I spent my tender years in the small seacoast town of Aberdeen, Washington — a town filled with lumbermen and fishermen and smells of freshly harvested lumber and the fishy smells of the sea just a few minutes away by car.
I was four years old when I was deposited on my aunt and uncle’s doorstep by my mother who had decided that there were better things ‘out there’ than raising a child alone.
On a more positive note, my Uncle Eli was a shingle weaver and a great fisherman as well, and my Aunt Betty who ran a boarding house, provided us with the most sumptuous dinners imaginable… fish my uncle had caught, chickens raised in our back yard and vegetables from their garden graced our dinner table daily.
As soon as I was tall enough and with the help of a stool, I was given a paring knife and taught how to peel, dice and slice. By the time I was seven years old I could make a cake just as well as any housewife, and by age nine, pies were added to my wealth of baking accomplishments.
Taught to me by my aunt were what we now call comfort foods —stews, fried chicken, pot roast and chicken and dumplings as
well as apple and peach pies, tapioca pudding and pineapple upside-down cake.
In Girl Scouts I learned how to make carrot cake baked in an empty can of Campbells soup and biscuits made from Bisquick rolled in a long strand and wrapped around a stick; both cooked over an open campfire.
It was during WWII that each household was given Government Ration Stamps for food, gasoline and clothing. We as a nation were ‘at war’ and food, etc. was needed for our troops abroad. Women painted a line from the back of their ankles to the back of their knees, duplicating the seam of the nylons no longer available. It was during this time that macaroni and cheese became popular, replacing meat which was in short supply and Oleo margarine with its ‘orange pill’ replaced butter on the table.
Sundays would find my family at the ocean with other family members, fishing for salmon and digging razor back clams. I detested those clams; green they were and shaped like a seven-inch hot dog bun with their digger hanging out one end and their neck, the other. Touch them and they would close up and spew foam; horrid, nasty looking things to a six year old child.
Salmon and crab were my favorite fish and still are today. Clams, not so much.
The recipe I have included here for salmon patties uses poached salmon. Shrimp or crabmeat can replace the salmon resulting in a crab or shrimp cake which is so popular today.
For me it is hard to believe that only one-half of Americans eat fish occasionally or not at all. One-third eat seafood once a week and the rest, not at all.
Fish: friend or foe? Harvard’s School of Public Health professors calculated by testing hundreds of thousands of participants, that eating one or two servings of fatty fish (salmon, crab, calamari (squid), mackerel, sardines or herring) reduces the chances of dying from heart disease by more than one-third. Fish eaten one or two times a week reduces the risk of stroke, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
If you are a mother of an infant it is important to know your baby’s brain and nervous system require Omega-3 fats found in fatty fish for optimal development.
By avoiding shark, swordfish or albacore (white) tuna, you will reduce your intake of mercury found in these longer-living fish. Shrimp, crab, canned (light) tuna, pollock or catfish have much lower mercury levels.
The ‘jury’ has concluded the benefits of eating fish far outweigh that of avoiding fish altogether. Enjoy that delicious crab cocktail or plate of fried calamari. To paraphrase Martha…It’s a Good Thing!
1 lg. lightly beaten egg
2 Tbsp. milk
2 cups poached and flaked salmon (canned OK)
2 Tbsp. green onions chopped
1 Tbsp. minced Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. red bell pepper finely chopped
1 cup loose white bread crumbs (fresh)
¼ tsp. salt
Stir all ingredients together and refrigerate ½ hour.
Shape into 4 in. patties and lightly fry in 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil over medium heat 8 minutes, turning once.
Poaching a 1 1/2 lb. Salmon Filet (4 Servings)
In a quart size saucepan add:
¼ cup each coarsely chopped celery, dry onion and carrot
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp salt
3 cups boiling water
Bring ingredients to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.
Add Salmon filet and simmer 4 minutes. Remove salmon and cool.
Dill Sauce
½ cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. dill (freshly chopped preferred).
1 Tbsp. capers
1 tsp. lemon juice
S/P to taste
Mix together and refrigerate
