Groceries from the Bush Order

We walked to school one morning and we were surprised by all the snow!

At lunch time most of the snow had melted away.

 I saw this tiny snail on the boardwalk one day.  It was as small as my thumbnail.

Moose burgers!  I bought a George Forman grill at a garage sale this summer, it has been handy!

Homemade French Fries (Baked)

1. Rinse potatoes.
2. Cut into french fry pieces.
3. Put pieces in a large bowl.
4. Toss in olive oil (or cooking oil).
5. Lay on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
6. Sprinkle with salt.
7. Bake at 400 for 40 min. or until golden brown.

 Moose burgers:
1. Shape ground meat into burger patties.
2. Set on the grill.
3. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip.
4. Cook until brown.

 Halfway through cooking the fries, I flip them over.  They wanted to stick to the foil so I used a spatula.

When the sun is out, it is bright!

The Alaska Bush Order arrived this week!  Since groceries are so expensive here at our stores, we like to order our bulk groceries through a shopping company called "Alaska Bush Shoppers."  Basically, we fax them our grocery list and they have employees in Anchorage who "shop" for us at places like Walmart, Sam's Club, and Costco.  Then, they package up our groceries and ship them to us.  They do charge for packing and shipping, but it saves us a lot of money in the long run.

Some of the guys loading up the truck to deliver the boxes to all the teachers.

This first shipment was all of the frozen foods.

 Here are some pictures I took just walking around the school and the teacher housing.

The gym and middle/high school is on the left, and the elementary wing is connected on the right.

The sewage pipes are all above ground, so they don't freeze during the winter and so they can be accessed easily if they need maintenance.  

The elementary on the left and a boardwalk leading to some teacher houses.

We had two days of staff meetings this week.  We finally got caught up on our grade books.

Puddles everywhere!

"The deck" outside the school gym.  It is a popular hang out spot for most of the kids and teenagers.

The red building is going to be the new preschool and is also the current classroom for Yup'ik class (where they learn the native language).

 The boardwalk from school to our house.

The school's van and truck.

The dumpster we put our trash in.

teacher housing

 

our duplex

 

teacher housing

Nathaniel giving it another go this weekend for moose hunting.

A Moose and Elementary Cross Country

Last Wednesday, our new friend Kinsey got her first moose!  

It was a smaller bull (male) moose.

Her husband cutting the last of the large pieces.

Holding the moose's heart.

The moose's heart

One rack of ribs

The head was heavy!

Hoof and Hide

They put the meat in a tote and brought it inside for us to cut up.

Cutting small pieces to put in the electric grinder.

Rinsing the meat, before putting the pieces in the grinder.

Ready for grinding!

Watch and learn

Grinding up the meat.

Ground meat is so useful... in spaghetti, meatloaf, meatballs, tacos, burgers... basically anything you would cook with beef is great with moose too!

Packaging into gallon size freezer bags.

We put close to two pounds of ground into each bag.

Here's looking at 70 lbs. of ground moose, only 1/3 of what we ground up, not including steaks, roasts, and ribs.  One moose goes a long way!

Friday night moose hunt, still no luck.

Waiting at the shore of the slough for his ride.

My mountain man

I was also waiting for my friend to pick me up, to go on a shopping trip to Emmonak.

I was trying to take a picture of the tug boat in the background, used for tugging barges.

Crusin' down the Yukon River.

Taking advantage of the Kwikpack Fishery Store (open seasonally)  They had a 1/2 off sale on most of their food.  Couldn't pass up these buns hun!

Back at the wonderful AC Store in Emmo. They now have a selection of Duck Dynasty cups.  You know you've made it big when your merchandise makes it all the way to a remote and isolated village in Alaska!  I had to get one of those blue Uncle Si cups for Nathaniel.

We did some serious stocking up.

We take full advantage of our girl time!

On the way back.  The sky is almost always this gorgeous blue in the evenings.

The wind on the river was bitterly cold.

Siphoning gas into the black gas container, which connects to the motor.

On Wednesday after school (before we helped cut up moose... it was a long day) we put together a home cross country race for the elementary runners.  This year our district is short on travel funds (since we only travel by plane), so elementary sports can't travel.  

The race was 1.5 miles and my job was at the turn around.  This was my view:

The turn around was at the brand new "Tank Farm" which holds gas for the gas station.

Our elementary Cross Country team with Coach Holly and Coach Nathan

Awards ceremony: we combined boys and girls and gave medals to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

We actually had a good turn out, about 30 parents, teachers, and students came to watch.

We had our first snow on Saturday September 21st!!!  It melted when it hit the ground, but it was pretty bizarre to watch huge snow flakes falling so early in the year.