Missing the Ocean

I haven't really been cooking this week, so I'm not sure I have recipes to offer you.  It's partly because my roommates and I are still making our way through the sausage butternut squash soup and other leftovers, partly because I've been getting over a cold that took away my appetite, and partly because I've been eating other people's cooking.

It's supposed to be fall (it's mid-November, after all) but today it's supposed to get up to 68*.  The sun is shining and the crunchy leaves scraping across the pavement doesn't seem to fit the April-esque weather.

It makes me miss the ocean.  I lived on the Canadian coast this summer and the ocean was my front yard.  I loved writing sermons while watching otters play and whales pass by and eagles dive for the raw salmon we put on the rocks on the beach.

But most of all, I miss the fresh seafood.  Salmon, oysters and prawns prepared in new and delightful ways.  Battered and fried fresh oysters are delightful.  Prawns almost as big as my hand, caught and boiled that afternoon with garlic butter sauce for dipping.  Salmon caught that morning, filleted that afternoon, rubbed with a homemade dry rub and grilled.

Aren't you hungry?  It's 8:30 in the morning and I am...

The parishioners at the church I interned at often gifted me with packages of freshly smoked salmon and freshly baked bread.  One of my favorite meals during the summer was hunks of bread, a bit of butter, a hunk of cheese, and some cold smoked salmon.  I'd highly recommend it.

I was also able to experiment with the smoked salmon as I always had too much to eat on its own.  I'll leave you with pictures, but not recipes.  I should start hunting for fresh seafood options....

 Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Homemade smoked salmon cream cheese and homemade crackers