Classic Alaskan Russian Tea Mix Recipe

Russian tea mix, tea and cookies

I asked my daughter where we should stage this photo. She really loves this rock in our yard for photos for how much sun is in that area.

There are a lot of lasting influences of Russian colonization in Alaska. One of them is an enjoyment of hot fruity teas.

One of the most popular Russian teas is to add jam made from berries collected over the fall to brewed black tea.

The most popular though, hands down, is made with various drink mixes and spices and used as an instant tea.

My mother was a jam in tea sort, so the first time I had the drink mix kind was in summer camp as child. I loved it and came home with the recipe. My mother, the hippie, was absolutely appalled. The only other time I saw her that shocked over my tastes was when I came home from a slumber party insisting the other young woman's mother had made the best mac and cheese ever. Mom called for the recipe and found out it was Kraft.

Anyway, this is my recipe. It's less sweet and more tea then a lot of the mix recipes. I hope you enjoy it.

American measurements used. The parenthesis are the product I used and link to Amazon**.

Russian Tea Mix Recipe

• 1 cup instant tea (Lipton, unsweetened, unflavored, decaffeinated)
• 2 cups sweetened orange drink mix (Tang)
• 1 packet *unsweetened* lemonade mix (Kool-Aid)
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves

Mix ingredients well, put into a pretty jar.

To mix, start with 3 Tbsp of mix. My coffee cups are mostly 10 oz. Put in the mix, top with hot or boiling water. Let cool enough to taste, add more mix or sugar

to taste.

As a gift, include a note with mixing instructions.

I do plan to re-do this post later with pretty  printable recipes and tags.

There are stories about this kind of tea being served to musher's on the Iditarod trail. Tang is so popular that to make a recipe that was actually measured out and not just me doing it by eye meant going to 3 stores and finding the one can left on the shelf in the back of the shelf at the last store.

As an adult, I prefer jam in tea, but TG and William both really like this version for it's convenience.

**this post contains Amazon affliate links which pay me a small commission when you use them to make purchases. **

Arctic Valley- photo post

As we are getting closer to berry picking season (yay!), we are checking out some of our favorite spots for berries. Some of them I won't show pictures of because they are secret places my family goes to, but others, like Arctic Valley, are well-known enough that I'm happy to show pictures.

Arctic Valley has a lot of kinds of berries available, but what we plan to go there specifically for is crowberries. In a lot of the books I have, it says that aren't choice berries. Well, that's what the books say.  The Elders I've spoken to love them and my family will eat them out of hand as well as using them for jam and pies. Not that we will turn down other berries! Of course we will pick what's available. Obligatory warning: NEVER EVER EAT A BERRY OR MUSHROOM YOU AREN'T CERTAIN OF IN YOUR IDENTIFICATION.

So we were checking out how it looks this year. It's still early, but we decided we would have 2 days of specifically picking for Elders. One of those days will be crowberries.

The drive up is one of those typically Alaskan gorgeous drives. There's a lot of it that is dirt roads, with a few pull outs to take in the scenery. In one of those pull outs, Michael spotted a rabbit.

William and The Amazing Turnip Girl love it up there.

A lot of the photos I took are for a project I'm working on to help my family identify berries in all stages of growth. I will be putting that together in e-book form as well, with recipes. Today I also took photos of some flowers. I hope you enjoy them. 

 Lots of robins up there singing, it was a very nice time.

Qaspeq/Kuspuk Coloring Pages

A friend of mine up here who teaches school and has been making traditional qaspeqs for years is planning to teach her students to make them. That inspired these coloring pages. They can be used to experiment with color combinations and trim ideas.

(learn more about qaspeqs HERE) 

The stars in the upper left quarter are the stars that are on the Alaska state flag. The flowers on the right are fireweed- we use the blossoms for jelly, the leaves for tea and we eat young shoots. Another traditional way to eat them is to split more mature ones, sprinkle them with sugar and scrape them out with your teeth and use what's left to make cordage. Lower left hand quarter is Alaska's state flower- forget-me-not.

Click on the images below for larger versions to print.

Shortie/Boy's style qaspeqs:

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Girl's style skirted qaspeq-

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TG and I took a kuspuk sewing class together

Recently I wrote about a drum making class that I took with William and TG. The class is part of a series for Alaskan Natives/Native Americans that are meant to build wellness and community.

Today and yesterday, TG and I went to a kuspuk/qaspeq making class. Kuspuks are not part of our tradition. They are Yupik traditionally. The original version was made of skin and meant to cover and protect fur clothing. The advent of flour sack fabrics and calicos led to brightly colored, gorgeous fabric variations.

In Alaska, they are more ubiquitous than parkas. They are a uniquely Alaskan, super functional garment. They can be adapted easily. You may have seen photos of our Senator Murkowski wearing one, and in our state legislature, Qaspeq Friday is a regular occurrence.

The teacher of the class is planning to put up youtube video how tos and I'm absolutely going to give you all the link when it happens. I gave her my e-mail address so she could let me know when they were available. Angel Oliveira is a fantastic teacher and has taught a lot of people to make them.

