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

Wicked Easy Carrot Cake

Disclaimer : yes I used all-purpose flour and refined sugar, yes whole wheat is better for you, but its cake for goodness sake!

 cake ingredients:

1 pound carrots  peeled and shredded 

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

In one mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and vegetable oil.  Combine both until fully incorporated.  Stir in walnuts, raisins and carrots.  Pour into greased cake pans or muffin pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

frosting ingredients:

1 pound unsalted butter softened 

1 pound cream cheese softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons  vanilla

Whip it all in a food mixer until creamy.  The frosting needs to be at room temperature to spread but should be stored in the fridge.

back yard vegetable gardens

I used to kill plants.  Not on purpose, but I did used to kill plants.  I would get house plants as gifts and I just could not keep up with watering and caring for them.   For some reason it was more responsibility than I could handle.  I even killed a cactus once.  And so, since I was about 19 I have believed that I just don't have a green thumb.  I kill green things, I would tell people with a laugh.  A few years ago though, in celebration of moving into an apartment with no roommates for the first time I decided to try my green thumb out again I had a dream of filling my apartment with plants. I started out slow.  Every Saturday morning I would walk to the farmer's market and purchase one plant.  I would find out the proper way to care for it and actually TRIED  to keep it alive.  By the end of summer I had over twenty thriving plants in my bay windows and throughout the apartment.  It turns out I can take care of plants, successfully at that.   

I have never had my own garden. Saying I have never lived anywhere with a yard large enough to start one would be a lie because as I think back I've had many a backyards in the past ten years, and only once did I put forth the initiative to start a garden, back when I lived on 1350 Willy St and my slumlord let us charge whatever we needed  from the hardware store on his account.  I got bored one day and bought a hoe, hedge clippers and seeds.   After a weeks worth of tilling and landscaping I  lost that motivation a few days later. 

My mom in Boston has a small organic vegetable garden in her backyard.  We never had one while I was growing up, although she would line our houses with pretty flowers every spring.   She now grows tomatoes, peppers, basil and salad greens among other things.   My friend Tanya and her boyfriend in central California have a garden in their backyard.  Most of my friends in  Northampton belong to the community garden.  And my friends in Duluth, a group of five twenty something guys have a substantial vegetable/flower garden started in their backyard. Over the past couple summers my desire to grow food has skyrocketed.  What good is being a chef if I don't understand how the food I'm cooking is grown? And besides, all of my friends are doing it.  When I was in Duluth last week I stopped by my friends' house to visit with friends, lend a helping hand in the backyard  and spend some time out in the sun.  Shoving my hand in the dirt plots, moving it around, kneeling, planting and patting all gave me great satisfaction.  GREAT.  I ate a handful of greens they had already harvested and cleaned.  Those greens were  as local as I could possibly ask, it was the best mix of greens I've had possibly ever.  Why?  Because they were the actual fruits of their labor.  Pure, crisp and dressing free.  

I think about my sister who is in Brasil right now volunteering in rural communities and helping them start their own vegetable gardens because they are literally starving.  I imagine a world where every household has a small garden and vegetable compost that they can live off of.  I think about eating fruits and vegetables from the grocery and not having to worry what chemicals where used to grow it and sprayed on it.  

Unfortunately I am living somewhere without the space for a garden and so I have decided to help my boss with boxed herb garden.  Start slow and hopefully this winter I will continue to grow things indoors.  I did find these instructions for starting your own backyard vegetable garden here:

            http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_backyard_vegetable_garden.html

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

cheers!

nyks

Fresh Green Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette

this is enough for 2-4 servings

Gather up the best mix of fresh local greens or any average Spring/Mesclun Mix

4 ounces of goat cheese/chevre

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 ounce of balsamic vinaigrette

Toss and enjoy

Balsamic Vinaigrette

 (sn: if you have a food processor or blender you can just add all this stuff together)

1/4 red onion chopped

3 cloves  garlic minced

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar

4 cups olive oil

Combine everything but the olive oil in a bowl and slowly pour in the oil to make sure it becomes incorporated with the vinegar.

Shake it up and toss on all your salads!

fresh greens and recycled milk jugs

On Saturday morning I ventured into town and stumbled across a middle aged man with long scraggly blonde hair and coveralls standing in the fenced in green lawn of a gift shop just a block off the main street in Ely.  Naturally I was drawn to him.  You may ask yourself, "naturally"?  Yes, as I travel more and live in more northern er- not as diverse,  towns I have come to notice what types of people, by first glance at least, tend to put me at ease and make me feel at home.   Now I'm not saying I'm a hippie, mainly because I don't fit under just one label, but long hair and/or afros, dirty work boots, Carhartts, most punk rock and/or hip hop shirts ( like the guy in the grocery store with the Black Flag t-shirt, I really wanted to talk to him!), that said also mohawks and dreadlocks.  Pretty much anyone that seems to have their own individual style, counter culture if you will, I like to refer to myself as a Bohemian type, artsy, free wheelin' etc.   

