Salmon Cakes save the day

Being an Alaskan resident, I will always take advantage of my dip netting privileges, but after months of salmon one needs some new ideas. My grandmother's salmon cake recipe is a great way to change it up a little and use the leftover salmon when a full filet is too much for one meal. The recipe is as follows:
- Bread crumbs (soak in milk and squeeze dry)
- celery leaves
- 1 egg
- 1/2 C onion (finely chopped)
- salt & pepper
- 1 can salmon (well drained)
- flour

I create my breadcrumbs to order with my food chopper and usually use pre-cooked salmon filets (I never get around to canning).

Mix all ingredients adding eggs and/or bread crumbs until it is the consistency of meatloaf.
Form into patties, lightly flour on both sides and brown in deep fat (I use oil or shortening). When both sides are light brown drain on paper towels. Serve with ketchup, on a salad or however you please. Keep in mind the frying oil will get dirty. I usually dump the grease and wipe the pan every 2 rounds.

I have been known to make these in bulk and shape them as fish sticks, freeze, and serve to my toddler for lunch. He loves them and never eats salmon as a filet.

Hope this helps you take full advantage of a freezer full of fish and let me know if you have any other recipes or hints. I can always use more!

Batty Fun

Halloween is by far the best holiday in existence. This is not only my personal belief but the absolute truth. I have began the decorations this past week and managed a couple new crafts this year. Keep in mind the dedication to using supplies on hand and child friendly techniques.

First, the hanging bad bragade. I took some left over felt and cut out various sizes of bat silhouettes. Keep in mind that the larger the bat, the floppies the wings. Next I used an embroidery needle to attach fishing line in the back of the bat head/ neck area. Because of my awful drop ceiling I was able to simply loop the fishing line over the bars and cut the excess line. If you have a drywall ceiling, I would staple the line and the knot it around the staple. This would create a subtle attachment as well as a smaller hole when the bats are removed. Here is my final result.
The photo doesn't do it much justice, but it looks great in person. It would also be a good idea for the bats to taper off at one side and go down a hallway or something.

Centerpiece to planter box

Last summer a friend needed some help with her wedding centerpieces and, of coarse, I jumped at the opportunity. We were working without a budget and very little time to create a fitting centerpiece for their rustic and casual Talkeetna reception. I decided to take a trip to the local mill and loaded my car with some cut offs from their raw-edge siding (I always forget the official name for this siding). She had some silk orchids and ferns left over from their bouquets and wanted them incorporated so this is what I came up with...

They worked great for her casual Alaska wedding at the greatest bar in Talkeetna. 

After a couple weeks I was getting a little sick of having a giant pile of siding pieces in my lawn so I got my creative gene pumping and decided to make myself a planter.  My husband was out of town with all of the power tools and nail guns so with a little sweat, a rusty hand saw and a wonderful day I began building.  I dug the frame of the planter to be level and began layering the siding pieces so that they no seams overlap for at least 3 rows (a trick I learned while vinyl siding houses with my hubby).  I also layered the corners to add rigidness. Once the frame was level with the deck I lined the inside of the walls with pit liner (plastic of any type would work fine).  I made sure to layer a little of the bottom and more so by the deck to ensure protection and kept it in place by stapling it to the boards.  When finished I filled it with topsoil from the back of the property and waiting until I came across something to plant in it.

A day's hard work

After a couple days of being back, my husband brought me home a HUGE rhubarb plant that was going to be destroyed due to a building being built.  This fit perfect in my plan of low maintenance perennial and useful landscaping, especially since we plan to be renting this house once we finish our other one (a long long long process).  After finally lifting and setting the water retaining overweight rhubarb, I finally got it filled in and to it's new home, with a little help from my mud loving toddler of coarse.  After some blood, sweat and very few tears I have a wonderful planter that adds so much to our deck area and gives me at least 3 harvests a year, filling our freezer and bellies.  YUM YUM!

my rhubarb gaurd



Yay! There's an app!

Ok, so I have to admit, I'm an incredible slacker with my blog posts, as expected. I also have to say that most of this is defended by the fact that when I'm on my computer, I'm designing and emailing and trying to keep two year old fingers away from the keyboard. Needless to say, computer time is precious and usually reserved for my priority (clients). I did however discover the wonderful world of the blogger app! Woo hoo! I am hoping that this will allow me to keep up with my spontaneous and on the go ideas. Hope it proves successful and I am excited to get on the ball!

Lost and Forgotten Designs

Over the years I have designed hundreds of stationery pieces that haven't made the cut, some of which I love.  I wanted to post a few designs that I feel should be recognized.

This is a recent sample for a fall wedding.  I love the simple design of the birch trees. 

This invitation is a digital sample of the tear-off-RSVP design which is our most popular because of its practicality.  I love the zebra design and how it is subtle but can work for a casual or formal wedding depending on the colors and fonts.

This wedding program has a great elegant look to it.  It is a simple panel design with just enough swirls to keep it from being too much or too little.

The Save the Date is one of my FAVORITE.  I have used aspects of this design in others but love the colors and fishing theme.  The top is from an image of fish scales, the middle has a fly pole and a nice splatter for the date.  Who could ask for more for an Alaska wedding?!?!?  The economic postcard layout makes it even better.


These are just a few designs that I feel need their moment in the eye of adoring fans.  There are many more to come so keep in touch!

Practical Place Settings

I love this design for place settings.  This is a great way to offer unique design to a table whether using buffet or sit down serving.  If you are not assigning seats to your guests but still want to offer practical and unique decor, then replace the names with a custom monogram from The Chocolate Lily.  The picture above uses wood paper, but the design is possible with any paper to match your decor to a tee.

Homemade Gourmet ROCKS MY WORLD

Have you ever bought one of those cornbread or salsa spice packs from some holiday bazaar that is most likely still collecting dust in your pantry?  I actually sell that stuff.  Well...technically I sell it, but I mainly signed up because I use it.  I was sent a package from a friend full of these mixes from Homemade Gourmet, and  I never thought that I would use more than a cookie mix or dip, but a couple months later when my house was void of all fresh produce and I had to cook dinner, I decided to try out a couple recipes.  I got hooked.  The thing I love about these mixes is that each one has multiple recipes and once you get a taste for them, it is super simple to make your own creations- no recipe required.  I now use Homemade Gourmet at least once a day (sometimes 3 or 4 times).  I wanted to let everyone know about this product and some great tips and tricks that I have discovered to use HG to save some dough at the grocery store and get quick and healthy food on the dinner table in no time. 

    I pride myself in being very thrifty and knowing how to do so without sacrificing quality.  I was a bit shocked at the cost of ordering enough HG to truly stock your shelves but after a year of using around $150 worth of product I know now that it was well worth the initial cost and has saved me many times that amount.  HG allows me to buy bulk and non-perishable items since most of the meals require canned or frozen ingredients.  I get canned fruit in juice (not syrup), vegetables with minimal salt, moose and salmon from the backyard (almost literally) and am able to control whether I would like non, low, or full fat ingredients added.

Over the past year I have picked my favorites and tried most of the mixes.  I will be updating the blog with recipes and some suggestions on how to use (and not use) these great products.  The company, catalogue and website confuse the sanity out of me, but their products are great if you are sick of planning dinner a day in advance, making sure you have purchased all of the ingredients and standing in the kitchen for two hours a day.  No need to eat out, HG takes no time and requires common ingredients that you probably have in your pantry and fridge right now.  Contact me if you would like a catalogue and keep an eye out for some great tips.