TG generally sleeps until 8:30 am. I told her "Classes start at 8 you know." We agreed to go early and have breakfast first.

We got there, and oh my goodness! All the fabric choices! After careful consideration and a lot of back and forth, I settled on just a blueberry fabric. I was strongly tempted to add in a bright orange with it. They can be made with different fabrics all together in one garment and look gorgeous that way. TG chose a gold and blue fabric. We opted for the same trim.

TG is generally a hand sewer- and in fact, plans to hand sew one for her brother. For the class, we used sewing machines.

It was a lot of fun. After the first day, we had our hoods, cuffs and pocket done.

Today, we finished putting them together, I opted for a more traditional skirted kuspuk. Something that I can wear out berry picking on slightly chilly fall days. It will go great with jeans or leggings! Here I'm wearing it with a dress it completely covers.

There was one lady there who was super enthused over every lesson she learned and that was a blessing. It's good to see people happy about learning. TG's sense of pride in her finished kuspuk was wonderful too. 

Angel asked the class why we took it. TG said "Because I want to learn to make kuspuks and it was something I could do with my mom." and everyone, including me, was very "AWWW!!" 

Stand out moments for me, less about sewing than about life lessons and experiences. 

Angel and another teacher were talking about how they wanted to teach, so that the people they taught could go on and share it, could teach others. The lady she was talking to was speaking specifically of a salve class. That the class was filled to capacity, but she believed that people who were in the class would go on to teach their new found skills to other people. That's one of those things that's super important to me. It's not enough to learn, but at some point, you have to teach. Teaching helps you think of things differently, it helps you to verbalize exactly why some things work and others don't, it helps you learn what more you can learn. We all have things to teach and learn. 

It's the single candle thing, but in this case, that candle is culture and community. It's belonging. 

There was a mass casualty exercise in the building. We weren't really affected by it in the classroom, but you could hear the shouting. I'm glad for the exercise, for the fact that my family's care providers were making sure they were as prepared as possible, but it's a lot to think about it and I'm not quite done thinking about that yet. 

Once a month, Traditional Healing does a cleansing and blessing on their offices. We happened to be there while they were doing it. That was amazing and wonderful. I was wearing my reading glasses so I didn't recognize my healer until she was walking out but I did point her out to TG. Buz, who is a manager there, has a wonderful singing voice. There was prayer, songs, dancing and drumming. It was good. 

After leaving class, we stopped to say hello to a friend and people complimented my blueberry kuspuk and asked if I made it. I said "YES! Just finished it!"

And now for my FAVORITE photo of the day. 

This is Angel, our teacher, showing TG on a 50 year old kuspuk that belonged to my mother, how to make a pattern for one for her brother. This kuspuk has a full zipper, and plain sleeves instead of cuffs, with a separated pocket. When TG found it in her grandmother's things, it had a long rip down one sleeve. TG bought thread to match, and very carefully hand stitched it back together. It's very precious to her, and it brings me joy to see her wear her grandmother's kuspuk. That she learned from that one how to make one for her brother is such perfect balance. 

Homesteader's Honey

My memories on FB popped up this photo. It's from the 1990s. The man in the photo is my brother and the boy is my son. The handwriting is my mom's and it says "Adam and Wm picking clover and fireweed for me to make honey" The side note says (*Enlarge?)

I may well do just that. It would be a gorgeous print.

She got her recipe from the local cooperative extension service. Here it is:

Homesteader's Honey

6 cups sugar
3 cups boiling water
30 white clover blossoms
18 red clover blossoms
18 fireweed blossoms
Sterilize canning jars and prepare lids. Boil together
sugar and water for 10 minutes; maintain steady
boil on low heat without stirring. Remove from
heat. Add blossoms and let steep for 15 minutes.

Strain mixture through cheesecloth and immediately
pour into hot canning jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace.
Wipe jar rims and add prepared two-piece
lids. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Note: Sugar syrup can be tricky. If it crystallizes before
canning, return it to the pan, add 2 tablespoons
water per cup of honey and heat.

My mom used to make so many jars of this as a present.

I hope you enjoy the memory. It made me smile to see it in my memories today.

Glacier Day Cruise- lots of photos

One thing about living in Alaska is that there is literally a new gorgeous photo opportunity around every corner. I live in a postcard, surrounded by mountains and National Parks. When you get out of Anchorage, that's even more true. My husband and I took a short vacation to Seward to take one of the last day cruises of the year with Major Marine Tours.

There are some things that I didn't take photos of- like I saw a couple puffins in the water and just wanted to enjoy that moment, same with the Dall's porpoises playing by the boat.

Major Marine Tours has a partnership with the National Park Service, so we had someone from there who was very knowledgeable about Chugach National Park, the history, the animals and the trees in the area. That was wonderful and if you are ever in Alaska, I can't recommend this experience enough- it's educational and beautiful. You get to see places that don't have power lines, cell towers or buildings for as far as the eye can see, it's just Alaska. Built by nature in all it's beauty.

