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.

Why French Fries are OK after 50.

Looks like eating more fruits and vegetables is the not-so-surprising secret to weigh control for older women.

Look at this sassy crowd in Aspen. Nice flowers and big glasses of  wine.
And notice the yellow caution tape near the burger and fries.

 Ladies, it's just not fair.

It’s a common complaint as waistlines widen with advancing birthdays especially for post-menopausal women, ‘I’m eating the same but the numbers on the scale just keep creeping higher.’

What’s not the same, unfortunately, is the body’s metabolic rate, which naturally slows down with age. Add to that a lifestyle that’s often less active and you’ve got the math to prove that calories-in versus calories-out can tip the scales in the wrong direction.

 Sure, you can step up the exercise regime and vow never to order dessert again. But, according to a new study of nearly 500 overweight women in their 50’s and 60’s it’s what they were adding to their meals that ultimately helped them lose weight and keep it off.

Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, and colleagues at The University of Pittsburgh studied the eating habits of women who lost weight over the short-term (six months) and the long-term (four years).

Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD University of Pittsburgh Department of Health and Physical Activity
She is adorable! Listen to her discuss this study in a podcast on website of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

The highly motivated dieters in the six-month group ate fewer desserts and fried foods, drank fewer sugar-sweetened beverages and ate more seafood.

Steamed shrimp with a squeeze of lemon: girl's best friend.

Here's Why You'll Never Say No to Broccoli Again. 

After four years the women were still saying ‘no’ to pie and soda fairly often but the habit that emerged as the most powerful predictor for long-term weight loss was eating more fruits and vegetables followed by eating less meat and cheese.

We said eating LESS meat and cheese, Liz!
OH, well you look fabulous. I'm sure there's an apple and carrots sticks in your Hermes bag. 

Good news for especially Southerners- they weren’t necessarily skipping fried foods.

 “People are so motivated when they start a weight loss program,” explains Barone Gibbs. “You can say, ‘I’m never going to eat another piece of pie,’ and you see the pounds coming off. Eating fruits and vegetables may not make as big a difference in your caloric intake. But that small change can build up and give you a better long-term result, because it’s not as hard to do as giving up French fries forever.” 

OK, we said still eating fried foods, not as the main event on the plate. This is enough fries to share with three women.
Meal Makeover: more fish, more fresh mango salsa and fewer fries. Don't use the tartar sauce. Ask for more lemons.

During the four year study the number of times dieters ate out in restaurants declined, but Barone Gibbs chalks that up to the downturn in the economy not a sign that eating out less is linked to weight loss. Get it? The"I'm not eating out as much" trend wasn't part of a diet plan, it was a fiscal plan.

Easy Add for Losing

The "How Women over 50 stay slim" weight control study published in the September 2012 issue of The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed that adding just two servings of fruits and vegetables to a daily diet was linked to a three-pound weight loss four years later. This may not sound like much, but keep in mind that most folks gain weight every year. It turns out the small changes we can sustain over the long haul make the biggest difference in life long weight control.

So a perfect meal for me would be a big green salad, grilled fish with lemon and no yup, French fries.

Tips on Dining Out with the Forever Svelte Set

Stick with lean fish, seafood and animal proteins, simply prepared; always include mushrooms if possible-- for their substantial meaty texture, enormous health benefits, and umami characteristics than enhance flavor of whatever they're eaten with. 

And champagne of course...the bubbles fill you up!!!!

Gina Christman, Publisher of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle Magazine


I like restaurants that offer half portions. I also like to order a broth based soup and share an entree. Or order salad and appetizer for my entree. Nothing revolutionary!

Chris Rosenbloom, registered dietitian and professor of nutrition emeritus, Georgia State University

Girlfriend, been cycling at Flywheel since March so weight is not an issue. Drag by butt there every other day so I can drink like a lush & eat anything I want. LOL Finally a plan that works for moi...

 Aida Flamm, fabulous fashion savvy world traveling furniture importer

Always have a green salad to start. Grilled food, no sauces, veggies instead of carbs, appetizer instead of entree andshared or two bite shot glass dessert. 

Kathleen Zelman, registered dietitian and Director of Nutrition for WebMD.

 You go girls! 

Does this tree make me look skinny?

