i have this recipe that i 'borrowed' from a five star restaurant in alaska that i worked at. it's for salmon. i won't reveal the original name, and i'm trying to think up an appropriate rename. it's the number one recipe i pull out if i REALLY like a bloke. i have designed an entire menu around it - and it's never failed. i guess it's my favorite thing to cook because i only make it when i'm in love. or when my girfriends beg me to do it for girl's night. and who doesn't love being in love...or girl's night? growing up we gave my mother a lot of grief over her paltry cooking skills. most of the time the dogs couldn't even be counted on to grab leftovers. but she has amazing skills when it comes to canning and making jams. and nobody can touch her homemade angel food cake with almond frosting. i always got it for my birthday, after do-it-yourself tacos. it's the one tradition i want to keep for my own family. making birthdays special and at home. it's a great way to stay connected. as we grew older, we had one party at home and another with friends over the weekend. again with the salmon! i found a recipe about a decade ago for pacific rim salmon cakes in sunset magazine. it was fantastic, but it called for canned salmon and eeewww! that's disgusting. after working with it for a few years, i have turned it into one of my signature dishes that i can whip up in no time flat. the greatest thing about this recipe, is that i can make it out of leftover salmon from other dishes and it tastes brand new and totally unrelated to what it used to be. wow, so so many! let me tell you! i have always had an affection for cooking, baking, innovating. my very first cooking tragedy was when i was in kindergarten. i had recieved a mr. peanut peanut butter machine for my birthday. peanut butter should be simple i thought. oh, and i should mention that i have a real difficult time taking direction from people smarter and wiser than myself. i like to screw things up on my own until i figure it out. well, i refused to listen and couldn't read, so i shoved a cube of butter in with my peanuts (which i spent half a morning shelling) and was fairly unhappy with the results. in my small head, peanuts + butter should equate to peanut butter. i was beyond disappointed! however, i ate it like i loved it, because my mother and sister were both waiting to see my expression! :D