Salmon Days in Issaquah Washington

It was the perfect Fall day to celebrate salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Oh yes, I said salmon. And that is probably why we look especially happy in this picture, the whole town is crazy for fish. The stranger we enlisted to take our picture insisted we say "Salmon Days!" to get a good smile. Looks like she knew what she was doing - the photo is great.

Salmon Days is a family friendly weekend in Issaquah, Washington that celebrates the return of the salmon to the river. There is a fair, art show and parade for 3 days each year. The mayor also changes the name of Issaquah to Fish-aquah for the occasion. Now that is town spirit.

Look at the crowds lining up along the river to see the salmon swimming upstream and jumping up Issaquah Creek. I trace the whole path and process in an earlier post. If you'd like to know more, click here. 

It was the perfect Fall day and I loved seeing the admirers from this angle, leaning over the bridge to watch the salmon activity. This photo was taken near the Salmon Hatchery.

Salmon Days docents are on hand along the river (above) to answer questions about salmon, science and to explain what is happening this time of year. They are a treasure. When my cousin Carol and I came to see if any salmon were jumping last year, one of these docents gave us a real ecology lesson as we leaned over this same bridge to watch the salmon return. 

I was happy to see our mascot, Sammy the Salmon, cruising through the crowd. I love a town that celebrates and I encourage you to join the fun and visit Issaquah for Salmon Days next year. In the meantime, click the links and explore the educational videos on the Salmon Hatchery website.

Salmon Skewers: Posh Picnic Fare

My mind is swimming with recipes that I want to try, experiences I want to have, things that I want to photograph. As a day or week develops, I try to think of a good fit for the circumstances to make the most out of life.

For example, we were expecting a beautiful day in the low 70's last week and we had been eating indoors at home a lot lately. I wanted to get us out into the fresh air and I wanted to eat outside. Grilling at home is fun, but if we went to a local park and used their grill, we could enjoy a few hours of cooking and relaxing.

I keep a stash of disposable grill toppers in my picnic supplies. Have you seen these? It lets you use a grill in a public park while giving you a clean surface to grill your food on. 

At home, I cut fresh salmon into equal-size square pieces (so that they would cook at the same rate) and placed them on Press n Seal cling wrap. I put another piece on top and sealed around each piece of fish so that it wouldn't dry out. That way I could bring everything to the park on ice and assemble the skewers on site.

I threaded pieces of lemon, cherry tomatoes and salmon onto cedar skewers that I had soaked in water (so that the wood doesn't catch on fire). On other skewers I threaded fresh mushrooms, zucchini ribbons (cut carefully on a mandolin at home and doused in olive oil) and cherry tomatoes. These vegetable skewers cook faster so I placed them on the grill after the fish had started to cook. I covered the cooking area with non-stick Reynolds Wrap foil to keep the heat in and speed up the cooking. When the fish was cooked, I basted it with a mixture of Dijon mustard and apricot jam. The flavor of the glaze combined with the grilled lemons made the salmon even more delicious.

I brought cooked asparagus from home and placed it in a foil packet on the grill to reheat. I also brought a cold salad of drained canned beets (cut in quarters) mixed with 2 cans of drained mandarin oranges, a splash of olive oil and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. I transported the cold beet salad double-bagged in gallon Ziploc freezer bags in the cooler on ice. It was a great addition to our meal.

Yes, I brought along a set of melamine dishes, wooden silverware and paper napkins to make the meal look pretty and give us a stable surface to eat from. I always bring along a kitchen trash bag to transport the dirty dishes back home and it works out just fine.

We had such a nice time in the local park listening to the birds chirp and the children squeal from the nearby playground. It was a great start to a summer of fun.

#picnics #seattle #salmononthegrill #momentsofdelight

Salmon Days: Issaquah, Washington

Autumn has arrived in Washington and the salmon have returned. Can you imagine that when the smolts (I call them salmonlets) are released into Issaquah Creek outside the hatchery, they swim up Issaquah Creek and through Lake Sammamish, the Sammamish River, Lake Washington, Lake Union, the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Puget Sound, the Straight of Juan de Fuca and into the Pacific Ocean. Are you kidding me? That is incredible. They are expected to live 3-5 years out in the ocean until their DNA tells them it is time to return home to spawn and they travel that exact same path in reverse. I am not a scientist, but I think that is fascinating. Can you see the salmon jumping (above) in Issaquah Creek?

This is the open air salmon ladder that the fish jump up on their way into the hatchery. The salmon are back and its cause for celebration indeed.

Salmon Days in Issaquah, Washington: Part 2

What a weekend! This was my first experience with Salmon Days in Issaquah, Washington...excuse me, "FISH-aquah, Washington" and it was a delight.

