Ahhh\u2026summer. Daylight seems to go on forever and on those rare, sunny days in Southeast Alaska time seems to stand still. As I write this column, we are experiencing such a phenomena. Even I, who can almost always be found in a sweater, with my feet covered in wooly socks, am sporting a sun dress and open-toed shoes. It\u2019s truly a perfect day.<\/p>\n
I have to confess, I was wondering if we\u2019d even get to enjoy any additional such perfect days after the deluge of rain we have experienced this spring. Thankfully, the heavens have smiled upon us and we are once again basking in the glow of the midnight sun.<\/p>\n
This weather tends to make Southeast Alaskans more eager than ever to get outside. I joke with my tour guests that the way to spot a local on a sunny days is that we\u2019re standing outside with our faces pointed toward the sky, taking deep breaths, and chanting \u201csun day\u201d as our mantra. Yes, these days are precious to us and even more so for folks like me, who relish cooking outside.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m speaking of the ever popular backyard barbecue. This age-old ritual dates back to prehistoric times when man finally figured out the fire thing and had his buddies over to drink mugs of glug and gnaw on grilled leg of t-rex. This is a bonding experience for friends, families, and neighbors. Of course, in Juneau we don\u2019t let a little rain keep us from firing up the grill, but it is so much more enjoyable on a warm, sunny day.<\/p>\n
Recently my dear friend Lorene came back to Juneau for a brief visit. In her honor we gathered around the fire pit and had a delicious meal. To end the meal, we opted for the customary s\u2019mores dessert. This has become a tradition among our group since we made the gourmet s\u2019more for Elizabeth\u2019s birthday BBQ a couple of years ago. This year, however, the gooey dessert was taken to a whole new level by my outdorksy sister, Valerie. We used gourmet chocolates and Taku Glacier Lodge\u2019s gingersnap cookies. Yes, you read that correctly, no simple milk chocolate bar and graham crackers for us. Nope. We went all kinds of Iron Chef with our s\u2019mores. The choices of chocolate bars ranged from dark chocolate sea salt caramel, to milk chocolate chili pepper. All paired with the delicious Taku Glacier Lodge gingersnap cookies.<\/p>\n
After putting together the s\u2019mores and getting the gooey chocolate marshmallow concoction all over us, we reflected that they reminded us of the southern treat called Moon Pies. We then started sharing ideas of how this new treat could become Alaska\u2019s moon pie and perhaps become the iconic campfire treat of the Last Frontier. It\u2019s all about those cookies.<\/p>\n
This week I present a recipe that is a combination of creativity and a well-known and beloved cookie. If you haven\u2019t gone to Taku Glacier Lodge, I highly recommend it. It\u2019s a feast for the eyes and the belly. While you\u2019re out there, pick up the Taku Glacier Lodge\u2019s cookbook. Not only is the gingersnap cookie recipe in it, but the biscuits are, too. Oh, my\u2026the biscuits! If you\u2019re unable to make the journey this week, here\u2019s the recipe for those outstanding cookies.<\/p>\n
Until next time\u2026<\/p>\n
Eat and enjoy,<\/p>\n
Midgi<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alaskan Moon Pies<\/p>\n
12 Taku spicy ginger cookies<\/p>\n
Marshmallows<\/p>\n
Chocolate bars (whatever you like)<\/p>\n
Milk and\/or chocolate, melted<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Taku Spicy Ginger Cookies<\/p>\n
1 cup butter<\/p>\n
1 \u00be cups granulated sugar<\/p>\n
\u00be cup brown sugar<\/p>\n
1 egg<\/p>\n
1\/3 cup molasses<\/p>\n
3 cups all-purpose flour<\/p>\n
1 \u00bc teaspoon baking soda<\/p>\n
1 tablespoon cinnamon<\/p>\n
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon powdered ginger<\/p>\n
1 teaspoon cloves<\/p>\n
2 teaspoons nutmeg<\/p>\n
\u00bd teaspoon salt<\/p>\n
1 cup raw sugar<\/p>\n
Space oven racks evenly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.<\/p>\n
Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses.<\/p>\n
Mix flower, soda, spices and salt. Add to above, just until blended. Dough should be stiff. Add a bit of flour if dough is too soft.<\/p>\n
Using a small ice-cream scoop, form walnut-sized dough balls and dip into the raw sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet with sugar side up.<\/p>\n
Bake 10 to 12 minutes for softer cookies, longer for crispier cookies. Cookies will crack on top.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bake cookies, roast marshmallows and make s\u2019mores cookie sandwich. Dip one half of cookie in melted chocolate to make half-moon pies. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ahhh\u2026summer. Daylight seems to go on forever and on those rare, sunny days in Southeast Alaska time seems to stand still. As I write this column, we are experiencing such a phenomena. Even I, who can almost always be found in a sweater, with my feet covered in wooly socks, am sporting a sun dress […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-28356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28356"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=28356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}