The Artisans of Katchemak Bay

Down south of Anchorage, at the end of the Sterling highway, on the 4-mile spit of land that reaches deep into Katchemak Bay, you'll find Homer's community of fascinating artists!

There're potters!
A short ferry takes you out to Halibut Cove, an abandoned herring fishing village.  After dinner on the stilted deck, stroll the boardwalks to different galleries.  You'll find ornamental vases and statuary - but check out these plates!  Dishwasher-safe and so pretty, these uneven plates are hand-formed and pressed with local flowers.






There's weaving!
Many years ago, I bought my favorite sweater on the Spit.  It is heavy handknit wool, with a large daisy on the front, and a heavy-duty zipper, and hood!

There's jewelry!
Although beautiful jewelry is designed from glacier glass, other artists use fine metals for "wearable art",

and still others make fun, funky pieces, like halibut earbone earrings!

Local craft
You'll meet locals who take regional products, like antlers, and create souvenirs which are both functional and beautiful... like hair combs and one-of-a-kind jewelry!  In case you were wondering,  these antlers are shed naturally each year by the caribou, and this artist walks the Seward peninsula to collect them for her art!





There're painters, and photographers, too!   Credit below goes to Alice Thaggard and Jim Lavrakas, respectively.
      

For a real touchstone to AK, consider bringing home the craft of Homer!

SLIDESHOW: Travels through Tuscany

Look beautiful?













  Look fun?

Look delicious? 

See the whole mouth-watering slideshow here:
Slideshow of Tuscany

Interview with Emma, the Truffle hunting K9!

Meet Emma, who works at Tartufi Bianconi in southern Umbria.

Q: How did you become a truffle hunting dog?

Well, for starters, I was born a poodle.  That’s important – only a few breeds are good for truffle hunting.  Farmers also work with german shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and even these funny looking brothers called Belgian Malinois.

Q:  Are you scared about being put out of business by a pig?

Actually, I’m a lot easier to fit in the backseat of a car than a pig.. plus im cleaner and smell better!

The inside "pig" story is..

Many truffles produce a scent that mimics a male pig sex hormone. It is for this reason that female pigs have been used historically in Europe to help find truffles. More recently, dogs have become the preferred truffle hunting companion, mostly because they can be trained to find, but not eat the truffles!

 Q:  In your own words, Emma, tell us exactly what thrills you about this sport, or should we call it a "career"...

The treats! When I’m out truffle hunting with my farmer/master,  I smell the booty, and start to dig it up.   The things are pretty valuable, though, so the farmer doesn’t want me to eat it.. by mistake!   So as soon as he sees me digging, he calls me off.  I’ve been taught to roll over, belly up (no idea why this demeaning pose is necessary, but..)  and I'd do ANYTHING FOR A TREAT!

 

It’s just a little bite, but I do this about 25 times each morning, so my overall take is pretty good!

Q:  Is truffle hunting seasonal, or do you have a favorite season to “hunt”?

Fall is my favorite!  In October and November, there’s the Alba White Truffle – the call is the Precious Whites.

The Winter Black Truffle – sometimes called the Perigord – is harvested all the way thru early March.

The Burgundy, or Summer truffle is not really harvested in summer.. rather in September.

For me it's all the same though -- running, barking, eating...

Q:  What special education do you need?  Do you have a graduate degree, or need Continuing Ed to stay abreast of the latest trends?

I was trained alongside drug dogs, bomb detection dogs, cadavar dogs, and search and rescue comrades.   It was a little scary, and—frankly – I’m glad I landed here on the farm, instead on in the NYPD!

 Once a K9 like me enters a truffle training program, he generally receives two to four months of scent training, obedience training, and search work before going out “on the job.”

Q:  Do you hunt up other stuff, too – like shoes, or squirrels?

No, I learned the hard way – it’s truffles or nothing!  Actually truffles have a unique smell.  In fact, each KIND of truffle has a unique smell.  I was taught all that in school.  So I go after only the REAL  mccoy.

Q:  Did you watch the "60 Minutes" piece about truffle crimes?

I did, and it was true!  I stayed up that night, trying to sort it all out.  Since i'm a fully-trained truffle dog, I'm worth about $12,500.  But truffles cost $300-$600 PER POUND!   I tried to do the math, and compute my REAL value since i weigh about 30 pounds, but it was so confounding, it made me pee on the bathroom rug! 

