I know for a lot of people getting a haircut is no big deal, but I wear my hair up to cook and just because it bugs me, so I don’t see the point in having someone try to make it look good. On top of that, there is way too much mirror at a hair salon. I don’t ever need to see that much Faye. The thing is, remember before you ever had a boyfriend you would say to yourself, if I had a boyfriend, what the heck would I say to him? And then you got a decent one, and it was a bit of stepping through a swamp at first but then you felt like you couldn’t live without him? I found a good stylist. He knows what he is doing, he doesn’t make a big deal about it, and he offered me something to drink. I may even go twice a year.

Fish is like that. If you are picking up rock solid, plastic wrapped fish in the freezer section and thinking, why would anyone in their right mind want to eat this? It is time to change. Fresh fish, fish that was swimming the same day you eat it, or at least in the last few days, is different. It tastes good.

When you look at it, it looks like it may even still be living. It has a healthy glow, plump, and if it’s whole it should have clear eyes and red gills. If they guy lets you smell it before you buy it, it should smell almost sweet. One of my favorite ways to have a salmon steak–a very non threatening thing to buy if you’re trying to get back to fish–is to sear it in a hot pan with your best olive oil and a whole garlic clove. When you flip the fish to the other side (and try to flip it only once) add a few sprigs of thyme. Right before it’s done (it should still be a little pink in the middle), add a squeeze of lime. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. I made new potatoes to go with it, just boiled them in a little salted water with a spill of olive oil until they were tender, tossed them with fresh parsley, toasted cumin and coriander, salt, more olive oil, and a little more lime juice. I served it with a bitter greens salad.
When you get something the way it should be, you get why it’s worth getting.