Are you ready for your culinary close up?

Culinary Close Ups

Pretty in Pink: peel 'n eat shrimp Florida and Georgia coast menus

It’s not enough to simply relax and dine on the dishes chefs create for restaurant menus, some folks want to jump in and help cook the meal.  The promise of an “Epitourian” experience in the professional kitchens of the Sawgrass Marriott Resort in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is what attracted Maureen and Billy Ray Price of Moultrie, Georgia. “I found it online. We wanted to go to the beach to celebrate our wedding anniversary but we wanted something different,” says Maureen Price. “My husband is a really good cook and I thought ‘he’ll learn to make even more great things for me’ and it will be fun.”

So while other guests at the golf centric resort, host hotel of THE PLAYERS Championship, headed out to play one of the areas eight championship golf courses or grabbed a book and a beach chair at the Cabana Beach Club, the Prices jumped on a golf cart with Executive chef David Scalise to visit the on-property bee hives.

Off they go to find the bee hives with Chef Scalise and Heidi Barfels of Miami

Scalise tends two bee hives tucked away in an area guests wouldn’t normally see behind tall trees and overgrown with black berry bushes and other natural plants of north Florida, “At first everyone panicked when they heard I wanted to set up bee hives on the hotel property. But these honey bees are not aggressive and finally even the lawyers understood it was going to be OK, “ says Scalise who set up the hives about a year ago. 

Sweet life: Executive Chef David Scalise tends the hives at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort

“Our first harvest yielded fifteen gallons. The honey is a little nutty tasting with nuances of the wild blackberries. We use pieces of the honey combs on our cheese platters.”  The hotel’s homegrown Sawgrass honey not only sweetens the culinary program, it’s sold in the gift shop and used in the spa for treatments. “We’re even working on using the bees wax to make lip balm, “ says Scalise.  

Proud beekeeper shows off part of the honey harvest.

He says another bonus from beekeeping is developing stronger relationships with local farmers, “We lend our bees to pollinate their crops including a strawberry farmer nearby. So then we get strawberry honey.”

Cook and Learn

Next stop for the Prices on their culinary adventure is the farmer’s market in nearby Neptune Beach to shop for foods they’ll cook with that afternoon.  On the menu for today is a lesson in making fresh pasta.  “I’ve always loved to cook. Even in college at the University of Florida I made spaghetti sauce every Sunday for the other students in my dorm,” says Billy Ray Price who’s a physician in Moultrie.   

Romantic lighting in the Augustine Grille captures the beauty of handmade gnocchi pasta with local vegetables.

A few notches up from spaghetti, Scalise led the Prices through the steps needed to make fresh gnocchi including the delicate broth based sauce that would be served to them for dinner that night as well as other guests in the Augustine Grille. So their “epitourian” experience went beyond creating their own courses, the Prices truly were part of the Sawgrass Marriott’s culinary staff for the day.

Maureen and Billy Ray Price celebrate their Epitourian experience in the Augustine Grille

Watch and Learn

If you’d rather stay out of the line of fire in a busy restaurant kitchen, but still want to be close enough to see exactly how the chef sears a piece of fish then you can take a seat at the Chef’s Table at The Cloister at Sea Island, Georgia.  

Elegant settings and sumptuous bites of the finest food and wine at The Cloister, Sea Island

Seating four guests comfortably in a small yet elegant glassed-in dining room the table overlooks the expansive kitchen of the Georgian Room where chef de cuisine Daniel Zeal and his brigade of chefs turn vegetables into jewel like shapes, expertly grill meats, poach lobster in vanilla and citrus, delicately prepare fine fish such as cobia, garnish plates with edible flowers and create multi-ingredient desserts.  Can’t keep up with the action? Just change the channel.  Above the picture window in the chef’s table dining room is a wide screen television. “We give the guests their own remote control to switch camera views around the kitchen so they can follow their meal every step of the way and I pop in to answer any questions they might have about techniques or ingredients,” says Zeal.

Under the direction of  Resort Executive Chef Jonathan Jerusalmy, Sea Island chefs
create a wide range of culinary experiences for guests.

