Now that the dust is clearing from the end of summer madness (aka family visits, stay-cations, camping trips, summer colds, and an immense amount of food preserving) and the semester is about to begin, I can finally get back to this blog.  I’ve missed writing, but the backlog of recipes and preserving ideas that I want to share here is staggering.

As I sink my fingers into blogging again I wanted to share a photo of one of the most amazing meals I’ve had in a long, long time.  I know I’ve waxed poetic about salmon before, but please forgive me because this bears repetition.

Over the weekend we were able to spend some time with our family up in Campbell River.  While the big draw is getting to hang out with “the Cousins,” a close second is the amazing food we have every time we visit.  This visit was extra special since two cousins who live off island were here to visit and they’d brought their fantastic girlfriends as well.  I’ve been looking forward to getting to hang out with this family for weeks, but I got a bit side tracked when Marcel brought out this amazingly orange salmon to cedar plank smoke for dinner.  The color or the gorgeous fish caught my eye as I was pouring myself a refreshing beverage with the full intention of joining in a conversation with the two ladies that I’d just met.  Then Marcel put the fish on the planks and the perfume of cedar smoke captured my attention entirely.  The smoke pulled me in.

I happily spent the next bit of time chatting with Marcel about salmon, smoking meats, traditional salmon cooking methods, food catering, the bbq circuit, and all things food related.  Our conversation was periodically broken by little peeks at the salmon smoking away as he’d briefly lift the lid to look at how the cook was progressing.  The photo does not do this fish justice.  The smoke pervaded the fish, but didn’t overpower it’s flavor.  It had a citrusy tang with just the right amount of salt to tie it all together.  In the end I made the decision to forgo the dessert offerings for another serving of salmon.  Best dessert choice ever!