A New Adventure . . . and Some Exciting News!

Source: http://www.britishcolumbia.com

I’m heading off on a new wilderness adventure soon. More about that later because I’m excited to tell you first that while I’m away my blog will be having its own adventure too. Since I’m heading to a region that is unlikely to have any wi-fi, I may miss my big moment. Redbook magazine contacted me recently and they’ve asked to feature one of my recipes in one of their August issues! Which one do you think it is? C’mon. Vote. Just for fun.

Poll Closed. UPDATE: the recipe that was requested was Shot Glass Lemon Meringue.

In a sense, writing this blog has been a wilderness adventure. I started it simply to digitize the recipes I had scrawled on little pieces of paper or clipped from magazines and stuffed into my kitchen cupboard. I had to learn the ins and outs of WordPress and editing photos and along the way I’ve made a multitude of connections all around the world,  amazingly just through writing about what I’m making for dinner. People from every country from A-Z have visited my little blog–from Andorra, Armenia, Bahrain, Croatia to Zambia and Zimbabwe. It never ceases to amaze me to learn that I’ve connected with so many others right here in my kitchen.

But back to the present. We’re off on a sailing trip to the Broughton Archipelago. Sounds like somewhere in the South Pacific, right? Actually, we’re heading north. It’s a  “wilderness area consisting of a maze of several small islands, numerous islets and adjacent foreshore at the southern extremity of Queen Charlotte Strait . . . Located between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland, the islands  are undeveloped and are largely undiscovered. ”

And it’s pretty much guaranteed that we will see:

“Several species of marine mammals, including Orcas (killer whales), harbour seals, harbour porpoises, sea lions and sea otters utilize habitats found in this Protected Area. River otters, mink and raccoons can often be seen playing along the shoreline, coastal black-tailed deer are commonplace on these islands, and black bears can occasionally be spotted rolling boulders on the shore in search of food. “

BEARS? Further reading warns me to beware of bears, especially during berry season.

This is berry season, people.

And now they tell me, once I’ve already committed to this trip, that this is Grizzly territory too. While searching for my hiking whistle, they tell me that they actually call that a “dinner bell”. Hmmm.

One of the biggest challenges in preparing for this trip was to plan and prepare all the food that we will need in advance, as there will be nowhere to pick up or replenish supplies for our 10-14 day trip. To create menus, purchase, prepare and package enough food for 4 people for breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner was a daunting task when I first started, but now it is done and safely stowed in the onboard fridge and (very) small freezer. Since none of us are “packaged food” enthusiasts, it was a lot of work, but also kind of fun, to make everything from scratch and to make sure we were getting balanced and interesting meals each day. Here are a few of the things we will have packed:

Barbecued Salmon by Chantal and Graham
Gin-Gingered Spot Prawns
Chia Seed Jam
Zucchini Patties
The BEST Chicken Kabob Marinade
Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Nuts
Laura’s Granola
Saskatoon Berry Cookies
Chocolate Cherry Coffee Cookies
Citrus Sake-Lacquered Salmon
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Instant Oatmeal Packs

and a whole lot more, including some new recipes that I’ll post when I return.

A few years ago, one of my adventurous daughters once gave me a world map with pins to show all the places we had traveled and to dream of all the places we want to go. It included this quote:

So armed with my new self-inflating Mustang life jacket and still searching for my whistle to scare those bears away, I’m ready to go.