Val Monahan
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valymonahan.bsky.social
Val Monahan
@valymonahan.bsky.social
380 followers 65 following 4K posts
Northerner. Stuff I like: birds, food, fishing, social equality.
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valymonahan.bsky.social
Road sign at night. Sign is white, with diagonal yellow stripes, a black silhouette of a caribou (aka reindeer) and the word "CAUTION' across the bottom.
November 29, 2025 at 5:59 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Dinner: shakshuka served with some pan-fried cubed potatoes and a local Montreal-style bagel. #food 🍜
Black ceramic plate of shakshuka. Two eggs poached in a tomato/yellow pepper/onion/garlic/spices sauce. You can see the egg yolks, bright yellow, through the orange/chunky sauce. There are browned, spice covered potato cubes and half a sesame-covered bagel.
November 28, 2025 at 3:00 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Dinner: chicken seared/braised with sauteed onion, garlic, mustard, wine, Worcestershire sauce, cherry tomato and herbs; root veggies roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, preserved lemon, lemon juice and thyme. #food 🍜
Black ceramic plate of dinner. Two skin-on/bone-in chicken thighs covered in their braising sauce with chunks of cooked onion, cherry tomato, garlic and rosemary leaves. Beside them: roasted parsnip, new potato, carrot and beet dusted with cracked pepper, preserved lemon and thyme.
November 25, 2025 at 4:51 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Dinner: eggplant stuffed with spiced lamb and pine nuts. Cous-cous and sautéed veggies dressed with lime juice, brown sugar and black pepper. Lamb was $17.99/lb! I was craving it and it + two big eggplants = two dinners + four lunches. Ground beef or mushrooms+cooked rice = cheaper. #food 🍜
Black ceramic plate. Sauteed zucchini, parsnips and orange pepper sit on cous-cous next to a quarter globe eggplant that has been roasted and stuffed with spiced, ground lamb and pine nuts. The lamb stuffing/nuts are quite orange coloured from the spice mix.
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Pierre Berton: too cool for school.
Bronze bust of the famous Yukon-born, Canadian writer/journalist Pierre Berton in downtown Whitehorse. There is a brass plaque detailing Berton's life on the pebble-covered base below the bust. You can see the snowy sidewalk below and a travel agent and bank outlet across the street. Someone has put a pair of oversized, black sunglasses with yellow lens on the bust, making it look even more snobby than it normally does.
November 23, 2025 at 11:35 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
It was crispy and sunny outside, today. Needed that light.
View of a woodland stream between tall spruce trees. There is snow on the ground, on the trees and on three two logs across the stream. Below the trees, everything looks blueish from the low angle of the sun. Above the trees, there is bright blue sky and white cloud wisps lit up. View from a height over the not-yet-frozen, dark blue Yukon River There are spruce trees in the bottom right corner of the pic (nearshore) and more on the far side, with varying levels of hoarfrost and snow. The air id dry, so you can pick out individual details of the trees across the river there is a snow ad tree covered low mountain on the horizon and the sky above is light-filled, just a bit lighter blue than the river
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
For your patience, here is a shot out the prop plane window this afternoon as I flew out of the remote community where I had been ice-fogged in.
View out window of smallish plane: snowy subarctic hills with spruce trees and a river, ucing up. You can see a red, black and white of part of the plane and a black blur which is one of the propellers.
November 23, 2025 at 12:22 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Here it is. This is scaled for canning. Note the jalapenos in the intro, as an option. I add orange zest and juice, but also make a smaller batch, half this amount.
Recipe for low-bush cranberry (aka lingonberry) chutney/preserves.
November 23, 2025 at 12:16 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Part of the Pit collapsed last spring/early sumner (timing?). Finally shored up.
Pink wooden bldg. with false fronts. One side had wood shoring up a collapsing roof/wall. There is snow in front and a black snow machine.
November 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
With the warm weather, the Yukon has opened back up! Bad river! Not it’s fault, obviously.
Morning winter blue hour (not the only one): across shore ice, water with a few small ice pans is flowing, slowly. Far shore has a steep bank with a few spruce trees. Top is a solid wall of spruce trees.
November 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
When ice-fog stayed in Dawson City, enjoy more of the week’s menu at Bonton & Co.! Hoping for a clear run-way tomorrow afternoon.
Alternative negroni: bright orange drink with a slice of dried orange and large ice cube. Small plate heaped with a fancy cabbage salad: red onion, almonds and cilantro in a sesame vinaigrette. Two large toasted buns stuffed with spiced beef and sweet/hot peppers. Buns are covered with white and black sesame seeds. There is chili oil smeared on the plate and a little dipping dish of more chili oil and peppers.
November 22, 2025 at 4:20 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Bonton & Company dinner! #food 🍜
Pink drink: a lavender martini on a bar top. Brown plate of coconut curry pork skewers with a little salad of cucumbrr, ted onion and cilantro. Pink plate of goodness: beet and goat cheese tamale, avocado, green onion and beet/cilantro crema. Giant wedge of tres leche cake on a white plate with flowers. Swirls on the cake are dusted with spices. There is a praline of bright green pumpkin seeds leaning against it.
November 21, 2025 at 4:17 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Short day, but pretty. Taken around 4:30pm along the river in Dawson City.
