Hi Margaret. I hope you are keeping warm with all this cold weather. Sorry I haven’t written sooner, but Harold has been under the weather which means I have been playing nurse again. I swear that man is such a big baby when he isn’t feeling well. We even had to give away our tickets to Carol Burnett at the Paramount which made me almost sick myself. So I made soup like I always do when someone is sick.
Speaking of soup, there isn’t enough in the world to cure what ails Sarah Palin. Is she maybe a little touched in the head? I mean, I keep hearing that she’s still complaining about how the media “mistreated” her. But she seems to forget no special affects were used. For goodness sakes Sarah, she simply asked you what magazines you read. I swear, the only difference between a moron in real life and a moron on TV is about 10 pounds. And speaking of morons…
I hope I never find myself in the same room as George W. Bush because I love my shoes and it would be a shame to lose one up his ass. I just can’t handle much more of this “legacy tour” of his. A few years ago he was asked if he had made any mistakes and he couldn’t answer the question. Now he decides to let us know that “Mission Accomplished” might not have been a good idea. Oh Really? Turning the war into a public relations opportunity wasn’t a good idea? Announcing mission accomplished when thousands of soldiers would continue to die isn’t just a mistake you jack ass. It’s unforgivable.
So I have a legacy for you Mr. President. When you go to war with other people’s children, you need to take it seriously. Because when you are President and you take your country to war, they ALL become YOUR children.
January 20, 2009 just can’t get here fast enough. Everyone should have a bowl of soup that day and let the healing begin.
Sorry I haven’t been able to write more everyone. Family takes precedent, but below is a little soup recipe you might enjoy. Thanks for stopping by again. I mean it. Really.
Aunt Mary Lou’s Peanut Butter and Carrot Soup
1 large onion diced
1 stalk celery diced
2 lbs. carrots, peeled and diced
1 tsp. vegetable oil
6 cups chicken broth
1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
Juice of one large lime
2 tbs. peanut butter
salt/pepper to taste
Using one large stock pot, heat the onion, celery and carrots in the oil until soft. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add all other ingredients and continue soft simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool for a bit and then use a blender to puree little by little until the entire stock is smooth. Return to pot to heat before serving. Tastes even better the second day!
Helen, you are a riot and dead on accurate about W. Thanks for the laugh and the recipe.
@Ann – can’t wait to try the potato sausage soup, but I am going to skip the fish and crisco ice cream.
By: Jim on May 23, 2011
at 8:37 PM
I made your soup. I added a little more PB and about an extra 1/2 lb of carrots. It was delicious!
Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts and your recipe.
By: RickU on January 20, 2009
at 10:48 AM
Evening everyone!! or well maybe morning by the time some of you read this.
Well the Anchorage Daily News called me today and interviewed me over the phone for 45 minutes!!!
So hopefully our cry for help will get out there even more.
I am receiving several emails a day asking questions about sending stuff here so that’s encouraging.
I also spoke to our local fisheries rep. and he called a higher up in Anchorage who then called me and was asking how much money an airlift cost and I told him I have no idea. I explained to him that some of you have been talking about that on here and that we needed a contact in Anchorage to help coordinate. He said he was going to call Calista and see what they were doing and would get back to me. He is with YDFDA, Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association. They have given my youth center several donations over the past 3 years. Their last donation paid for 120 brand new coats from Coat for Kids that enabled us to give every child here a new coat. So I am hoping he will be able to help.
As I have been blogging here I have noticed y’all posting recipes so as I sit here enjoying the last of my potatoes in a wonderful potato/sausage soup I thought I would share a couple recipes. Hope thats ok….
Potato Sausage Soup
Ok this isn’t going to be listed right b/c I never measure anything but here it is.
First I chop up some bacon and throw it in a soup pan, then I add 2-3 Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage that I took out of the skins and crumbed. I cook those until they are done then I dice up half to a full onion and throw that in. OOh while the bacon and sausage are cooking I peel and dice up some potatoes 2-6 depending on how much I am making.
After the onions are translucent I throw in the potatoes sprinkle in some garlic and add water to cover plus a lil more. I bring that to a boil reduce the heat and simmer it until the potatoes are cooked. Then I dump in some evaporated milk mixed with a lil bit of flour b/c I don’t care for runny soups like them a lil thick. Heat that until it thickens and is heated thru.
MMMM now for those of you that have access to Yukon Dried Smoked Salmon when you throw in the potatoes chop up some 1/2″ by 2″ pieces of dried fish and cook them along with the potatoes.
