the toppings bar:

crispy bacon

ranch dressing

caramelized onions

salsa

cheddar

swiss

pickles

mustard

bbq sauce

enjoy grilling! and sliders!

I gots grills!

One of the great things about my summer seasonal job is just that, the season of summer.  Everyday I get to stand out on our third story deck off the kitchen that overlooks the cabins, bunk houses, canoes, docks and of course our lake.  In the evening as I grill steaks and pork chops for our weathered guests who have just come back from week long camping trips the sun begins its descent over our lake.   Most of the guests are coming back from their canoe trips and once they walk under the deck and smell and hear the crackle of the grill there are non stop compliments of how great it smells.  It feels good to be the one to cook their meal after a week or so of dehydrated foods.  

 Up here the sun doesn't completely go down until somewhere between 10 and 10:30!  It makes for a very long evening and sometimes, the time just flies and before I know it it is way past my bedtime.  Waking up at 5:30 working a ten hour day with a three hour break in between, which I usually spend hiking usually leaves me very exhausted once my day is through, with not too much time for what or energy for what I want to be doing, reading, canoeing  and socializing with the guests.  I thought with so little out here I would have so much time but really everyday there is something new to see and explore.  The woods can be a real amusement park if you let them be filled with color and inspiration and our Mother/Creator!  

This summer stuff yourself with lots of food and relieve your stomach with lots of wooded walks!

cheers!

nyks

is sugar vegetarian?

So this winter I got into an argument with a co-worker over the status of sugar.  She is a vegetarian and I am an ex-vegan/vegetarian.  The conversation started with her saying that our restaurant's vegan bars were not in fact vegan because they had refined sugar.  I was confused.  She explained to me that they often used animal bones to refine the sugar, thus making it not vegetarian.  I refused to believe her for two reasons, first being she is the only true hypochondriac that I have ever known, every day she has a new illness or a crazy story of accidents and illnesses past.  Basically I have a "boy who cried wolf" reaction towards her, I never fully believe the story.  The second reason is that I was a pretty militant vegetarian.  I freaked when my roommates cooked bacon in the house or when I co-worker used the "meat tongs" to pick up a vegetable.  I found it hard to believe that I had never heard of this before.  How could OTHER vegetarians not heard of this and spread the word?  So I went on an online search to get some answers and what I found did not comfort me.  My co-worker was right (which was my initial discomfort), most often refined sugar is refined using animal bones.  

from wikipedia :

The sugar refining industry often uses bone char (calcinated animal bones) for decolorizing.^[15][16] This may concern some vegans and vegetarians; about a quarter of the sugar in the U.S. is processed using bone char as a filter and the rest is processed with activated carbon. As bone char does not get into the sugar, the relevant authorities consider sugar processed this way as parve/kosher.^[16]

Vegetarians and vegans may also object to the impact that the burning of the cane fields (a common part of the harvesting practice) has on insects, rats, snakes, and other life residing in the fields.^[17]

If this news doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother you and in the grand scheme of things there are worse topics to spend your time worrying about.  If you do care some alternatives are: Sugar in the raw, pure sugar cane, yacon syrup, stevia,  honey (although some vegans have issues with this...) or maple syrup.   My personal new favorite is agave nectar.   All of which work great in cooking and baking!  

cheers!

nyks