Happy Halloween!

Lisa Moore the Fairy

Levi Holl the Shadow Man

Happy Halloween everybody!  We hope you have a spooky and fun holiday! Please be safe and responsible if you plan to go to any parties.  Keep an eye on your children if you plan to go trick or treating with them as well! It's difficult to see out of some masks at night and some costumes are hard to see in the dark, putting children at risk for car related injuries.  Get some reflective tape or a toy with lots of flashing lights for your child's costume, Flashlight, they even have light up candy pails for kids too! Anything to improve visibility in the dark.  What ever you do for Halloween, we hope you have loads of fun with friends and family!














Everyone knows fish is super healthy for you to eat, but fish can be pretty tricky if you don't know how to cook it!  Thankfully I love cooking fish, especially salmon, and I know a few pointers to get you started in the right direction.  The first and most important thing to think about is what you want to eat, have you had fish before? If not you should probably look into more mild fish like Cod or Haddock, and make sure its skinless.  While the skin has the most nutrients in it, that's where most of the fish oily flavor comes from, and people new to fish don't particularly care fore that.  Pay close attention to the quality of the meat too, more vibrant colors means its fresh, and has the best flavor!

As you can see here, the Tuna on the right is a deep red freshly cut, sushi-grade delicious, whereas the tuna on the left is pale pink, still tasty but not as fresh.  Get your fresh cuts and you won't be sorry!

Now you want to start thinking about seasoning.  Refine that flavor.  Sometimes salt and pepper is all you need, but shop around, smell some seasoning containers, a good rule of thumb is if it smells good it'll taste good.  I personally love a grilled salmon with lemon pepper seasoning.  You can't go wrong with seasoning, especially if you don't like strong fishy flavors.  Make sure you rub the seasoning into the flesh, coat the top and bottom, and let it rest in your fridge for a half hour at minimum.  That will let the seasoning have enough time to soak into the meat, giving a more even and rich flavor.

Got your meat ready? Time to cook!  There are many ways to cook a fish, each method has its own quirk, and every cut of meat has its own cook times.  Don't be afraid to google a recipe or proper cook times of your particular fish.  You can steam, fry, grill, bake, even microwave, it all depends on what you have and how much time you need.  Thankfully fish cooks very fast so its a good meal to make on the fly.  Grilling and Steaming are probably the easiest and healthiest methods since they don't require a lot of oils.  I grill my fish on each side until it's blackened, cooking on a medium-high heat to quickly char the outside but not so fast as to leave the inside still raw.  You shouldn't have to flip your fish more than once if you grill it, fish is a flimsy meat that falls apart very easily when cooked, so you want to avoid touching it as much as possible.  Don't be afraid to drizzle a little bit of citrus juice over your fish while cooking, lemon pairs incredibly well with fish, especially salmon!

You'll know when your food is ready to eat when the flesh has a significant color change, obviously the color will vary depending on the raw color of you initial fish cut.  Salmon should go from a pink-orange to a pale orange when steamed, or a deep golden brown if you grill it.  Steaming tends to make the meat pale where as grilling and pan-frying tends to make it dark on the outside.  If you are still unsure if it's ready, get a food thermometer, prod the thickest part of the meat and see how hot it is.  The minimum safe cooking temperature for fish is 145 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Some fish meat can safely be eaten raw, but don't risk it unless you are certain from your seller that it was Sushi Grade Fish.

Too long to read? Here's a brief recap:

Get the vibrant meat
Pick your seasoning
Decide how to cook
Dont flip the meat too much or it'll break apart
145 degrees or sushi grade? Dig in!