Orange-Glazed Salmon, Routines and Teaching

What do you get when you let brown sugar and orange marmalade mingle with Cajun spices and cuddle up to salmon? A perfect blend of sweet and spicy. And a perfect weeknight meal after a full day, a full week, I should say.

I "survived" my first week of teaching full-time. I have to admit, I'm a bit out of practice, both the full-time thing and the teaching thing. But by the end of the week, I was finding a new rhythm.

I miss my morning walks with Mr. Rosemary and I miss -- I can't believe I'm really saying this -- cleaning out the horse stalls every morning.  I guess I just miss my regular routine.

And I really miss cooking . . . . and blogging.  I just haven't cooked as much this past week.  All I could manage were quick hurry-up-and-get-it-on-the-table kind of meals.

After just one week, I have a new respect for bloggers who have full-time jobs and children and volunteer work and social lives and still manage to not only cook and bake but write about it and photograph it -- a couple times a week or more!

I think I may need to do some serious time management retooling.

I did make one delicious salmon dinner, though, and I got it from the Cuisine at Home.  It was very simple, very fast, and very good.  Enough said.

While I was cooking this, though, I got the thought that cooking was a lot like teaching.  Before I lose you completely, let me explain:  I have four classes of high school sophomores and even though we're all reading the same book, even though I'm using the same study guide information, I have very different experiences with these kids each day.

Doesn't that happen often with cooking?  Same ingredients, same method of cooking, and sometimes, very different results.  A different brand of pasta or canned tomatoes can make a dish taste just a bit different than the last time you made it with another brand.  Or the veggies weren't quite as fresh, or you had to use dried herbs instead of fresh.  Get what I'm saying here?  Same information, different group of kids, different discussion, different results.

The kids are great.  And when you see that something you've said really did sink in, when you see understanding in what were confused eyes, when they greet your homework assignment with a blank stare but then produce some insightful analysis, well, that makes the sometimes boring dinners tolerable. At least for now.

Off to make a lesson plan for better cooking this week.

Orange-Glazed Salmon
only slightly adapted from Cuisine at Home
Makes 4 fillets

3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons lime juice

Combine Cajun seasoning, sugar and salt. Rub over all surfaces of fillets.
Saute fillets in oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat for 3--4 minutes.  Turn and saute an additional 2--3 minutes.
Blend marmalade and lime juice.  Swirl in skillet until melted. Carefully turn fish to glaze on all sides.  Salmon is done when it begins to flake when tested with a fork.  Serve with  lime wedges.