Photo Friday

Since I have not posted in so long - and only once this year - this will be an extra long Photo Friday post. Lots of photos. Enjoy!

My Valentine's "bouquet."

Blueberries were on sale this week and they were GIANT!

My sweet doggies just love playing in the new snow.

Neptune & Panda

Snowing again today. Usually in the distance you would see mountains.

More wrestling.

Kind of artsy. Melted snow (water droplets) on the car window - my mom's house in the background.

Another one of the water with a large birch tree in the background.

My mom's cat Willow. I've been visiting her while my mom is on vacation.

National Dog Day! {belated post}

 

We took Neptune and Panda to the park for National Dog Day and played Frisbee. Well actually Neptune plays Frisbee, Panda just plays "chase Neptune" until she gets tired of running then she wanders off and checks out the grass and flowers at the edge of the cut grass.

Later that evening they had "Frosty Paws" ice cream treats.

Lounging Around

A couple of weeks ago Neptune and I were lounging around watching tv (he's the black dog), when Panda decided she desperately needed to be on the couch with us. She leaped into the air over Neptune and landed here. Looks comfy, right?!

Recipe Review: Salmon Sweet Potato Cakes

Just the other day I was thinking of Salmon Cakes. I've never made them, and since I was raised in and currently live in Alaska, I thought it was high time I give it a go. Neptune (our 95 lb black mutt) was watching 30 Minute Meals with me and we saw this recipe and thought it looked delicious. Actually, he does watch TV with me, but his ears really perk up when the 30 Minute Meals intro starts because he loves seeing animals on TV and Rachael's dog is in the opening credits. I'm sure he wouldn't mind being a taste-tester too, but we really don't give the dogs table scraps (only fresh veggies & fruit if I'm cutting them up).

**As with all recipes, I made a few changes to suit our tastes and work with the ingredients I had on hand. Cracker crumbs were subbed with panko, wine was subbed with water, Old Bay seasoning was cut back a little, hot sauce and thyme were omitted. Fresh dill was replaced with Pampered Chef Dill seasoning. The original recipe also had a sweet and sour type relish over top that didn't really appeal to me.

I enjoyed these salmon cakes and D did too, once I told him they had sweet potato in them. They had more of a creamy texture from the sweet potato, but I may have mixed in too much of that. I cut the recipe down to make enough for the two of us and may have had some of the amounts a tad off. I will definitely make this again.

Salmon & Sweet Potato Cakes
Original recipe: Rachael Ray 

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
Salt
3 (6-ounce) pieces salmon fillet
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Old Bay seafood seasoning,
1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs, like Saltines
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 scallions, finely chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cook the potatoes. Drain, then mash.
Meanwhile, put the salmon fillets in a skillet with the wine, bay leaf, and enough water to come up to the top of the fillets, but do not cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and poach until opaque about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the skin and transfer the salmon to a bowl. Flake the fish with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the bowl along with the seafood seasoning, half of the cracker crumbs, the egg, thyme, hot sauce, scallions, and dill. Mix to combine. The fish cake mixture needs to be just firm enough to mold into cakes. If its too wet, add a few more crumbs.

Form the salmon mixture into patties (4 large patties for dinner portions, or several smaller patties for bento or appetizer portions), coat in the remaining crumbs, and then add them to the pan. Cook the fish cakes until light golden, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

My supervisor

This was my Sunday evening reading material and my "supervisor"
Neptune. He must really want me to make them some treats. I found this
dog cookbook the other day at Barnes on the bargain table. It has a
TON of yummy (even for people) sounding recipes. I'm definitely going
to have to make some soon. Watch for the post.