Salmon patties recipe: comfort food and simple to make

As a child, I was a very picky eater. So picky that my brother used to say that I would never eat anything that was green or good for me. When I was sick, my Nana would make me chicken soup, turkey and gravy, fuscilli pasta with cheese or salmon patties. Salmon patties are very simple to make. For those of you who don’t already know, I grew up with an English grandmother who looked like Angela Lansbury and sounded just like Mary Poppins. Click here to read about her shepherd’s pie recipe.

You will need:

One large can of salmon (between seven or eight ounces-or two small cans will do)
One egg
2-3 cups of crushed Cornflakes (place the cornflakes in a ziplock bag and smash them into crumbs. This is a great stress reliever. You can also use a rolling pin, but I like smashing them.)
One small onion
Kosher salt and pepper
Skillet or a frying pan

Directions:

Drain the salmon in a separate bowl, leaving just a little moisture and grate the onion in. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cornflakes crumbs, mix thoroughly with a fork and then add the cornflakes. The mixture should be reasonably firm. Spray or place a coating of oil in the frying pan, which should be warming on medium heat.

Now its time to make your salmon patties while the oil is heating up in the frying pan. Roll the patties in the palm of your hand and try not to make them too thick. Then sprinkle some cornflake crumbs over them, patting it into the surface very gently and with a spatula, slide them onto the pan and fry them to a golden brown, turning them once over and repeat this on the other side.

Hint: Fish cooks very quickly so I watch the heat and try not to leave the stove while cooking the patties. Have some paper towel ready on the plate so as you lift the patties off of the frying pan they can drain on the paper towel. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe of one my childhood favorite, salmon patties. I promise that my taste has evolved. What comfort food did you have as a child? Like this recipe? Click here for other recipes, cooking tips and more...

Extra, extra read all about it: I'm writing for Examiner.com

I have some wonderful news to share with you. I’ve have been doing some extra writing on the side. Please don’t worry - Under the Sheets-shhh is my baby, but this wonderful opportunity came up and I had to grab it.

Drum roll please… I was recently asked to write for Examiner.com as their new North Beach Examiner. North Beach is my neighborhood in San Francisco and I will write 3-4 articles a week for them about restaurants, the theatre, boutiques, festivals and hopefully gossip. =) I am truly honored.

How can you help? You can subscribe to the North Beach Examiner and comment away. You know… all I need is some basic blog love.

How did all of this happen? After I finished my vlog for Chick Chat about my life in San Francisco, there were several people who commented that they saw travel journalism in my future (I was flattered). And then a dear friend of mine sent me an ad that Examiner.com was looking for writers, specifically those who were half bloggers and half journalists. They were looking for writers who had a love and knowledge for their city. I thought to myself, ‘Writing is something I have always wanted to do. Plus, I am completely in love with San Francisco.’ I decided to apply.

Click here to read my new column.

Wishful Wednesday & the winners of the link back contest

Thank you to the following bloggers for making the Under the Sheets-shhh five questions link back contest such a huge success. I loved reading your answers and seeing your vlog's. So now I know we can all use a little inspiration from time to time.

And the contest winners are:
Underfunded Heiress, girl v. the world, the pink chandelier, better than coffee, N.E.O Moms, hopscotch and handbags, pink peony, a lovely house, unknown mami, a little pink in the cornfields, mommatudes, keep it classy, my way, teacups in peony, coffee and stilettos and it's all make believe isn't it?

Phew! Please let me know if I forgot your blog and I will link to you in the next posts. And now for my Wishful Wednesday images. It was the fabulous Underfunded Heiress which taught me about the 'Bare Minerals' natural sunscreen. Thank you sweetie.

The five things that I must do next in life

For my birthday, I was given the book The List: 100 Ways to Shake Up Your Life, written by Gail Belsky. I thought this was a wonderful and inspirational birthday gift. It didn’t hurt that the attached birthday card said, ‘to the woman who inspires us.’ This is the kind of book you can’t wait to take home and look through. As my friends all sat around my birthday picnic, I opened the book and read excerpts out loud. My friends kept saying if you’ve done 30 of the 100 things on the list, you’re in good shape. ‘Only 30,’ I thought. I must be able to check off more than 30. Between you and me, I was only able to check 25 items off of the list.

Some of the things that I checked off included:

1) Witnessing childbirth. (I witnessed my half brother and half sister brought into this world. I am forever changed by the experience) 
2) Switching careers/go back to school (Does going from child psychology to the world of advertising count?)
3) Riding in a fire truck (It was years ago. I was working with a class of children and I arranged a field trip to our local station. We all loved riding in the fire truck)
4) Lying about something… (I’d tell you, but then I’d have to… well you know)
5) Living with less (If you’re a follower of this blog, you know…)

After reading this book, things I want to do next include:

1) Visiting an Ashram…
2) Swimming with Sea Creatures… (Great Barrier Reef anyone?)
3) Having a child later in life… (I am looking forward to this one!)
4) Spending twenty-four hours in bed (Has anyone really done this?)
5) Writing a novel/build your own website (Ha Ha - look at me!)

The book ended by asking readers to create their own list. I’d love to know what the next five things on your list are? Go on, you can tell me… I won’t tell anyone (unless I’m fibbing)!

