{"id":7057,"date":"2016-04-06T08:01:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T15:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/meals-with-midgi-bacon-snacks-bears-and-beans\/"},"modified":"2016-04-06T08:01:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T15:01:03","slug":"meals-with-midgi-bacon-snacks-bears-and-beans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/life\/meals-with-midgi-bacon-snacks-bears-and-beans\/","title":{"rendered":"Meals with Midgi: Bacon snacks, bears and beans"},"content":{"rendered":"
Well, it\u2019s finally happened. I actually went on a hike. Not a nice stroll on a trail, but an honest to goodness, bona fide hike. And I didn\u2019t die, pass out, or get eaten by a bear. As many may know, I have never really embraced the great outdoors. In fact, I mostly give it that polite air hug. You know, the kind you give people you know, but don\u2019t really know.<\/p>\n
This year, I\u2019ve been determined to change that. We live in one of the most beautiful hiking areas in the world. I\u2019ve know this for years. Which begs the question, why have I been so reluctant to get out there?<\/p>\n
To put it succinctly, bears. I\u2019m terrified of them. I know, I know, I can hear the collective groaning and titters, as well as see the eye rolls. I live in Alaska, there are bears, get over it. Well, I\u2019m a city girl, I didn\u2019t grow up with bears, and it\u2019s a hard fear to conquer. And to those of you who say, \u201cOh the bears are more afraid of you than you are of them.\u201d I can honestly state that is not humanly possible. I cannot eat their faces off and rip them to shreds. Of course, this is such a rare occurrence in our neck of the woods, I am hard pressed to find any true evidence that this has actually happened. But, why should I tempt fate, right? I just know that with my luck, I\u2019ll be that statistic. Headlines reading: \u201cCooking Diva Mauled by Bear\u201d, subtitle reading: Bacon Snacks Not Recommended on Hikes. See where I\u2019m going with this? Bears are out there. If I stay in here, we\u2019ll all be better for it.<\/p>\n
To help me face my fears, I enlisted my dear friend Elizabeth. I strongly suggest that when starting on a new endeavor, you take a friend. Especially someone who is about your physical equal. This means, if you\u2019re new at hiking, don\u2019t go with someone who has hiked Mount Rainer carrying an 80 pound pack. Your pace will probably be significantly slower and they may leave you behind in their zeal to get to the top. Leave. You. Behind. Alone. With the bears.<\/p>\n
Choose that hiking buddy wisely. I do not choose to do a lot of hikes with The Captain. He\u2019s really tall. His gait matches his height. We measured our steps one day. I take three, count \u2018em \u2014 three \u2014 steps to his one. This makes me a bear snack. He\u2019ll get so far ahead of me, I\u2019ll be wandering around like Hansel and Gretel. No, go with someone who walks about your pace, and has a similar endurance level. I\u2019ve found this works better for me because we enjoy the time together, encourage each other, and there\u2019s no guilt when we have to stop and catch our breath. There\u2019s no hiker shaming going on here.<\/p>\n
For me an essential item to take on a hike is bear spray. I am certain I will never need it, but it\u2019s always good to be prepared. As we were heading out the road for our honest-to-goodness hike, we stopped by Western Auto to get said bear spray. Here\u2019s the thing: there are dozens of kinds of bear spray in all sorts of sizes and prices.<\/p>\n
I asked the very nice young lady working that day where in the store would one find bear spray. She replied, \u201cWhat kind are you looking for?\u201d I\u2019m thinking, kind? There are kinds?<\/p>\n
\u201cUh, the kind that will keep the bears from eating my face,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, so not the honey barbecue kind,\u201d she said with a grin.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, definitely not, \u201cI laughed, appreciating her sense of humor.<\/p>\n
Last week we decided to up our hiking game and go on a trail with a challenge. We went on the North Tee Harbor Trail that was up and up and up. We packed our backpacks, mine a hot pink outdorksy pack. I had the bear spray, some water, and of course my phone. Elizabeth\u2019s was blue camouflage, because it blends in with the sky, I suppose. She carried the snacks, equally as important.<\/p>\n
As we started on our trek, we thought the trail would be a bit of an incline and then level out. How wrong we were. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve ever truly hiked or walked uphill both ways. I didn\u2019t know that was actually possible. I\u2019m here to tell you it is. And for short legs like mine, it\u2019s a lot of work. But so worth it. By the time we made it to the mid-point of the hike, we were exhausted and hungry. Elizabeth planned well and brought some apples and almonds. We sat on the point, watching sea lions play, eagles flying, and just enjoyed the amazing wonder of where we live.<\/p>\n
By the time we got home, we were so proud of ourselves, we sat on the deck and enjoyed a nice, cold Alaskan White beer. It was a perfect day.<\/p>\n
The next day we were surprised to feel that our legs weren\u2019t as tired and achy as we thought, so we headed out on another great hiking adventure. Fortunately, she had cooked dinner earlier that day. By the time we had finished another scale up a mountain, I was exhausted and cooking was the last thing on my mind. Imagine my thrill when I learned she had made a good old-fashioned dinner, navy beans and ham. The perfect thing after a long weekend of trekking.<\/p>\n
She had used the remaining ham bone from Easter dinner the weekend prior. Elizabeth removed the bigger pieces of meat and slow cooked it with the beans and bone. I made some cornbread and we had a feast. Over dinner we laughed and shared our adventures with Michael, Elizabeth\u2019s husband. We also discussed the importance of getting a good ham with a good bone. There\u2019s a lot of flavor in dem bones. Don\u2019t waste it. Whether it\u2019s ham, beef, or even chicken. A good soup needs good stock and the best stocks come from the bones.<\/p>\n
This week I present a recipe that came from the remainders of a fantastic meal, and made another wonderful dinner. The soup was filling and flavorful and perfect for us outdorksy kinda girls: Navy Beans and Ham.<\/p>\n
As we get into summer and the weather is warming, I encourage everyone to get out and explore Alaska\u2019s trails. Did you know that in Juneau we have more miles of hiking trails than drivable roads? Maybe I\u2019ll see you on one. Don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll have the bear spray.<\/p>\n
Until next time\u2026<\/p>\n
Eat and enjoy,<\/p>\n
Midgi<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Navy (white) beans with ham (bone)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 pounds dried navy beans<\/p>\n
1 large hambone, trimmed, skin removed, bits cuts into bite-sized pieces<\/p>\n
2 tablespoons oil (olive or vegetable is fine)<\/p>\n
1 yellow onion, chopped<\/p>\n
3 cloves garlic, minced<\/p>\n
1 \u2013 2 tablespoons Konriko (or other Cajun Spice)<\/p>\n
1 can chicken stock<\/p>\n
Water<\/p>\n
Green onions, chopped<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 cups cooked rice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Preheat large soup pot to medium heat. Saut\u00e9 onions and garlic in oil. Add beans, ham, hambone, chicken stock, and. Cajun seasoning. Add enough water to cover the beans and bone. Bring to boil, cover, and turn down to a low simmer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cook low and slow for 2\u00bd – 3 hours. Check the pot in about 45 to see if more water needed. As the beans absorb the stock and soften, the liquid will cook down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Serve over rice. Top with chopped green onions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, it\u2019s finally happened. I actually went on a hike. Not a nice stroll on a trail, but an honest to goodness, bona fide hike. And I didn\u2019t die, pass out, or get eaten by a bear. As many may know, I have never really embraced the great outdoors. In fact, I mostly give it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":7058,"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-7057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7057","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=7057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7057"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}