I am sure there are many things that I will no longer take for granted when I return to the south. My south, by the way, is no longer the Caribbean - it's Nova Scotia. Can you believe it? So, when I return to the south I will have an enhanced gratitude for so much, food in particular. Or, I should say, the easy acquisition of food- or eating in a restaurant, or take-out junk food. Acquiring food in Arctic communities is quite an effort. Locally, there is the Northern Store which provides the community with food, electronics, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, clothes and much, much more. It is incredibly expensive as everything has to come in by air or ship. There is a very short ship-arrival season when the sea ice melts, so mostly by air. Now I swore that I would not be one of those people who is always complaining about the price of things in the north - so, purely as illustration, this pumpkin costs $34.98.
There is another, smaller, store in the community (a co-op). Also available is a program called Food Mail which is run by Canada Post. The air freight is subsidized, and most food is available through the program except junk food. So far I have found this to be a great option. Some teachers, though, have had problems with food not arriving until after it was no longer recognizable as food. Food mail orders go by fax or e-mail on Mondays and the food usually arrives on Thursdays, but I have had it arrive as late as Saturday (even though it is given priority with the airline). Our vice-principal, who is incredibly generous with his time, picks up our Food Mail at the airport in the new school van and delivers it to our houses. So, I can get just about everything I need, with considerable effort.
We have had some wonderful group dinners recently (teachers from the school and the Arctic College and RCMP officers). The Newfoundland teachers and their wives hosted an enormous Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and all the trimmings brought in from Montreal by food mail. They did every bit of the shopping and cooking.
Last Saturday night Crystal (Grade 7 teacher) and I cooked a pasta supper for 17 people. I made spaghetti sauce, boule (French, ball-shaped bread) and pineapple-upside cake for desert (a relic from my Joy of Cooking/Fanny Farmer childhood, also I have a case of canned pineapple from the sealift). I am baking more than I did at home. Something about the endless winter - comfort food. I brought up a book on baking artisan breads and have been experimenting with surprisingly good results in spite of the iffy oven in my house. This has been really fun and I have learned so much - I need to write a post about my bread baking experiments. The smell alone is worth the effort.
O.K so no connection to Culinary Clyde, but I couldn't resist. That was the happiest puppy I have ever seen (except for Angus).
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