Washington. Coastal state = seafood love.

Named after George, this is another coastal state. Without Washington, there wouldn’t be Microsoft, soft-serve ice cream, Amazon, or Starbucks. It’s home to 5 active volcanoes, 215 state parks, and 6 national forests. The first Beatles song played in the US was on a radio station in Seattle.

In the US, Washington is the number one producer of apples, pears, sweet cherries, and red raspberries. Apples are always a big part of our family summer activities but we decided not to choose apples since we made apple crisp for Minnesota. And anyway, I’m the one choosing all the meals around here, so of course that meant seafood. Salmon to be exact, grilled on cedar planks. Since Washington is one of the biggest salmon producers in the US, that’s what we choose to make.

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Grilling with wood? Not a fire hazard if you soak it first.

We had a rather hard time finding cedar planks since it had to be untreated. We started prepping the cedar planks (once we got them) five hours earlier. I know, I know. Five hours for some planks? Eli, you're crazy!! Really, all that happened was the following: we got a cookie sheet, filled it with water, and plopped the planks in the pan.

After our five hours of letting the planks sit, we cut the fillets and started the glaze.

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Eating off wood. We're roughin' it...

First, we brushed the fillets with melted butter. Then we sprinkled salt, pepper, and dry mustard on the fillets. Next, a coating of honey and balsamic vinegar. The fillets were ready for the grill.

Dad heated up the grill and threw the planks on to prep them for the fillets. 3 minutes later, we flipped the planks over and added the salmon on top. Every three minutes during the grilling we added some more glaze onto the fillets. Continue cooking for 20 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.

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...yet we still served it on plates.

We cook salmon often but I've never had salmon taste quite like this. In a great way that is. You could definitely notice that the cedar planks were used in the grilling process. The salmon fillets had a cedar taste that worked well with the honey-balsamic glaze.

We’re definitely going to be having salmon done this way next time we have the fish. It's the best way I've ever had salmon, and I know dad agrees with me on that one. It's flavor was outstanding but not as kingly as my favorite SoMP dish so far: the Deep-Dish Pizza.

Will next week's food dethrone the king? Bomp-bomp-BAAAAAA!