Out of hibernation!

Things are starting to sprout up around here! The new spring dinner menu is out and we are cooking away Wednesday thru Saturdays 6-9 pm. Even though is isn't very springlike outside, the enclosed porch is extremely inviting on these long evenings where the sun doesn't set until 8 pm.

The snow still continues to fall, but not nearly as much as we had at the beginning of the new year. We all but lost track of the garden furniture in what is close to being the snowiest winter in recorded history for this area.

I know, snow in Alaska...what's the big deal? You would think we'd be used to it. 

You would think, but still the storms shut us down a few times. The whole town was on blizzard alert.  People were stuck everywhere. Things got a little crazy between the dark and the cold and the winter storm warnings. Thankfully we had our warm bakery, lots of good company and as always some awesome tunes to carry us through...which brings me to:

 A little musical interlude!

The first time I saw Haven Multz Mathews play drums was at a middle school talent show. He was in 8th grade and I remember thinking that his mom (my good friend Kari) must be glad he found something like that to put all of his crazy energy into. When he came asking for a job a year later, I thought perhaps we could benefit from some of that energy, too. Over the years he worked for us, we enjoyed drum solos on stainless and sprayer harmonies. It was like cooking in the middle of a production of stomp. In fact one year, we had four other drummers working for us, not to mention a couple of guitarists and singer/songwriters disguised as bakers. THAT was a very musical summer. Sadly, Haven had to go and grow up on us and like most teens from a small town, he had to break away. Turns out you can take the boy out of Alaska, but you'll have a hard time taking Alaska out of the boy. Lucky for us, a few more of our Homer musicians all ended up in the same place. And their band, Animal Eyes is taking the Portland area by storm with their funky mix of rock, folk and punk and a little glockenspiel thrown in for good measure. They have an infectious energy at their live shows, as you can see from the video below. (shot and mixed by the talented photog, Joshua Veldstra...also from H-town...boo-ya!) 

Their first Cd came out this past fall and they have been touring the west side of the U.S. all winter to promote it. Looks like these hardworking boys are headed for the big time and we couldn't be happier for them. Word is they'll be in Alaska this June and we are excited to welcome them home, even if only for a minute!

Buy their Cd "Found in the Forest" at Bandcamp

Another bakery music phenom: Ben Gerhards aka Berta will be releasing his long awaited CD in two weeks online. Check out his blend of french pop and rock right now on Sound CLoud and at Reverbnation...give a listen and be amazed!

this dude also makes one hell of a sandwich!

And last but not least, if you're in Homer this weekend and looking for entertainment. Homer High will be performing Steven Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods". (Look for my daughter, the cute tree on stage left.) Check out the show times on the poster below. 

Have a great weekend everyone!