“Did anybody miss me?” Dani called, bursting into the foyer and plunking down her heavy bags. 

“Babe! You’re back! I was getting worried, with it getting so late.” Esther rushed in to give her girlfriend a hug and a firm kiss. Dani bent down for her kiss, then grinned at Esther.

“You know we were all the way up in Canada,” Dani teased. “It took us all day to get up there when we left – of course we got back home late!”

“Were you guys successful?” Bethany asked, coming in and peeking at the battered styrofoam cooler sitting on top of Dani’s larger plastic one. “I see you have two coolers – did you get any salmon?”

“Salmon, pike, crappie, trout – even got a couple of walleyes!” Dani said proudly. “I donated a couple of my fish to Gabby, since she had worse luck than Kai and me and it’s her uncle’s cabin, but I still ended up with twenty-three in all.”

“Twenty-three!” Esther exclaimed. “Babe, that’s amazing! … You cleaned them all up at the lake, though, right?”

“Yes, I did,” Dani said, giving Esther a lovingly exasperated look. “I even pre-filletted the pike, since they’re best as filets. I figured I’d make us a couple fish dinners, and then put the rest of these into the chest freezer I got from Uncle Jerome.”

“Ooohhh!” squealed Esther, excited. “Can you make your grilled salmon tomorrow? You know it’s my favorite.”

“I suppose,” Dani said, laughing. “I think I have some cedar planks in a box somewhere. If you can find them and get them soaking by lunchtime, I’ll fire up the grill for the salmon. I imagine you already have the lemon and dill?”

Esther bit her lip and looked down coyly as both Bethany and Dani laughed. “Guess you’ve been planning on that salmon for a little while,” Dani teased. 

“I knew my big strong woman would get me a good salmon!” Esther retorted. “And since she loves me, I thought she’d be happy to grill it for me!”

“And she is,” Dani said, giving Esther another kiss. “As soon as she gets everything into the house and has a good night’s sleep.”

Grilled salmon

Ingredients:

• 1 lb skin-on salmon filet
• 1 lemon
• Large bunch fresh dill
• Salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste
• Cedar plank (a clean shingle works!)

Instructions:

1. Soak the plank in hot water for at least 1 hour. While you wait, slice the lemon into ~¼” slices, pinch off the fronds of the dill, and pat dry the salmon.
2. Preheat a grill to 350° – 400° F. 
3. Arrange the salmon on the plank and cover liberally with salt and pepper. Lay the lemon slices over about half of the surface of the filet, and cover the remaining area with the dill.
4. Grill the salmon on the plank until the flesh is cooked through and lemons begin to singe, about 15-20 minutes. 
5. Enjoy!