Alaskan Seafood Ship to Shore

 If you love the taste of grilled salmon, poached salmon, plank roasted salmon, smoked salmon, salmon mousse and want to try some salmon jerky then you should consider a trip to Alaska. You can fish for salmon, visit salmon hatcheries, see salmon leaping up stream to spawn, watch seals and bears devour salmon, and buy souvenirs shaped like salmon. 

     ALASKA: This state is salmon central.                                                     

Now you're talking! Salmon Leather. Not sure if it's for biting on or for belts.

Told you they sold salmon jerky. And while you're at it......

On a recent cruise through southeastern Alaska’s Inside Passage with stops in the ports of Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan I gained a greater appreciation for the abundance of wild seafood in this state with thirty-three thousand miles of coastline.  

View from the bow of the Holland America Line MS Oosterdam

In Alaska, you can hop on a floatplane and follow a fishing guide to isolated locations ............

Sitka. You'll need one of these to get around Alaska. Oh, and the things in the foreground.

....or you can simply rent a fishing pole to drop a line off a bridge in the middle of town in Ketchikan and pull in a salmon in seconds. 

If he can catch a salmon, you can. And he did. 

If you don't like salmon, Holland America Line's MS Oosterdam's menu offers an Alaska frontier sized menu with lots of other seafood, beef, pork, lamb, chicken and vegetarian as well as gluten free menu choices. 

My mom, Jessie O'Neil, doesn't like salmon but chose to wear the color while enjoying a frozen drink.
Her homage to Alaska's snow and ice.
You're sexy and Juneau it!

A NEW GOLD!!! RUSH TO ENJOY ALASKA'S FRONTIER! 

The Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800’s may have gotten things going in these parts.....

Gold mining themed souvenirs are easy to find in Ketchikan, gold not so easy anymore.

Looks like my packing list for the 7 day cruise! Minus the frying pan. 

...but today’s tourism treasure is built on sharing the wealth of wilderness beauty, fresh air and plenty of room to roam.  

And plenty of great places to eat on shore.........

Local restaurants greet guests with menu boards boasting Alaska salmon, cod, halibut, King and Dungeness crab.  

I know, it's kind of expensive - but it's fantastic!
Grilled, fried, blackened or made into tacos or chowder seafood is the star attraction.

On Location On Board

Passengers on Holland America Line don’t have to wait until the ship docks to start sampling and learning about Alaskan seafood and locally brewed beers. 

Working up an appetite on an Alaskan cruise.


The cruise line’s new On Location program offers cooking classes in the Culinary Arts Center and the ship’s menu selections feature locally inspired dishes, “We want to depict the area we are sailing in,” says Colin Harding-Jones, executive chef of the MS Oosterdam.  

With Exec Chef Colin Harding-Jones on MS Oosterdam. I am not a real life guard. 

Harding-Jones’s cooking demo shared how to prepare Coho salmon without overcooking and how to spice it up with a ginger cilantro pesto sauce.  ( Dish pictured at top of blog )

All hands on deck with cameras in hand!

Mild temperatures in southeast Alaska and plenty of sunshine helped set the scene for a festive outdoor Salmon Bake on the deck around the swimming pool of the MS Oosterdam.  

Cooks flipped salmon filets on grills, steamed mussels and clams and served apple and berry pies to two thousand passengers hungry to taste more of Alaska’s bounty.

Who wants pie?!

What about Baked Alaska?

 Alaskan desserts included Yukon whiskey laced sourdough bread pudding, Alaskan berry compote and of course, Baked Alaska was served one night (without the open flames for shipboard safety). “We have one guy in the galley with a blow torch dedicated to browning the classic meringue top,” says Harding-Jones.

Here it is! Baked Alaska!

But, guess what, trivia lovers? That iconic dessert was invented in New York City in 1876, nowhere near an iceberg.  Named by chef Charles Ranhofer at Delmonico’s restaurant the dessert made with ice cream, cake and meringue celebrates the U.S. purchase of Alaska’s nearly 600,000 square miles from Russia for 7.2 million dollars.  
But it sure tastes great with a glacier view. 

Yes, that's why they call it Glacier Blue, at Tracy's Arm Alaska Inside Passage.

Food & Fitness Escape to Mexico

Under the Tecate Sun

Although my first choice for a vacation usually would not include all the flaxseed you can eat and dinner without a wine list, my week at a health spa in Mexico was an escape to a place dedicated to the joys of fitness and relaxation. 

My pretty little casita. I was told Robert Redford stayed here! 

Before

After...just kidding. This is me in the middle of a morning hike up the mountain.

Founded in 1940, Rancho la Puerta Fitness Resort and Spa is south of San Diego in the border town Tecate.