The weekend celebration is timed with the return of the salmon to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery to spawn. In this nature-centered region, salmon are celebrated. Nothing says it more than this larger than life kite making its way through the crowd.

Festivals mean food, and the choices were endless. I regret not having salmon fresh off the grill at the Kiwanis Salmon Bake in Gibson Park. I didn't realize it was an option until we were ready to leave - next year!

I did, however, make the genius move of ordering an apple dumpling with ice cream and caramel sauce. It was as if the apple was peeled, cored and steamed before being baked in a satisfying crust. It was so delicious I would do it all again. In my mind, that is the sign of a good festival treat. Not too rich, not sickeningly sweet, not outrageous, just delicious.  Apple season is here and I love it.

 

Seattle: Salmon Days in Issaquah...or rather, Fishaquah

It was a beautiful Friday evening (Oct 3, 2014) at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery in Issaquah, Washington, just West of Seattle. It was the night that "Issaquah Salmon Days" festival begins and many many townspeople had come to the hatchery to see the salmon run.

We hung over the railing and took photos as fish after fish flung himself up barrier trying to get back home.

This is a map at the hatchery showing the lifespan and route of the salmon.

You can see the tank full of salmon (above). There is a wonderful video somewhere on the site that shows the purpose and practices of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. It is really well done and explains the life cycle of the salmon and how they aid in fertilizing the salmon eggs and raising the baby salmon (all the correct terms are escaping me) and releasing them into the wild to help protect and propagate the species.

You can see that the river is full of salmon, waiting for a chance to fling themselves up the river.

The entire town of Issaquah celebrates the return of the salmon with a 3-day festival (parade, fair, art show) and during the festival each year, the area is affectionately known as "Fish-aquah," which I think is adorable. That is town spirit.

Tiny Oven, Big Flavor: Salmon with Apricot Mustard Glaze

The key word that was missing was oven.  This year, I was planning on living in Seattle with my husband for the months of April and June, and the Residence Inn we would be staying at sounded perfect: it was clean and comfortable, was in a great location and we'd have a nice room with a kitchen (full refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave and a 2-burner cooktop).  Bueller? Bueller?  No one said anything about an oven.  As an enthusiastic home baker, a kitchen without an oven was something I had a hard time imagining.

It was around the planning stages for this trip that a friend got married and I was looking at her registry online.  Hmmm...she wanted a toaster oven. Would a toaster oven do me any good in Seattle? I knew it was used for more than toast, but I wasn't sure for what.

I'd never had even the most basic toaster oven, so when I began researching them online I was surprised to see the features that were possible and the praise they could inspire.  Convection cooking?  Meat Probes? When I saw that this Hamilton Beach "Set and Forget" Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking was $99 and would ship free with Amazon Prime, I couldn't resist. I looked up the address for the hotel and had it sent there, along with a set of toaster oven-size pans. Ha! 

No oven my foot.

And I love it! I call it my Easy Bake Oven in jest, but it works like a dream. In honor of being in the Pacific Northwest, the first thing I cooked in it was:

Broiled Salmon with Apricot Mustard Glaze 

Place salmon skin side down on cookie sheet.  Broil under high heat until fish is partially cooked, then spoon a apricot mustard sauce (1/3 dijon mustard to 2/3 apricot preserves) over the fish and return to broiler. Sauce with warm and bubble, browning slightly. Remove from heat when salmon is cooked to your preference. Serve with boiled new potatoes or sticky rice.

Seattle: Coho Cafe Redmond: Fish Frenzy and Salmon Stats

My new friends were sure that I would like anything I ordered at the Coho Cafe in Redmond. They were right! I couldn't resist the special: fresh halibut with a blood orange glaze over sticky rice and pea pods. I ate every bite.

I missed taking a picture of our shared appetizer, but the Roasted Green Chile and Cornbread Waffle with agave butter was fantastic. Sweet and creamy and crunchy and hot. Yum. Who needs dinner?  

But we did, of course and everyone seemed very happy with their selection.  I had a bite of Paula's "limited edition" salmon, known as the Copper River Salmon, and it was deep red and so rich I described my bite as salmon pudding. 

In a region where fish is king, there is extensive seafood knowledge that I know nothing about.  The girls told me that when the first plane arrives from Alaska this time of year full of the beloved Copper River Salmon, the pilots walk off the plane holding up a fish (could I make this up?). I read an article in the Seattle Times that says the pilots then present the salmon to three chefs that cook it right then at the airport to kick off the season. You must see the article here.  I love this place.

On a whim, I ordered an Elderflower spritzer. It was light, non-alcoholic and tasted like a honey-flavored herb fizz.  What a great drink to enjoy with fish! Elderflower is all the rage right now and this is a fun way to try it.    

My husband worked late and missed dinner that night, but I promised him that he would have his day at the Coho Cafe before we flew home.