Some Favorite Things
Baby break & winter inspo
Season’s greetings! Emma’s baby is coming soon so she is signing off to focus on family and will be taking a break from writing this newsletter through the holidays. While it’s a cozy season to snuggle up with a little babe, it’s also an inspiring time of year that we always love to share with our friends & family – so we wanted to leave you with a few favorite things that have been bringing us joy this season before we hibernate and say see you on the other side.
Favorite Things & Winter Inspiration
Alaska Small Business Gift Guide. Putting this gift guide together has become an annual holiday tradition at Salmon Sisters. It’s a roundup of artists, authors, makers and small businesses based in Alaska that we’re crushing on. If we’re being honest, it’s a huge challenge for us to put together because Alaska’s entrepreneurial energy is so deep and vast and we want to include everyone’s amazing efforts! But we are proud to share this year’s selections and hope you find some amazing gifting inspiration, or new friends to follow, through it. Thanks for supporting small biz this holiday season.
It’s Hockey Season. We play in our local adult women’s league – it’s a hoot, especially because we get to play with our mom and a many generations of women we grew up with. We’ve obviously become big Kraken fans like many Alaskans who adopt other states’ sports teams and we were so stoked to see this year’s line up of artist-designed specialty jerseys – including one by Alaska’s own Allie Spurlock, who lives in Sitka! So proud to be a sports fan.
Apple Cake. A friend stopped by and left a chunk of this apple cake on our counter. It really was delicious – like a dutch baby crossed with a bread pudding. She reported that the recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and one she and her college housemates enjoyed baking every fall during apple picking season in the Berkshires. This one deserves a spot in the family recipe book, and would be a perfect cake to enjoy with coffee on Christmas morning.
Winter Solstice. Yes it’s the shortest, darkest day of the year and it’s coming for us all – but it’s also a time to celebrate the extremes of deep winter and the return of the light. Two artists who celebrate the solstice so well are Pheobe Wahl, whose prints and mugs dance with firelight and
Martha Stewart Cooks Wild Alaska Seafood. On Season 3 of “Martha Cooks” on The Roku Channel, Martha Stewart is joined by Hannah Heimbuch, a lifelong Alaskan and third-generation commercial fisherman to cook Wild Alaska Seafood and fillet a whole salmon! Hannah owns and operates a small fishing vessel and set net site in Kodiak and when not on her boat, she spends time as a fisheries advocate supporting the sustainable fishing practices in the state. You can stream the episode here. It’s so fun to watch Hannah & Martha talking fish!
Moon Lists. We subscribe to
Dansk Pots. We started with the cutest butter warmer and we will not stop until we collect them all. We found a couple old red saucepans in a used kitchen shop in New Orleans next to the Mosquito Supper Club (another Favorite Thing), and thought long and hard about packing them back to Alaska in our suitcase. But there is sale on this cookware collection in many amazing colors, inspired by the mid-century aesthetic of Danish sculptor Jens Quistgaard, at Food52.com, we just thought you should know. We’re sorry, you’re welcome, merry Christmas.
David Shrigley. His art makes us laugh out loud, and his words are ones to live by. Follow him on Instagram or find fun holiday gifts at shrigshop.com.
May your holidays be bright, may your winter be full of joy and peace, may your friends and family stay healthy and happy. Thank you for subscribing to our Substack this fall, it has been a treat to write to you. Sending love from Alaska,
Emma & Claire