And ENJOY!!! I never add salt or pepper or too much other spices b/c I have an 18 month old who doesn’t need that stuff in her diet.
Now for dessert
AKUTAQ aka Eskimo Icecream
ok I know y’all are gonna freak out about this but YOU CAN’T KNOCK IT UNTIL YOU TRY IT!!!!
First catch a fresh Chee fish or other White fish
clean, gut it, scale it, and slice it up and throw it in a soup pan and cover it with water. Bring it to boiling and cook it until its done.
Let is cool, then remove all skin and bones. Now painstakingly squeeze the heck out of by the handful getting as much water out of it as possible. Crumb/flake it into a bowl paying extra attention to finding any stray bones or scales that might have gotten in there and removing them.
Ok now in another bowl place a little bit less Crisco than there is fish, you gotta kinda eyeball it.
With your hands cream the crisco, have someone add sugar while you go. How much sugar depends on how sweet y’all like your akutaq. I personally also stir in a little bit of vegetable oil just a couple of tablespoons to help make it creamier.
Once you have mixed that like crazy and really beaten in a lot of air with your fingers then have someone poor in frozen berries. Usually about a gallon of them. Now my favorite are Bush AK blackberries and raspberries. Mix like mad until all the berries are thoroughly coated with the fish/crisco mixture. And yes you will have to stop and thaw your hands out occassionally as they will half freeze once you start pouring the frozen berries in.
Clean off your hands. Give a lil bit to the past elders and family members who have passed on then grab a BIG BOWLFUL and enjoy!!!
Hope y’all will try these recipes. Ok I don’t really expect you to try the AKUTAQ but I can guarantee you the soups fabulous.
Talk to y’all later,
Ann Strongheart
By: Struggling in Nunam Iqua on January 19, 2009
at 11:15 PM
To Avotresante–
Thanks for the greeting, Neighbor…I’m in Johns Creek. I know it seems almost sacrilegious talking food in this particular column today, but rather than an Italian beef only, tho, can I make it a combo, with beef AND sausage, extra peppers, please…just like I used to get at”Garden on a Bun” at Harlem and Belmont? (They had great hot dogs, too, hence the name.. but their beef or combo sandwiches were SO much better I’d always make that my first choice. And there are still days, I’d kill for a TomTom tamale from a hotdog stand…or the roast duck and fluffy Bohemian dumplings with gravy from Old Prague Restaurant on Cermak Rd in Berwyn. I still can’t bring myself to do the headcheese, but just in case “The Urge” ever strikes , you might want to get yourself to Adam’s European Deli (P’tree Indl between Abbot’s Bridge (120) and Rogers Bridge in Duluth…and you can likely smell your childhood all over again:-)
By: Joe in Atlanta on January 19, 2009
at 8:07 PM
I made your soup last night–fabulous!
By: PDX MB on January 19, 2009
at 2:54 PM
Charles said:
“I have had some contact with a few grassroots organizations over the years…and though I haven’t been that involved, one of the things I have seen them do as well is post the names, emails, phone humbers of government officials that need to be contacted. In dealing with the Emmonak situation could someone there in Alaska do that for us?”
—————————-
Trying to get that going.
AKM at mudflats made a forum thread for us to kick stuff around in. A couple of folks are getting info but right now session is due to start Tuesday ( Inaugural day not as much fun here- with projected return of the ghastly gov…) and most of those folks are just getting here, unpacking, and trying to get their feet on the ground. They are not reachable yet…
State agencies all answer to the gov. Want to get to legislators…
By: Alaska Pi Δ on January 19, 2009
at 12:19 AM
Oh crap Greytdog-
I’m gonna cry again.
By: Alaska Pi Δ on January 18, 2009
at 9:45 PM
Bruce Springsteen sang this today, and I think it fits this community:
The Rising
Can’t see nothin’ in front of me
Can’t see nothin’ coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can’t feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I’ve gone
How far I’ve gone, how high I’ve climbed
On my back’s a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line
Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin’ the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin’ down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin’ bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There’s holy pictures of our children
Dancin’ in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin’ on the end of the line
Sky of blackness and sorrow ( a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness ( a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear ( a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow ( a dream of life)
Your burnin’ wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life ( a dream of life)
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)
By: Greytdog Δ on January 18, 2009
at 9:35 PM
troutay- Thank you for the miracle. It made me cry. Not much makes me cry. My sisters have said this was all over the news -over and over- but all I can see are news photos.
This take on what went right is what made me cry .
