It is probably not a good sign that I keep having to post this further and further into the week! This has been a rough few days for me. Baby Furious has a bad cold and is up literally every hour on the hour all night. Kid Furious is fast approaching five and also a serious beat down... (just kidding about the beat down!) In truth she is pushing my buttons non-stop and pushing me to the brink of sanity. On top of one of the longest most trying days of my life Mr F decided to ride his bike to work today... and stay a little late doing personal stuff (needless to say not a lot of heads up on this one!)... and came home 45 fucking minutes late! Why is it (and I know there are other stay at home parents out there who are feelin' this one) that the days that I am most likely to freak out and get all Mommie Dearest on my young brood are the same goddamn days that Mr F is freakin' late!?! I mean is it some kind of test from God or what? So... when he jauntily rides up the drive and I haven't been able to get dinner on the table, since of course I didn't know when he was coming home, and Kid F is yappin' non-freakin'-stop and the Baby is exhausted so can't be put down I hit the wall. I was at the point where I no longer knew whether to start slamming doors or sobbing. Being the Superhero that I am I did neither, I "filed some complaints" with Mr F about not being able to workout now because he was home so late (true... you know I'm on a tight schedule with that... and if ever I needed an endorphin rush it is now) and fed my family a restaurant quality meal goddamn it! Long story short I didn't make a menu this week. Shopped without a list and ended up buying treats....ugggh... I need to get my life back!!
Here is what we had tonight. I've posted this before. I am not joking.. if you want to really test my kitchen prowess out this is the dish to do it with. This is as good a dish as you would get at any fine restaurant. I'm completely serious. It is fabulous. Even if you don't think you like salmon... you will like this.
Brown Sugar and Ginger Salmon
salmon filets
minced ginger (I use jarred pureed ginger... 1/2 t-2 t per 6oz of filet)
ground coriander
s&p
dark brown sugar (1 T per every 6 oz of filets)
Heat oven to 400
line cookie sheet with tin foil (do it!) and lightly grease the foil
Place filets (I get a 12-16 oz for the three of us) on the prepared cookie sheets. Salt and pepper the filets and then dust with the coriander (like you are putting cinnamon sugar on toast). Schmear (yes you NYers will know what I mean) the minced ginger over the filets. This is totally a taste issue on how "hot" you want the salmon to be. Apply sparingly (1/2 t per 6 oz) if you don't like spice and more (2 t per 6 oz filet) if you do. Then take a tablespoon of brown sugar for each 6 oz or so of salmon and evenly crumble and press this on top of the ginger. Pat the sugar to cover the whole filet and kind of moisten it from the ginger. Place in oven for 10-15 mins until desired doneness. The brown sugar should have melted into a glaze. THIS IS FANTASTIC!
175 calories for 4 oz portion
UPDATE
my grocery store isn't selling the jars of pureed ginger (might have been Christopher Ranch or some such brand like the garlic) anymore... they now have it in a tube "Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend"
Also I use Wild Sockeye I find it has a stronger flavor and a firmer texture. Lately I've been buying the vacuum packed frozen filets so I can make this whenever I want.. I just put the filets in the fridge the night before. Whole Foods and TJ's both have these at about $9.99/lb. If you buy it at the fish counter it is often over this and since they've thawed it for you (well for those of us who do not live in Alaska).. you don't have a lot of flexibility in terms of when you're going to make it.
If you have technical questions regarding the prep of this dish please ask! I make these things up and sometimes, and this is the case with this, it is an eyeball thing and not an exact measurement.
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13 comments:
Ok, ignore my "Tivo hog" comment on the last post. I'd hate for you to turn green and kill Mr.F, which it sounds like is a distinct possibility after today.
The salmon sounds awesome. I'm having a spam sandwich for dinner. I love spam. Michelline bought me a spam single (shouldn't that be a spingle)?
Oh no hard feelings on the Tivo. Mr F never watches any TV, except baseball, so I don't know why he ever pretends he needs any Tivo space. I am all about the Tivo! I don't watch any live TV anymore. And having a line up of Kid appropriate shows has saved us on more than one occassion!
Spam?!?! I've actually never had any. I do love me some ham though so in theory I might like it....
Spam?!?! I've actually never had any. I do love me some ham though so in theory I might like it....
Really? Nothing like a good fried spam sandwich.
This salmon is a big hit in the House of Fury.
I realize this probably sounds both contrived and trite, but it's very likely that before you know what happened, you will look back on these days — even the maddening ones — as some of the best in your life.
When your kids are teenagers trying to establish their identity, assert their independence and conduct real-life experiments, many of which you're better off not knowing about, you will really be tested. You will learn the real meaning of worry. You will at times feel like someone trying to keep the tide from coming in with your bare hands.
Two things can keep it bearable: faith and love. Give plenty of each and when the adolescent storm and some post-adolescent squalls pass, you'll probably get back all you've given and more.
If you doubt what I'm saying, in a quiet moment, quickly review your own teenage years and maybe the time following.