Set on 32 acres of lush gardens with hummingbirds flitting among the flowers, 

Literally on the wagon....there is no alcohol served with meals at the Ranch...but stay tuned...

the resort attracts visitors interested in improving their well-being through sunrise hikes on mountain trails 

Ssssstrrrreeeeccchhhh...after the uphill, then downhill hike then race everyone to breakfast.

and days filled with yoga teachings, Pilates lessons, fitness classes, spa treatments and — welcome in the desert heat — swimming pools and water exercise workouts. 

The quiet villa pool where I spend solitary afternoons listening to birds.

From body sculpting with weights to actual sculpting with clay, there are classes to stretch body and mind.

Sculptor in residence, Jose Ignacio Castaneda, helps turn clay into creations. 

I was just walking by one afternoon and Jose invited me to join the class. Next thing I knew
.....I was a sculptor too.

The beauty and bold flavors of Rancho La Puerta Spa Cuisine

Salads are a thing of beauty

Bold flavors of Mexico highlight the menu

All of the physical activity certainly helps work up an appetite, so it’s rare to see anyone late for a meal in the dining hall.

Just in case you're so hungry you lose your way.....

The four-course dinner the first night started with leek potato spinach soup with caramelized carrots and an heirloom tomato salad with smoked cheese, baby greens and basil dressing. 

Fresh shrimp from the Baja California on the menu at Rancho La Puerta

It’s a principally vegetarian menu here, with many dinner meals featuring fish dishes such as citrus garlic tilapia with red mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a roasted red bell pepper sauce. There’s no sugar in sight. Beverages and desserts including a dark chocolate tiramisu with mango sauce are sweetened with agave nectar.

The beautifully presented plates are prepared with produce plucked daily from the ranch’s organic farm where there’s a cooking school called La Cocina que Canta (the kitchen that sings). 

Virginia Willis, far right, as guest chef at the cooking school. My recipe pal is Lorren Negrin of  Seattle.

Atlanta cookbook author Virginia Willis was the guest chef during my vacation week. Her hands-on cooking classes featured a spa-style Southern menu. “Saying that Southern food is only fried chicken is like saying Chinese food is only egg rolls,” says Willis, author of “Bon Appetit, Y’All!”

Lorren (a registered dietitian like me) and I were asked to create a dish from seasonal vegetables picked just moments before.
The pink things are lightly sautéed radishes! 

Cook healthy, eat healthy

Laura White and Becky Jackson, guests from Atlanta, learned Willis’ recipe for bread-and-butter pickles using the organic garden’s cucumbers. Jackson said, “I’m making these at home. Most people think making pickles is hard, but in 20 minutes, we’re done!”

Don't worry, you get dessert too. Virginia Willis' recipe for strawberry shortcake was light and luscious!
Her secret- no sugar in the whipped cream and canola oil with butter in the pastry. 

Also on the menu: asparagus salad, cornbread-crusted halibut, and stone-ground grits with fresh greens.

“I didn't know about stone-ground grits before,” said Lorren Negrin, a registered dietitian from Seattle. “Now I can tell my patients who are originally from the South they should try these, because they’re healthier than refined grits and they taste better.”

Guests get to keep a beautiful embroidered apron.

Deborah Szekely, 91, who founded Rancho la Puerta and still presents inspirational lectures to guests, says, “Your body makes new cells all the time, so every day you wake up a little younger. Take care of your body so it can take care of you.”

Alex's tree, a focal point at Rancho La Puerta seen with a full moon still hanging above the mountain at 6am. 

I gave my guy a beret. I couldn't figure out how to make the hair.

 Lessons learned at the Ranch

> Try to limit meat. Plant foods are the stars of the meal here with small but satisfying servings of fish or shrimp. The typical American plate is dominated by large servings of meat.

> Try something new. Gina Christman, of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine tried acidopholus milk (good for digestion) at Ranch La Puerta, "I've taken this habit home. It tastes like buttermilk."
  I tried flaxseeds sprinkled on cereal (good source of healthy omega 3 fats) because I heard it's good for shiny hair and healthy skin! 

Gina Christman and I successfully reach Alex's Tree on a morning hike. Yes, it's already really hot!

> Try less sugar (and alcohol). A vacation away from favorite indulgences is an adventure, too. I drank water and hibiscus tea instead of wine this week. —- think of the calorie savings!

OK, we did find a wine lounge with Baja wines!

The wine lounge in a cute little casita is a new addition at The Ranch.

Guests can taste Baja whites, reds and roses in the afternoon before dinner, or after dinner.
My definition of health and happiness! 

> Try mindfulness. Appreciate the colors, textures and tastes of each component in a meal. It slows you down a bit and gives your body and mind time to appreciate a meal.

Tasting the variety of produce at the Ranch's organic farm will help you appreciate dinner even more!

> Try keeping track. Guests wear pedometers at the Ranch to measure how many steps taken each day. Aim for 10,000 steps a day as a fitness goal. Wow, that morning hike got me half way there even before breakfast!

Don't worry there's plenty to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and look how much I piled on my tray for lunch. 

Yes, that's a cookie with a chocolate kiss in the middle. Friday treat of the week.