Free on a Saturday night? Wear your boyfriend's shirt

It was 4:00 on Friday afternoon, when my best friend called to ask for advice. Her husband was at work and her daughter was sleeping at her Grandparents, so suddenly she was free for the night. She had seven open hours to devote to whatever she wanted to do. She asked me to make some suggestions to her for her time off? How would you feel for example, if your partner called to let you know there’s been a change of plans. He’s going to a ballgame game with some co-workers and you can do whatever your heart desires. This call started me thinking, what do people do with sudden unplanned time for themselves?

What do you do to fill up your free hours?

For my friend, I suggested that she watch something on T.V. that she doesn’t normally get to watch, have a bath and drink some wine. However if she was missing her husband, I also suggested that she put on his T-shirt or sweatshirt. 

(Do you think that men’s clothes are comfortable and inviting?)

I am not recommending to you out of loneliness and despair, that you should scream your partner’s name from a rooftop, but rather try to become comfortable spending time by yourself. I have found that staying in the here and now, helps me appreciate my days.

So, do you feel unsettled and out of schedule when plans change? What are some of the things that you do to fill your time when you're suddenly free for the night? Tell me, am I the only one that thinks men’s clothing is comforting?

Five Questions Link Back Contest

I love getting to know my blogging friends better. So I am reaching out to you with five questions that I hope you will answer on your blog. Post these five questions and your answers on your blog, link back to Under the Sheets-shhh and comment back to me when you’re done. I promise to link to your post.

The Five Questions Are:
1) What topic would you write your book about?
2) What is one of your guilty pleasures?
3) What are some of the things you do to get yourself out of a bad mood?
4) How long do you think it will take to get the U.S. economy back on track?
5) Do you think there is a fine line between creepy and romantic?

Here are the answers to my own questions:

1) Writing a book one day has always been a dream of mine. Growing up, I thought my Father and I would write a book together about our experiences with manic depression. I have always wanted to show that no matter what has happened in your life you can pull through. Today, I believe that I would write more of an inspirational book to spread the message of hope. (Maybe I could negotiate a book signing in Italy).
2) One of my guilty pleasures is reading People magazine and I must admit that I’ve read it for years. I grab People and Time magazine at the airport, just before plane rides. These magazines seem to fill my need for gossip and news. What would I do without those in-depth People magazine interviews? Not to worry I can catch up online. (Please keep this our little secret.)
3) I do a couple of things to help me when I am in a bad mood. I usually reach out to my family and friends and talk about my negative feelings. Sometimes I take a step back, go for a walk/jog or listen to music and write. And other times, I let myself stay a little down that day which helps me appreciate the better days.
4) I have heard and read many conflicting things about how long it will take to get the U.S. economy back on track. At this point I am hoping for things to be better by the end of the year, for my friends to start working again and for stores to stop closing. I believe that we have many years ahead for the economy to go back to the way it once was.
5) I do think there is a fine line between creepy and romantic. For example, when you’re on your second date with someone and he hands you the phone to talk to his family. This could be taken as creepy or romantic.

Now it’s your turn to enter the five questions link back contest and I am looking forward to reading your answers. Go on you can do it…share with me one of your guilty pleasures.

Cable Car Confessions: The Conductor’s Story

Ding ding all aboard. "Next stop Powell Street Chinatown. Tickets please show me your tickets please." There are many things that go into making a city feel like a small community. The fact that San Francisco is only 7 miles wide helps give it the small city feel. If you start to work for the cable car ‘family,’ San Francisco can begin to feel like an even smaller world.

I became friends with one of the cable car conductors who manned my commute to and from work throughout the years. ‘Mark’ was a jovial, kind, friendly man in his fifties and has been a cable car conductor for twenty-five years. On one recent evening, the cable car was empty as I traveled home from work. Mark told me this conductor story.

In the 80’s, Mark moved from Guatemala to San Francisco in search of a ‘better life’ for himself and for his family. He thought he was going to stay for a year, make some money and then move back home. One night after going out to a bar, a friend suggested that Mark try out to become a cable car conductor. And so he did. He told me that the actual conductor test wasn’t the difficult part. The initiation and tough weather conditions were.

After Mark had earned his stripes on the cable car and had been on the job for a year, the other conductors started to let him in on the inner workings of the city. They began introducing him to the other people who help support the tourism and hospitality fields. Now Mark knows almost all of the bartenders, concierge, doormen, taxi cab drivers, restaurant managers and bus drivers in San Francisco. His conductor’s secret is all of these people send tourists to each other for discounts and care.

For example, Mark met a couple visiting San Francisco from Mississippi. The couple complained that they had only been sent to expensive restaurants by their hotel and were starting to run out of money. Mark sent them to a restaurant near by and told them to ask for the restaurant manager by name and let him know that Mark sent them. He assured them they would then be taken care of for the rest of the night.

The next day the couple waited at the cable car stop for Mark’s car. They got on and thanked Mark for a wonderful evening. The couple had followed his recommendation and asked for the restaurant manager. Immediately the manager discounted their bill. He then sent them to a bar for drinks. At the bar they let the bartender know that they knew Mark the cable car conductor and were also sent by the restaurant manager. The bartender gave them free drinks, didn’t charge them a cover, arranged for a discounted cab, and even set them up with a great deal at a better San Francisco hotel.

The moral of this story is to always be kind, especially if you’re on the cable car. What's an act of kindness that happened to you while visiting another city?