Snack attack!!! I was hungry and freezing cold this afternoon and this snack of a hot pear with raw oats and nut butter solved all of my problems ; )
I also went for a walk and chatted with my mom and enjoyed a nice dinner with my other one!! Check out those locks of love!
Karen brought over salmon and we cooked sweet potatoes and green beans to go on the side.
Cocktail hour beer tastes! His + hers.
The salmon was perfectly cooked – thanks to mastering the pan-seared, oven-finished method. You sear the salmon in a pan of medium-high olive oil (maybe 1 tbsp per 2 servings of fish) and don’t even think about flipping it until you can see the edges curling up. Flip and roast in a 400* oven for 10 more minutes. Perfect every time! Our only seasonings were salt and peppa.
The beans were sautéed with an orange and more salt and pepper
And these potatoes….oh my. So good!! I cut them into wedges (need to do this more often!), rubbed with about 1 tbsp of olive oil for the whole pan plus salt, pepper, cinnamon and cayenne and roasted for 40 minutes – flipping halfway through. Perfection!!
We dug into a box of sweets Alex packed up for us from the bakery. My gosh, I need an intervention. Can’t keep my paws off of ‘em!
Pumpkin bars!!
The reason for our celebration tonight was a concert – the Virginia Bellas [JENNY!] performed at UVA and Karen, Matt, Alex, Ellen and I went to cheer her on.
Jenny just happened to sing my current favorite songs: "Don’t You Wanna Stay” and “You and I.”
Encore!!
Keeping it simple with salt and pepper is the way to go! 🙂 Glad you had a good Saturday! 🙂
How fun that you saw a show tonite…love live music.
And love sweet potatoes that are perfectly roasted and green beans and mastering salmon or any other recipe so that you can get it JUST the way you want it…yes, it’s those things that make my day.
karen looks beautiful!
i just added simply roasted green beans to my thanksgiving menu. yours look delicious. do you roast them or is all of the cooking done in the sauté pan?
These were just sauteed but I love them roasted!
How do you rub the oil on your potatoes? I usually end up with a lot of oil on some and none on the rest!
You don’t need an intervention for sweets! As long as you aim to eat a healthy meal beforehand, then desserts are always fair game 🙂
I like to “paint” oil on using a meat brush or a large paint brush. Do one side, then flip and do the over. Even, light coating on each one!
Thanks, that’s a great idea!
I like to toss my potatoes in a plastic bag with some oil, close the bag, move everything around to coat the potatoes, and then dump them. A fair amount of oil gets left behind in the bag, but this is still my favorite method.
I used my hands and mix 10 seconds longer than I think I need to
Salmon is so good. I wish my husband would let me cook it at home; I’d eat it all the time!
I love salmon! I almost didn’t recognize yours as such…it is so pale? Is it atlantic? I must be spoiled eating AK wild 🙂
It actually was farmed but evidently from an eco-friendly farm in Canada. I haven’t heard of these before, but Karen spoke to the fish monger at Seafood @ West Main here (a trusted source) and he said he only buys fish from sustainable sources. It tasted good, but it did not taste wild
Perhaps it is a bias, but I believe “eco-friendly” farmed salmon is an oxymoron, especially considering the drastic impact farming continues to have on the wild salmon catch in Alaska and British Columbia, which are truly “eco-friendly” and employ sustainable practices. Farmed salmon spread disease to native stock and escaped farm salmon upset ecological systems. Farms often employ heavy use of antibiotics. I would point this all out only because of your insistence that you are a “loganic” eater, which I take to mean a focus on organic and local when possible foods. Obviously, farmed salmon is not organic, and falls far out of the spectrum of eating local foods, which in the very least should focus on eating naturally sourced (e.g., wild caught) as opposed to commercially produced (farmed) salmon. Again, I understand that Karen brought the salmon, and obtained it from a “trusted source”…but that source has an interest in moving his product. I would encourage you to do your own research on the issue and make an informed decision, especially based upon your prior concern with the local/organic nature of foods. Cheers!
I agree….and like we’ve both politely said….I didn’t buy it : ) Didn’t want to be rude though.
I told her I’d go talk to the guy myself and learn more about this farm. Just haven’t gotten there yet.
Karen looks great! I hope she feels just as good and you all had a fun evening.
Your snack of oats and hot pears look so amazing. I love the spoon.. <3
I also like that the salmon rather looks like the "side" to the main dish of the green beans!
Sweet baby Jesus, those pumpkin things look delicious! I can totally relate to not being able to keep my paws off that kind of stuff. I gave up sweets this month because I was going way overboard with cupcakes and the like.
Your mom has locks of love? Or did I not read that right? Sorry, it’s late. 😉
Those sweet potatoes are drool-worthy.
