Grokfeast in North Pole, Alaska
On September 8th I asked my readers to host picnics and to send me the results. The following is one of 27 amazing submissions, the best of which will win an entire cow, courtesy of US Wellness. Vote for your favorite on October 8.
Our day was a Grok meets Korg kind of day. Although us Moylans are no where near perfect, we try to be as primal as possible most of the time. Imagine when the Korg-ish Aris kids stayed the night a few weeks ago only to learn we have NO cereal in the house…gulp.
We started our day with a trip to the playground. We bundled up pretty good since the temperature was low. Everyone really had a great time, even the dog enjoyed a ride on the merry-go-round! After a slightly eventful romp with the kids, and one unfortunate ‘accident’ when wee Caroleigh inadvertently kicked her pops in the jewels (why did I turn the camera off?!?!!? – we might have been on that funny video show!)
This is Daddy on his knees after the contact with a foot, as you can see the young lady in question capitalized on the situation for a ‘leg up’ on the monkey rings 
We thought maybe we would head home to eat our food since it was pretty chilly and the park only had one small table. Then one of the guys thought about another area on the other side of the road, with a pretty lake and a picnic shelter. We all thought it would be an adventure and we headed out!
The Aris kids were rather leery of the menu for the feast to say the least. I could see the question in their eyes, “what are these people going to feed us THIS time!?!?!” Well, we decided to go with a pretty kid friendly menu. You can’t go wrong with pizza right? Eh, well maybe when it is fresh out of the oven and someone doesn’t spill the beans about the crust being made from cauliflower. They did give it a try, but it wasn’t a huge hit. The cookies on the other hand, there were only two left when we got home, WIN!
AS you can see in the picture below we had a pretty nice feast, momma “Grok” forgot the knife, forks, spoon, etc. So we ate our chicken caveman style and tore it with our bare hands. The large celery stalk made a great spoon, and we used lettuce leafs to eat the chicken as a wrap. Did I mention momma “Grok” also burnt two trays of the sweet potatoes? Yeah she sure did. I am starting to think our Grokfeast might have been more appropriately named a “Murphyfeast”. Lots sure did go wrong, but we made some awesome memories.
My children really enjoyed helping prepare for the feast, Caroleigh even got in a bit of ‘lift heavy things’ while we were making the food. Gotta love a kid that ‘gets it’ even at just 5 years old.
Only one of the feasters ended up in the lake, and since it was the furry one it wasn’t such a bad thing. Although CheyAnne did get knocked over by the dog and landed her hands in the water… poor kid was a bit cold in the hands for a bit, but recovered nicely.
We had a fun day of play, move slowly (a little ‘hike’ up the sled hill for fun) and lift heavy things.
Introduced our friends to our way of life. Afterward momma Korg even asked for the pizza crust recipe for her friend
The Feast
- roast chicken
- baked sweet potato ‘chips’
- fried butternut squash
- pizza with cauliflower crust
- veggie tray: cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes,
- ranch dip
- lettuce
- apple
- fruit juice
- water (the dads had a beer, or maybe two- the first for both after medical issues kept them from being allowed any
obviously not so primal ) - spiced banana nut cookies
- dark chocolate (from Alaska of course!)
Recipe: Spiced Banana Nut Cookies
- 1.5 cups almonds
- 1 banana
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 eggs
- 4 figs
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1/4 cup melted butter (I know, but they taste so yummy with butter
)
Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
Toss almonds, banana, carrots and figs in food processor and pulse until throughly ground and combined.
Beat eggs and add to the mixture.
Add coconut flour as needed to thicken up the batter.
Add pumpkin pie spice.
Blend butter in well.
With parchment lined cookie sheet, place 1 tbsp of dough on paper. Squash down slightly to ensure even cooking. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, flip cookies and bake an additional 5 minutes
The Tribe
David Moylan, Meghan Moylan, Michael Moylan, Caroleigh Moylan, Evangeline Moylan, Craig Aris, Tanya Aris, Robert Aris, Morgan Aris, CheyAnne Aris, and Dakota Aris (the dog)
Subscribe to the Mark’s Daily Apple Newsletter and Get Challenge Updates All Month Long
Posted By: Mark Sisson
the cookies sound great!
Australia vs. Alaska for “Most Remote Grokfeast?”
Another good example of how, while being a gourmand is wonderful and leads to some absolutely delectable-sounding feasts, even busy people dipping their toes in can make this work easily. Can’t tell you how many days that roto-chicken, cut veggies, and fruit make a meal for me. Add friends, a dog, and a playground and you’ve got an event, right?
“Afterward momma Korg even asked for the pizza crust recipe for her friend”
THAT made it all worth-while. Sometimes all it takes is a little fresh bait to reel in the next catch
Way to stick to it despite the “obstacles”. And what’s wrong with cookies made with butter? Nothing!
Despite all of your “setbacks” it all looks pretty good from here!
Looks like y’all had a blast! +1 on the Black Bar; never would have thought that Alaska had locally produced chocolate bars.
The recipe looks great. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice spread. But, having gone to Alaska for a few fishing trips, I have to ask, “Where’s the wonderful salmon, halibut, snappers, and razor clams?!?!”
Alaska, awesome!
Looks like you all had a lot of fun.
Ouch…Poor ‘Pops’
wow, that recipe.
*BOOKMARKS*
The Black Bar, love dark chocolate.
Way to pass on primal eating to someone else!!
Fun!! Trial and error can be a successful way forward!! Yay for baby steps!
Good job, sorry to hear about the wee accident, hope pops is ok.
wheres all the snow ;
]