I just started a romance novel called Bride by Ali Hazelwood, and I’m in the middle of reading Endangered Eating by Sarah Lohman.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Food access and food justice… Gender rights and gender safety.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
I work in a Winnebago in my driveway, so it’s not a long commute. I probably think about dinner; I’m a food motivated person.
What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
I’ve been thinking about Japan lately.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
I might have to abstain [she laughs]. I feel like I want the wild animals to be wild.
I just started a romance novel called Bride by Ali Hazelwood, and I’m in the middle of reading Endangered Eating by Sarah Lohman.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Food access and food justice… Gender rights and gender safety.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
I work in a Winnebago in my driveway, so it’s not a long commute. I probably think about dinner; I’m a food motivated person.
What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
I’ve been thinking about Japan lately.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
I might have to abstain [she laughs]. I feel like I want the wild animals to be wild.
Off the Cuff
opper River salmon comes ashore in Cordova to be shared with diners around the world, so naturally that’s where Amy O’Neill Houck tells the story of the state’s food resources in the pages of Edible Alaska.
Houck has co-owned the quarterly magazine with co-editor and co-publisher Jeremy Pataky since 2019. “We have learned from our readers that they find print to be a more trustworthy medium. They enjoy the tactile experience,” she says.
Houck had written for Edible Alaska before taking the reins from founder Mary Smith. She has a master’s degree in creative nonfiction from UAA and has published three books of knitting and crocheting patterns; apart from words, wool is her chosen medium of expression.
Yet food was always part of the picture. As a teenager, she started a catering business. “I think I got a love of food and feeding people from my grandmother and my mom,” she says.
Now she tells stories of food and drink harvesters and preparers. “The food that’s created in the state, using Alaska ingredients,” she explains. “And of course Alaska has a subsistence culture which is pretty unique.”
Amy O’Neill Houck: I play music with friends. I play the fiddle and the ukulele, and I’m a singer.
AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Houck: As far as music, I consider myself a constant beginner. And the same with drawing; I’m a doodler.
AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Houck: Being a parent. It’s a wild ride.
AB: What are you superstitious about?
Houck: I have some of my mom’s superstitions that I will still carry out, like I will pat the plane when I get on the plane. I spill salt over my left shoulder if I spill salt.
AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Houck: Baja Taco.
AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
Houck: Joni Mitchell.
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Houck: Might be my attachment to dark chocolate.
AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?
Houck: One positive attribute is that I find myself to be full of ideas. That can also be negative as well… Could be that I have more ideas than I have capacity to execute.
