What a week! My Chicago daughter was here for a visit and for the first time in a long time I spent Mother’s Day with all three of my children and two of my five grandkids. My son invited us to his home for brunch on Sunday and the weather was beautiful so we sat outside and enjoyed a wonderful Spring day.
On Saturday afternoon my family assembled for another purpose. In January, 2000, we made a family time capsule. We all wrote letters to be read in the future (the year 2015) and added memorabilia to the box: pictures, magazines, the daily newspaper, whatever we thought would be interesting to us fifteen years ahead. Little did we know…the world has changed a lot since the year 2000 and so has our family. I was nervous because I couldn’t remember what I said in my four page letter. My children felt the same way and it was a little stressful to know that we would be reading these missives out loud, to everyone. But nervousness quickly disappeared as we started reading our letters and it was replaced by intense interest as we listened to each other’s sometimes funny, sometimes very touching and sometimes sad recounts of life in 2000. My daughter read letters from my parents because they weren’t there to do it themselves. That got some tears flowing. Both my son and I added VHS tapes of family activities to the time capsule but we don’t have anything to play them on! We never guessed that would be the case. I wonder what kinds of far out electronic devices we will be dealing with fifteen years from now, in 2030. It might be fun to make some guesses.
I’m sharing this little story because this was a big event for my family. We all shook our heads at how fast the past fifteen years flew by and how much life can change from one day to the next. It was an opportunity for each of us to reflect on our own lives and to celebrate the ups and downs in the lives of family members and how important each person is in the fabric of our family. We are talking about assembling another capsule for 15 years in the future. I’ll be 87 years old then…it makes me stop and think. If there are things in life I want to do I need to do them now. I’m working on my bucket list. If the idea of a time capsule sounds interesting to you and your family I can’t urge you strongly enough to do it. It’s a very powerful experience that has brought us closer together. And it was fun.
OK, so now on to dinner. One of my favorite summer meals is a large composed salad…one that can serve two people or a dozen. It can be made of whatever is in season and the salads I make are always different. A friend of mine gave me some eggs and the little quail eggs were a great garnish for the salad. The goose egg (top right) is about twice the size of the four duck eggs, and the little spotted eggs are from quail. I have seen them at the farmers’ market but have never tried them. All these eggs are richer than chicken eggs and have huge, dark orange yolks. I just hard boiled the little ones (4 minutes) and then peeled them and cut them in half.
We are just getting into salmon season here in the Pacific NW and I chose a big piece of Chinook for our dinner salad. Wrapping it in foil is one of my favorite ways to cook salmon because I’m not so likely to over cook it. That is the fastest way to ruin a piece of wonderful, very expensive, fish. Place the fish on a sheet of foil and season with salt, pepper and herbs (fresh dill here). Don’t limit yourself to this combo…you can use anything you like for seasoning. A garnish of lemon slices is nice and just before I close up the foil pouch I add a tablespoon or two of a dry white wine. Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes. If you aren’t sure if it’s done open the top of the packet and lightly press the fish. If it feels squishy it isn’t done. It need to feel slightly firm to the touch. If it need more cooking, reseal the foil and bake for another minute or two. If you leave the packet sealed when you take the fish out of the oven it continues to cook. If it’s done, open the foil and let it cool slightly and then refrigerate.
What other ingredients you add to your salad is your choice: tomatoes, asparagus, French carrot bistro salad, roasted potatoes, radishes, eggs. Good alternatives are couscous salad, green beans, grilled zucchini, shrimp, chicken…endless possibilities. I usually pass a cruet of homemade vinaigrette or a light, creamy herb dressing just in case somebody wants it.
Big, fat asparagus spears are my favorite and I always look for them when I’m shopping. Apparently Costco customers like the skinny ones because they toss the packages of the big ones to the back of the display. Perfect for me. The big spears are usually tough so I peel them and they become fork tender. The large spears hold up better on the grill and get nice little char marks from being on the grill longer. Composed salads are perfect for summer entertaining because everything can be made and assembled ahead of time. Add some good bread, nice wine and a yummy dessert and you will have a great meal you can sit back and enjoy. With this dinner each person helps him or her self.