View across the Yukon River as it tries to freeze. There are big pans of snow-covered ice with dark jagged lines of open water between. The steep shore and trees on top of it are snow-covered. The sky is grey, blue and yellow. View of the Klondike and Yukon River confluence. The Yukon is ice-filled. The Klondike is carving through and overflowing it. The far shore has a steep hill and the spruce trees are dusted with snow. The sky is grey with hints of pink. View across the wintery Yukon River at the blue hour. The sky, snow-covered spruce trees on the high bluff across the river and far ice are all tinted blue. The near ice looks lighter.
November 19, 2025 at 1:39 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Sunday was a great day for fishing, in Carcross! So many fish! @fox-e-laurence.bsky.social
View of a misty, snow-covered mountain across mirror-calm water. The mountain, far shore trees and blue and white sky are reflected in the water. View from a height to clear, greenish water reflecting sunlight. You can see stones and wood on the bottom and numerous brown-looking fish with pale side fins.
November 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Made borscht, for dinner, with local beets (and carrots). Some for lunch this week and then froze more, for future lunches. #food 🍜
Square white bowl full of bright red soup, with chunks of veggies and a few bits of sausage. On top is a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of dill.
November 17, 2025 at 5:08 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Dinner: chicken paprikash, on steamed rice with roasted green beans and onion, dressed with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts. #food 🍜
Black plate of dinner: two skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs on steamed rice. The chicken is orange, covered in a creamy, paprika/sour cream sauce. You can bits of green poblano pepper (no wax peppers available), onion and garlic. The green beans look wilted/bit charred and are covered in toasted pine nuts.
November 16, 2025 at 2:49 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Transformation to a (Narnia-level) Winter Wonderland complete! Here's hoping we keep this snow until March.
View into a tangle of small spruce trees. The brown lower branches/trunks are covered with newly fallen snow, which is sticking to every horizontal/near horizontal surface. The ground underneath is snow-covered. The tiny bit of sky visible also looks white. View up, through tall narrow spruce trees. The trees are taller than wide, very snow-covered and dark, a bit like the "forest" outside Dr. Suess's Whoville. Above the trees, the sky is milky blue.
November 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Dinner: fusilli with crispy prosciutto, sauteed garlic, onion, golden raisins, wilted kale and toasted pine nuts. With a bit of Parmesan. #food 🍜
White ceramic rectangular bowl of fusilli pasta, as described. Nice colour contrast: kale is bright/dark green, ham is pink, raisins are golden.
November 14, 2025 at 3:00 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Made prosciutto, leek, kale strata, for dinner. Served with green pepper sauce. Enough for a breakfast and/or lunch tomorrow, for two. #food 🍜
Slab of strata on a black plate. You can see the cooked egg, bits of pink, fried prosciutto, dark green kale and chunks of toasted rustic bread plus partly melted cheese on top. The wooden handle of a knife is visible, behind the strata.
November 13, 2025 at 3:38 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Beef stew! Remembered I had frozen some fancy pork fat (trimmed from local pork bought a while back), used it to brown the beef. #food 🍜
Ziplock plastic bag of frozen chunks of pork fat. Written on the bag: "fancy pork fat!". Interior view of a dutch oven full of chunks of browned beef cooked in "fancy pork fat!". White square ceramic bowl of beef stew. You can see chunks of meat, carrot, potato and parsnip in a dark brown broth. There is a piece of bread perched on the bowl rim.
November 12, 2025 at 12:56 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
It's Remembrance Day. My maternal grandfather (who I never met) served in WWI. Deemed unfit for overseas service, he trained as a pilot, then trained pilots. Here are his records. My mother adored her father and told us a few stories. Apparently, he carried a blackjack on training flights 1/2
A yellowed recruitment form from October 15th, 1917. A printed/handwritten, messy form documenting the service of a Canadian solder in WWI.
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Made Moroccan chicken with some of my home-made stock. #food 🍜
Black ceramic plate of Moroccan chicken on cous-cous. The chicken is seared/braised. It's quite yellow from turmeric, in the spice mix. You can see onions, green olives, capers, a bay leaf, a cinnamon stick and bits of dried apricot and chopped dates.
November 10, 2025 at 5:21 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
Yeah! Finally a decent snowfall. Hope we keep it. I love walking in the woods when the snow is falling.
View down a snow-covered trail between tall, snow-dusted spruce trees. It's a dark day because the snow is still falling
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
First big snow day of the winter, so I made stock from kitchen scraps I didn't want to cook up when it was warmer. #food 🍜
View into a stock pot of veggie and meat scraps in water, about to be made into stock. You can see onion, carrot, mushroom and some thyme twigs.
November 10, 2025 at 12:29 AM
valymonahan.bsky.social
It's that time of the year again!
Altered version of beloved children's book: FUCK OFF MOON. Cover is same as original, showing a cozy room with a fireplace, cow-jumped-over-the-moon painting and the moon and stars seen through a window with a giant curtain. Written on the book: "It's too early for your BULLSHIT" and "I'm Not Even Home From Work and It's Already Dark! FML! In the bottom left corner is the credit :by @digitalmeddle & YourChildhoodRuined
November 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM