bird tracks: 10 days in review...

frost & snow drifts on the front window

its been a while since my last post, my computer crashed last week and i’ve been putting off posting until i fix it. its still broken. i’ve spent a few hours trying to figure it out, with no luck. it’s a slightly scary thought to think that it may not work again but i’m trying to push that thought out of my head. i bought an external hard drive this summer and backed everything up, so most everything will be fine, although i have a few current projects that that exist only on my computer. so fingers crossed i’ll get it working soon.

this has been a busy week. i have to chuckle thinking about that, i guess “busy week” is relative isn’t it? we were supposed to get our fuel trucks in this weekend so we’ve being getting ready for that, measuring ice, shoveling path, plowing snow.  fuel can come in here only in the winter over the ice road, so there will be quite a few trucks. se had to measure the ice across the lake to make sure that it can hold a full semi truck, if not they’ll have to do half loads which would take a lot more time, but there is between 29 and 33 inches over the whole lake so we should be good. there is a method, called gold’s formula to figure out how much ice you need for so much weight, this is how it works:

drilling holes for measuing thickness

P= allowable load capacity of the ice in kilograms.

H= blue or natural ice thickness in centimeters

W= white ice (flood ice) thickness in centimeters

for solid blue ice:

P= 7.03 X H2

For blue and white ice combined:

P= 7.03 X (H + 1/2W)2

using this formula we need about 29 inches of ice for a full semi truck, which is the least that we have.

we drilled holes about every 200 meters down the whole lake, about 30 in total, at sunset during an almost full moon, it was a pretty beautiful night. travis finished drilling holes on big stone lake day before yesterday. the lake is about 20km’s from here, you have to go over utik lake, then over land for awhile before you get there. travis went out early in the afternoon, i got some work done around the house then snowmobiled ¾ of the way out to the lake and then walked to meet him. it’s a long ways to skidoo with schooner and he has trouble running on the ice over the lake, so he’s been riding on the skidoo in front of me. it takes him a minute to get used to it, but then he relaxes and it’s awesome, he blocks the wind, keeps me warm and i don’t have to go slow. i want to get a picture of it one of these days, its pretty cute!

bird feet

i haven’t been skiing lately. its been either too windy, too cold or a mix of both, mostly the latter. i have been keeping my trail packed and clear with the skidoo though,  with the wind we’ve been having it needs to be packed everyday or so or else it would disappear altogether. when i went out the yesterday i followed these little tracks for awhile, took a few pictures and then all of the sudden the tracks were gone and there were little feather marks in the snow. at first i thought that a bird had gotten whatever had made the tracks, but then it kept happening, there would be a big swoosh in the snow, then tracks weaving in and out of little bushes, then feather marks, then nothing for a while and then it would start again. i’m not sure what kind of bird it was but it was definitely pretty neat to see.

up, up and away...

today is probably going to be pretty low key for me. i might get out for a ski, but i’m going to try to get my computer running, which could take up a fair amount of time.  i thawed a roast out last night, so I have dinner figured out, i made bread yesterday, and have a fairly large selection of snack food so there’s not too much to be done around the house. yesterday i spent the afternoon plowing snow with the bobcat. i did the whole area in front of the cabin and the road to the lodge and it was so much fun! i didn’t want to come inside – i think we ate dinner at 8! i was making bread at the same time, so i just kept the timer with me, plowed until it went off, went inside did the next step and went back out to plow. travis is headed back to the big stone this morning to plow the road to the pit with the cat. he said he might get the bobcat going for me before he leaves so i can keep clearing – yay! i might get to play again today!

rustic free form loaves

What a gorgeous morning! I woke at 2am last night to a sky filled with northern lights, like fringe dancing across the whole sky. This morning it’s bright and sunny, the flag out front slowing drifting in the breeze - thank goodness there are no gail force winds! Yesterday wasn’t as bad as the day before but it was still pretty nasty at times. I was hauling water in the morning and I had almost finished when I turned around to look down the lake and I could see the wind slowly making it’s way over, this big fizzy white cloud drifting over the ice. I was pretty much done with my outside stuff so I didn’t have to stay out to long, but Travis was on the cat plowing the road on the big stone, so it was him I was thinking about. Being on an open lake, on a big hunk of frozen steel at -20 with 20km winds doesn’t really sound to lovely. He does have the ranger with him and a hot thermos of coffee so he’s able to go warm up if he needs it and I imagine that he needed to yesterday. I’m going skidoo down the lake and take him hot soup for lunch today – nothing like a picnic at -25 J

While I was waiting for travis to get home last night I knit up a little felted headband. I always keep my eyes open for cool headbands but never seem to find one that I actually like to wear. But I’m definitely on a roll with these! I made one the other night with two i-cords attached with a hair elastic at the bottom (so they are nice and stretchy!), then I felted it and it worked amazingly! I found the original pattern on ravelry, but I added the felting part. Last night I decided to take it a little further and I knit a strip about 1.5 inches wide by about 22 inches long and felted it the same way. Travis keeps singing “lets get physical, physical”…but whatever - I think they are cool! I made these bangles last week and I might do something similar with the embroidery thread on the headbands, but I have decided yet. Felting is just amazing though! The projects are endless!

You may have seen the loaf of my dreams that I posted last week. But I’ll post it again here, with the recipe. I think next time I may modify it a little. In the original recipe, you start by making a small batch of dough, you let it sit over night, add more ingredients the next day and bake the loves. I wouldn’t mind trying it out using a three day process, making the poolish the first day, adding more flour etcetera the next day and then baking on the third day. Which would mean I would have to start it tonight I guess, seeing as we’ll be cutting into the second and last loaf at lunch today. so...

