Grilled Salmon with Maple-Soy Glaze

Living in the Pacific Northwest has given us the chance to be near a lot of great seafood!  My husband and father-in-law were able to go salmon-fishing this summer and they both had great success.  It's been fun to be able to treat ourselves to salmon from our freezer whenever the craving hits!  I thought I would try a different recipe every time I made it, but this one was so good, we made it twice.  The combination of the soy and maple syrup gives it a great flavor and an addicting sweetness that you will love!  Kudos to my husband for catching and grilling such great fish!

Crispy Salmon Cakes with Creamy Lemon-Herb Dipping Sauce

If that title doesn't grab you right there, I don't know what will!  I've been making salmon cakes about once a month for the last 6 months or so and I usually just do my own thing and make some kind of tartar sauce to go along with them.  They're always tasty and we always enjoy them, but of course I found a recipe in my new book that just takes them to the next level!  The panko bread crumbs make them light and crisp on the outside and the flavors are amazing on the inside.  The dipping sauce is superb and we found ourselves dipping our oven fries into it as well.  These are a winner!  I hope you enjoy them.

Penne "alla Betsy"

(Pardon the bad picture. We were too busy devouring to bother taking a picture until we were loading it in tupperware for leftovers. Oops).

I don't know anyone named Betsy, but this recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman (whose sister's name is Betsy). We tried this a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it! I bought some frozen shrimp on a whim and was looking for recipes with shrimp and this won! Jeremy loved this and was very glad we had lots of leftovers. It's really easy to make and very delicious - shrimp and penne pasta in a tomato cream sauce with fresh basil and parsley. Mmm. (By the way, if you are like me and sadly live nowhere near an ocean, I recommend buying shrimp frozen because it's more fresh than the "fresh" shrimp, which is actually shrimp that was frozen and then thawed. Just a tip). Enjoy!