Q:  What would you like to tell the many guests and tourists who come to your farm for a visit?  (besides to remember a K9 treat for a tip)?

I'd tell them to not leave the farm without doing a cooking lesson.  My "Mom" makes truffle-stuffed chicken rolls, shaved truffle over souffle, truffle sauced over tagatelle, and the precious white truffles sauteed in butter! 

  

Q:  Do you live in a kennel with other dogs, or in the house with your master?

A kennel?  YIKES!   No, I have a built-in couch in my farmer’s sunroom, and a chair in the TV room that I’m not happy to share!  Plus, I get the middle of the bed, as long as I get there first!

Here I am with the gal who interviewed me.  I think she likes me!

SMUGGS: All the latest family fun, in a quaint New England package

Smuggs -- short for Smugglers Notch,the ski resort  cozied onto the north side of Mt Mansfield in northern VT -- has made a decision: 

Leave the swanky mountain houses and high speed gondolas ( and the $90/day life tickets) to the other mountains.
Smuggs will charm you with its New England ambiance- down to preserving the green wooden lift chairs- and put all their energy into creating the best  family winter playground in the Northeast that's convenient, affordable, super friendly, and bursting with ideas!
    
Ski or snowboard? There's an entire mountain for beginners, and the only TRIPLE black diamond run in the East!
If that doesn't entice you, then consider that lift tickets are $70 ($55 with discount voucher through local hotels) compared to $90 at their mountain neighbor, Stowe!

Canopy adventures! It's zip lining, alpine style, complete with sky walks and rappelling down trees! 


Snowshoe tours- gentle loops for the family or High Elevation Tours up through tHe Notch!  
Deer mice and mountain fox footprints- even black bear claw marks running up the beech trees- all tell a story of wilderness life in the Green Mountains that your guides will share with you.



Nordic trails!  The whole loop which is groomed daily and which roams through Vermont hardwood forest and along windswept meadows, is around 10K.  Dogs are welcome on the trail, and the staff at the Nordic Center can fit you with rentals ($19) as well as suggest routes  suitable for all levels of skiers.

Swimming pool and sauna!

Ice skating  on the outdoor rink!

Even air boarding!  Imagine boogie boarding down a ski run!  I'm not sure how you stop, but they run clinics every afternoon at the Nordic Center to teach you all the tricks. 


FOOD FIND of the week:  The Bakery, in Jeffersonville. 
Homemade cinnamon rolls, roasted beet n kale hash with poached eggs, gingerbread waffles, yogurt dishes called Treehuggers, seitan dishes for vegans, and $1 Green Mountain roasters (if you bring your own mug!)
        

Just for fun...

our photo of the perfect apres-ski table:  drying socks, hat and headphones, Magic Hat, and a giant bag of M&Ms

                                           

To HELL with the New Year's Diet: EAT POUTINE!

On a recent getaway to Montreal, I was introduced to this Jewel of Junkfood...
Poutine --  it's that heaping plate of Fries drowned in gravy, crumbled cheese curds, and (for those Atkins-haters)  even bacon! 

You can treat yourself to strawberry-n-nutella crepes...sample "white" hot chocolate and Philly-caliber pretzels...and feast on a fine French duck at Bonapartes...




But no trip to Montreal is complete without the Poutine!




This culinary tradition dates back to the 1950s, to Quebec, when a restaurantuer  told a customer, who was requesting fries and cheese to be packaged in the same take-out bag, 

"thats gong to be' a 'maudite poutine'"-- or "big mess"

The gravy ingredient was added about a decade later by Jean-Paul Roy whose potato gravy recipe providentially existed in the same city as the poutine creation, making an easy culinary merger. 
Poutine eventually spread down the Atlantic coast to NY and NJ-- the term "disco fries" ring a bell? 

Now you can get poutine in fancy restaurants as well as  24-hour diners....
You can get meat gravy and sometimes even marinara saure or BBQ Sauce...although Quebecers will act appalled at this corruption.

You can even get poutine out on the West coast!   

In-n-Out Burger has an off-menu item that's french fries with grilled onions and sauce.  They don't advertise it, so expect a look of surprise when you walk up to the counter and say,

"French fries, animal-style please!"