Great Lands

Alaska

So like always lets start with some history on why I title the state of Alaska with, "Great Lands." Well Alaska's name came from the Eskimo word Alyeska which has the meaning of Great Lands. 

Well to start off, I did not have a normal trip to Alaska, I traveled by boat. And not just any boat.. the Mickey boat, as all my little cousins would call it. The boat where you are treated like royalty. I mean - gourmet food, chocolate on the pillow, animal towel art, broadway-like shows. I mean truly, they announce your name when you walk on to the boat like you're entering a royal ball. And let's be honest, I proudly waved my princess cupped hand (Just like I learned in Princess Diaries...). There is just something so amazing about waking up and everyone telling you to have a magical day.  Then you think to yourself heck ya I'm gonna treat myself today and get a 200 dollar hot stone massage, a Mickey latte, maybe go see a Disney movie MYSELF in the theater... hey I'm living my princess life to the fullest. 

So, as I pondered what ingredients I should use for my Alaska cookie, I reminisced about my trip around Alaska. I mean, my trip started with the most incredible experience but it has probably ruined fishing for me for the rest of my life. 

Let me start with our luggage was lost, so I currently only had the clothes I was wearing. So they give a speech that if you catch a really big fish and we can't pull it onto the boat, you have to get into the water with your fish for a picture. My direct quote to my mom was, "There is nothing getting me in that water." So this picture of me before the jurassic park animal decided to bite my line......

After 25 minutes of insane reeling and letting the line out.. MY WHALE of a fish broke water! I think our fishing guide was more excited then I was.. I thought this was a normal day on the river but apparently this fish was massive. At that moment, I didn't care if I smelled like fish for the rest of vacation, I was getting in the water and getting this fish. So finally, we were able to beach the fish, and it was worth the week of back pain. I reeled in a 10 foot, 500 pound sturgeon. Let me just say, I earned that royal treatment massage on the Mickey boat. 

So as many people know, Alaska is known for their great fishing especially for their salmon. Ketchikan, Alaska is know as the Salmon Capital of the world. However, no matter how cool this experience was... making a fishy cookie does not really sound appealing. So I started looking for other options.

So when we got off the boat at Alaska's 1st city, Ketchikan, we explored and walked about the city. We came across a store called, "Sam McGee's" which had tons of Alaskan souvenirs. They have one of the largest selection of "Made in Alaska" products. They had all kinds of products from candy, Ulu knives, wood products.. etc. They also had a GREAT selection of jams, which we bought and sampled back on the boat. So instead of using salmon in my Alaskan cookie, I decided to use one of their jams, Salmonberry. Salmonberry is a relative to the raspberry and found in parts of Alaska. 
If you would like to check out their jam selections or Sam's McGee's Store, here is the website! And if you're cruising around Alaska, make sure to add it to your stops! 

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Sam McGee's

Then the next thing I thought about was dog sledding. Alaska's official state sport is Dog Sledding. So during our trip we stopped at a dog shedding kennel where they happen to have a litter of Alaskan Malamute puppies just born!!! I always wanted my own little Balto. (Hands down one of my favorite animated movies) Malamutes are the Alaskan state dog and for good reasons since they are hard working dogs. They were supposedly known to act like babysitters. I mean I don't have any kids yet but they sound just as reliable as care.com. :) With how cool this experience was... puppies also don't fit into the ingredient plan. 

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So then I started thinking about all the awesome glaciers and beautiful scenery which had me thinking of ice cream. So if you didn't know the Baked Alaska is the state's dessert. Which includes cake and ice cream. However, when I went to research restaurants to contact... the best Baked Alaska is found in LA and most places don't have it on their menus. Even though, Alaska is in the name, it seemed stupid to make a dessert thats not easy to find.

Then I learned some interesting facts about the Tongass National Forest. It is our nation's largest forest with 16.8 million arces! It is known to be on the most diverse areas left in our nation with a large population of many different animals including bears, eagles, salmon... etc. With all that being said there is a Tongas Forest Cookie! And my mission is not to recreate foods or desserts rather my goal is remake them into a version of a chocolate chip cookie. So I took the main three ingredients and included them in my cookie: rice crispies, oatmeal, and coconut. 
Here is the recipe for true Tongas Cookies 

Tongass Forest Cookies

The cookie has been tasted and loved by many including someone who has lived and was born in Alaska. Ladies, he's single and has great taste in cookies!

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Introducing the

"Beary Forest Cookie"

Rice Crispy, oatmeal, coconut chocolate chip filled with salmonberry jam and chocolate

Alaska is the home of the Kodiak bear -- giving us the name BEARY instead of berry 

Thanks for reading and continuing to follow me throughout my journey to create a cookie for each state! 

If you have any ideas or places you want me to visit, email me! 
​I would love to add you to my adventure! 
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xo 

Jessica Rose