Over the past months I’ve been compiling and sharing recipes on The Mossy Table. Each one is a favorite I’ve reworked to fit life out here on the island, created with pantry staples, tested in my kitchen, and adjusted until they’re just right. These aren’t copy-and-paste recipes from somewhere else; they’re all originals that I’ve made work for our shelves, our tastes, and our unique way of living.
Cooking with pantry staples has become a way of life for us. It means:
- Fewer trips to the store (which is both costly and unpredictable).
- Less food waste, since shelf-stable ingredients last.
- A ready source of meals that allow us to eat well on busy days (we have zero restaurants on the island), or when shipping delays keep the store shelves bare.
But pantry staples aren’t the only part of the story. Thanks to our Gardyn hydroponic garden, we’re able to harvest fresh vegetables and herbs right in our own home. These little greens brighten the table and remind us that fresh food is still possible while living in the middle of a sea.
As for proteins, we’ve learned to be flexible. Some meat comes in through large bulk community-wide orders that are placed quarterly. And, our favorite, there’s the local harvest: reindeer (delicious and lean), crab and halibut fresh from the Bering Sea, and wild Alaskan salmon. Each brings its own richness to the table, and all remind us of the place we now call home.
This is why I started posting my recipes at The Mossy Table: to share the ways cooking can adapt to circumstance. Maybe you’re camping, maybe you’re stretching your pantry, or maybe you just like the challenge of creative, waste-free meals. Whatever the reason, I hope these recipes inspire you to see what’s possible.
I’ll keep adding recipes as I create more frontier and remote meals. I invite you to come back often. If you’ve already seen my Autumn Spiced Mossberry Jam, you’ve had a small taste of what pantry staples can do to some delicious foraged berries. And, there’s much more to come.
Pull up a chair at The Mossy Table. I’d love for you to join me in this journey of cooking from what’s on hand, what we can grow, and what the sea and land so generously give.
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