Gone Fishing
Whitehorse has been named to the list of best fishing cities in the country and it’s no wonder with its pristine wilderness and endless lakes.
Red Baneberry
Berry-picking season is upon us, and harvesting the bounty of the boreal forest has been important in the Yukon for thousands of years
Pineapple Weed (Wild Chamomile) — the Friendliest Herb
Of all the wild herbs I’ve cooked with in the Yukon, I like pineapple weed or wild chamomile the best. It tastes like pineapple and chamomile
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Appreciating Rosehips
Summer has rapidly turned into fall and it’s only a matter of time before the first snowflakes drift down to cover the golden leaves…
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Foraging for Wild Plants
Wherever you go in the world, you will inevitably come across medicinal and edible plants. It seems to me that no place inhabited…
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Surviving (and thriving) in the great outdoors
You are also cold and you need to find a way to make a fire and warm up. If you have followed the motto of the Boy Scouts, “Be Prepared,” then survival is on your side.
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Mushrooms From the Open Fields
As a youngster back in the 1950s, one of our responsibilities was to go out in the open fields and pick fresh mushrooms – and
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Yukon Share: Harvested gamemeat sharing program
After a few years of effort, The Yukon is now up and running with a “Hunters For The Hungry” type of meat sharing program.
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A Passion for Preserving
If you love the gentle pop-pop-popping of a jar lid, you might just be a home canner. For Michelle Christensen-Toews, it’s one of the many
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Haska-What Now?
Raspberries, blueberries, crowberries and cranberries: being on Yukon time means planning your weekends around where to pick once the – dare I say it? –
Northern Food Fusion
lover of adventure & fine tastes – forager of the wild world. The life I live is close with nature, so is my diet. Spruce Tip Salmon Roe Caviar
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Do the Berry
Cranberries are just one of many berries that you can add to regular recipes for some extra health benefits. But since we are in the
Don’t Cook Big Game Meats as You Would Domestic Meats
I got my real initiation in cooking wild meats when I first joined the Orillia Fish and Game Conservation Club, in Ontario. We had about
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Moose Heart Tacos
The hidden trophy of any successful hunt – that should be hauled out of the woods and cherished like a beautiful hide or perfectly curled
Fireweed Jelly
Fireweed Jelly Yield: approximately 15 x 125 ml jars Ingredients: 8 cups fireweed blossoms (no stems or leaves) ¼ cup lemon juice 4 ½ cups
Oven Stewed Rhubarb with Cornmeal Biscuit Crumble
INGREDIENTS 1½ cup sugar, divided 1 Tbsp cornstarch 2 pounds frozen rhubarb ⅔ cup all-purpose flour ⅔ cup cornmeal Pinch of salt ⅓ cup coconut
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Homemade Food for the Trail
Finally, it’s here! The season I’ve been waiting for, the season when each day invites a further excursion to extend the trail beyond yesterday’s stopping
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Coho
September is harvest time. Berries are juicy and ripe for picking; root crops need to be dug and stored. The shortening days are a clear
Berry Picking
For me, the summer of 2016 has been the best berry year ever. My berry season starts with wild strawberries and they were bigger than
On Simple Pleasures
There is a microwave placed awkwardly in front of the little, old fashioned split-glass window. The curtains are open and on the other side of
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Mushrooms in the Yukon
Mushroom season starts in spring. On a hike at the end of May, I came upon some black morels. In the Yukon, morels usually only
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Not for Novices: Beyond Beginner Picking
After you’ve picked your first few batches of mushrooms, and haven’t landed in the hospital, you’ll find the mushroom conversation branches into themes of field
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Raspberry Jam
I recently discovered a great trick for keeping strawberries fresher for longer: wash them in a one part vinegar to 10-parts water solution, then leave
That Wasn’t the Plan
I always forget the way this works, how fast things change here. In the hot, hot days of summer, I think it will last forever
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Know Thy Microclimate
I’ve put a lot of miles under me this spring between Victoria, B.C. and the Klondike Valley, and had thought I would be riding the
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Sprucey French 75
The spruce tip harvest was early this year; green buds started appearing at the ends of spruce branches around mid-May in Whitehorse and continued being
Switching Up the Drinks Menu
In the world of beverages, everything old is new again. The cocktail revival of recent years has been matched by a revival of interest in
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Death by Camas
Yes, a new form of torture has been developed, involving an unrelenting repetition of a single passage from the Myth of Sisyphus – what? C-A-M-A-S?
