Salmon Patties!

My mom made salmon patties often when I was kid, but my friends never knew what they were.  I still haven't met many people who know what they are or who have tried them.  My husband also grew up eating them.  Together, we have perfected our own little recipe through trial & error & childhood memories of what they're "supposed" to taste like.  Try it out & leave your thoughts in the comments.

Ingredients:

2 cans of Atlantic Salmon

Italian Bread Crumbs

2 eggs

Your favorite spices/seasonings

Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Vegetable Oil

Step 1:

Heat oil in frying pan on Medium-Lo heat while you are prepping.  Oil should be about 1/2 inch deep in the pan.  Open & drain the salmon.  Now, the messy part.  You have to remove the skin & bones.  My hubby finds it easiest to rinse under a low stream in the sink.

Step 2:

Once the salmon is clean & bone free, add in eggs & about 1/2 cup of the Italian bread crumbs.  You may want to add more or less depending on how dry you want it to be.  Now is the time to customize the flavor of your patties.  The bread crumbs are great, but sometimes we like to mix it up a bit.  Garlic powder, lemon pepper, sage, parsley, & other spices you may like can be a great addition.  Mix it all together with your fingers until everything is blended.

Step 3:

Shape the mixture into patties!

Step 4:

Carefully place patties in the oil.  We usually do about 4 at a time so that we have room for flipping.  Once the edge is firm & golden brown.  Flip over & cook until golden brown.

Step 5:

When you remove from pan, place the patties on cooling rack so oil can drip off.  Sprinkle the tops with Lawry's seasoned salt.  Then eat!

We like to serve mac & cheese, green beans & corn, or mashed potatoes with ours.  Just about any side dish can go well with them.  All 4 of our kiddos are fans.  Our youngest (age 4) likes his with ketchup, and I will occasionally add a sprinkle of parmesan to mine.  Enjoy!

    

A (mini) rant on censorship of books

The top ten complained about books to the American Library Association in 2012 in list format. I am proud to say I have read all of these except #4. I have taught # 2, #3, and #7.  I put #2, #3, #6, #7,  and #10 ten in a school library. I don't particularly like #1 and I have no plans to read #4 on this list, but that is my choice.  This brings me to my mini rant.

I  have a strong opinion on censorship of books.  My first opinion is, if you don't like it then don't read it.  My second opinion is, how can you know you don't like it if you have not read it?  My third opinion relates the fact that six of the ten books are written for an audience under the age of 18.  The American Library Association (ALA) said that in the case of these six books mostly adults were complaining about the material in these books on behalf of children.  Are these adults/parents letting their children watch rated "R" movies? Are they monitoring their internet usage?  Isn't it better that children learn about issues in life in well written books that address the issues than to pretend that life doesn't have some rough edges?

And the list now that my rant is over:
1) Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey (offensive language, unsuited for age group)
2) "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie (offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
3) “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher (drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group)
4) “Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E. L. James (offensive language, sexually explicit)
5) “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (homosexuality, unsuited for age group)
6) “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini (homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit)
7) “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green (offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
8) Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz (unsuited for age group, violence)
9) “The Glass Castle,” by Jeannette Walls (offensive language, sexually explicit)
10) “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison (sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence)

 If you want to read the whole article on the ten challenged books here is the link:  http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2013/intellectual-freedom

And I won't even get started on my opinion on this but here is a link on information on the new edition of "Huckleberry Finn" where they replace the "N" word with "slave."  Here's the link on that if you are interested: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/04/132652272/new-edition-of-huckleberry-finn-will-eliminate-offensive-words

And PLEASE if you have a comment about censorship leave it in the comments below even if it disagrees with mine. I may not always agree with an opinion, but I'll be respectful about it.

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