Date I made this recipe:
July 19, 2016 – The heat wave is coming, so let's go North to Alaska
The Northern Exposure
Cookbook – A Community Cookbook from the Heart of the Alaskan Riviera
Published by:
Contemporary Books
ISBN: 0-8092-3760-1; copyright 1993
Purchased from Barnes and Noble Used Books Online
Recipe: Ruth-Anne's Meat Loaf – p. 71
And so as is usual and customary, we are now having our
annual one-time-a-year-whether-we-need-it-or-not heat wave. And as always, I remain amused by the Armageddon
that has resulted. You'd think we never,
ever experienced such hot temperatures, such the is picture of doom and gloom.
I blame much of this hysteria on local meteorologists. Whereas once upon a time they just reported
whether it would be hot or cold, rainny/sunny/snowy, now they scare the crap
out of people reporting the "heat index" in the summer and "wind
chill" in the winter.
In the winter, every weather report tells us the actual
temperature – e.g. -10, but oh my, "the wind chill index is going to feel
like -50." "Do not go out unless you have to," they report. "Do not!" "You may die out there." "It only takes a minute for flesh to
freeze" (I kid you not, that's what they say.)
And so schools close because apparently parents who could
normally dress children for -10 lose the
ability to dress their kids for -50 wind chill.
People who could normally make it to work on time also lose
their minds and feel like they have to stay home to warm up their cars when in
fact, most "modern" cars warm up just fine in this weather. The car doesn't know the temperature but the
owner sure does.
And folks, it has been a long time since we've had
temperatures in the -20's and -30's but the rules for going out in the winter
hold no matter what the cold weather brings:
dress in layers. Wear a hat, wear
comfy boots (they can still be fashionable), and wear a jacket. Avoid bikinis and shorts until the
temperature hits 50 degrees in March or April (at which time, I kid you not,
you will see people breaking out the summer gear.)
In summer, we have the dreaded and dangerous heat
index. The "heat index" is a thing
to be feared. Where once upon a time we
survived just fine if it got hot out (let's say 85 degrees or warmer), now,
with the heat index pointed even higher than the actual temperature, we have
chaos.
"The temperature today is going to be 91 but it FEELS
LIKE 101." Stay inside. Get nothing done. Do not look at the sun. Take cover!
Take cover!
I will concede that dangerously low temperatures and
ridiculously high temperatures can be fatal to kids and the elderly (especially
the heat) but honestly folks, this is Minnesota
we're talking about here. Only newbies
to the area don't dress correctly and that once included me. Although I came from snow country (lots and
lots of snow), I was unprepared for the bitterly cold negative temperatures
when I first moved here and when I missed the bus one cold night and had to
wait in boots that were not suitable for cold, I got a minor case of frostbite
on my toes. Lesson learned. If you take a moment to throw fashion
principles aside and dress appropriately, you too, can survive these extreme
temperature fluctuations.
Which brings me to Alaska . I have only a small handful of states to
visit in my lifetime, including Washington
(state), Oregon , Idaho ,
Wyoming (I
think. That state may have been a
"drive-by" (drive-thru) state), (inexplicably) Alabama
and Alaska . And let me be very clear on this: while I may, someday, visit the remaining
states, there is no way I'm willingly (or unwillingly) going to Alaska . If I had a bucket list, it would not even
make the top 1,000 cut.
Why? Well for one thing, even though Alaska
is often warmer than Minneapolis ,
it is still a pretty chilly place as some areas really get down into the
subzeros, making Minnesotans look like a bunch of pussies for complaining about
-10. Plus, they have that perpetual sun problem in the summer and almost
absolute darkness in the winter and that just doesn't work for me. Messes with the mind, it does. Finally, there's the Nature
"problem" and by "problem," I mean there's just too much Nature
there for me. And at the risk of
repeating myself, my life mantra is – I kid you not – "Nature is NOT your
friend." I don't do wilderness
treks to "Nature," "I don't like to encounter Nature in its
natural habitat, and I will be just fine if I don't have a close encounter with
a polar bear, thank you very much!
And yet, the praise for Alaska just keeps coming. "Oh, it's gorgeous, you should go there!"
"No."
"But..."
"No." "No, no, no." Between the weather and the sun/no sun and
your overabundance of Nature, it is not for me.
There is nothing fun about a moose on the loose. Nothing.
Unless, of course, you are watching the opening credits to
the hit TV show, Northern Exposure,
where a moose strolls through town, all nonplussed about what it sees or
doesn't see. I like "TV" moose
as no harm befalls a viewer who is safely ensconsed behind a TV screen. And can I just say that "Moose and
squirrel" i.e. Rocky and Bullwinkle,
was one of my favorite TV cartoons? It
was. (I also adored the evildoers Boris
and Natasha.) (Can't forget to mention Mr. Moose and his ping pong balls from Captain Kangaroo!)
