My Military Cheeseburger

I had my first cheeseburger from the hospital cafeteria today:

Not bad for $1.70...but I've been bringing my own lunch to work almost every day.  Most grocery items are readily available in Fairbanks, only slightly more expensive than Seattle with the exception of certain items like almond butter:

With the lack of sunlight in the winter season,  foods tend to be infused with vitamin D to the maximum extent of the law:

           

My cooking is limited mainly by the sad display of abandoned kitchen implements that came with my furnished apartment: plastic spatula, can opener, miniature cutting board, slotted spoon* (*currently being used to clear snow from the car).

I like to travel with a compact Wusthof knife sharpener if I'm going to be away for more than a month.  It seems less risque than attempting to stash a sharp knife in my luggage and getting tagged as a national security threat.  But alas, the knife in my apartment is cheap, unstable, serrated and very very dull.

I can tolerate a lot of things, but shoddy cutlery is not one of them.  I took a field trip to the cavernous Walmart on the other side of town--purportedly the largest Walmart in the entire country, where people come from all over Alaska to stock up on supplies.

I found a 5" Santoku knife and a 3" paring knife, both significantly more stable than the sad serrated knife in my kitchen.  The new knives sharpened up beautifully after a few rounds with the Wusthof. Now I can slice sweet potatoes without fear of dislocating my wrist.