Start the preferment the evening before you want to bake the loves:

1 lb. bread flour (3 1/2 cups)

9.5 oz. warm water (1 1/4 cups)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand for 5 minutes. In a medium sized bowl mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until the flour is properly hydrated, use more water if you have to.

The next morning (about 12-18 hours later):

10 oz. bread flour (2 1/2 cups)

6 oz. whole wheat (around 1 1/2 cups)

12.5 oz. water (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand for 5 minutes. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a medium sixed bowl. Chop up your preferment and mix it into the flour mixture, add the water mixture. Kneed on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes, making sure that the preferment is fully incorporated.

Place the dough back in the bowl and let rise for 50 minutes. Invert it onto the table and gently degas, by flattening it into a large rectangle, fold it in thirds, like a letter, then turn it and fold it the same way again. Place it back in the bowl and let rise for another 50 minutes and repeat the folds. Let it rise again for 50 minutes then cut in two and shape your free form loaves. Let these rise for about 1.25 to 1.5 hours. Halfway through rising preheat your oven to 450F. When your loaves are perfected proofed slash the top and place them in the oven and bake until a thermometer, when inserted reads 200F (I'd never done this - it was kind of exciting!) or about 35 minutes. To increase the humidity of your oven, in order to create a better crust, you can put a bread pan filled with water in the oven the same time you put your loafs in, or you can use a clean mister – whatever works best for you!

I made french toast out of a loaf the other morning and it was divine! I cut the bread nice and thick, so it could absorb the egg/milk/vanilla mixture to the greatest degree and topped with a slab of butter and maple syrup when it was done – yuuuum! Today’s eggs and hash browns, seemed just so so. 

homemade yogurt

seriously, its the best thing ever! and its a pinch to make. there is no reason to buy that sugar-laden, solid, stirred, unstirred, fruit on the bottom, non-food crap. real, homemade yogurt is amazing and so good for you. add a sliced banana, a dollop of jam, strawberries or granola - breakfast doesn't get any better.

you can make it one of two ways: you can use either store bought yogurt as your culture or you can buy a powdered yogurt culture from the grocery store. either one works great, but if you are starting with real yogurt you'll have to make sure that its plain, and i mean plain. not vanilla and it has to have active bacterial culture in it, otherwise, its a no go. the first couple batches are going to be a little different then you're probably used to. it might be runny, or have an almost slimy texture. the culture just has to work it self out and after a couple batches it will be wonderful.

heat 1 liter of milk to between 108-112 degrees F, add 2 T yogurt and stir to combine. pour it into a clean container with a lid. wrap it well with a towel and place in a warm spot to incubate for 8-hours (overnight). when the time is up put it in the fridge, cool and enjoy!

if you are using unpasteurized milk, you'll have to heat it up to 180 degrees F to pasteurize it. then cool it to 110ish and then add your starter. if you are using a powered yogurt starter, there will be directions on the package, mine says to only incubate for 4 hours.

tomato soup: so simple, delicious & classic

this is whats on the menu for lunch today, along with a nice sharp cheddar grilled cheese. travis is working on the bulldozer and when he gets in we'll eat. yum! 

2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 large onion, finely chopped 
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
3 cups chicken broth 
28-oz. can plum tomatoes, pureed (include the juice) 
1-1/2 tsp. sugar 
1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
salt and freshly ground black pepper 


heat the oil and butter in a heavy bottom soup pot and saute the onion and garilc until soft. add the flour to and stir to coat. pour in the broth, pureed tomatoes, sugar, thyme and about 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes. serve with a dollop of sour cream, or a drizzle of fresh cream if you like!

it clouded over last night and has warmed up quite a bit today. we're supposed to have snow and a high of zero on friday!

clafoutis with maple syrup and yogurt

its a slow morning around here. only about -20 outside, but windy as anything, so i suppose its actually a fast morning! walking between the cabin and the shop is like going through a wind tunnel. sitting in the outhouse is a whole other matter! i swear there is a choir sitting outside the window - the wind doesn't come through thank goodness, but the sound it makes whizzing past the the glass and through the trim is really quite amazing. my ski yesterday afternoon was fabulous going one direction. if i had a sail i could have gone for miles! but coming back home was kinda chilly. why is it always up hill, or windier, or colder when you have to go home? it should be the other way around. 

i got up early this morning, put water on for coffee, turned on the radio and started breakfast. we have to get our groceries hauled in by skidoo, so some things are a little harder to get - like eggs. whole, lovely, in the shell, good eggs! we do have liquid eggs, but i have a really hard time using them. the colour, the smell, consistency, its just not right. i use them for baking and that sort of thing, where they are disguised to the greatest degree, but that’s about it. 

hen travis snowmobiled to oxford house last week, he brought a couple dozen eggs back with him - dated march 11th! which is kind of crazy - i'm not really sure how that is possible! but nonetheless they are eggs and they're lovely! so this morning i splurged and made clafoutis. (pronounced cla-foo-tee). its a sort of a weekend-morning breakfast thing. you bake it in a cast iron frying pan in the oven and eat it with a little maple syrup drizzled on top. i like my slice with a little dollop of yogurt on top as well. its supremely yummy with a nice hot cup of coffee. 

pre-heat your oven to 375 and in a blender combine the first 6 ingredients, 

1 1/3 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries (raspberries are my favorite) but pretty much anything'll work. 

put a 9" cast iron pan in the oven with 1 tablespoon of butter in it, just long enough for it to get hot and melt the butter. take it out of the oven and carefully tilt to distribute the butter. pour in the batter, and sprinkle the berries on top. set the timer for about 30-35 minutes and go back to bed! you'll have to get out of bed again when the timer goes off, but its a totally fabulous way to start the day :)