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  Susan Sommer: Writer & Editor

Writing Examples

AWARD WINNER: First Place, Best Magazine Feature
"While individual reasons vary widely for choosing Alaska foods, statewide entities have been focusing on food security in recent years. It's estimated that 95 percent of the state's food is shipped here from thousands of miles away. A major disruption to transportation could quickly leave local larders running low."

Alaska Food Challenge: Eating Local for a Year
(Alaska Business Monthly, Sept. 2011)

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ARTICLES

Alaska magazine
Blog: So Alaskan
Community: Palmer, Home of the Alaska State Fair and freakish veggies (September 2016)
Capture and Release: Cameras I have known and lost
The Itinerary: The Alyeska Climbathon (September 2016)
On the Rail: 10 train travel tips
McCarthy and Kennecott: Small towns thrive amid legendary history (June 2016)
Where the Wild Things Are: Make the most of your wildlife viewing adventures
The Ultimate Summer Road Trip (May 2016)
Living on the Iditarod Trail: Historic Landmark Brought Mushing Back to Life
Tour Alaska's Only Bioshelter: Green Living on a Cold Mountain

How to Eat Local All Year: Alaska Provides Bounty of Options

Edible Alaska
Fish Camp
Meet the Goats of Wasilla's Cottonwood Creek Farm
Worth the Pain: Harvesting Devil's Club Shoots
Eat Like an Eagle
Meet Cindee Karns, Alaska's Permaculture Pioneer
Yak: Alaska's New Red Meat

Foodnetwork.com

Food in the Last Frontier: What to Eat in Alaska

Alaska Business Monthly
Alaska Hotels Get Major Renovations
Respect Your Elders: Home Health Care and Assisted Living

Fur Rondy: More than just fun and games
Junior Achievement’s Influence Helping fill Alaska’s skills gap
Training Alaskans for the Film Industry
The Eyes Have It: Vision Care in Alaska
Alaska's Rural Hospitals
Women Build Houses, Friendship, Community
G'Day Alaska! International Travelers Flock to the 49th State
TAPS Turns 35: Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Honored
Alaska Housing Finance Corp.: Helping Alaskans with their homes
Niche Industry: Pet Services - Fido and Fluffy worth every penny
PRSA Alaska Plays Vital Role at 35
Container Shipping: Alaska's consumer lifeline
Alaska Food Challenge: Eating Local for a Year

Alaska Beyond (Alaska Airlines)
Melting Pot: Cultural Diversity Enriches Anchorage

The Observer (Prince William Sound RCAC)
Council questions proposed changes to ADEC response exercise program


ESSAYS
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"...I peek in the side window, the glass long shattered, to see the living room where my parents cooked and ate and sang and skinned pelts and read aloud to each other by Coleman lantern light. Where they built wood fires each frigid morning in December when the day would not brighten until the sun glowed at its zenith behind Curry Ridge at noon. Only remnants of those days remain now. Over the years, the cabin has been vandalized, cleaned out. Even the spruce-pole couch frame Dad built is now gone, ashes in a campfire somewhere nearby. The little table he made still sits in the corner, though, and candle wax is still pooled where it dripped so long ago, next to flies twenty years dead..."

"From Scratch" (Travelers' Tales: Alaska, 2003)

BOOK REVIEWS
Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook, by Heidi Rader
REVIEW by Susan Sommer
From fiddlehead fettuccine to reindeer pot roast, Heidi Rader’s Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook pleases the palate with a variety of Alaska-sourced foods. The soft-cover book is organized by season and sports large type for easy reading. Recipes are kept simple for everyday cooking without a special trip to the store while also including plenty of fresh herbs for flavor. Combinations of Alaska ingredients make for meals like Buffalo Stew with Beets, Easy Smoked Salmon Chowder, and Zucchini and Eggplant Parmigiana. Treat yourself to desserts such as Blueberry Slump, Rhubarb Pie with Saffron, Raspberry Cobbler, or Monster Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Barley Flour. A handy guide near the front of the book shows substitution amounts of dried herbs, spices, and citrus juice in place of fresh for that last-minute potluck dish in the dark of winter. Heidi Rader’s cookbook, sprinkled with a handful of photos taken by the author, reflects her own down-to-earth lifestyle. She lives with her husband on a small farm in Fairbanks, Alaska, in a cabin they built together. The Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook should be a staple in every northern kitchen.






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