I took 300 pictures. Narrowing it down to just a few was hard, but I hope you'll enjoy them.

We started driving down the highway at 6:00 to Seward, which means we got to watch the dawn coming over the mountains.

 The whole highway is a scenic bypass. You will drive by mountains, through valleys, and by large lakes. It's a gorgeous drive.

I took this photo through the windshield because the fog tracing across the road was so neat looking. There was virtually no traffic.

This is the small boat harbor in Seward, Alaska

And this is the catamaran that was used on our cruise. In the middle of tourist season, they use larger boats, but this was perfect for the number of passengers. The name of the boat is the Melissa Ann.

While we were in the harbor waiting to leave, we watched an otter. It was the first sea mammal we saw.

The next couple of photos are examples of the type of scenery there is- I took a lot of photos of scenery and narrowing it down was hard.

Then we saw Steller sea lions and heard them "roar".

So many glaciers. It was hard to choose photos of those because there were a lot. 

Check out that glacier blue! 

Mountain goat climbing and eating on a rock face. 

My husband took this photo of harbor seals and I like it better than my own photos. He caught them all looking at his camera! Click to enlarge. It's worth it.

More of that "I live in a postcard" scenery. 

It's impossible to get any more Alaskan than a bald eagle flying over a glacier. 

Seagulls. Because my best friend loves seagulls and I need to get a picture of them for her. 

Like I said, I took hundreds of photos, and it was hard choosing the ones to post. But here's an extra from our drive back into Anchorage. 

Alaska flag coloring page

"Eight stars of gold on a field of blue
Alaska's flag. May it mean to you
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams;
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear," the "Dipper," and, shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
O'er land and sea a beacon bright.
Alaska's flag to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier" 

That's the Alaska state song written by Marie Drake, which describes our flag. The flag was designed by Benny Benson in a territory wide contest for school children.  Benny explained his design this way

"The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear — symbolizing strength.”

Here's what our flag looks like- it's a simple design, rich with meaning for Alaskan.

 Alaska flag day is July 9th, which didn't actually inspire the coloring page, but it is the reason I'm posting it. Click the images below for larger versions to print and color. They will print in portrait format to fit the page.
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Crabby Bread Recipe

Actually, this is kind of a non-recipe because it's quick, adaptable and so very, very good. It's more of an overview of how to make crabby bread. A family favorite.

You will need:

• 1.5 lb Snow Crab clusters  OR 12 ozs of cooked lump crab meat*
• 8 oz container soft cream cheese
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
• 1 loaf of French bread sliced in half lengthwise
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• marinara sauce (optional, good quality jarred is fine)

This can be made either under a broiler for a crispy, toasted cheese look that's very pretty and yummy or done on a grill which doesn't make the cheese as pretty, but cooked over a wood fire adds all that great smoke flavor.

Shell the crab if you have legs/clusters. Or have your son do it because he doesn't mind doing it if it means he gets crab for dinner. (my son really, really loves crab)

Mix the crab, cream cheese , lemon juice and hot sauce.

Toast the cut sides of the bread. Spread the bread with the crab mixture. 

Top with the shredded cheese. 

Then put it on the grill or under the broiler until the cheese is all melted. Serve with warm marinara.

It's that easy, and the flavor is pretty fantastic. The 4 of us ate nearly all of it on Mother's Day when my husband made it on the grill over a birch fire for dinner. He also made salmon, asparagus, potatoes and carrots and I was so stuffed from the crab bread and asparagus that I had the salmon the next day for lunch! It was darn good cold too. 

Variations- all sorts. You can switch out the cheese, you can use different sauces, different breads. Doing the same basic thing but with Alaskan smoked salmon, cream cheese and a touch of horseradish on a rye loaf is amazing but very salty. Really good to serve with a very cold beer and some fresh fruit or berries. My husband also likes the crab with smoked Gruyere, but I'm pretty sure you could melt smoked Gruyere on shoe leather and he'd ruin my good steak knives to eat it. 

*Most Alaskan crab is already cooked. Including snow crab. I know that down south buying lump crab meat is less expensive per lb than buying any kind of Alaskan crab legs because people have told me what they are paying. Up here- snow crab goes on sale frequently and winds up being less expensive per ounce of meat than the stuff shipped up here. 

Don't forget to enter my $50 dollar Better Sleep giveaway!

Young ducks, geese and seagulls- photo post

Today I had an eye appointment. Close to my eye doctor is a little man made pond that's teeming with ducks, geese and seagulls. This time of the year, you get to see lots of adolescents! You can click through to larger versions, but the larger versions are still resized to 25% of the originals.

These ducklings are divers. It was adorable watching them disappear under the water to pop back up a foot away.

Young seagull. Just fyi- they sound adorable squeaking out the normal seagull cry. It also kind of reminds me of  Felonious Gru! 

Really reminds me Gru.

Mama diving duck and her ducklings.

Just a seagull, but I loved the colors in this picture.

This duck seemed as baffled by my daughter wearing heavy, steel-toed boots on an 80 degree day as I am!

Goslings!

I hope you enjoyed the photos!