And so since TV moose are good moose, you shouldn't have any
difficulties cooking from The Northern
Exposure Cookbook, based on the hit TV show (1990-1995) of the same name.
The stars of that show, including the moose on the loose,
were all residents of the Alaskan town named Cicely, a town that became home to
Dr. Joel Fleischman, a newly-minted (and very neurotic) Jewish doctor who moves
from New York to tiny town Alaska to work off his medical loans. In my family, we likened Dr. Fleischman to my
brother, (Dr.) Tom, who also paid off med school loans by moving to Gallup , New
Mexico Alaska
and he and his wife visited there a while back.
Tom loved that TV show, a show that showcased how Dr. Fleischman was
such a fish out of water compared to the town's inhabitants who were
(naturally) quirkier than all get out.
In addition to "Fleischman," we have Maggie, the
bush pilot; Maurice, who owned half the town and was a former astronaut; Officer
Barbara, his no-nonsense law enforcement girlfriend; Ruth-Anne who owned the local store; Holling
and his much younger wife, Shelly, who own and operate the local saloon; Chris
("In the Morning") who is the local DJ and who likes to philosophize
about everything, and Ed and Marilyn, two native Alaskans who added much humor
to the show. Ed is the resident
jack-of-all trades who is pretty intelligent despite coming across as a dim
bulb, and Marilyn is Dr. Fleischman's receptionist who is very quiet, almost
eerily so, but when she speaks, she
speaks volumes. Other characters filled in the blanks and some newer series
regulars appeared in later seasons, but this was our core group.
Out of this entire group, my least favorite character was
Chris "In the Morning," the local radio DJ, played by actor John
Corbett. And I have to say, but I did
not warm to his character, Aidan, on Sex
and the City, either. (She was meant to marry Big folks, not Aidan. Period.)
The nod for favorite though, has to go to Fleischman (Rob
Morrow) as his attempts to fit his New York
personality into small town Alaska
were hilarious. And runner-up for
favorite went to Maurice Minnifield, played by actor Barry Corbin, especially
after he started going out with Barbara, a serious-as-a-heart-attack officer
who gave Maurice (a run for his money. Barry Corbin also appeared years later
in the TV show, The Closer, as Clay
Johnson, father to the protagonist, Brenda Leigh Johnson. Loved him in both roles.
So that's the recap about the show and about Alaska and now we turn
our attention to the cookbook. But I must say, if you were expecting quirky
food, or "native" foods of elk, moose, bear, etc., from this cookbook
to go along with this quirky cast of characters, you'd be disappointed
(although there is a recipe for Mooseburgers –substitute ground beef). Instead, we are treated to
"regular" food like casseroles, lasagnas, and even a Jell-0 salad, the
salad compliments of Joel Fleischman.
Almost all recipes are prefaced with a story, and in the back is a
complete list of recipes and the episodes in which they appeared. I like that.
One observation though:
While I am not saying that food provisions that we enjoy here in the
Lower 48 don't get delivered to Alaska, I do feel that securing some of the
items needed for these recipes back then (1990-1995) might have been a bit of a
stretch. Blue cornmeal? (Page 34) Risotto? (Page 128). I do recall though, that shopkeeper,
Ruth-Anne could order almost anything and so I'm going with that.
Today's dinner came down to two choices: Shelly's Hot Dog and Cheese
Casserole (page 78) and Ruth-Anne's
Meatloaf (page 71). Both sounded
great, but I to try Ruth-Anne's meatloaf and I was not disappointed. (Ruth-Anne's
character was always pretty chill (pun intended) and made me laugh.) I made half a recipe which was just right for
two people. If, as a kid, you ate your
meatloaf with ketchup and mustard, then you'll be happy to know that both of
these condiments are included in the meatloaf mix.
This then, concludes my I am not going "North to Alaska " even if it
is one of the hottest days of the year.
Unfortunately though, I cannot console myself watching old episodes of
Northern Exposure because they don't air on cable – yet. Life can be so cruel....
Ruth-Anne's Meat Loaf
– Makes 6-8 servings (Ann's Note: Also divides well)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons Dijon
mustard
1 cup milk
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped white onion
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons catsup
1 ½ pounds ground chuck
1 ½ cups soft bread crumbs
3 strips uncooked bacon
Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat egg lightly in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, thyme, mustard, milk,
celery, onion, and ¼ cup catsup, mixing ingredients well. Add chuck and bread crumbs and mix well until
thoroughly combined.
Transfer mixture to a 9 ¼-inch loaf pan. Spread the remaining 2 tablespoon catsup over
the loaf and top with bacon strips. Bake
for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let set
for 10 minutes before slicing.
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