Easter Bunny Spotted At Zoo

will zach hannah
Originally uploaded by dmusolf.

Apologies for not writing anything in a while, but I've been a bit busy, slightly sleep deprived, and working on dropping a few pounds before swimsuit season. I know, it sounds like I'm a new character in a "Cathy"comic strip, but sadly, this is what it's become. The upside is that Liz, Will and Brian are doing great, and we're having lots of fun with friends, enjoying the nice weather and rooting for the Gopher hockey teams. The picture you see is of Will and his friends, Hannah and Zach (aka the Kloos kids). We loaded up the troops for an Easter Sunday trip to the zoo. We had a blast, but Will was a little bummed that there were no Lions (Tigers filled in to the best of their abilities). We missed most of the Dolphin show, but what we saw made us all jump up and scream like little kids. The MN Zoo is a pretty cool place, but if Will were in charge, there would be some Dinosaurs roaming around, and more big cats. Yup, lots of big cats.

Since my mother is likely the only one still reading this, I'll appease her with the recipe for the smoked salmon roll-ups that were served at the brunch following Will and Brian's baptism. Once again, I'm really not a follow-the-recipe-by-the-book kind of guy. So, don't feel the need to be exact with the quantities.

Spicy Smoked Salmon Roll-up
1 package soft flat bread. Square is better than round because of the uniform roll you get vs. a round wrap or tortilla.
1 package cream cheese-softend
1/3 cup chopped jalapenos
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
Capers
Sliced red onion (paper thin, or as thin as you can without chopping off your fingertips)
1 package sliced smoked salmon

Mix together the cream cheese, jalapenos and salt and pepper. It should be spread-able soft. Spread evenly onto the flat bread, making sure that you went all the way out to the ends (so it sticks together better). Place salmon evenly in a row across the bread, pushing slightly so it sticks into the spread. Make another row of the onions, and one of the capers. Make sure they stick in the cream cheese mixture. Roll up flat bread away from you, making sure it's stuck together at the end. As my old boss in the catering world used to say, "roll it like you're rollin' a fattie bro." I'm still not sure what that means. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and serve cool.

As you can see, I like jalapenos. They are in most of my recipes. They were on my turkey burger last night. They will likely be on my chicken salad sandwich over lunch today. If you don't like things as spicy, then substitute something else like sweet peppers, fresh dill or roasted garlic. Serving them for brunch? Keep cold beer on hand. Nothing better than a mid-afternoon beer buzz followed by a nap. Make it good beer, life's too short for bad brew.