Off the Farm

Snapper ceviche with micro greens at Edwards Fine Food & Wine, Rosemary Beach,  Florida

It’s nothing new to see the names of farms and farmers on menus today as more chefs create business bonds to bring the best in locally grown foods to their guests. But, take a look around the dining room and you may even see a farmer. 

Eating dinner one night at Edward’s Fine Food & Wine in Rosemary Beach, Florida I asked chef Edward Reese about the deliciously fresh micro greens in salads and garnishing plates. He smiled and replied pointing to the man sitting at the next table, “Why don’t you ask Claus Kazenmaier, they came from his farm this morning!”

So it seems that another component of judging culinary quality is today is how close we can get to knowing where our food comes from and exactly how it’s prepared even when someone else is doing the cooking.

Now let's head to the beach..........

Get IN the Kitchen on Vacation



Executive Chef Elijah Bowe's Cooking Class at Graycliff Hotel in Nassau




Most folks go on vacation to get out of the kitchen and let someone else do the cooking.

But, when Atlantan Lydia Connerty began planning a bicycle tour of Vietnam with several other girl friends she chose a group cooking experience as one of their activities, “The first thing I did was sign us up to take a hands-on class in Vietnamese cuisine. What a fun way to get introduced to the country and its culture. And then we’d know more about what to order from menus on our trip.”

From cruise ships to resort hotels, cooking classes are joining spa treatments and zip line adventures as popular vacation activities. Joe Carlin, Associate Editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, has sought out cooking classes on his world travels with wife Julie for years, “We I took a class in Bangkok on green and red curries back in 2008 and found it a very positive experience. The class served as a nice introduction to the foods of the country. The class was a success because the instructor was knowledgeable, knew her audience and did not try to overwhelm us with too many dishes.”

Chefs at hotels and restaurants also find that inviting guests into their kitchens to cook is a great way to promote their properties and build customer loyalty. Executive chef Elijah Bowe, of the historic Graycliff Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas welcomes his class with a flute of Champagne and then hands out the aprons and knives. After a review of culinary vocabulary associated with the evening’s recipes from “al dente” to “roux” he leads the group through a step-by-step lesson in how to clean a whole fish.

Then the group of six separates into duos to get dinner ready including blackened grouper with tomato compote. While his students slice and dice Bowe, a native of the Bahamas, shares stories of growing up in the islands and his enthusiasm for teaching, “Some people are very skilled and others are kitchen novices. It’s fun to see the teamwork develop. Eventually we do get dinner on the table!” Then the aprons come off and kitchen duties are left behind as guests take their places in the elegant colonial dining room and enjoy the courses they created with sommelier selected wine pairings.

The wine cellar deep beneath the floors of Graycliff Hotel with thousands of bottles of buried treasure! 

If you’re still craving time to cook on a trip to Nassau, the One and Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island has added cooking classes and mixology lessons to their menu of things to do at the beach.

Pretty Dune Restaurant at One and Only on Paradise Island, Bahamas

The evening I visited, executive chef Emmanuel Gibson of Dune restaurant showed us how to make plantain crusted grouper and led us through a tasting of spices used in Bahamian cooking before sending us off to the ocean front dining room where the classroom experience really added to appreciation of the Caribbean spiced fresh seafood dishes. 

Fresh caught seafood of course! Chef Emmanuel Gibson of Dune speaks fluent fish.

Kitchen Clean Lessons


One of the things that impressed me is the attention to sanitation before, during and after these amateur hours in professional kitchens. Everyone is firmly instructed to properly wash their hands, avoid cross contamination between raw meats and fresh vegetables and to wash their hands again before entering the dining room. During the Chefs Plate Gourmet cooking class at the Royal Playa del Carmen resort in Mexico, the lesson in proper hand washing technique included nail brushing and scrubbing up to the elbows. Good moves considering you don’t really know the other guests in your group or whether they’ve just come off the golf course or shopping in town before helping to cook your lunch. It was apparent the food and beverage staff of the hotel, part of the Real Resorts of Mexico, were trying really hard to dispell any fears of Montezuma's Revenge. In fact, the kitchens were gleaming clean.  
So, whether you’re traveling to India or China or taking a cooking class at a restaurant in Atlanta, keep an eye on kitchen cleanliness as well as the cuisine to get the most out of the experience. The only souveniers you want are a few new recipes and new found appreciation for world cuisines.