Fire Info Update and Resources

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/ with overlay KDS

Changing gears a bit, a quick touch back on the fires that burn still in Canada.  Some folks back home in the States have been asking about the fires up north because there is nothing in the news down here --  we in the states are very “us” centered.  To be fair, the same can be said of Canadians.  It is what it is.  It has been important to me because it affects me, but understandably, it is way out there and so chances are good, you probably aren't so interested which is ok, but for those of you who are, here is a bit of info.

The reality is that wildfires up there are a way of life and threaten mostly wildlife and wildland a generous amount of time.  This year was an exception with a several towns under threat or burned.  The firefighters don’t always get things under control in time, but they do a great job, and are exceptionally busy right now.  Fires are cyclical and this year is a rough one in Alberta.   I work in an ecosystem that has evolved with consistent fire return intervals and we have learned to expect fires to cycle through an area at least every 100-120 years or so and so it wasn’t a surprise that I was asked the question when our site burned:  didn’t I “expect the muskeg (local for peatland) to burn?”  Yes, fire is a way of life up there, but it is no less dramatic for being so.  That site didn't make it 100 years and we still have sites on the fringe of this large fire to the north. 

Natural Resources Canada is a wealth of information about fires in Alberta and all across Canada.  Already Alberta is way over the 10 year average for area burned even though the number of fires is less than the average (http://fire.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/firereport/graph-eng.php#gr1).  The fire that threatened our sites north of Fort McMurray has now burned over 561,000 hectares of land (some of which are now burning underground).  The image up and to the left shows active hot spots four days ago - the larger open circle of red dots is the fire north of Fort McMurray and it is burning from the center outward and so the entire area within those dots has been burned.   As of this morning with the fire still out of control, over 2168 mi² has burned with this fire alone.  To give you some perspective, this is larger than the land area of Rhode Island (1,044.93 mi²) and even Delaware (1,953.56 mi²).  The fire in Arizona is out of control at less than a third of the size of the fire burning in Alberta (600 mi² http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002247/Wallow-Fire-Arizona-blaze-set-states-worst.html?ITO=1490).  In no way am I minimizing the fire in Arizona as it is affecting vastly more people than the one of which I speak in Alberta (and over half the size of Rhode Island has burned already there- that is big big big).

Smoke from Alberta has been blowing into Saskatchewan to the east (Saskatchewan is now threatened by many fires independently), as well as south and even west and into the US (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/8161).   If you are into GIS/Google Earth stuff, check out NASA’s stuff – they have a lot… a jumping off spot includes the MODIS Rapid Response System http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/firemaps/ and the USDA has great stuff for both US and Canadian fires (http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/googleearth.php?sensor=modis&extent=canada) and is source of this Google Earth image above.  They have a host of KML files at the ready.

One thing is certain...   if this fire encroaches on the Oil Sands area shutting down oil production and affecting the US by creating a scenario with increases in oil and gas prices, we surely will begin to pay attention.  Huge efforts were made to force the fire from the southern boundaries where more industry and human activity dominates.  As you can see from the image at the top of the page, the fires are now burning mostly on the west and east sides further north and that is good news for the oil companies and for the folks still in Fort MacKay who haven't evacuated.  The big oil companies were nervous.  This map on the right was generated by the government of Alberta and if you feel like following the chatter, you'll find a wealth of information on the Alberta Wildfire Info Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alberta-Wildfire-Info/357885625988).  

The world is burning and is bigger than NBC10 can communicate.  Earthquakes, tornados, floods, fires, heat-waves, droughts….   It is only the beginning of June and for now, the fires still burn.  

Stuffed Poblanos - Good to be Home

Re-entry into east coast life has not been as smooth as I had hoped.  It was a stressful trip and I am happy to be done with it.  Slowly home seeps in and it is starting to feel good.  Thankfully, the heat is breaking.   My safe haven garden calls – as does my kitchen. 

The heat and lack of rain took a toll on my happy green space while I was away…  I lost about a quarter of my pepper plants – including my beloved Thais.  I plan to mine the plant dregs of my local greeneries this weekend and see what I can rustle up, but with water and rain in the future, the remaining plants are perking up and so I’m not terribly worried about the plants that made it.  Things will grow.  In fact, I have a multitude of tomato volunteers that have arrived even though I did not plant tomatoes in my garden last year.  So be it.  I’m learning that I can’t control everything.  It is a slow process, but my garden consistently works hard to encourage my self-growth. 

Coming back from a stint away also allows for an opportunity to appreciate certain gastronomic freedoms.  The research station is not the bastion of flexibility for meals and I miss cooking and having the time and inclination to cook.  And even if I did have time up there, ingredients tend to be sparse in northern Alberta.  I find I take things for granted here until I’m away for a while and am reminded of what bounty is just around the corner at my local Acme.  I went to Wegman’s yesterday and after walking around in a daze for a while, I proceeded to load up.  My fridge went from having just beer in it to being fully stocked and wonderfully full of potential.  Not that beer isn’t wonderful, but you know…

Produce popped, and the Poblano peppers called to me all beautiful and firm and big (supposedly, the peppers with straight stems are hotter than the curved stems, but I’m not sure I believe it is quite so clear cut).  Last night I cooked them up.  Stuffed with a ground chicken-corn-spice-herb mixture, they were mildly hot (slightly curved stems), tempered with a creamed corn sauce slightly browned under the broiler.  With a citrus avocado side-salad I was a happy woman.  The French Gimlet didn’t hurt, either.  Mmm   - Sometimes it is good to be reminded to savor what you have.

