Alaska 3 - Norm's Works

MyD's friend, Norm has great creativities. Whenever I visit him, I find something admirable about him.
MyDの友人ノームさんは本当に器用な人だ。彼の家を訪れる度に驚かされることがある。

His house built by himself....A better photo is available at his homepage.
彼の手作りの家。彼のホームページにもっと綺麗な写真がある。







A handmade table and a stool.
The grain is beautiful. If possible, I would like to have the stool.
お手製のテーブルとストゥール。木目が非常に美しい。せめて、この椅子だけでも手にしたい...





Norm's handmade knife with dear's bone handle.
ナイフまで作るとは。取っ手は鹿の骨製。


Hugin & Munin フギンとムニン
"This will bring me good luck and wisdom. Cheif of the Norse Mythology Valhalla gods was Odin. He had two ravens, Hugin and Munin. Both would fly out at day break each day and fly around the world. One would see everything and the other would hear everything. When they returned they would tell Odin what was happeningin the world. So, I expect they will do the same for me. I expect I will have a complete report on each of you be at your best............."from Norm's email on June 3, 2004.
「私に幸せと知恵を授けてくれるものを作りました。北欧神話に基づいて作ったものです。2羽の大ガラスHuginとMuninはヴァルハラの最高神オーディンに仕え、毎朝夜明けと共にオーディンのもとを飛び立ちました。片方は世界中のあらゆることを見、もう片方は、あらゆることを聞き、戻って来てオーディンにすべてを報告しました。同様にこの私のHuginとMuninが皆さんの出来事を伝えてくれることを祈っています。」ノームさんの2004年6月3日のメールより。



A windmill　風車
Made by razor cram shells and mussle shells. He installed another windmill like this to the door of his salmon smoker door. This helped to protect the smoker from being attached by a bear.
マテガイとムール貝の貝殻で作った風車。同様の風車をスモークサーモン用のスモーカーの木製扉に取り付けたところ、それまで、スモーカーをよく襲ってきていた熊が来なくなったとのこと。




Agate　瑪瑙(めのう）
Norm collected pebbles from Ninilchik shore where he and MyD go for cram digging. Norm put these pebbles in a tumbler and polished until they become like the photo.
MyDとよく貝堀りに行くNinilchikと言うところで、集めた小石。これをタンブラーに入れて磨いたらこのように綺麗になるとのこと。









Norm asked me to pick up one and carry it around wherever I go so that happiness will come to me. I picked up one. Then, he asked me to pick three more for my nieces and for my mother. These are the ones I selected. I will try to carry one of them around and see what happens. 好きな石を一つ選んで身から離さず常に携えていると幸せが訪れるという言い伝えに従って、一つ頂くことにした。私の姪にも、母にもと合計4つ頂いた。実行してみよう。



Norm's Salmon jerkey.
ノームさんのサーモンジャーキー。






Norm's Gravlax..My favorite
I was impressed by the neat packaging. (In Japan, when we say smoked salmon, that is lox. I was unaware that there were different kinds of smoked salmon. Unless a correct name is known, Japanese can not obtain what we want abroad. )
ノームさんのグラバラクス-私のお気に入り
丁寧なパッケージ法にも感動させられる。(日本では、スモークサーモンといえば正式にはLOXといわれるものらしい。いろんな種類のスモークサーモンがあるので正しい言葉を知らないと欲しいものがいただけない。)

Alaska 2 - Cooking with Chef MyD

My enjoyment being with MyD is being able to cook together. I particularly like to observe his way of cooking, so neat, no hurry and exact but cooked quickly.
幸いにもMyDは料理が好きなので一緒に楽しめる。特に、料理しているしぐさを眺めるのが楽しい。ゆっくりと丁寧にそして正確に、しかしながら案外早く料理が完成する。

Ceviche --Chef MyD's specialty.

HALIBUT CEVICHE SALAD
¾ lb. boneless halibut, cut into ¼ inch cubes
½ lb. Scallops, thinly sliced
½ lb. cooked shrimp, cut into ¼ inch pieces
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
4 large tomatoes
2 cups green onions, chopped (with some tops)
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup tomato-based chili sauce
½ cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup green salsa jalapeno
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tsp. Oregano leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
*
In a small deep bowl, place halibut, scallops, and lime juice. Mix well. Cover and chill at least 3 hours and the fish has turned an opaque white. Stir occasionally. Drain and discard liquid. Peel and core 4 large tomatoes and cut in half; squeeze out juice and seeds and chop pulp. Mix tomato, halibut, scallops, and shrimp with remaining ingredients. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
Drain fish and serve with lime wedges

*
Now here is the difference from Down River Dave. I use the plastic containers of lime juice, but considerably more than ½ cup. I put in enough lime juice to completely cover all the halibut and scallops and then let it “cook” overnight in the fridge. I then mix all the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and put them in the fridge overnight. A small amount of balsamic vinegar won’t hurt anything. Whenever I am ready, I drain the halibut and scallops and then mix them with the other bowl. I do not drain the end product. Rather I serve with a slotted spoon. If stirred once a day, this will remain safe, and good to eat for more than two weeks. Enjoy!

Banana Bread from Chef MyD's cook book
A ...1 cups all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda,1/4 teaspopon salt
B ... 1 cup mashed ripe banana, 1/3 cup butter, 2 tablespoons milk　　　　　　　 C ... 2 eggs, 3/4 all-purpose flour.
1/4 cup chopped nus
Oven 350 degree fahrenheit
In a large mixer bowl combine A. Add B. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed till blended, then on high speed for 2 minutes. Add C, beat till blended. Stir in nuts.
Pour batter into a greesed 8x4x2-inch loaf ban. Bake in a 350 degree fahreinheit oven for for 55 to 60 min. or till a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min. on a wire rack. Remove from the pan: cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 1 loaf (16 servings).

Halibut Enchiladas.. Best cooked by Kristy
1 can hot enchilada sauce, 1 can mild enchilada sauce
Crumbledcooked halibut, 8 oz.cream cheese
Sliced black olives, diced green chillies
Thinly sliced green onions, Grated Monterey Jack Cheese,
Flour tortillas
Mix the two sauces together, heat to blend, then cool slightly. Dip tortilla in souces, then add halibut, cream cheese, olives, chilies, and onions (in that order). Rool up, place in 13x9 baking dish buttered or sprayed. Slice each rolled-up tortilla in 2 pieces. Cover with any leftover sauce and then sprinkle with Montereay Jack Cheese. Bake uncovered 20 min. at 350.
Note: This recipe has no quantities listed--just decie how many tortillas you are going to make and wing it. For the cream cheese, just pinch off small chunks of the cream cheese and drop it on top of the halibut.

Alaska 1 - Mom's trip to Alaska

A trip with my mother started on Sat. 070707. KIX-SFO-ANC-Kenai. It was a long trip. Mother never complained about the length. However, she must have been very tired. As soon as she arrived at MyD's house, she expressed her wish to go back. She wanted my sister to pick her up. If not, she claimed to go home herself by train. It would be difficult, because we need air crafts to go back... After a long sleep, she became better after a call to my sisters in Japan, she never grumbled to go home.
母との旅が土曜日2007年7月7日に始まった。関空、サンフランシスコ、アンカレジから最終目的地キーナイに長旅の末やっと着いた。が、長旅について、一言も母は愚痴らなかった。ただ、MyDの家に着くや否や、帰りたいと言い出した。家の近くに住む自分の娘に迎えに来てもらう、とか、だめだったら、自分で電車に乗って帰ると言い出した。ウ～ン、電車では帰れないんだけど...その夜ぐっすり眠り、翌日、日本まで電話をして娘と話をしたらすっとしたのか、その後、帰りたい病（ホームシック?）を口には出さなくなった。

