October 17, 2026

WEEKLY MENU 10.18.26

We’re doing a super light dive into the Last Frontier during the Weekly Menu 10.18.26~

Alaska Day falls during the Weekly Menu 10.18.26 – this year it’s on Sunday, October 18th. What is Alaska Day? It celebrates the anniversary of the day the territory was transferred to the United States from Russia.

I’m going to sneak in the full post pic here for your viewing pleasure, dear reader. Alaska’s landscape is honestly awe-inspiring.

After 68 years of Russian rule in Sitka, Alaska, the Russian flag at the governor’s house was lowered on October 18, 1867, and replaced with a United States flag. Two years before, the transcontinental telegraph line reached Sitka, and old expansionist dreams were rekindled. The United States bought the territory for 7.2 million dollars. Many Americans thought this was a waste of money and called Alaska “Seward’s Folly”, after William Seward, the state’s secretary who championed the purchase.
Time and Date Holidays

Of course, the US of A being the US of A, everyone’s tune changed in 1897.

Little happened to interest the residence of the rest of the United States until gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1897. The gold rush era in Alaska began with the gold discovery by Joe Juneau and Richard Harris. Soon hundreds of prospectors poured into the site that later became Alaska’s capital city. In 1897, gold was discovered on the Klondike River in Canada. About 10,000 fortune seekers headed for the Klondike gold fields. Many of them hiked from Skagway across the Chilkoot Trail. In 1898, gold was found on the beaches near the Alaskan city of Nome. A city of tents sprang up overnight and by 1900, 232 ships had arrived in Nome carrying nearly 18,000 prospectors.
Time and Date Holidays

Alaska train during the Weekly Menu 10.16.22

In honor of Alaska Day falling during the Weekly Menu 10.16.22, I tried to work in some typical Alaskan foods. Dear reader, this is a lot more difficult than you’d think. First of all, some of their favorites are, well, kind of yucky.

Muktuk.

Not for the faint of heart, muktuk is another traditional Alaska Native delicacy. Cut into cubes, it’s the skin and blubber of bowhead whales (though sometimes beluga and narwhal are used). When served in the traditional raw fashion, it has an oily, nutty taste. Sometimes it’s deep fried and pickled or served with soy sauce.
The Culture Trip.com

Ocean liner for the Weekly Menu 10.16.22

Salmon, King Crab, Oysters

Which make sense, because seafood is a major component of the Alaskan economy. But not everyone around here likes Salmon, none of us like oysters, and despite understanding why King Crab is so expensive (shout out to Deadliest Catch!), it does not work into our budget. Plus it’s kind of a pain to eat.

Reindeer Dogs

At first I thought these were just going to be hot dogs decorated to look like reindeer. Nope. These are made out of reindeer meat. As if Rudolph doesn’t have enough to worry about.

Otters for the Wekly Menu 10.16.22 — ^{A little gratuitous cuteness to get Reindeer Dogs out of our minds. These aren’t dinner.}

Eskimo ice cream (Akutaq)

Eskimo ice cream is a far cry from what they serve at your local scoop shop. The Alaska-Native dish was traditionally made with whipped fat from the animals they hunted (reindeer, seals, bears, whatever), snow, and wild berries. More recent iterations of Akutaq (a Yup’ik word meaning “something mixed”) feature vegetable shortening and berries.
The Culture Trip.com

That would be a hard no from me.

Unavailable to us items

Wild Alaskan Berries look delicious, but we can’t buy them at the local supermart. Game meat in general is also not easy to come by. What’s a girl to eat to celebrate Alaska?

Baked Alaska (naturally, but unfortunately meringue is not a favorite around here) or the fabulous Tongass Forest Cookies we’re actually linking to. What is the Tongass Forest you ask?

Nothing major. Just the United States’ largest National Forest.

The treasures inside the Tongass National Forest are vibrant and abundant. Spanning across 500 miles of Alaska’s Inside Passage and bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountains, the Tongass is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world and is home to a majestic array of islands, mountains, forests, glaciers, salmon streams, fjords, and bays.
Travel Alaska

I’ve never been, but these pictures sure make it appealing. We can work through some of the foods.

^{Do you see Alaska license plates where you are? I always think: THAT’S a ride.}

Weekly Menu 10.18.26

What are we having for eats in addition to the fabulous Tongass Cookies? We’re starting out old school with hard pretzels and port wine cheese. (I’ll get some other soft cheese too – probably cheddar? Maybe chèvre? Who’s to say.) We’re going with straight comfort food for the main – if we can’t (or won’t) eat Alaskan food, we might as well go with comfort. Swedish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes. Yesss.

We were away a few weeks ago and haven’t caught back up yet. Easy meals are the way to go.

Crockpot Sausage Patties, Pork Salsa Verde Tacos, and Chopped Burgers are easy additions that everyone loves. They also keep me out of the kitchen, which I’m all for.

I bought “steak” for the fried rice last week and put it in the freezer because I didn’t cook that night (YAY!), so we’re making Philly Cheesesteak Soup with it this week. It’s a new-to-us recipe, but it’s a creamy, beefy soup. How bad can that be?