Beautiful salad. I am thrilled you had a beautiful Mother’s Day. Like the time capsule idea. When I think back 15 years, it is amazing all we have lost and gained in that time. And 15 years forward….that is kind of scary at my age also. So much to do in the next few years while we are still capable and healthy. You have me thinking, Cathy. Thanks. Loving your salmon!!
Susan recently posted..Vietnamese Steak with Cucumber Salad
Thanks, Susan. I agree with you. Opening our time capsule really got me thinking. Being 87 is almost more than I can process. It makes me want to travel all the time for as long as I can. Wish I could share the salad with you and Dale.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
That’s fantastic that you had such a wonderful Mother’s Day. I loved hearing about the time capsule. What a neat idea. I can only imagine what I would have written back in 2000.
We love asparagus. The salmon looks delicious. Love the combination of the fish with all those yummy eggs and veggies.
I was a little nervous about what I wrote, Ramona. But it all turned out well and we loved the experience. Thank you for your comment.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
What a fun Mother’s Day. I am loving your salmon. I also love the fat asparagus. They are much for flavorful than the skinny runt/ pencil asparagus. My favorite meal.
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon recently posted..Strawberry Galette
Hi Madonna – I completely agree with you about the asparagus. Those skinny little ones are just to wimpy for me…no flavor at all in my opinion.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
Well your salad looks fantastic to me right now..no electricity for the past 3 hours..this would have been perfect..the generator is going..but we will munch for once..
Almost hail force rain..howling winds..
I love your time capsule idea..
Just not sure of the next 15 yrs…
15 yrs ago..I would not have batted an eyelash..
I’m thinking 15 years is too long…maybe 10 would be better if we do it again. My guess is that our world will change a lot in the next 10 years. Our weather is crazy here too. Eighty degrees on Saturday, 55 and rainy today.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
Great take on the classic Nicoise Salad Cathy and I like your version for sure.
It’s one of my favorite salads, Larry. I’m all for good meals that can be made ahead. Thanks for stopping by.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
I’m so glad you got to spend Mother’s Day with all of your children this year! It is absolutely amazing what has changed in the last 15 years ! I’m sure will see amazing things in the future. One thing that remains the same is our love of good food and this composed salad looks wonderful. I like the thick asparagus too! What a great way to use those beautiful eggs.
Susan recently posted..Rhubarb Custard Torte
I do love a meal like this one. It is so beautiful!
Also fascinated by your families time capsule.
What a wonderful thing to do and walk through
as you remember and open it. I love this idea.
Marilyn recently posted..Ritual of Living
It was a wonderful experience for us as we reflected on all the ups and downs of the last 15 years. It was a very touching reminder of how important family is.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
Oh, what a fun family activity! I’m wondering if I could coerce mine into doing it?
Your salad looks divine—I could live off of it!
I hope you can, Liz. We had no idea how much opening our capsule would mean to us now and how emotional it would be.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
What a positively fabulous idea to make the time capsule. I wish I had done it while my husband was still alive. But I’m going to try to pull it together for the next time the kids are home. I love that idea. The composed salmon salad looks delicious too, and just the thing for a warm summer’s day.
Ciao Chow Linda recently posted..In Memoriam
I hope you will be able to make your own time capsule, Linda. It was a very emotional day when we opened ours and shared what we had written 15 years ago. The world has changed a lot during those years and we all realized how important family is. Thank you for your comment.
Cathy Farley recently posted..Spring Salmon and Asparagus Salad and a Time Capsule
What a wonderful idea! I can see why it would be a little scary…and I bet our lives changed measurably in the fifteen years. The spring salad platter is beautiful…love the colors.
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