My wish was for her to enjoy the quiet and serene scenery there. Unfortunately, the weather was not favorable for her. It was mostly cloudy or was rainy. However, when we were on activities, rain stopped and even the sun came out. Being acrophobia, she was afraid of getting closer to the stairs, which goes down to the shore of Kenai River from MyD's backyard. For a boat ride, we had her heavily clad to prevent from head winds and managed her on board. In her childhood, she used to commute by boats, so she should have had no problem to ride a boat. What she uttered after the launch was, "Having known of this fish
boat ride, I should have come here with my brother in my hometown. He would have been enjoyed by finding a company (MyD) ...." My uncle was a fisherman.
母には、晴れた綺麗な景色を楽しんで欲しかったが、あいにく、曇りから雨。天候的には最悪の一週間だったが、それでも我々が活動しているときには、雨がやんだり、晴れ間を覗かしてくれた。高所恐怖症の母は、川に降りるデッキに近付くのさえ怖がっていた。向かい風に備えて重装備にし、ボートに無事乗ってくれた。島娘の母がボートを怖がるとは思えなかった。ボートが進むや否や、「こんな船に乗せてもらえるんだったら、田舎の兄さん連れて来れば良かった...」だって。 叔父さんは漁師をしていた。

Clouds broke out, while we were on the boat. I believed my mother would enjoy the scenery. According to her, "everywhere looks the same." Well, I do not think so...　　As a result, she was resting her eyes by closing.
ボートに乗っていると、太陽が出て来た。これで、母も綺麗な景色を楽しんでくれると嬉しかった。しかし、母によると「どこも同じ景色してるね。」そうは、思えないけど、母は、殆どずっと、ボート上で目を休めていた。

At the dining table, she was doing simple arithmetic and Japanese writing exercises to kill her time. She was so impressed by the loftiness of spruce trees outside.
母は暇な時、ダイニングテーブルで、算数と国語のドリルをして時間を過ごした。窓の外に見えるトウヒ（スプルース）という木が真っ直ぐに高く育っているのを見て感嘆していた。



My mother is standing at Lands End of the spit in Homer. This was the place I was so much impressed when I first visited Alaska on my own in May 1995. Rain just stopped for her to
appreciate the partial view of the Kenai Mountains across the Kachemok Bay. But I am not sure what my mom was looking at at this moment. ホーマーという場所に一本の髭のように突き出た場所がある。その先端のランドエンドというところに母が立っている。実は、この場所は1995年5月に初めて一人でアラスカを訪れたときに来て、感激した場所だ。ちょうど雨が止んでくれて何とかカチャマク湾の向こうのキーナイ山脈の稜線が見えた。 が、母はこの時、何を見ていたかは不明。


Another wish for my mother was to experiment fishing at the private beach. But she was hesitant and was scared. I asked my mother to hold the pole in order to pick up something to drink from the house. On my return, I found my mother bravely wielding the pole at the river on her own. 母にこの裏庭にある美しい川で釣もやってみて欲しかったが、怖いと言って断られた。飲み物を取りに行く間、釣竿を持っておいてと依頼して離れたが、帰ってくると、なんと母は勇敢にも釣竿を振り回していた。

My mother likes to wait for us, rather than following our rambling. At the photo shot moment, I was not sure if my mother was aware that we were in the building behind her.
She was looking around, probably looking for me.... I cheated her. I sneaked out of the building from the other exit and took her photo. Sorry.
母は、我々がぶらぶら歩く後を付いていくよりじっと待っている方が好きだ。この時、母の後の建物に我々が入った訳だが果たしてそれを認識してるのか良くわからなかった。一生懸命外を見て私を探しているようだった。ちょっと意地悪して、別の出口から出て、そんな母の姿を写真に収めた...

Overall, I am not sure if this trip was good for her. It is said travelling is good to prevent people from aging. I feel the trip accelerated her aging, as she was always unaware where she was and what time it was. Such unsureness, however, is reasonable, because the sun does not go down completely in Alaska right now.
旅はボケ予防に良いと聞いたが、果たして、この旅行で結局は母にとって良かったのかどうか良くわからない。ボケを助長させたのではないかと心配させられる。自分が一体どこにいているのかもわからないし、時間帯も判らないと言う。それも最もなのだが....今アラスカは殆ど白夜なので。

”Greatest ｔhanks" goes to MyD on behalf of my family members!
家族一同から大変お世話になったMyDにありがとう！