Well trained everyday people doing their job well- all across the board, every one of them.
Everyday people…
all most of us are ever gonna be.
Yes- they did!
Yes- we can!!!!
Hey Ann- Come on over to Glass Houses and celebrate a smidge. We’ve all been working so hard. Especially you.
See lots of work done here today. Whew. Yee haw- here we go!
By: Alaska Pi Δ on January 18, 2009
at 8:57 PM
OK I am getting requests for donations via paypal. My youth program does not have the ability to accept credit card payments. I do have my own personal paypal account but I am not comfortable using it for this.
All I can suggest is priority mail checks or money orders made out to the City of Nunam Iqua. For those of you who have requested the list of actual families names/addresses/needs I would strongly discourage sending them checks made out to them. There is absolutely NO WHERE here or upriver that will cash 3rd party checks.
And I do not know how many of them have bank accounts that they could send them into. I couldn’t even cash my baby’s x-mas check from her grammie and auntie in WA, even tho I am a City Employee. So 3rd party checks won’t work. They would have to be made out to the City.
Ann
By: Struggling in Nunam Iqua on January 18, 2009
at 8:36 PM
ok here’s the address again,
Ann Strongheart
Nunam Iqua Program for Youth
c/o City of Nunam Iqua
101 Mudd Street
P.O. Box 26
Nunam Iqua, AK 99666
Thats the address for boxes and or checks if you send a check please make it payable to: City of Nunam Iqua.
Butt paste LOL I personally don’t care for it, first off it looks like Anaq ( Yupik for BM, POOP, S**T) whatever y’all wanna call it. And secondly it doesn’t cover well, seems to rub off too easily. My personal favorite is Bag Balm, or Teat Balm the one that comes in the green tin, it’s awesome put it on diaper rash and a couple of hours later the rash is gone!!!
Crisco sticks are fine but make sure they the original plain kind, can’t use butter flavored to make Akutaq LOL
Ok gotta go finish dinner, mmmm teriyaki moose, rice and veggies, and fruit for my daughter.
Be back later
Ann
By: Struggling in Nunam Iqua on January 18, 2009
at 8:12 PM
Butt paste? Now I’ve heard everything. LOL.
By: drbuzzieboombatz on January 18, 2009
at 8:01 PM
Oh and just recd text from friend – Costco has “emergency food kits” – her thought is that those could go out first while we assemble the rest of the list provided by Ann – more a stopgap measure but Costco ships!
By: Greytdog Δ on January 18, 2009
at 7:21 PM
Hi folks – consider sending the Crisco shortening bars rather than the cans – less weight. Raji, there’s BJ’s & Sam’s – I didn’t include Sam’s earlier because Wally World, as a company, doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to community projects and assistance
By: Greytdog Δ on January 18, 2009
at 7:14 PM
I forgot, I wanted to say hello to Joe in Atlanta, from the 50s in Chicago. Same here! My folks were in Irving Park; Czech/German/Bavarian, and I don’t have the same fond food memories you do. The table was laid with blood sausage, pig knuckles, too many gross things to remember …. I was a very thin child. Outside NE of Atlanta for the last 30 years. Now, old, fat, and eating fresh unpoisoned food from the garden all year round. But I’d give my BFFs right arm for an Italian Beef sandwich. I still smell it in my dreams.
By: avotresante on January 18, 2009
at 7:13 PM
You all might want to repost addresses and info so no one has to go back and find them.
tks!
Ann, you have a beautiful family. And all those lovely people. NO ONE deserves to starve or freeze in our modern world.
By: troutay on January 18, 2009
at 7:12 PM
A humorous note! Bordeaux’s Butt Paste is better than Destin and you can order that from Drugstore.com along with many other items.I will have to look into a website that supplies Crisco.
By: Raji on January 18, 2009
at 7:12 PM
This one is for Pi!
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/this-miracle-brought-to-you-by-americas-unions/
By: troutay on January 18, 2009
at 7:11 PM
Hi everyone, just another suggestion. Since Ann mentioned they got packages fairly quickly from places like Amazon, what about ordering supplies from websites that offer free shipping? I’m going to look into that tomorrow. That might help those who would like to donate but can’t get out to shop. Greytdog mentioned Cosco but there are others out there as well.
By: Raji on January 18, 2009
at 6:59 PM
smteaches
Why don’t they get it?
We need a ‘No Child Left without a Career Path’ for the ones who are being left behind in spite of…
By: Jane in Miami on January 18, 2009
at 6:21 PM