Unknown's avatar

About Jack & Barbra Donachy

Writers, photographers, food lovers, anglers, travelers and students of poetry

Steam Juicer – a Revelation

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know I avoid superfluous or single use kitchen gadgets. When friends suggested adding a steam juicer to our arsenal, I borrowed one to see what the fuss was about. I first tested it on rhubarb and high bush cranberries with good results, but when I steam juiced wineberries (aka nagoon berries) I was sold. This device simplifies the process of cleaning and sorting, and quickly produces pure, unadulterated juices ready for immediate use or for canning. Highly recommend!

#steamjuicer #kitchengadget #juicing #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

One more for the book: Wildberry Custard Tart

We are having quite a berry season. It was easy to gather premium wild blueberries and wild salmonberries for this tart. Look at the size of those golden berries! There’s a lot of things you could do with freshly picked berries…but nothing says “fresh berries” like fresh berries.


#wildblueberries #wildsalmonberries #dessert #wildberrytart #tartrecipe #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

En Papillote

Chef Jack doing his magic. Preparing halibut on a bed of chopped venison sausage to be grilled en papillote. So grateful for the kindness of sharing neighbors.


#halibut #venison #venisonsausage #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t

The deal is “you pick me 5 cups of berries and I’ll make you a pie.” We stumbled onto a blueberry bush Loaded with berries. In no time at all, we had 5 cups in the bag. Seems like all agreed, it turned out pretty fantastic.

#wildblueberries #Alaskablueberries #homemadepie #blueberrypie #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Will They or Won’t They – The Hydroponics Experiment

Part of our Alaskan culinary experimentation includes producing fruit and vegetables in a year-round hydroponic garden. We’ve been wildly successful growing our own gourmet lettuces. This little cucumber cutie is flowering like crazy. A little hand pollination and patience will answer the question – will it or won’t it bear fruit?

#hydroponicgarden #gourmethydroponics #hydroponic #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

A Soup Involving Puff Pastry and a Tasty Reveal

Jack is working his magic today. He’s perfecting a soup recipe baked in stoneware and topped with puff pastry. Spoiler alert? Your guest will crack into the perfectly baked pastry to find wild Alaskan Dungeness Crab. Yes, please!

#soup #puffedpastry #dungenesscrab #soupsurprise #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Premium Salmonberries

Today’s goal was to find premium salmon berries for upcoming cookbook recipes. I think we did pretty well!

#salmonberries #premiumberries
#chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography
#eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Dessert for Any Season – Frozen Salmonberries

This is a favorite Jack creation. The elegance of the delectable array of salmonberries brings a wow-factor to meals all throughout the year.


#salmonberries #foragingalaska #dessert #frozenberries #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination #moose&malbec

Wild Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies

A work in progress – wild strawberry rhubarb hand pies. Perfecting a recipe with frozen fruit. It’s not a feat for the easily frustrated.

#rhubarb #handpies #foraging #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination #moosepie&malbec

Moose Pie & Malbec – a New Adventure

Perfectly flaky crust stuffed with delectable ingredients. You want the recipe, right?

We are coming up on our fifteenth anniversary of publishing this blog. All those years ago, we packed up our beautiful California bungalow and headed off to live an adventure well off the beaten path in bush Alaska. People thought we would return to the lovely life we left in the urban world after a year or so. But we fell in love with all the joys and challenges with living in bush Alaska and here we are…still living well off the beaten path.

Much of this blog has been dedicated to foraging and recipe creation. Fifteen years of collecting experiences, reimagining food and beverage pairings and generating culinary ideas should lead to … a cookbook! Our blog catchphrase – living well off the beaten path – is now a work progressing toward a book with the working title Moose Pie and Malbec: Eating Well Off the Beaten Path in the Alaska Bush.

To keep you, our long-time readers (and new followers) in the loop, we will endeavor to post regular peeks into what we are working on here on Cutterlight and on Instagram. Follow along on our new adventure and see how it goes, leave a “like” and feel free to comment and share!

Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting!

Chefs and Bakers – Jack and Barbra