How was your Mother’s Day? What did you do? Even you men out there, what did you do for either your mom or your wife?

My Mother’s Day was super lovely. But it was also a little bittersweet in that I cannot believe how much time has passed and how grown my boys are, as tears well up in my eyes. They are tears of happiness, yes, but also a reminder of a time gone by. How did they grow up so fast? The many memories of Mother’s Days when they were little, all make me smile. Oh yes, I am ready for grandchildren, but I’m not nearly old enough to be a grandmother, right???

I am so proud of my boys – they have grown up to be fine young, polite, fun men. They both have chosen wonderful women to be with. The older one and his fiancée own a townhouse in Brooklyn with a backyard and 3 large London Plane trees they planted. They have done an incredible job on renovating this house and yard. They still have a lot to do but to sit outside in a backyard in NYC and barbecue on beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon with a special cocktail he made me — well it just doesn’t get much better than that – except if my other son and his fiancée could have been there too, but they are still in Poland.

They greeted me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Kate made an amazing pear pie – with a heart on top! All of dinner was done on the grill. It started with an appetizer of barbecued baby back ribs, then grilled hanger steak, done to perfection, some smashed potatoes, and grilled baby Brussels sprouts. But the pie, oh my, most of us had seconds.
Not too sweet with a super flakey, buttery crust – the girl can really bake! How lucky am I!

So this past Friday night, we arrived upstate and decided, for once, we were going to go out to eat at a local restaurant, the Stissing House, right near our home. And wouldn’t you know it, they were completely booked and wouldn’t take us! So fortunately, before we left the city, I threw a can of salmon in our bags – just in case – as I had nothing else except for some sugar snap peas.

After being rejected from the Stissing House, here’s what I threw together with what I had in the pantry and it was darn good. I really wanted some milk or heavy cream to mix with the salmon juice for the sauce but I had nothing, I didn’t even have any sour cream or yogurt, or crème fraiche so I reached for the mayo and it turned out great! And just recently I came across an article about cooking with mayo – so here’s my contribution!
This came together so quickly. The only thing that takes time is cleaning the sugar snap peas so do that first. The rest can all be done while you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil and cooking the fettuccine. While I made this on a Friday night, this is a perfect weeknight meal simply because it is so very quick and easy.

FETTUCCINE WITH SALMON AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS – serves 3 – 4

1 lb. sugar snap peas, strings removed and washed
1½ Tbs. olive oil
1 14.75 oz. can of pink salmon (use red sockeye if you can find it – my Mom always said that was better!)
½ lb. fettuccine
Coarse sea salt
1 Tbs. capers, drained
5 Tbs. mayonnaise
Fresh ground pepper

Drain the capers.

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Salt generously when it comes to a boil and cook your pasta. Check at 2 minutes less than the package instructions. When done, save some pasta water and drain the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, warm the olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and sauté until bright green and crisp tender, about 4 minutes.

Drain the canned salmon and save the juices in a small bowl. Whisk the mayonnaise into the juice. Remove the skin from the salmon and discard. Flake the salmon and crush the bones with your fingers.

Place the hot pasta in a large shallow bowl. Add in the salmon, sautéed sugar snap peas and the mayo/juice combo along with 1 – 2 Tbs. hot pasta water and toss to combine. Add fresh ground pepper to taste along with the capers and toss again.

Serve immediately in shallow bowls, with LOVE, and enjoy!