Karen’s hair has grown back after chemo – I just called it locks of love
Yum, I love salmon – must try this method of cooking it! Oh, how I wish Great Harvest was in New Zealand, your treats always look so tempting. Wish NZ bakeries would catch on to the baking with pumpkin trend!
That’s my all-time favorite dinner- salmon, greens and sweet potato wedges!
Everything looks so fall-fabulous! 🙂
Just had sweet potatoes today! As you said- Perfection!
You can tell Karen has been through a lot, but she looks good.
Everything in this post looks delicious! I often have your snack for breakfast, with some Greek yogurt and nuts added for protein and crunch!
I’m so happy Karen is out of the hospital and on the mend!
Ah yes. The sweet potatoes roasting for 40 minutes is where I lack all patience. I always take them out at about 20 or so, where they haven’t had time to intensify in sweetness yet. Next time, I’ll make sure to lock my hands behind my back and just let them continue on . 😉
Love your snackage! 😀
Pumpkin bars look great! What a fun night 🙂
I’m glad to see Karen is doing better! And those potatoes look delicious!
yum! Anyone who could keep their hands off that box of treats must have some kind of super powers. 🙂 The pumpkin bars look delectable!
Karen look beautiful! That’s a great picture of she and Matt.
Love…love…love salmon! Your plate looked so colourful with the green beans and sweet potatoes…picture perfect! Nothing better to finish the meal…a selection of delectible desserts to choose from! Lucky girl!
Karen looks amazing! I hope she’s feeling well these days. Sounds like a great day Kath! I hope you get to enjoy your day off today!
It’s great to see Karen looking so well and happy with her son.
Through your blog it seems she has dealt with this whole illness with such dignity – admirable.
P.S. That meal looks great!
That’s how my dad taught me to cook salmon back in the day. It makes the most perfect and buttery fillet every time!
So glad Karen is doing so well. She looks beautiful with her hair! I need to try the sweet potatoes that way. Sound easy and tasty. Thanks for the suggestion!
Yay Karen! She will certainly recuperate quickly with such wholesome meals cooked by you and Matt. I’m going to make those sweet potatoes tonight, do you roast them at 400? Thanks Kath, love your blog and Mom’s, too.
Yep – 400*!
Glad you like the blogs 🙂
Do you eat the skin? It looks like you left it on. I have never eaten sweet potato skin before. Just wondering!
Your pear snack looks amazing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ahhh! Karen looks wonderful!!
I love that method of preparing salmon – I definitely want to try it out. Cooking salmon is something I have not yet mastered and am always looking for tips and tricks on how to do so!
I would not be able to keep my hands off that box of treats either (those pumpkin bars!!) – I can come be your interventionist – and by that I mean I can eat them before you can get to them 🙂
I’m going to try out your salmon method. I can never get mine to cook properly.
What temperature do you roast the sweet potatoes at?
400*
Glad to see that Karen is back on her feet again, and out of the hospital! She looks great!
Your dinner looked lovely and yummy!
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Karen looks great! Hope she’s feeling all better 🙂
I’m going to try the pan sear method on salmon next time. We eat it about once a week and I always bake or broil. I like the idea of a crispy outside though.
Those green beans look fantastic- the color and shape of them. Were they from a grocery store?
And your his and hers beers look just like ours at my house- right down to the Sam Adams perfect pint glass. 😉
When I think about sweet potatoes, I always picture what you have on your plate. However, lately, my grocery store has been making a concerted effort to label the sweet potatoes vs the yams. The sweet potatoes have an almost white flesh to them.
Can you settle this debate for me? Are sweet potatoes really orange?
Karen looks amazing!
From what I have read..a sweet potato is orange and a yam is white. I’m sure this site has it right: http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/
I think my grocery store needs a little educating!
Thanks for doing to research for me! I guess you could say “I Kath’d” for the answer instead of “I googled”. 🙂
Enjoy your Sunday!
Haha
I’m glad to see that Karen is doing better! Dinner looks yummy! 🙂
I agree it’s great to see Karen so well. Rock on Karen!
Karen looks great! My mom just finished her chemo for something similar to Karen’s, and she is looking forward to seeing how it grows in. Glad she is doing so well! She has been in my thoughts!
Good thoughts to your mom! Karen’s hair looks great. She is getting, I think, a kick out of the curls.
Thanks for the salmon cooking tip! I would buy it more if I knew that I could cook it perfectly haha. Definitely will try this out!
Karen looks beautiful! 🙂
Karen looks fantastic!!! Yummy dinner:)
Thanks for sharing this salmon technique – I used it tonight and the salmon was cooked perfectly!!! And the Cinnamon + Cayenne fries were delicious! Great combo.
Thanks for the details on the salmon…a must try!
Interesting snack idea! At first I thought “hot pears? huh?” but then I visualized it all together and it sounds really good, actually! Nice and simple, too.