As they say in Maine, "A-yup."
S.W.,
you are right.. and yet you may in fact be over simplifying. Oh I know adolescence will be challenging and trying. But part of what is hard, out side of the fact that I get no break from the constant parenting is the knowledge that it is so fleeting. The guilt that such small behavioral annoyances do annoy me so much and yet are so meaningless in the grand scope of things. There is a constant struggle to balance my need to validate my point of view as a parent and yet to also validate my daughter's point of view as a child. Staying home with your children is very difficult work, it is emotionally and physically trying. It is unnatural to do this type of parenting in our current culture. It really does and should take a village. But the majority of stay at home parents are isolated most of the time. This is my job. And although I know in the big picture this is a mere blink of the eye. I'm in the blink. And it isn't always a pleasant place to be.
And as for "real" worry that is something I know a considerable amount about. Of course when they enter the world and make their own decisions I will worry. But to be perfectly frank.. I cry myself to sleep many MANY nights. It hasn't been a year since I thought I held my dying daughter in my arms. I have never gotten over that. I cannot sleep soundly as I must always be listening to hear if she is having a seizure. Parenting a "sick" or "disabled" child is stressful and it is real stress.
I know you meant well. And I am not really offended. But I think you may have misjudged my situation. Not that you had anyway to have known it :)
Spam?!?! I've actually never had any. I do love me some ham though so in theory I might like it....
My recommendation is to leave it at the theory level. There is a reason I bought him the SINGLE packet and not a whole can.
Really? Nothing like a good fried spam sandwich.
He's not lying. Now if such a thing were possible... (note the tense of were... Contrary to Fact)
It hasn't been a year since I thought I held my dying daughter in my arms
That is the definition of worry. I cannot imagine what you and Mr. Furious have had to go through. And I hope I never can. I've had nightmares (haven't all mothers?) but luckily, that's all they were.
Michelline,
I too hope your worries will stay forever just that :)
Mrs. F., I hope you realize I was trying to put into perspective the kind of day-to-day hassles mentioned in your post. In doing that I didn't mean to discount how aggravating and fatiguing those hassles can be. I just hoped in a good-humored way to say two things at once: 1, this too shall pass; and 2, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Now, having a child very seriously ill, maybe at death's door, is something else. It's a crisis, not a day-to-day hassle.
On that one, please let me encourage you to discuss anew what happened to your daughter with your doctor or other primary care provider. Tell that person how you're haunted by what happened, to the point of crying yourself to sleep and having difficulty sleeping.
Be sure to make very clear the part about having difficulty sleeping. I will explain.
Yes, you're in the blink, and you need enough sleep and high-quality sleep. You should be sleeping the sleep of the just, simply because by bedtime you're worn out. That you're not getting enough of that high-quality sleep is what's known as a red flag.
I happen to know a little bit about this stuff. Too liitle sleep and poor-quality sleep as a regular and recurring thing obviously sets you up for many a bad day at the "office." But hear me clearly on this: it can do longterm physical and emotional harm, and play havoc with your relationships. And guess what that last will do for you. Yep, it will add to your sleeping problem!
One other thing, since I'm on a roll here. If it so happens your care provider hears you out and responds with some pills, whether muscle relaxants or sleeping pills, consider asking for a referral to a sleep specialist.
Both kinds of medication will help you get some more sleep and maybe deeper sleep. Even so, that sleep might not be the kind of quality sleep you most need — and should be getting naturally because you're appropriately tired out by bedtime.
A good sleep specialist has special savvy when it comes to sorting these things out and coming up with remedies beyond some pills. His or her help could go on giving long after your prescription for pills has run out.
I sincerely hope this doesn't come off as meddling, and that it will be of help to you and your loved ones. Nothing will keep you from having some trying, tiring days at this stage of your life. But I know very well you can get help arming yourself so you're in peak coping condition. A really good night's sleep is your ammunition.
SW,
I know you clearly mean well.
But unfortunately having both a newborn (who breastfeeds) and an epileptic child (most likely to have seizures upon sleep to waking transitions) sleeping well is not in the cards for me right now.
It is a necessity that I be able to hear my daughter if she wakes. This was not a one time medical crisis but unfortunately a way of life for us for the time being. I cry myself to sleep because I am grieving. I am not awake at night because of PTSD but because I am listening. She has status seizures which are life threatening. This is serious and we are managing it the best we can.
I appreciate your concern and I assure you we have the priveldge of having one of the best hospitals and pediatric neurologists working with us. I am not shy about advocating for or getting help for my children or myself. And we have therapists all around. I am quite knowledgable and proactive regarding our collective mental and physical health.
I am in fact a mental health professional.
Mrs. F., I understand. I wonder if it's possible for you to get help from a family member or friend from time to time, to watch over your daughter during the night so you can get some more and better sleep.
In any event, I'll say a prayer.
S.W.,
I appreciate your concerns, thoughts, and prayers.
Rachel
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