Category Archives: Holiday

appetizers, Cooking, Holiday, salad, side dishes

Farro and Arugula Salad with dried Cranberries

November 22, 2019 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

My friend Katelyn is a grain salad person. She’s always serving the tastiest salads with barley or wheat berries mixed together with other delicious morsels.

Last week my sister hosted dinner and served a tasty orzo and arugula salad that I absolutely loved. I decided to adapt her recipe by using farro and it turned out wonderfully. I served it to Katelyn alongside this Chicken Piccata recipe from Homemade Italian Cooking. She asked for the recipe, so here we are. 🙂

The magic ingredient in my salad (that’s completely optional) is reconstituted porcini mushrooms chopped up finely. It adds depth to the dish and the lemon, feta and dried cranberries bring in a brightness that complement the spiciness of the arugula.

This is a wonderful side dish to serve at Thanksgiving as it incorporates cranberries, grains, and has a look of good cheer on your plate.

You can of course replace the farro with any grain such as brown rice or couscous.

Farro and Arugula salad with Feta, Cranberries and Porcini

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
2.5 cups cooked farro, cooled
A few big handfuls of baby arugula (or baby spinach/arugula mix)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup Craisins
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Splash of white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place dried porcini in a small bowl and cover completely with boiling water. Place a plate on top of the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Chop finely.

Add all the ingredients to a salad bowl and toss until everything is well coated. Add more olive oil if it needs to be loosened up a little.

Cooking, dessert, Holiday, recipes

Lowbush Cranberry Tart

October 29, 2017 alaskaknitnat 5 Comments

The holidays are nigh and it’s time to get creative in the kitchen! Last year for Thanksgiving I served a cranberry curd tart offered up by The New York Times. It was tangy and sweet but the recipe was burdensome, from the peeling of the hazelnuts to pressing the cranberries through a sieve. I thought I’d do my own version for this year’s Thanksgiving table using my own handpicked lowbush cranberries.

I opted for a vanilla wafer crust and made a couple of other changes. You can of course use store-bought cranberries and this recipe would turn out just as vividly red and delicious. This is a great alternative to the often-overlooked cranberry sauce.

Cranberry Tart

Inspired by The New York Times recipe

Ingredients for the crust:

60 vanilla wafers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Ingredients for the curd:

12 oz. lowbush cranberries (store bought is fine)
1 cup sugar
1 orange
1 stick of butter
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

Directions for the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place wafers in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Place in a bowl with sugar and melted butter and stir till combined. Press the crumbs into a pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes and set aside for later.

Directions for the curd:

Peel the orange with a vegetable peeler and juice the orange. It should be about 1/2 cup of juice. Place juice, peels, cranberries and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until berries are popped and softened. Press the berries with the back of a wooden spoon now and then.

Remove the peels and place the mixture into a blender. Blend until smooth. You should have about 2 cups. Pour back into the saucepan with the butter and stir until butter is melted.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup or so of cranberry mixture to the eggs to temper them, then mix the eggs back into the saucepan.

Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and nearly bubbling, about 10 minutes. Let mixture cool completely. You can place the curd in the fridge overnight, if you’d like.

Spread the cooled cranberry curd into the pie pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool.

appetizers, Cooking, Holiday, recipes, side dishes

Perfect Grilled Corn

May 30, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

When you grow up in Alaska you become accustomed to lackluster produce: flavorless cantaloupe, dry lemons, grey tomatoes and often unsweet corn.

At the beginning of our long weekend we had dinner up at my parents’ place and my dad served the best grilled corn I’d ever had. He’s always got a few culinary tricks up his sleeve and this recipe is no exception.

Sweet, caramelized, and just the perfect amount of char – this recipe is just what you need for your Memorial Day barbecue.

Memorial Day Recipe: How to Grill Corn on the Cob Without the Husks

Have you ever tried grilling husk-on corn on the cob? Tastes great, but what a mess you make of your grill what with all the pieces of black, burnt husk which get over everything, including the burgers or franks you’re going to grill next.

Continue reading Perfect Grilled Corn →

appetizers, cocktails, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, Holiday, side dishes, snacks

Grinch-themed birthday party

April 18, 2016 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

Our son, Jack, turns 4 this week. Since his second birthday we’ve let him choose his party theme. At 2 it was Pingu (please, have a look at this adorable Swedish claymation penguin show), last year it was the Lorax and when I asked him this year what he wanted, he chose the Grinch.

A Grinch-themed birthday party | Minimal organization and lots of running around is all you need for a fun kids birthday party. A photo gallery from alaskaknitnat.com — Pin the heart on the Grinch. It’s more of a tradition on my part to get me into the spirit of party planning. The kids play with it for about 5 minutes.

