Thanksgiving Alaska Style - from Shannon in AK

“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”~Edward Sandford Martin

Thanksgiving Alaska Style
















Most people here in Alaska celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way, with family gathered round the table at home. My husband and I, along with a group of friends, do it a little differently.

Our friends own a remote cabin just south of Denali State park, in an area known as Trappers Creek. It’s an old mining area, so there are a few roads winding through the hills and valleys. These roads aren’t maintained, which means that in the winter they are left to be drowned in snow, and all of the many marshes, rivers and creeks freeze, creating a vast network of ‘roads’ for those of us with snowmachines. People in other parts of the world call them snow-mobiles or sno-go’s…but in Alaska it’s snowmachine, or sometimes just ‘sled’.

This year I’m bringing the stuffing and the rolls for the Thanksgiving dinner. My challenge is how to prepare these foods for the 40 minute snowmachine ride – and to be ready to cook right when we get to the cabin. Oh how envious I am of the girl who gets to bring the turkey! She just drops the frozen bird in the bottom of the sled and is done worrying about it!!

For the stuffing I prepare it all ahead of time, cooking the sausage and mixing up all the ingredients in two huge bowls. Then I pack it all into ziplock bags, which I then wrap up in a clean plastic garbage bags. Snowmachines use two cycle oil, and when they are starting up or idling they emit a pretty strong fuel smell…which I don’t want to get into our food. So that’s why I double wrap EVERYTHING. I make refrigerator roll dough ahead of time at home, and then double wrap it in the pan with saran wrap and then foil and then more saran wrap. This year the temperatures are mild, so the dough is in no danger of freezing solid. In the past the temperatures have been below zero…and the dough freezes solid. Not good for the yeast! If you’d like to try out my stuffing I’ve included the recipe at the end of this post. Transporting them by snowmachine is entirely optional for you though!




















I think this is the most beautiful outhouse!

Trappers Creek is really the foothills of the Alaska Range, so it’s mostly rolling hills with spectacular views of Denali and the multitude of other mountains in the range. Our friends host Thanksgiving at their little cabin every year. There are no direct roads to their cabin, the only way to get there is by snowmachine. We have to bring all our supplies for the four day weekend by sled. From kerosene lamps to sleeping bags to breakfast we need to bring it in. Each year four or five couples head out by snowmachine to come together and have a thankful meal in one of the most beautiful spots on earth.















The main cabin as you drive up on your snowmachine.















The Trappers Cabin - made with local logs in the old fashioned way - each log was fit to match the one above it. No fancy millwork to make the logs all the same size.




















This is the view from the front porch of the main cabin:







The cabin itself is pretty fancy by Alaskan standards. It has a generator and propane tanks, so wood isn’t necessary to heat or cook with. Honestly, having cooked and heated with wood in the past…it ain’t that great. It’s a lot of work and you have to watch it like a hawk to avoid burning or undercooking. The generator means that we can have standard lights after the dark falls (around 4:30 or 5:00 in the evening). This is wonderful if you’re playing cards, as kerosene lamps don’t put out a whole lot of light. The property has a crystal clear natural spring, which has the best water I’ve ever tasted. When you’re standing at the spring house filling up your five gallon jugs, you have an awesome view of Denali if the day is clear. Can’t get much more ‘pure’ than that for water!



















The spring, being flowing water, doesn't freeze - here you can see it peeking through the new snow! The small green shed houses a gathering cistern, and is where we gathered the water. Denali was blocked by the clouds this day.

Next to the cabin is the older, much more rustic ‘trappers cabin.’ This is where my husband and I usually sleep and it is heated by wood. So we mosey down to it about an hour before bedtime and light up a roaring fire. By the time we head back for bed the fire has burned down and is ready to be banked for the night. It’s always chilly in the morning when you wake up (unless you wake up and add more wood at 2-3 AM…which I never can do!) but that’s part of the fun. Perfect snuggling temperature.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we usually play all sorts of card games and lay around being lazy. Big events include getting water, skiing excursions, and of course, snowmachining. Usually this time of year is a mix of cloudy skies and brilliant blue skies pierced by the snowcapped mountains. I love being able to go for a quick cross country ski out the cabin front door and down onto the wide frozen river. If the snow is good there are many valleys full of fresh powder that are flat, wide and easy to zoom through. It really does feel like you are gliding on top of air if you hit the powder just right. If you hit it just wrong you sink…and then you dig yourself out. I am very proficient at digging myself out now!

So we’ll be leaving tomorrow for our Alaskan Thanksgiving – we wish everyone reading this a warm, safe, and happy day of giving thanks!
Shannon

Traditional Alaskan Family Stuffing (handed down from my great, great grandmother)
2 lbs pork sausage
2 loaves cheap, cheap white bread (good thick bread doesn’t get mushy enough, so if in doubt – go cheaper or make a light and airy loaf at home)
2 tbsp fresh sage (2 tsp dried), coarsely chopped
1 bunch celery, finely chopped
3 medium onions, finely chopped
½ cup butter, melted
Salt to taste

Two days before Thanksgiving slash open the bread bags and allow the bread to go stale.

On T-day (or the day before if you’ll be travelling) cook the pork sausage on the stove top. DO NOT drain grease. Grease is tasty! Near the end of the cooking add the fresh sage. Allow sausage to cool. Mix sausage, onions and celery in a large bowl. Set to the side. Cut the stale bread into one inch cubes. My family traditionally cuts off the crusts – and the kids steal the crusts as a snack…but I think it’s pretty wasteful, so I chop them up and add them to the mix too! Add the bread cubes to the sausage mixture. Toss. Slowly add melted butter as you toss. The stuffing is now ready for the bird.

To stuff the bird, fill the neck cavity first, pin the skin over the stuffing to hold in place. Next stuff the cavity with as much as you can cram in there, because we all know that the stuffing from the bird tastes the best! Two notes – never stuff the bird ahead of time. Only stuff right before it goes into the oven. Bacteria can grow in there over a few hours. Also, stuffing should be 150 degrees Fahrenheit before you can eat it safely. Use your thermometer!

You’ll have extra stuffing, as the bird can only hold so much…so grease a 9x9 or 9x13 pan (whatever fits) with butter, and pour in the remaining stuffing. Dot the top with butter, cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove foil and let top brown for 15 minutes. I always cook it with the turkey and put it in during the last 45 minutes. Serves 6-8 theoretically, but if you have stuffing lovers, and want lots of leftovers, double this recipe!