Spring Equinox Dinner, March 20, 2017

Eons ago, I read an article, or perhaps in some book, that the author made salmon cakes, new potatoes, and asparagus every year on the first day of spring. That sounded like a fine and delicious tradition to me. When I was growing up, I always hated asparagus. In fact, it rather horrified me. I couldn't understand why my mom liked it so much. It wasn't until my friend, Ben, invited me over for dinner one night when I was about 18 that I began to like it. I can't recall what the meat was, but his mom put plates holding not only asparagus, but squash, in front of us. I thought, "Oh, my lord! I'm going to have to choke this stuff down and pretend to like it." I was astonished to find that I quite liked both vegetables. I've been an asparagus fan ever since! My favorite way to eat is simply steamed, so it's just tender, and then plunged into an ice bath to retain the brightness and keep it from becoming overcooked. Sometimes, though, I get lazy and skip the ice bath. I am always disappointed in myself when that happens.

Fish cakes, on the other hand, have always been something I really liked. My grandmom made both tuna & salmon patties when I was a kid and I happily gobbled them up. So, when I decided to make salmon cakes every year for the spring equinox, I did what my grandmom did. I start by sorting the bones and skin out from a (drained) large can of salmon (about 15 ounces). You don't even have to do that, actually. The skin and bones are both perfectly okay to eat. They just really skeeve me out. My cat's birthday is the first day of spring, so he always gets the parts I don't like, along with some of the legit meat, as a birthday treat. I flake the salmon, then mix it with a lightly beaten egg, about half a sleeve of saltine crackers, salt, pepper, and a dash of worcestershire sauce. I heat some oil in a skillet and form the salmon mixture into 4 cakes. When the oil is properly hot, I add the salmon cakes and cook them until they're browned on each side and heated through.

As for the potatoes, I boil them whole, for the most part, with the skin on. If there are a few larger ones, I will halve those. When they are tender, I drain them and stir in butter, salt, pepper, and snipped dill. When I was in middle school, my friend, Charisma, had me to supper and her mom served us potatoes made that way. They seemed very fancy to me!

I always have the impulse to make some sort of lemony dessert---a layer cake, meringues served with lemon curd, lemon meringue pie. That seems like the perfect spring treat, to me. My wife, however, hates all things tart. So, this year, I cut up some organic strawberries before dinner, added a smidge of sugar, stirred them up, and let them macerate during supper. After the main course, I dished them up into our pretty new pastel bowls and set out a can of whipped cream. My wife proceeded to show our wee boy how to eat whipped cream from the can. He just wasn't at all sure what to think of that, but it did make him giggle.

Happy Spring!

Hot Chicken Salad, December 19, 2015

We'd planned to have dinner out last night, but my poor sweetheart appears to have a touch of the flu and only wanted toast for dinner, so I drove through McDonald's. I should have had toast, actually, and cocoa. So, I was glad tonight to have a home-cooked dinner. It was a very retro sort of dinner, with the main course, hot chicken salad, coming from my mother-in-law's West Point Hostess cookbook. I'd planned to serve green salad with the casserole & potato soufflé, but we had already eaten it, so I just served some pineapple on the side. Not a very healthy dinner, at all, but really delicious and pretty easy to throw together. Boot is visiting for Christmas and he and Jeannene really liked it, especially the potatoes. He put his third serving of potatoes on a tortilla. He can eat like y'all would not believe, probably because he works out 4 or 5 hours a day.

Hot Chicken Salad

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped pecans

3 tbsp. dried minced onion

3 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt & pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup (the original recipe calls for cream of chicken, but I used what I had on hand and it worked out great)

3/4 c. mayonnaise (I use the olive oil mayo)

Potato chips to crumble on top (I used plain Lay's, but I think perhaps sour cream and onion or BBQ might be interesting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything but the mayonnaise, soup, and potato chips. Put in 2-quart casserole. Mix the soup and mayonnaise and pour over the top of the chicken mixture. Do not mix it into the chicken. Top with an even layer of crushed potato chips. Bake about half an hour. Serves 6-8. 

Potato Soufflé

About 6 c. mashed potatoes (I just used a package of Bob Evans pre-made mashed potatoes)

8 oz. chive cream cheese (the sort in the tub)

2 eggs

1/4 c. sour cream

A pinch of salt

4 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix well and place in greased (I use cooking spray) 1 1/2-2 qt. casserole or soufflé dish. Bake 45 minutes. Serves 6-8. 

Annual Spring Equinox Dinner

I've been making the same first day of spring dinner since I was in my late teens or early 20s. I make salmon patties, boiled new potatoes with butter and fresh dill, and asparagus. I usually steam the asparagus, but this year, I roasted it. I make a lime or lemon butter sauce for dipping. The salmon patties, I learned from my grandmom, Janet. When I was about that age, I aspired to become as good a cook as her and as my almost-grandma, Mary. They both affirmed that I made it! Yay! If my darling liked tart sweets, we would also have lemon icebox pie, but alas, that will have to wait for company.

Salmon Patties for Spring

14 oz. can salmon, drained & flaked (I also pick out as much bone and skin as I can because they give me the heebie-jeebies, but they are perfectly edible)

25 saltine crackers, pulverized (I do this in my food processor, but you can also put them in a gallon ziploc & bash them with a rolling pin---this is especially satisfying if it's snowing 6" on the first day of spring)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Oil for frying

Tartar sauce or mayonnaise for serving, if you like (ketchup appeals to some people, as well)

Mix everything together and form into patties, using about 1/2 c. of the mixture for each. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high. Brown the patties on each side, then drain on paper towels before serving. Makes about 4.