How Alaska eats: And the recipe contest finalists are ...

Newsletter #26: The envelopes, please ...

Maya Wilson, Kim Sunée and I had lots of fun judging our holiday recipe contest, sponsored by Hempire Co. We got pretty excited about the winner of the side dish recipe category, this fun cranberry-ginger salsa by reader Reign Galovin. Sunée thinks it goes well with everything from scrambled eggs to meats.

Maya made our other winning recipe, in the dessert category, Italian Christmas cookies called cuccidati (pronouced: coo-chee-dawt-tee) from reader Judith Mack. Funny story: I called my Italian auntie for pronunciation help and she was like, “I have never heard of that in my life.” It turns out the cookies come from the Sicilian region, which is really far from where she’s from. Many of the recipes I found for them online are actually from places in America with deep Italian immigrant roots. Anyway, recipe calls for figs, orange zest, whiskey and cloves, and Maya is quite happy with them.

Who has been to Mo’s, the new (and only) Jewish deli in Anchorage? Reviewer Mara Severin, who hails from North Jersey, has a giant crush on their simple pastrami sandwich — which, it turns out, is so good because of where they source their meat. The writing in her food review is particularly lovely this week, give it a read.

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Meanwhile, your personal local food shopper, Steve Edwards, has a bunch of local food gift ideas for you. And, are you having a little party this week? Might I suggest this pimento cheese spread that Kim Sunée got from South Carolina-born Carlyle Watt, the man who comes up with some of the many delicious things on the menu at Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop? There are also these classic Swedish meatballs from Maya Wilson.

Oh, and support local food writing and local news and, if you haven’t, buy a digital subscription to the paper. Stay tuned next week for the grand prize recipe winner, who will take home a new KitchenAid.

Here’s hoping your pimento cheese is spread thick on some good white bread. See you next week.

RECIPE: ITALIAN FIG COOKIES

RECIPE: CRANBERRY-GINGER SALSA