This whimsical Girl with Ladybug Necklace vase goes very very very high on my shopping list (the one I keep for when I win a lottery) and already decorates the house of my imagination…

Just look at her, flaunting a pair of fishy earrings and a wild ‘do’ of whatever bright flowers you’ve got in bloom… Terra cotta, about twelve inches high (before you fill the vase), it’s made by one of my favourite indie ceramics artists, Natalya Sots.

Natalya’s wildly distinctive colourful ceramics are found at arts-and-craft festivals in the Chicago area, online at Etsy), and in her fascinating Flickr photostream where you can also catch a glimpse of her works in progress.

Hands up now, who’d consider six pounds of free smoked salmon to be a “problem”? It sounds like a great gift, right?

Yes, I’ve got “connections” down at the smokers, where the refrigeration unit went on the blink this morning — lots of fish was looking for a home. Free food is always good, smoked Atlantic salmon makes some very fine eating, and I’ve got a terrific recipe for smoked salmon pâté — but a person can only eat so many hors d’ouevres in a week!

So, my mother gave me her excellent instructions for Smoked Salmon Salad Wraps (see below) and tomorrow I’m going to do Linguine & Creamed Smoked Salmon (mashing up a chunk of fish in a bowl of my Easy Microwave White Sauce, essentially), but I’ll be scouting around for some good smoked salmon recipes for the rest of this week.

Smoked Salmon Salad Wraps

Slice very thin:
  • 6 oz. smoked salmon
  • 1 tart apple
  • 1 sweet onion (Vidalia, preferably)

Spread:
  • 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
  • lemon juice to taste

on * White tortillas are better than wholewheat because they don’t compete with the salmon.
  • 6 small soft wheat tortillas *

Assembly:

Arrange mesculun (mixed salad greens) on each tortilla. Top with slices of salmon, apple, and onion, and drizzle on any remaining mayo mix.

No tortillas on hand? You can also use pita bread — or even a large flat leaf of Romaine lettuce.

You can sprinkle on a little salt, if desired, but (this is the voice of my mother speaking!) it’s probably not good for you, and the salmon’s got enough flavour that you shouldn’t need it anyway.

Roll up, and enjoy!

Those wraps are awfully tasty, and pretty healthy, too. But the recipe search goes on… and I’m looking for recipes for smoked-salmon dishes that can be frozen, preferably, because we’re going to have one almighty-powerful craving for a land-based entr&eactue;e (steak, chicken, pork, tofu, mung beans, anything but seafood!) by the time that six pounds is used up…

Technorati Tags: cooking, recipes