Stuffed Poblanos with Creamed Corn Puree

The Peppers:   3 or 4 Poblano peppers roasted and with skins, seeds, and veins removed.  To do this, pop them directly on top of stove or under broiler or on grill over flames – keep turning until black all over – they will look pretty ugly and will probably start to smoke, but it is worth it.  Throw them into a brown bag and wait five minutes or so before peeling off skin – be careful to only cut one slit down the side to remove the seeds and veins as you will be stuffing them from this slit.  If you wind up making holes in the pepper: no worries…  they will still taste delish even if they do spill on your plate a bit.

The Stuffing:

1 lb ground meat – I used chicken as it was in my fridge, but any meat will do

1 ear of corn cut from cob

1 small onion diced

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 T paprika (I used Hungarian…  if you’re looking for authentic Mexican here, keep in mind I’m mostly Norwegian….)

1 Tbs. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. salt (to taste)

Ground pepper to taste

½  lime juiced

2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

½ small jalapeno diced with seeds and veins removed

Creamed Corn Reduction:

1 ear of corn cut off cob and lightly sautéed in about ½ tsp olive oil

1 cup cream

¼ tsp salt (to taste)

Fresh ground pepper (to taste)

½ tsp brown sugar

A splash of lime juice

Prepare your pepper by making a slit on one side to receive stuffing.  Sauté meat, jalapeno, onion, and corn.  While sautéing, add spices and cook until meat is browned and done.  Add cilantro and lime juice at the very end.  Taste to check for saltiness and spiciness.   Poblanos can be tricky being either super hot or mild as all get out, and so sometimes it is good to just taste them before you stuff them and decided if you need to up the spice factor in your filling, or alternatively, increase how much creamed corn sauce you add…. 

As for the creamed corn sauce…  sauté the corn slightly and add the cream to the hot pan.  Add a bit of salt and pepper and let simmer until cream has reduced slightly and bubbles form all over the surface. This will take less than ten minutes.  Remove from heat and in a blender, blend until creamy and smooth.  If you want a little chunkier, then don’t blend so much.  The corn will further thicken the sauce.  Taste it at this point as it may need a little more sugar to accentuate the corniness of it.  If the corn is fresh and wonderful, you may get away with not adding any sugar, but if your pepper is really spicy, even if it tastes pretty good, you may want to add just a dash of sweet – only a bit of salt will get you somewhere.  A splash of lime juice perks the sauce up and you won’t want to skip that.

Put the stuffed peppers in an oven-safe dish and spoon a bit of the corn sauce over them.  Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and browning a bit.  Spoon another bit of the corn sauce on your plate and place the stuffed pepper on top.  Feel free to add more or less corn sauce as you desire, but look out:  That stuff is good!!  My pepper was on the warm side and so the extra sauce made me happy.

I just made this recipe up, and so as is usual with me, nothing is written in stone and because I'm a tosser-inner, my amounts may be slightly off, but you get the gist.  If you have lovely herbs in your garden, herb it up.  Or sauté mushrooms or sweet peppers or spinach or really pretty much whatever sounds good to you with the meat.  If you want to go veggie, switch it up with rice and add some chickpeas and more spices.  Any way you slice it, It doesn’t take long to whip up and is delightful even on a hot night…. Especially with a beautiful cold cocktail.   Bon appétit.  Or whatever it is they say in Mexico….

Smoke and Snow

Ahem....  it is not supposed to snow in June.  Seriously, Alberta?  Freezing temperatures and a newbie-slightly-unprepared field crew ensured a shorter day today.  The smoke didn't help, but it wasn't the limiting factor - at some point, I wasn't sure if what was falling was snow or ash until it melted on my jacket.  oooh boy, it is cold.

After yesterday's bombardment with blackflies, the freezing temps were welcome -- at least until the fingers started to freeze.  It ensured a bug-free environment and the poor spiders that spin their homes in the spruce were collecting nothing but tiny ice balls in their complicated nets. Helicopters flew overhead en route to or from the nearby burning fires, but the sky was clear of biting critters.  This site was threatened by the fire that still burns out of control north of Fort McKay, so we were glad to find it unburned.



Driving into the city last evening, we fought traffic and then a wall of smoke.  All day was beautiful and we spent some lovely time under deep blue skies and puffy clouds.  We parked at our hotel here in Fort McMurray and a wall of smoke and ash pushed over the rise and into the city.  The wind picked up and the sky turned orange as the sun burned through the instantly smokey air.  Road debris and dirt flew with smoke and ash as the sudden winds whipped us in our struggle to the door.  My teeth were gritty.  The hotel was smokey. My eyes burned.  Our rooms are not hermetically sealed.   

Something Wicked This Way Came.  Within minutes it went from sunny and blue to debris filled, smokey, dark and toxic.  Driving through the mines today, the greys were impressively depressive....   it was a bleak cold trip today and a rough re-entry into Fort McMurray. It has been an eventful couple of days.




 

Burned Bog

Utikuma Burned.  It very nearly made me cry - my eyes welled with tears.  I wasn't quite prepared for how attached I was to that bog or my reaction to seeing it burned.  Seeing something so green and vibrant with life turned into burned and charred just makes my heart big and sore. I could be plunked down almost anywhere in it and know where I was before.  If you know Alberta bogs - which I'm fairly confident you probably don't - you would know that that is pretty impressive with all the trees being black spruce.  Today I walked through it and nothing was as it should have been and the smoke was fresh in the air.  I knew where everything was because I know the layout so well and our paths are still ghostly remains, but that didn't matter because the burnt trunks were the only thing blocking the views from plot to plot.  This site was very dense with veg and it is now sooty and black and full of standing dead black spruce trees. While I was moderately prepared for it and there are a bunch of ways to make it a positive thing in terms of the science, it is still very sad to me.

Fort McMurray tomorrow.