My husband and I rented the Dragon’s Lodge for our wedding back in 2011 and it’s one of my favorite places on earth.  It sits on the Salish Sea across from the Coast Mountains.  It has a beautiful little bay with a natural tidal pool for small children to play in and a nice deep area to jump into and properly swim.  This spot has been made all the more special because this will make the third year in a row that my family has had it’s reunion there.  I have a spectacularly excellent extended family, filled with strong beautiful women, kind and clever children and folks who literally bring home the moose, elk, salmon, vegetables from their garden, beloved sourdough starters and lovingly crafted cocktails.

This photo gallery of my mother and just a couple of my beautiful cousins are all images from two years ago, as is the recipe I’m going to share.  Better late than never!  My cousin Leah,  pictured above with the beautiful hair,  is a master sourdough bread baker!

There are way fewer men in my family and even fewer than that who will tolerate having their photo taken.  But here is my Cousin Amy’s husband, Reg, making his famous burgers pictured with the freezer full of wild meat we had the pleasure of consuming that summer.

The teenagers in my family were getting up every morning to forage for fresh clams and oysters.  Don’t worry, we have an actual fisheries official in the family who made sure they were doing it legally and safely.  Some of those oysters became the following dish, which I created in honor of my little sister’s 30th birthday!  It is one of the simplest dishes I’ve ever come up with, but very delicious.  I think it would work with other kinds of plums just as well.

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH GREEN GAGE PLUM AND SHISO RELISH

• Fresh oysters that are tightly closed
• ripe green gage plums, chopped (try some other kind of plum and tell me how it is!)
• fresh shiso leaf, minced

Place the oysters, cup side down on a hot grill.  Grill for about 2 minutes or until the oysters open.  Discard any that don’t open in response to the heat (it means they were dead).  Combine the plums and the shiso leaf to make a relish and garnish each oyster with about a half teaspoon of it.

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