Sharry Miller

Baking Philosophy

No Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread recipe today. Instead, since I'd offered to share my sourdough starter with a young friend, I thought I'd experiment with it. On the plus side, this means that you can access the recipe yourself without having to buy a baking tome. For some reason, I had scones on my brain this morning. I have a recipe I've used before and like, but since I had the sourdough... Read more →

Rich White Bread

I was tempted to never move past Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf after making it a week or so ago. The loaves I made were as close to perfection as I ever hope to get. And I just realized, after going back to find the link to that post so I could included it here, that I never wrote about it. Oh, dear. I'm slipping already. So, a few quick words about Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf... Read more →

Lost on the Wagon Trail

Okay, I wasn't really lost. I just didn't know how to get to where I wanted to be. I should know better. It was the first hike of spring. Let me start at the beginning. Cold nights followed by warm, generally sunny days have given me the idea that spring has finally deigned to make an appearance in Valdez. I've put almost 100 miles on my bike in the past week - a truly wonderful... Read more →

Cordova's Heney Ridge Trail

I'm interrupting my incredibly slow sharing of my trip to Nicaragua to tell you about the amazing hike I went on today. I'm in Cordova, Alaska, for work for a week, and had today off. Miraculously, it wasn't raining when I woke up, so I carried on with my plans to go for a good long hike. I was going to go even if it was raining, but it's much more pleasant when it's not.... Read more →

Stupid on the Shoup Bay Trail

We normally soggy Valdezeans have been luxuriating in a fabulous spring. Our hot sunny days top out in the 60s with a fine breeze, so it doesn't get too hot - perfect weather for playing outside. Last weekend, I talked Rowan into going for a hike with me on Shoup Bay Trail. Our plan was to go just three miles or so back to Gold Creek to check out the status of the bridge we'd... Read more →

Pack Trail in Spring

There are really only a half-dozen or so established trails in the immediate Valdez area, so it's pretty inevitable that a local is going to hike them repeatedly. For the last few years, the Pack Trail from the south end of Keystone Canyon to Bridal Veil falls has been one of my favorites. Scout and I headed out for her first real trail hike on Saturday afternoon. From the beginning much of the trail seemed... Read more →

Time to Ride

A big cheesy grin is required on the first ride of spring. My first ride of spring. After over four years of posting to this blog, I could just about plagiarize myself and copy a previous year's first ride of spring post because I know they all say the same thing: I have a ridiculous grin on my face as I pedal by the snowbanks and get passed by trucks pulling snowmobiles. This year, I... Read more →

All Hail Ra!

All hail Ra! All hail Ra! BOB* is great! I love BOB! Ah, spring is in the air and I can't help but indulge in a wee bit of sun worship. If there isn't a Native Alaskan sun god or spirit or something, there should be. It's always seemed to me that the ones who should most worship the sun are those who get to see it the least, but as a result appreciate it... Read more →

Baiting Again

I really meant to find a few minutes to connect to the internet and post this during the past week, but I couldn't seem to get away from my baiting station. It was time for my annual trip longlining with Thane. A couple of years ago, I gave you Longlining 101, so I'm not going to bore you with another lecture on what longlining is. Nothing's changed in the basic mechanics of the fishery. The... Read more →

Cycling into Spring

I learned two things this evening: No matter how much I roll my eyes, the wind will not diminish just because I'm fed up with it. It doesn't respond any better than my preteen daughter. No matter how hard I scowl at the waterfall blowing water across the highway, it won't stop just so I won't get wet. It doesn't obey any better than my daughter, either. It had to have been an unprecedented second... Read more →