Reindeer

Brother and his girlfriend came down from Nome after Christmas with Avakate, the cutest niece on the planet ever. I was lucky enough to be volunteered by the council to host a New Year's Day celebration luncheon for the community. Part of this responsibility was providing some food. I decided reindeer soup would be awesome and easy and would go a long way. So I had the office order reindeer from St. Michael. This is what came. My brother was sweet enough to help me butcher the chunk of meat. I would have seriously struggled without his assistance.

Reindeer butt. Sorry Rudolph.

Brotherman cutting off a hind quarter

I was extremely proud of us. The only part of the reindeer that we didn't use was pictured below. We skimmed off all the fat we could and put it in ziploc bags and gave those out along with the ribs, the leg bones (all sawed in half by my dear mother), and the back bone. There were big chunks of meat for everyone who volunteered to make soup.

Unused bits

I now feel like I could butcher a caribou. So that means that I need to go caribou hunting post haste. I'm sure I wouldn't be the speediest butcher-er but I'm anxious to try. I just don't want to get a caribou with those fly thingies in the skin. I shudder to think about that. I'm cringing just thinking about it.

Saturday Egavik trip

This was our second trip to Egavik this season. I for sure thought we'd have some critters in the two sets that we did on the first trip. But alas, no critters were even moving around! They have to be getting hungry soon. It's been warm so our bait will be all smelly, too. We're going to have something in the traps when we get back to Egavik. I just know it. On the way out of town I saw some ptarmigan over by some spruce trees. So I drove over and dropped three of them with two shots. Silly birdies didn't even fly away after the first shot!

The trail was considerably rougher than the first ride. The warm weather wreaked havoc on what snow had been packed down. So much tundra and even rock. At the end of December. Ridiculous. We still had daylight after checking the traps so we went off in search of places to do some new sets on the North side of the Egavik River. We found an old trail that might have been my dad's and took it back towards a little slough that led to the main river. There was a beaver house so Gregg chopped down a tree and did a marten set while I took the spruce branches and made a little wolverine cubby. It's perfect to do either a lynx set or a wolverine set when we do a marten set because we have all these beautiful branches for cubbying it up.

Wolverine cubby. See the chunk of beaver in there? Hopefully a critter will too.

It was so warm out I didn't even need goggles and the only time I used my face mask was on the ride to and from Egavik.

My tracks along side lynx tracks. Good spot for a lynx cubby.

I like pole sets for marten so much more than box sets. There's no chance of little assface mice getting their grubby little teeth into the fur and ruining it. Also this is the only trap that I can set without assistance from my trapping partner. I really should lift weights or something. He did get me a pliers type tool for big conibears and foot traps. I don't ever think to set it in the box with all our gear though. He also taught me how to set a conibear trap using a piece of rope. Really handy to know, because you can set it one handed using a hand and a foot. So if you accidentally catch your hand in a trap you can get out.

And of course a marten set.

Seal skin slippers part three

Liners are sewn exactly like the seal skin.  I usually just end up trimming a 1/4" to a 1/2" off of the pattern so they fit with out being too wrinkly inside of the seal skin.  I use fleece to line the slippers and mittens that I make.

Last and final step. Trim. Sew the seal skin, the fleece and the beaver trim all together and tack down. Warm soft fuzziness for your feet. The beaver was really nice and fluffy.  I love the way it poofs out. I fee like it really pulls the slipper together.

Gretchen's pair

Matt's pair

These slippers were my first skin sewing projects. It took me a really long time from start to finish because I tend to be very distracted when it comes to big projects. At least until I'm getting close to the finish line. Then I become obsessed. It'd be a lovely habit to break. But let's be honest, I'm probably not going to break it.

Panda love - literally.

Love, true love.

Panda lips

Panda rules

Scariest panda ever.

Something new

I think most individuals would find me strange for cooking this meat. I thought it would made a tasty stir fry. I was not wrong.  But indeed it was a little strange, even if it was just in my head (the strangeness). First step brine. This takes some of the blood out of the meat and tenderizes it.

Slicing and dicing

The container for the brine.  I salted it a little on the bottom first.

The next day I continued on my cooking adventure.  I sauteed some garlic and shallots and then put the meat in the skillet.  I cooked it a good long time because I wanted the meat thoroughly cooked.  I cooked it in it's juices and then turned up the heat simmering them off to brown the meat.

Simmering and browning

Lastly I chopped up some broccoli, cabbage, and opened a can of baby corn.  I seasoned the meat up when I was browning it.  After the veggies I poured Yoshida's, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce over everything. I simmered it even longer, covering it with foil. Then when the veggies were cooked I thickened up my sauce with some corn starch.

Done!

Any guesses as to what the meat was?

Family time part two

Isn't this the sweetest picture?

Gram Janice, the orchestrator of this fine event.

Spence and Pa pre-nap

Laura came and had dinner with the family.

Brady loves this little hat, so he put it on his little brother Jack.

Kollin is a good cousin.

Andrew fell asleep on Frank's lap.  Too sweet!

Pa and Spencer during nap time.

Family time part one

For Christmas this year we all went up to Gram Janice's and pigged out.  We've done it once before and it's definitely my favorite thing to do on Christmas Eve.  Janice and Bob and their family have really adopted us into their family and I'm so thankful that they've done so.  There were five energetic boys running around, two little boys getting snuggled by everyone that could get a hold of them, and one precocious girl running to and fro with cupcakes in her hands.

It was hard to catch the boys at a still moment.  Here's Raine and Andrew chugging some juice.

Frank trying to get Andrew to sit still for just a moment.

I have no idea how Heather could look so relaxed with all the chaos surrounding her. I guess with 3 boys she's used to it. :)

I had to practically hold this guy down to get a picture with him.  Loves my nephew.

Pa made some juice, well I guess it's called punch during the holiday season and the kids went after it like I go after champagne!  They were trucking back and forth from the living room to the kitchen about every other minute.  I think Pa had to fill up the punch jug at least twice and even then the jug ran dry.  Running around and playing hide and go seek must be exhausting and dehydrating work.

Brady looks so mischievous!

How to get Andrew to sit still.  Hehehe

Emily was just the sweetest and cutest.  She ran around all over with cupcakes and cookies and chocolate covered hands.  Gram Janice and Pa had just gotten a new chair for the their living room so they were running around after her with a wet washcloth.  As soon as they cleaned her up and her little finger print marks she was back in the kitchen going after another cupcake.  It was hilarious!  And then of course she came to crawl on my lap and I ended up with chocolatey finger prints all over my almost clean jeans.  I guess that's karma for laughing and Gram Janice and Pa.

Every little girl needs a pretty purple dress and a light saber.

Squiggles being his little squiggly self.  Lookit that smile!  Makes me melt.

Pa watching the chaos with a smile on his face.

This here is my lovely mother, who has been putting up with me for 29 years.  I think I'm most annoying around Christmas because I'm constantly asking if I can open a present.  It never fails, she always caves in.  Persistent annoyance always wins out.  She also puts up with me and my insane need to puzzle around Christmas time.  I think this year we did two 1000 piece puzzles and four 500 piece puzzles.  I still haven't gotten her to do a 2000 piece puzzle.  Someday I shall wear her down.

My mother dearest smirking at me.