The Magic of Mushrooms
Jean Francois is a chef. I met him at a B.C. heli-ski lodge on Highway 5 — The Yellowhead — in the early 2000s. He
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Eric’s Christmas Moose Stew
I’ve got a moose stew I usually throw together in the winter for a party. I get it going on the stove, and when it’s
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Happy Birthday Eeyore
In chapter six of A.A. Milne’s classic, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore has a birthday. Miserable to begin with, and sure to become so again soon
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Nuts to you
The rain was turning to slush against the windows of the plane as we scooted down the tarmac a few weeks ago, on its way
Feasting on the Forest
Miche Genest is up early, squeezing wild-rose-petal-infused egg whites into small twists on parchment-paper-lined baking pans. She’s making meringues in preparation for the launch of
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The Return of Salad Season
I was shopping at my local free store the other day when I stopped in the middle of a wave to a fellow browser. He
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Easy Does It: reconnaissance is a necessary part of successful foraging
I walk the woods to remember and discover. I remind myself of what this land, and learn what new surprises it has in store this year.
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Hard Work with a Sweet, Sweet Payoff
It took a five hour drive down the Klondike Highway, a 14 km uphill hike, four small breakdowns and three bleeding blisters, but when the
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Lichen, anyone?
I delight in winter travel, especially once the snow pack has settled. It’s early this year, and I’m already able to break away from the
Bison Hunt: On The Table 5/5
When serving bison, ideally the first meal is raved about. If not you’ll have difficulty serving the remaining 2300 pounds in the freezer.
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Bison Hunt: In The Kitchen 4/5
Nutrient comparison: fat per 100 grams of lean cooked meat: bison: 2.42 grams; choice beef: 10.15 grams; pork: 9.66 gram. Why we hunt Bison.
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Canning Wild Meat
Before electricity, drying and canning were the only ways to preserve meat, but I’ll bet it didn’t take long to get tired of eating dried
Hunting For Wildlife: Bill Holmes
My son Billy and I went up onto the Top of the World for an afternoon grouse hunt, his first. There are dozens of trails
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To Frost or Not To Frost
With the beauty of the fall colours comes an increase in the ever-present danger of frost. For some, this is evidence of a balance between
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Hunting For Wildlife: Tom & Jenna Wyers
This is a moose hunt from 2010 with my daughter Jenna, which we took at McQuesten Lake near Keno. It was Jenna’s first moose hunt.
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Wild Game Chilli and Spaghetti Sauce
Up to a certain point in the preparation, spaghetti sauce and chilli are the same recipe. It’s only when you start to add the specific
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Fish & Game banquet offers a taste
The chef at the High Country Inn is getting very excited. It is time, once again, for the Yukon Fish and Game Association’s Banquet, Award
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A Taste of Our Northern Woodlands
Morel mushrooms are an exquisite treat found in the ashy remains of the forest fire floor. Because these mushrooms only germinate when exposed to extremely
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How to Make a Tender Dish Out of Tough Meat
They say that with a big bull bison even the gravy is tough. If you are in possession of such an animal you may have
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Plank It Up
Sockeye is in season and if you haven’t yet discovered the ease and piquant flavour of cooking fish on a cedar plank, now is the
Time for Bison
If your family or circle of friends didn’t harvest any bison this fall, don’t despair as bison is now available in local grocery stores. As
Cooking on the Wild Side of Christmas
Steak and Kidney Pie has been a Boxing Day tradition in my family. They go “Box” (shop) and I make the pies … mmm …
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Simmering Soup on a Cold Winter’s Night
Wild meat, made into sausage, is a versatile protein food that can be used in all kinds of healthy dishes. Caribou, moose, bison and elk
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Cooking on the Wild Side of Summer
Wild raspberries are yours for the picking in a ditch or river bank near you. Take advantage of our warm summer weather and gather plump,
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With Sage Advice
Along with the crocuses, up come new buds on ‘artemisia frigida’, better known as wild sage. Aromatic, especially when crushed, sage is a silver-grey-green member
Moose Meat in the Closet
I don’t keep moose frozen more than 6 months. Dry curing it for a few days, you intensify the moose flavour.
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Stir Fry and BBQ: Making the Most of Your Game
So you’ve got 250lbs of moose or up to 500lbs of bison in your freezer? You’d better hope the family likes the first dish you
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Sourdough-Dipped Chicken-Fried Caribou Steaks with Cream Gravy
Chicken-fried caribou steaks might just be the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time. I’ve played around with a lot of different recipes and
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Canning Fish and Wild Game
A very traditional—often thought of as old-fashioned—way of preserving fish and wild game is canning using the pressure of steam. Unless you have a friend
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Meat Care Basics
When you have 300-500 lbs of moose or bison in your freezer, you really need to have everyone in the family just love the first
Mush Rush 101
The mossy floor of old growth forest is soft and damp. I breathe the air; warm and thick. My exhalation of carbon dioxide draws mosquitoes