During the holidays we took Jack to a local restaurant to see the outrageous film based on the Dr. Seuss character. It was his first big screen experience so it must have left an impression on him.

Continue reading Grinch-themed birthday party →

appetizers, Cooking, Holiday, recipes, side dishes

Creamed Corn Casserole – A free recipe

November 29, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It was the evening before Thanksgiving and I was describing the holiday to my son while driving home from preschool. Jack asked if there would be corn at our dinner.

Our family isn’t a corn family. Occasionally when Costco is selling an eight-pack in the summertime my folks will boil it and serve it on the cob. Creamed corn is definitely not a typical dish on our table.

I looked at several recipes online for creamed corn and most called for either canned corn (gross), or fresh corn. Many recipes listed cream cheese, which I didn’t have. I wasn’t about to brave the grocery store on Thanksgiving eve so I took to my freezer and invented my own creamed corn recipe. I think it’s a hybrid of creamed corn and corn casserole. It’s a little thicker than creamed corn because of the egg, but not as custardy as casserole.

Also, my son had fun helping me make it. I put crackers in a ziploc bag and let him stomp to his heart’s content.

Creamed corn casserole is a simple side dish and is perfect for any holiday table. Bacon grease is the base flavor for this tasty, creamy corn dish. — su-lin via Compfight cc

Ingredients;

2 slices of bacon
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup cream
milk
24 oz. frozen corn
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, stomped on by a child (food processor works too)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fry up the bacon in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Set aside to munch on later and reserve the bacon grease. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and sauté the onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and stir frequently for about two minutes. Turn heat down to medium. Add cream and stir until thickened. Add milk if mixture is too thick. You want it the consistency of cream sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large mixing bowl combine the corn, béchamel sauce and egg until the corn is well coated. Place in a casserole dish.

Wipe the sauté pan clean with a paper towel and melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the Ritz cracker crumbs and stir frequently for one minute.

Sprinkle casserole with the cracker crumbs and bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

DIY, Flowers, halloween, Holiday

DIY Frida Kahlo Costume

October 29, 2015 alaskaknitnat 6 Comments

Flower crowns are my thing and nearly every time I wear one in public someone comments that I resemble Frida Kahlo, the Mexican feminist and painter.

So this halloween I decided to embrace it, unibrow and all. It just took one visit to the thrift shop and a little digging in my closet to come up with a colorful Frida-esque costume.

Continue reading DIY Frida Kahlo Costume →

appetizers, baking, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

An East Coast Halloween: 3 tricks and treats

October 28, 2015 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

Soon after becoming friends with Kasandra in college I discovered we had one big difference: she celebrated holidays.

Kasandra is from Connecticut where they have four seasons, a long history, darkness in the summer and tolerable cold in the winter. These reasons are why East Coasters celebrate holidays differently from Alaskans.

“I love that the East Coast celebrates every holiday to the fullest,” Kasandra said. “It makes me look forward to the seasons.”

I visited Kasandra and her husband, Gary, in their hometown seven years ago in May. As she was giving us a driving tour of a road used to deliver mail during the Revolution, I was seeing house after house ridiculously adorned with flags and patriotic banners. I asked, “What the hell is going on here?” and she said “It’s Memorial Day weekend.”

Feel free to contradict me, but Alaskans just don’t celebrate this way. Sure, I’ll carve a pumpkin in October and string up some lights at Christmas, but there isn’t a single house on my block right now with Halloween decorations outside.

So today I wanted to show off a little of what Kasandra has going on in her neck of the woods to hopefully inspire Alaskans this Halloween.

Kasandra maintains that frugal collegiate spirit but includes East Coast charm and sophistication. All of her crafts are easy, quick and affordable. Here are three that she shared with me.

1. Bedazzled Pumpkin

Paint a pumpkin. Stick craft store jewels all over it. No glue necessary if the paint is still wet.

2. Mummy cookies

Melt some white chocolate. Dip Milano cookies halfway into chocolate. Drizzle chocolate over the cookie to make it look like a mummy. Stick on sugar eyes.

3. Monster mouth snacks

Peel some apples and slice them into wedges. Spread peanut butter on one wedge. Add some yogurt-covered raisins to look like teeth. Top with another apple.

So, get out there, Alaskans, and show some last-minute Halloween spirit!

baby, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday, Tutorials

Babe in Shining Armor

October 27, 2015 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

It’s been a busy month here in Alaska blogland. Akshopgirl, Tessie Style, DJ Spencer Lee, The Sawbuck, Fernanda Conrad and I have been providing tips, costume ideas, music mixes, cocktails, decor projects and more for the Halloween season.

