In the spirit of a long-standing tradition of the WildLink Family Weekend, several of our participants shared some of their favorite family recipes and the stories behind them. Read on to learn their stories and how to make their favorite dishes!

Spanish Stuffed Salmon

Who is in your family? Ruth, Yolanda, Tony and Mathew

Where does it come from? This is my grandmother’s recipe. It is from Spain.

What is the story behind this dish? Mother Yolanda learned from her mom, who learned from her mother, who resided in Madrid, Spain.

Ingredients:
1 whole Alaskan King Salmon (headless)
1 16 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 whole bell pepper
1 whole onion
2 lemons
Lawry’s garlic salt
Pepper (to taste)

Preparation:
Stuff salmon cavity with ¾ stewed tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and onions, one entirely squeezed lemon, sprinkle garlic salt and pepper to taste. Close salmon. On top of salmon pour remaining lemon in circles on top of salmon. Again sprinkle pepper and garlic salt to taste. Wrap entire salmon in foil and place on cooking sheet in oven at 350 degrees. Bake 30 minutes according to size of fish. Check tenderness of fish with fork. When salmon is flaky and tender, open foil and continue to cook for 10 minutes.

Banana Waffles

Who is in your family? Fred and Julene, John, Jenni, Joyce, Julianne, Janelle & Jill

Where does it come from? This is my mom’s recipe. It is from America.

What is the story behind this dish?
My mom hates to waste food, so she came up with the idea of using overripe bananas to make waffles instead of banana nut bread. She started doing this when I was a toddler, and it became a Saturday morning tradition to have banana waffles while listening to kids’ programs on the radio (we didn’t have a tv). My older sister started making them a few years ago with various fruits, and we enjoy them other days of the week, too.

Ingredients:
2 ripe mashed bananas (other fruit options are applesauce, chopped fresh apples, fresh berries, cranberry sauce(with whole berries!), canned or fresh peaches. Use your imagination and experiment!)
2 eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk (can also be sour or buttermilk)
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour (use ½ whole wheat, ½ white)

Preparation:

Mash bananas in mixing bowl. (We use an 8 cup Tupperware mix and store for this; it makes pouring the waffle batter easier). Add eggs, oil and milk in any order and mix well. Add salt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and baking powder, and mix well. Add flour and mix well again. Batter should be thin enough to pour easily. If it seems too thick, add water until it is thin enough. (Add water in small amounts—maybe a ½ cup at a time). Can be topped with syrup, yogurt, etc.; we also just eat them plain or with just butter.