This is my favorite time of year in Anchorage. It’s cool, rainy and chock full of mushrooms. It’s a mushroom wonderland out there!
I grew up eating boletus mushrooms and this year they have been abundant. If you’re interested in picking them, check out my handy mushroom guide.
Continue reading White vegetarian lasagna with wild porcini
I’m constantly impressed with how each wedding I’ve worked on this summer has been unique. Desiree and Geoffrey’s wedding theme was no exception. They wanted a creamsicle theme – orange, peach and white.
Love that orange and gold ribbon. Just the right touch.
The bridesmaids bouquets included mini carnations and little poofy safflowers. So cute!
Best of all, the flower girls got their own little bouquets. I love that idea
A simple crown for the bride:
I tried something new for the wrist corsages. I made cuffs as the base and used ribbon to tie them together.
Congratulations to the bride and groom!
I had to start out this post with a photo. There’s no more unique flower than an indigo anemone. I’ve never seen them before and jumped with joy at the opportunity to work with them.
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Kate + Kirk
Brides are all different. Some know what they want, others need a little more guidance, but some have a creative vision. Jessica was one of those brides. She and her mother came to me with the boldest theme I’ve encountered yet – burgundy, gold and deep purple. When they told me those colors, my eyes got big and I just said, “Oooooooh!”
I seriously contemplated putting on my wedding dress just to hold the bridal bouquet (the above photo is the toss bouquet).
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Peter + Jessica
Being unwell and a parent is like an uphill battle sometimes. You still have to get food on the table whether you feel like roses or crap. On my really down days, I’ve been known to order a pizza or three. But sometimes I can muster up the strength to make something healthy and tasty in a relatively short amount of time.
This green curry recipe is adapted from one I found in Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve made it three times in the past month and have added my own flair to it. The problem is, I don’t remember what that flair is, which is why I’m sharing it here.
It’s quick, flavorful and has vegetable(s) in it! A winner in my recipe book.
Serves 4
Marinade ingredients:
For the curry:
Directions:
Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a gallon Ziploc. Add the chicken. I marinate the chicken tenders the night before when they are still frozen so they are thawed and marinated the next evening, but if you have time, marinate for an hour before cooking.
Start on the rice as you prepare the rest of the meal.
Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil to a large nonstick pan over high heat. When oil is hot add the tofu cubes and brown them on as many sides as you have patience for. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Cook the chicken in the same pan, browning on both sides. Set aside.
Pour out the remaining oil and wipe out pan with a paper towel. Add the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and sugar and whisk till combined. Add the frozen peas and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low until peas are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Chop up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the curry sauce with the tofu.
Serve over jasmine rice with a squeeze of lime juice.
Some things I never get tired of. Foraging for wedding arrangements has to be at the top of the list. For Rebekah and Jason, it was important that a part of their state be incorporated into their wedding theme of teal, green and purple.
For the flowers they chose peach and fuchsia roses and purple Japanese asters as their palette to which I added wild yarrow, grass and ferns.
Finished off with a teal satin ribbon and presto – a lovely Alaska bouquet.
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Jason + Rebekah
It’s been a busy summer of weddings and I’ve still got more to go. This week’s was one of my favorites. Bride Carrie asked for cheerful blooms mixed with Alaska foliage — just my style!
Pink, pink and pink. I love it. Spray roses, Japanese aster and salmon hypericum berry were the central blooms.
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Carrie + Christopher
This has been one of the sunniest, hottest Alaska summers I can ever remember. When I woke up and saw low clouds on the Chugach mountains I was looking forward to a cooler day.
My mom and I wasted no time and drove up to Glen Alps to check on the blueberries. Due to the warm weather we were giddy to find the berries plentiful and pretty much ripe.
We picked about two quarts in less than an hour and also picked up a few prize boletes that must have popped up overnight.
After dropping off our loot we packed up our truck and headed toward Wasilla to Alaska Blooms Peony Farm. I had visited a few weeks prior when the peonies were mostly closed but today the sun decided to take center stage and the peonies were bursting with color and perfume. I shed a layer of clothing and set to work.
Sixteen students arrived for crown instructions, cookies and mimosas. It was a joy to incorporate peonies that were grown right where we were having the class.
My students ranged greatly in age, but everyone enjoyed themselves. Each crown was so lovely in its own way!
After the class the students took a tour of the farm. Farm owner, Rachel, brought out a bucket full of pink peonies in full bloom and students bought stems wrapped in newspaper.
My day came full circle by dining on my parents’ deck in the sun and digging into a big slice of blueberry pie.
Every wedding I make flowers for has a different style and Dianne and Matthew’s Wasilla wedding is one of the most unique this year.
Dianne wanted jewel tones of amethyst and peridot. She adores orchids, which I learned can be limited in color and style in Alaska. I packed her bouquet with fuchsia orchid, purple lisianthus, white roses, baby’s breath, trailing amaranthus, traipsing plumosa fern, sword fern and Italian ruscus.
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Dianne + Matthew
A few months ago I received an e-mail from a bride in Kentucky who was planning a destination wedding in Alaska. She had found me in Alaska Bride & Groom Magazine and thought my style would be appropriate for her and her fiancé, Cam’s, wedding in Cooper Landing.
Sarah and Cam wanted a rustic, wild wedding to reflect their Kentucky roots. They gave me free reign to select wild flowers and greens to incorporate with garden roses and lavender button mums.
I harvested spruce, alder, alder cones, yarrow, clover, grass, and even a four-leaf clover for their special arrangements. Gathering wildflowers is one of my favorite activities. I headed out to my secret wild garden south of Anchorage to find everything I needed, including a special ingredient, which I’ll mention later. This is my happy place and it brought me so much joy to return there for the first time this summer.
This week I was graced with a new challenge: corner arrangements for an archway. I’ve made garlands before but not structured corner pieces. I decided to structure them with alder branches, Italian ruscus and seeded eucalyptus then layered in white wax flower, button mums, salal, white hypericum and finally, gorgeous, aromatic garden roses the color of butter.
Continue reading Alaska Weddings: Sarah + Cam
Alaska Knit Nat 