Steak and Kidney Pie has been a Boxing Day tradition in my family. They go “Box” (shop) and I make the pies … mmm … This old family recipe gets a decidedly Northern flavour with caribou and/or moose along with the kidneys. If your hunting prowess is a little on the lax side, you can …
The revered holiday poinsettia is among the most-beautiful and significant flowering plants of the holiday season. Also known as the Christmas star or Christmas Flower, the poinsettia has history rich with tradition and meaning. One of my favourite Christmas stories tells of the humble beginnings of the Mexican poinsettia flower. The story tells of a …
Mid-morning … and there’s a fairy tale moon in the sky; a sliver of silver fit for cows to jump over, curved enough to hold a young boy with a fishing pole, a backdrop for ET perched in the carrier basket of a bicycle, pale and shining against the rosette glow of a mid-December morning.
Vangie Ramirez wears a warm smile on her face and she laughs a lot. It is not a naïve or childish laugh; rather, it seems to be a quiet acknowledgement that life is treating her well. When Ramirez arrived in the Yukon in 1990, it was the culmination of long journey, a journey that began …
“Hey,” Marcella says, “do you want to be on our team for a bike race?” I was visiting Marcella in her store above Shoppers on Main Street. My answer was ” … uh, I don’t have a bike.” “Oh, that’s OK, I can lend you one.” We’d met the previous spring, training for a Mothers’ …
Original black-and-white illustrations for The Midnight-Blue Marble animate the maroon walls of Baked Café for the month of December. A grid of 15 pieces of illustration board, each about 12 by 16 inches, fills the larger wall between the street door, the one that is currently closed during construction and cold weather, and the gelato …
Sheldon Currie wrote a short story about a family in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, that echoed his message in the acclaimed Margaret’s Museum. Lauchie, Liza and Rory, too, looks at a Cape Breton Island community that is populated with good people, from all over the world, who are otherwise cogs in the machine. Unlike Margaret’s …
I have known Andrameda Hunter since she was a youngster, but when I recently met her for coffee, I was immediately taken by her radiant self-confidence as a young woman. She is not only a skilled dancer, but she is also an engaging and creative performer who has been hired to assist artistic director Alejandro …
“I’ve loved singing since I was a little girl.” says Edwards “I remember singing on the back of my mother’s bike, on the swing set”
Young Adult (YA) readers love adventure, and a look at work by Northern authors Joanne Bell, Keith Halliday and Anita Daher shows why. YA stories can teach life skills and bush skills, as Dawson writer Joanne Bell demonstrates. Her first book, Breaking Trail (Groundwood Press), is the story of a young girl mushing her own …
Sitting at a table in the Gold Pan Saloon, enjoying a reception for the Santa Claus Parade volunteers, I met some incredible young people who were new to the Yukon. They came here, without knowing anyone, and sought a “community” to join. None of them played sports and they didn’t work in large offices that …
Finders, keepers. Right? Well, adults will likely respond with, “It depends.” OK. This is something that was obviously discarded … but it was seven meticulously cared-for photo albums of a family … but the person who found them put a lot of work into them to create a play … but the person who threw …
As we race toward Christmas and the new year of promise that follows, I can’t help but reflect on the wonderful and poignant experiences that have transpired over these last 12 months. Post-Christmas, last year, began with a wonderful evening among friends at a cabin in Tagish, meeting and making new and special friends and …
Over a mug of root beer, the editor of What’s Up Yukon, Darrell Hoo key, extols his particular Christmas Wish List. Topping the list, Wish No. 1, is what he calls his “Steve Martinian” wish: “For all of the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and …
From my seat, I could see a toboggan hill, trees, mountains and blue sky. Not such a bad view for my lunch in the middle of a busy day. All the more incredible is that this place is just two minutes from downtown and two minutes from Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, et al. It is the …
About six months after we purchased our farm, we decided we needed to start raising chickens. This decision came about when, about a week after Christmas, there were no eggs, milk or butter on the shelves at the local grocery store. In order to have our own milk and butter, we would have to acquire …
The next time you are outside at night, take a moment and look up at those dark Yukon Night Skies. High overhead you will see the constellation of Perseus, the Hero. This is the home of the infamous Double Cluster. People are always talking about the Double Cluster and looking at it. Why? Simply put, …
