32 degrees, new snow to the high tide line, Northwest winds gusting to 30 knots and bringing blowing snow: It could be the dead of winter, but a pack of 10 sea lions languidly prowling the gray ocean in front of our house waiting for herring and a certain quality of daylight tell us spring is nearly here.

This weather doesn’t bother us, though. Prior to the jet stream switch we’ve had a string of sunny days that allowed us to get our generator shed and sauna kit built, among other projects. To boot, in the greenhouse it has been mild enough that the kale has survived the winter and now most of the lettuce and the plum trees are thinking it’s about time to bloom.

This coming spring’s projects will be enclosing the outdoor apple orchard of 30+ trees, wiring up the generator shed which will lead to MIG welding on the skiffs prior to salmon season, receiving our 2 hives of Old World Carniolan honey bees, and the big one-day push of the kelp harvest. Plus the MPLS run to deliver salmon in April for all of you who need to restock the freezer after a long winter! With our packaging and freezing technology, the fillets have another 1 year and 4 months to be eaten without fear of any sort of freezer burn. Amazing!

For us it went from a sleepy post crab season to rapidly increasing daylight with warm spells for work, with more on the horizon, so for today we will gladly take a big breath of cool air and instead do a some inside tasks and some snowshoeing up into the mountains. Rather than feeling hemmed in by the weather, we enjoy the time with our cozy wood stove which has been in the family for 50-60 years to catch up on things like writing on here, using our creative spirit in making venison sausage, bread, yogurt, and granola, and doing taxes. It feels like a gift, in a way - that Mother Nature is supporting us in getting done what we need to.

A recipe we made last night seems perfect for this late season mentality, offering us a wintery-feeling feast but with a hint of spice and bold flavors as a nod to the anticipation of the new energy spring will bring when it decides the time is right.

Thanks to Julia O’Malley, the author of one of our favorite books on Alaska cuisine, The Whale and the Cupcake, for publishing this recipe recently in the Anchorage Daily News. Of course we had to make some substitutions and adjustments since we can’t go to a grocery store, it being a 60 mile boat ride to town, but our version turned out quite nicely and we’re sure she would appreciate the Alaskan way of making do with what’s on hand to create a meal. Just a note that while we absolutely enjoyed this recipe and its warming zip, for those who prefer to have more of the clean salmon flavor shine through, you might want to opt for simpler recipes. In our salmon lives we enjoy all different sorts of preparations, and this one hit the spot for a cold late winter evening. Here is her recipe, with our notes in parentheses.

Hot Honey Sheet Pan Salmon With Dates and Yogurt Drizzle by Julia O’Malley

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Dijon mustard (we had to use stone ground)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup salted butter, melted

1 Tablespoon chili powder

Up to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, to taste (optional)

3+2 cloves garlic, crushed, separated

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 to 2 pounds carrots, any color, peeled, quartered longways and sliced into bite-sized sticks

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved (we used cauliflower instead since that was the only brassica we had)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 to 1.5 lbs salmon, thawed, portioned into four to six servings

1/2 cup pitted dates, sliced longways (we had to use dried date crumbles)

3/4 cup plain yogurt (we used homemade kefir instead of the yogurt/lemon combo)

Juice of half a lemon

Salt

To garnish: One cup roughly chopped soft herbs like parsley, cilantro, or mint: thin lemon slices; harissa if desired (we only had dried cilantro and mint for garnish)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two banking sheets with parchment. Lay the carrots and Brussels sprouts out to roast on the pans. They should be in a single layer, not touching. You should also leave room for the salmon portions, which you’ll add later. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Slide them into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Prepare the honey sauce. In a small bowl, mix mustard, honey, melted butter, chili powder, cayenne, three cloves of crushed garlic and salt. Once the timer goes off, pull the pans out. Gently flip the vegetables. Drizzle about one-third of the honey sauce on them, favoring the carrots. Sprinkle the dates among the vegetables. Place the salmon portions on the sheet pans, cover them well with the remaining sauce. Slide back in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Prepare the yogurt drizzle. In a small bowl, stir yogurt, lemon juice, and garlic. Salt to taste. When the timer goes off, check the doneness of the salmon with a fork. Leave in a minute or two more if necessary. When the salmon is ready, pull out the sheet pans, drizzle with a few tablespoons of yogurt sauce, sprinkle with herbs and thinly sliced lemon. Serve with couscous, harissa, and remaining yogurt sauce.

One Last Cold Weather Salmon Recipe