This week is dedicated to all those procrastinators. We’ll be featuring last-minute Halloween ideas, but today I wanted to feature a costume that if you have a few hours to spare this week you could still pull off.

My friend Kait sent me photos of her daughter’s costume and it was too darn cute not to share.

Little Bea’s armor is constructed out of soda pop tabs and jump rings. Kait said she used about 350 tabs. Construction wasn’t the hard part, she said. It was collecting the tabs themselves.

“That’s the long game part of it,” she said. “You have to start collecting and asking around if people will help.”

Luckily she was able to find a friend with a whole bag of tabs.

Kait used 10cm jump rings to connect the tabs, but if she were to do it again she said she would use 12 or 14cm instead so it would use fewer tabs and take less time to make.

The dragon emblem was part of a handmade birthday card her husband received in the mail and the belt and crown are made from a belt purchased from a rummage sale.

Bea’s costume doesn’t stop here. Bea’s father is going to be her damsel in distress and Kait will be dressed up as a dragon.

Kait is already planning for next year.

“I’m thinking famous scientists.”

cocktails, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

A Wes Anderson Dinner Party

October 23, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

A Wes Anderson theme party | a tablescape in the style of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel and other fine films by Wes Anderson. Perfect for grown-up Halloween dinner parties. See more at alaskaknitnat.com — “Fantastic Mr. Fox” illustration credit: Bambi WIllow via Compfight cc

It’s been a fun couple of weeks here in Alaska blogland, with akshopgirl taking the lead in week one with “Where the Wild Things Are,” and the whimsical wonders of week two’s “Woodland Creature” theme.

In a similar vein, we are dedicating this week to Wes Anderson. We’ve got costume ideas, knitting patterns, cocktails, music mixes, and in this post I’ll show you how to set your table for a Wes Anderson theme party.

We’re all adults here. Our days of Halloween ragers have long passed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. This theme party is for the folks who have left their kids with the grandparents for the night. It’s fun, it’s classy and you can probably find all the materials in your house (I raided my parents’ place, which, as it turns out, is very Tenenbaum-esque).

A huge thanks to Black Cup for letting us stage our tablescape in their remodeled cafe. The floor tiles alone would make Royal Tenenbaum stop and smirk. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at Cafe Del Mundo’s makeover, I highly recommend it.

Here’s what you’ll need to host your very own Wes Anderson dinner party.

Materials:

An old atlas
Red cloth napkins
Brass figurines
Decadent salt shakers
Silver fruit bowl
White plates
Low vase in emerald green or pink)
Red pitcher
Flowers
Doily
Gold candlesticks
Red or pink candles
Filagree-patterned coasters
Wine glasses
White mugs (provided by Black Cup)

Continue reading A Wes Anderson Dinner Party →

Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

Wes Anderson thrift store costumes

October 19, 2015 alaskaknitnat 4 Comments

It’s T-minus 12 days till Halloween and if you haven’t pre-ordered your costume then that means you’re like me and you leave it to the last minute, thrift stores and luck.

In Anchorage, one of the best places to build your own costumes is the Bishop’s Attic on Gambell. This place is ’80s costume heaven (and keep it in mind for those ugly sweater parties during the holidays).

And this week’s theme is definitely thrift store appropriate. We’re dedicating the week to all things Wes Anderson.

So here are three Wes Anderson costumes that are easy to slap together with a visit or two to your local thrift shop and some rummaging through your closet.

1. Suzy from “Moonrise Kingdom”

DIY Wes Anderson Halloween Costumes | Simple outfits put together at the thrift store; presented by alaskaknitnat.com — Photo Credit: Josh Koonce via Compfight cc

From the thrift store:

Knee-length dress
White, long-sleeved dress shirt
Beret

This outfit was easy to find at the thrift store. I recommend washing the beret before wearing. And if you’re able to use your own pea coat you’ve just created a perfect Alaska-friendly costume (yay for staying warm!)

Accoutrements:

Binoculars
Retro suitcase
Pea coat
Knee-high socks
Saddle shoes

2. Dudley from “The Royal Tenenbaums”

From the thrift store:

Retro t-shirt
Cargo shorts
Safari Hat
’80s glasses

This costume needs no additional elements. It’s perfect. But some Croakies couldn’t do any harm.

3. Team Zissou from “The Life Aquatic”

This is the simplest costume I was able to find at the thrift store. Just have a look in the uniforms section of the shop and grab some hospital scrubs. Top it off with a red hat and you’re solid. Go the extra mile and print off this free logo and tape it to the shirt.

If you have a spare few hours this week, knit yourself a Zissou cap using my free pattern.