Carrot Oat Cookies + No Heat In Our Northern Home

The true cold of the northern winter was embraced by Norman Wells last week. Outside, with the wind chill, it was -50˚C. We joked about such temperatures before we moved here! And we laughed.

We even laughed about the idea of losing gas heating during an extreme temperature drop, and having to be evacuated. Imagine that!

And you know what? Monday morning we woke to a cold house. The gas in Norman Wells had gone. And it stayed out for the most part of the day. At work we created an emergency plan to evacuate our homes and move out to the oil heated homes outside of the main town. Meanwhile the town council planned evacuation by plane, which we are told occurs after 24 hours of no heat.

Throughout the day the town flew crew in from both North and South to fix the problem at Esso while homes steadily dropped in temperature. The town heaved with a sigh of relief when the gas returned around 4pm, the rumble of the burner kicking in the sweetest sound to some very cold ears. And so began repairs on the frozen (thus burst) water pipes that so many homes encountered.

There’s little one can do in that situation. We rugged up in warm layers, knowing our house would just get colder. And we cranked the oven, cowering around it with the door ajar as we awaited the comfort of home-baked goods to emerge.

carrot oat cookies

Carrot & Oat Cookies
Makes 24 small cookies
Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup craisins
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until just melted
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 375˚F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the nuts, craisins and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

7 thoughts

    • I know Nicola! We have never been as cold as we were all winter long inside in our tiny damp, drafty home in Hamilton. -50 really is a huge difference from -40. We would’ve thought once it gets as low as -30 it wouldn’t make a difference but boy, it bites exposed skin within seconds!

  1. wow, that is cold. On your next holiday visit South Africa in winter, you will never want to go home. thanks for the inspirational photos and recipes.

  2. Yikes, that is definitely exciting/very cold/kind of scary! You guys are certainly having some of most extreme of Canadian experiences. I’m glad you got cookies out of the ordeal though! They look good… and healthy!

    • I guess that’s why we came eh? We did find it all rather exciting, but it started to wear off during the day as we progressively got colder. Plus, we had dinner half prepped so weren’t keen to vacate our home!

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