My Mom baked banana chiffon cakes (see Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes cookbook under Orange Chiffon cake and improvise with bananas) served with vanilla ice cream for dessert every time it was Dad's birthday, and cooked bacon, spam, and easy-over eggs with garlic fried rice for breakfast because they were my Dad's favourites.  She even baked a cake for my sea kayak excursion with John Dawson & the Mont Royal outdoor leadership group when we toured the southern Gulf Islands and I witnessed the sound of a birthing female seal under the moonlight of early morning...These were "Wow!" and delicious moments.  Mom's favourite food was dungeoness crabs, simply steamed. We never learned to peel our own crab very efficiently because Mom was so good at it, we'd have piles of peeled crab on our plates without having to ask.  We dipped the crab in lemon juice, and sometimes in soy sauce and vinegar with garlic.  She shared our crab with Auntie Mary Nomura, whose daughter Naomi, used to baby sit us when we were living in the apartments by Bowen Park in Nanaimo.  She always complimented Auntie Mary for being able to eat every part of the crab with style and good taste.  Nothing wasted.  I tasted crab guts with my host family The Tsurumis.  The restaurant we went to made it  into a tasty dipping sauce.  I guess that's what Mom meant when she complimented Auntie Mary on being able to eat the whole crab except the shells and filters.  Dad got the crabs by placing traps in the crab grass down at the harbour, and later, when he got a boat, he dropped the traps further out into the sea before we headed out to deeper waters to catch mostly wild salmon and rock cod; the rare lingcod and red snapper...he even caught a couple of dogfish in his lifetime, which he had to skin on the spot because of the poisonous mercury in its sandpapery skin.  We had fish 'n' chips that night.  But our favourites were wild salmon and rock cod, and boy, did Mom have the best recipes for that!  I learned how to cook those recipes from her, too, but I find it expensive and not as fresh to buy wild salmon and rock cod at the grocery store, so I haven't made it in awhile...

Here are Mom's special ways of cooking wild fresh salmon and rock cod:

She baked the salmon in the oven at a suitable temperature (I'd have to look it up on internet).  In a frying pan, she'd combine minced garlic, chopped diced onions, and minced ginger and saute in vegetable oil (sesame is nice!).  Once the onions were clear, she'd turn off the heat and stir in gobs of hoisin sauce.  She'd pour the heavy sauce mixture over the slab of salmon, and then bake for another 15 minutes.  Garnish with fresh parsley or chives from the vegetable garden, then serve and enjoy!

For rock cod, she'd steam it until it was cooked but tender (I'd have to look it up on the internet for time).  In a wok, she'd heat up approximately 1.5 cups of hot vegetable oil.  Meanwhile, she'd julienne ginger, garlic, and green spring onions and place them on top of the steamed, cooked rock cod in a deep dish serving platter.  She'd pour approximately 3/4 cup of soy sauce over the fish and aromatic toppings, then once the oil was hot, she'd scald the steamed fish and toppings by pouring the hot oil over the whole thing, then serve and enjoy!

She'd want you to enjoy  these and be happy...at all times she wanted everyone to be joyful  ...Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven... as Christ taught us to pray

And if you want one person's glimpse of Heaven, please read the first few chapters of "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper.

Grace of God - abiding Holy Spirit of Divine Love - be with you always! 

Love,
Czarina