Visit Sitka Magazine 2020-21 | Page 42

SHOP Vitamin C. Around Sitka, you’ll find people using spruce tips in a myriad of ways. Some steep them into tea, while others boil them Sitka-Made Tlingit people for thousands of years for its medicinal properties. Smoked Salmon Dip However, with spines along its stems and leaves, it must be Recipe provided by Sitka Wild Seafoods down into a sweet, tangy syrup or spruce tip jelly.  Some of Sitka’s most beloved products are created with a local plant called devil’s club. This rainforest shrub has been harvested by the Locally Sourced, Locally Crafted harvested carefully. Today, you’ll find jars of devil’s club ointments, balms, and oils across Sitka, where it’s used to soothe everything ingredients from cuts and scrapes to burns and insect bites. Visit the gift shop inside the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi to purchase this salve made by Tlingit elder and retired first-grade teacher Pauline Duncan. At Alaska Pure Sea Salt Company, you can buy a package of tasty spruce tip flake salt to season your home-cooked meals. From roasted vegetables to seafood, chicken, and even popcorn, this locally crafted salt goes great on everything. Try the artisanal alder wood smoked flake salt, which uses sustainably cut wood from Sitka’s forests to deliver that perfect smoky, earthy taste. In their Lincoln Street shop, you’ll find other flavors like wild berry, matcha, and even spicy hot pepper flake salt. • ½ pint jar of Sitka Wild Seafoods Smoked Salmon • 2 8oz-packages of cream cheese • ½ cup mayo • 2 stalks chopped green onions • ¼ cup finely chopped green onions, or fresh herbs • ¼ cup finely chopped green olives • ¼ tsp black pepper • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper • ½ tsp Alaska Pure Sea Salt – Alder Smoked or regular sea salt While at the Alaska Pure Sea Salt store, check out the jars of smoked salmon silvers from Sitka Wild Seafood. Each salmon is individually Sitka’s age-old tradition of craftsmanship dates back over 10,000 years. From crafting efficient herbal remedies to sleek, elegant canoes carved from the trunks of western red cedar trees, the Tlingit people have used Sitka’s rich natural resources since time immemorial.  INSPIRED BY THE SAME NATURAL ELEMENTS products, and you’ll even be able to find specialized TODAY , many creative makers incorporate options for mild baby soaps and pet shampoos. local resources and have expanded their crafts into family-run businesses. In addition to their own items, WinterSong also carries caught, carefully handled, and frozen at sea for maximum flavor by this family-owned fishing operation. These jars are known for their savory, melt-in-your-mouth smokiness and are available for purchase directions Chop green onions and olives. Mix ¾ of the salmon, including skin with juice, with all other ingredients using a mixer until desired consistency. at a handful of downtown retailers. Add remaining salmon, and mix lightly. Garnish with green onions or fresh herbs. products from other local makers.  One popular item is the kelp pickles, harvested sustainably Ruth and Gary McMaster, owners of WinterSong, started from our neighboring bull kelp forests. With a satisfying their soap business in a small household kitchen, which soon crunch and a hint of the sea, a jar of these crisp pickles expanded into a thriving, year-round store on Lincoln Street.  make for a tasty snack or garnish. With warm and inviting smells floating out of their shop, Another way to bring home a taste of Alaska is by it’s nearly impossible to walk past without stopping inside. picking up a jar of hand-poured jams. A spoonful of ripe, Here, you’ll find handmade batches of herbal-scented handpicked salmonberry jam spread across a slice of soaps, lotions, butters, and healing salves, with additional sourdough bread adds a new level of delicious to breakfast aisles lined with products from other local businesses.  on the go. Or, for a burst of citrus and evergreen, try Each of WinterSong’s soap bars is lovingly handcrafted the spruce tip jam, which is harvested in Sitka’s very using natural pigments and fragrances. With salmonberry, own backyard. spruce tip, and fireweed honey scents, their Alaskan line Every spring, supple green spruce tips appear on the captures the essence of Sitka’s majestic rainforest and branches of the towering Sitka spruce trees. These soft, rugged landscape. None of their soaps contain animal mineral-rich needle clusters are bursting with flavor and Shop » 57 Peaks 57Peaks.com / Alaska Pure Sea Salt Company alaskapureseasalt.com / Harry Race Pharmacy, Photo & Soda Shop sitkapharmacies.com/harry-race / Sitka Wild Seafoods sitkawildseafoods.com / Tongass Threads Consignment Store tongassthreads.com / Weed Dudes weeddudessitka.com / WinterSong Soap Co. wintersongsoap.com V I S I T S I T K A M AG A Z I N E 4 0 V I S I T S I T K A .O R G V I S I T S I T KA M AG A Z I N E 41 V I S I T S I T KA .O R G