On yesterday's todo list was making a new batch of body butter to fill a special request. I'm not quite done tinkering with the recipe but it's been a great success so far and has been very helpful for my extremely dry skin. I also wanted to try out some new recipes I'd found for a lavender scented foot butter and some cuticle cream scented with Egyptian geranium (sort of a floral scent). The new recipes seem great so far but I need to find some bitsy containers to subdivide my batch.

Jason pretty much always claims to like whatever I have cooked and if there's ever been something he didn't like he wouldn't admit it. Last night's dinner, however, was a big hit. He said it could be served in a restaurant which is something I've heard on only a few occasions. I used this recipe to make my pumpernickel bread which turned out well though it really could have risen a bit longer.

Salmon Nicoise

salmon filets
arugula
1 preserved lemon
pitted nicoise olives
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot
juice of a lemon
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Season the salmon with salt and pepper and pan fry until just cooked through. Chop the preserved lemon discarding any seeds and stir together with olives, onions, shallot, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings. Serve salmon atop arugula drizzled with the olive mixture.