So I stumbled across this man and I noticed there were these rows of plastic containers on stilts and they were holding greens.  Lovely fresh greens.  I then noticed the sign, "FARMERS MARKET".  Now I've been to some small farmer's markets before and this takes the award for smallest for it was just this guy, his greens and a table with instructions on how to care for them.  I struck up a conversation inquiring and he explained that the tubes I was looking at were recycled milk jugs and essentially they were a dirt free green house.  He had Bibb, Green Leaf, Red Leaf and Romaine.   All organic, all local.  He also told me that the real Ely Farmer's Market is Tuesday evenings, 5-7.  I can't wait for tomorrow!  The greens, by the way are delicious!  Quite the change from the Ice Burg I've been eating the past four weeks!

If you live in or near Ely, the farmer is 

Paul Hedrick

1759 N. Pioneer Road

   Ely, MN

218.365.5456

I tried to find some more information about growing out of recycled milk jugs, which is what I googled.  I am having trouble finding anything too specific to what I saw but I did find this website.

www.myurbangardendecoguide.com

There is a lot of cool stuff on there, gardening ideas, articles on building furniture from recycled products. Check it out!

Ahhh, the lilacs are FINALLY in bloom!  Time to enjoy the day.

Cheers!

nyks 

Fluffy Dinner Rolls

These rolls have been a serious hit up here in Ely.  I've had so many people ask me for the recipe, and one pair of guests from Miami paid me forty dollars to whip up two dozen for them when they came in for dinner!  Making bread is SO easy!

Ingredients:

1/4 ounce dry active yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup warm milk

6 ounces melted butter ( 2 ounces will be used to brush the rolls when done)

5 cups flour (you may end up using more)

Ideally this would be mixed in a standing mixing bowl with a dough hook.  If you don't have a mixer then whisk the wet ingredients together first and gradually knead the flour in.

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in the warm water.  

When the yeast has bloomed ( after a few minutes) stir in the sugar, egg, warm milk and 4 ounces of butter.  

Slowly add the 5 cups of flour.  You may need to add more to get an elastic dough.  

Mix well and then on a floured surface knead for five minutes.

Place in a clean bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

Punch the dough down and portion into 2 ounce balls and place balls on a greased cookie sheet.

Let the balls rise for another thirty minutes.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes until light brown.

Brush with left over melted butter.

You really can make these rolls whatever size you'd like, I started out with them being 4 ounces, but then I accidently let them sit too long and realized I could portion them smaller and they would eventually rise again, just remember the dough keeps rising!  I like to make a big batch and freeze some.  

enjoy!

nyks

good bye winter

   Dear Friends,   

       Wow, I apologize for the long hiatus.  It was quite the winter for me here in northern Minnesota!  Unfortunately the freezing cold days of winter turned me back on to the comforts of starches.  There was a lot of macaroni and cheese in my life this winter.  And the vegetable lasagna with pesto alfredo sauce at work was hard to resist some days. Needless to say, but I will, those new jeans I bought in the fall are certainly a bit snug right now.   Alas, spring never came and now it is summer,  so it goes in northern Minnesota !  It has actually been a trying month for me so far.  I moved even farther north to the Canadian border on Moose Lake for a seasonal chef job I applied for and got.  The idea of spending the summer in the wilderness canoeing(re: Boundary Water Canoe Area), hiking and detoxing rent free and food paid for was pretty hard to say no to.  Not to mention the fact that I love traveling, living new places and meeting new people.

I knew I would have some rough days up here, missing my friends and being so isolated but I was and still am, up for the challenge.  What I did not anticipate was how extremely different, culturally I would be from the rest of my co-workers and bosses.  .  When I arrived the kitchen was stocked with loaves of sliced white bread, slices of processed American cheese, ice burg lettuce and pretty much EVERYTHING had some kind of additive whether it be corn syrup, oils, colorings or lots of long scientific words I do not know.  If I'm going to eat a piece of cheese I want to look at the label and see "ingredients: milk"  .  There is also a love of Walmart and Ford vehicles and strong distaste towards vegetarians and Al Franken that follows me through my days.  I live and work with "All-Americans" in the most cliched sense of the term.   This was a wake up call for me to realize how fortunate I am/was to be raised in the communities I was.  Where along with generalizing and making fun of Asians, using the word "fag" followed by the comment "I don't understand why they have to get all upset about it.  Its just a word" and eating white bread are all considered extremely politically incorrect.  I don't want to come off to them as being too good for their food preferences, or a snob, or some CRAZY LIBERAL,  it really is all they know.  It is challenging to keep the faith surrounded by such ignorance and closed mindedness. The other night for dinner we "only" had brown rice and it was an issue. But I feel I have to stand by the standards of nutrition I have spent so long developing for myself.  

And so yesterday I buckled up and drove the twenty minutes into town, I stopped at the one grocery store and stocked up on kombuchas, goat cheese, quinoa, beets, tofu, hummus, blue corn chips and bubbly water, to name a few.  

The great part of the job is cooking for all of our guests who come from all over the world to canoe and fish and I give them both their last warm meal before they go out and their first warm meal when they get back.  I also have an entire summer to try out new recipes.  So here they come!

Sorry again for such a long break, I hope these recipes keep you coming back for more!

Peace,

nyks