Netletter 2009

POLAR BEAR ATTEMPTS TO HIJACK AIRPLANE AT DYMOND LAKE!

Now that we have your attention, welcome to Blueberries and Polar Bears Netletter, 2009 Three years have passed since our last netletter – how can that happen? More interesting guests have come and gone from the lodges – more appreciative visitors have been fed and nourished with Helen’s and Marie’s (and Dave’s) cooking and more yet have gone home with their own cookbooks. Yes, you can create the same wonderful meals at home and/or share them with your own guests. Our guests are our best advocates – our best sales reps, and for that, we thank you.

How many of you have seen the Great Canadian Food Show that was taped at Dymond Lake Hunting Lodge and first aired in 2002? I never cease to be amazed at the calls I get every year from people seeing the replay – thank-you CBC! The two most requested recipes from that show are Sweet and Sour Baked Beans (Cranberries & Canada Geese) and Sheepherder’s Bread (Black Currants & Caribou) Both of these recipes are available on our website – but you might want to check out some other favorites from these same books, like Blueberry Pudding Cake, Dilly Ham and Cheese Loaf, or Spiced Cranberry Pork Roast from Black Currants & Caribou OR Cinnamon Pecan Apple Cake, Crispy Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce or Wild Rice Lemon Soup from Cranberries & Canada Geese. After all – we can’t give away all our secrets!

Let us introduce you to the cooking staff at North Knife Lake Fishing Lodge. Our chef extraordinaire for the past 5 years has been Dave Schellenberg – husband of Helen’s niece, Keely – yes, it is still all in the family. Dave has taught us many things – like how to use a kitchen assembly line, the value of using the best quality equipment, how best to carve a beast and how to crack, roast and simmer a soup bone. AND he took over all the ordering of groceries. We LOVE Dave! Then there are the cookie chefs – 15 yr old Kalie, 13 yr old Madison and 11 yr old Raynie. Believe it or not, the grand-kids bake ALL the cookies and we’re talking 120 dozen! And, oh, yes – there are no days off! What troopers! These 3 follow in a long tradition of young cooks, boys and girls alike, who start their baking careers by the age of 5. Let’s see – Helen has already initiated 14 grand-kids into the business!

This past summer, Helen hosted 7 members of the Society of American Travel Writers at her home in Churchill – called the “Cooking with Helen Luncheon”. She pulled out all the stops as they assisted her in preparing Baked Brie with Cranberry Ginger Chutney, Shaggy Bread (recipe still to be included in a book!), Almond Crusted Trout with Leek and Lemon Sauce, Egyptian Salad, Crusted Caribou Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction, Spicy Rice, Elegant Parmesan Cauliflower, Cranberry Cake with Butter Sauce and Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts.  (If you want to know where to find all these recipes, the master index is found in Icebergs & Belugas.) Now, they accomplished all this at a time when groceries were in short supply in Churchill due to late or no train arrivals! But that’s another story!

The first week of September, 2008,  Helen and Marie could be found at Seal River Heritage Lodge, entertaining a group of 14 hunters from Minnesota. The hunting was great, but probably the biggest thrill was looking in almost any direction at any time of day, and seeing polar bears – and it wasn’t even polar bear season! This was a thrill for us as well, though it did put a damper on our berry picking – we NEVER ventured out of the lodge!  However, when you can see from 3 to 6 bearies playing together in the waters of Hudson Bay, you quickly forget about berries.  Seal River has traditionally been a great place to view polar bears. In the summer of 2007, Helen’s grand-daughter, Rebecca Reimer, who was just 17 at the time, took an incredible picture of a polar bear at the window of the lodge. That picture was purchased by National Geographic and printed in the National Geographic Traveler in October 2008. The lodge is situated on the coast of Hudson Bay, where bears pass by, only stopping for a day or two to check out what is happening in the human world – and we are here to tell you that a healthy polar bear population is alive and well in this segment of the world! Why don’t you come and see for yourself?

Our berry picking was also greatly curtailed in the Fall of 2007 at Dymond Lake Lodge – too many polar bears being sited! So this September (2008) we were actually pleased that the bears from Seal River had not yet come this far south along the coast and we spent as many hours as possible harvesting blueberries, cranberries, black currants and the best crop of Gooseberries that we have ever seen! Another boon to our picking experience was the arrival of Mana, our Japanese visitor/cleaning girl/kitchen helper – who absolutely loved picking berries! Mana came as a tourist to Churchill to see the bears, and stayed to work for Webber’s Lodges and Churchill Wild, probably making her the one and only Japanese citizen to have experienced 3 of the lodges – hunting, fishing and polar bears tourism – without paying a cent!! Not only that, but it was our gain, since she was an incredible worker and wonderful person.

We are always being asked if we have plans for another cookbook. The answer is that we have collected enough recipes and enough stories to share – it is always a work in progress. We are just waiting for that little extra push that would say to us –NOW – get serious and do it NOW! But of course that would put a crimp in the lifestyle to which we would like to become accustomed – I’m talking about our off-season traveling. In the past two years, Helen and Doug have been to Iceland, Hawaii and a few Sports Shows in the southern states. Marie and Gary have been to Mexico and Nashville and have crossed Canada on their motorcycles – from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back again. This year Marie upgraded from a Honda Shadow 750 to a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 – much more power to play with! So, will we be able to co-ordinate some time together to work on a book? Right now, your guess is as good as ours.

We just want to remind you that our current books still make wonderful gifts – the recipes are as dependable as ever. And don’t forget the Dymond Lake Seasoning, but be warned – once you try it, you might want to keep ordering!

Wishing you all the best!

Marie Woolsey

Helen Webber

2006 Netletter

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