We Saw a Bear

It is nice to have a place to go that is different from home. Where we live in the lowcountry it is flat. Hot. Marshy. So sometimes we head to a little cabin in the mountains...

where the air is dryer and cooler, there are ridges in the land, and best of all...

Mimi!

and the Captain

 and this time MeMaw too.

What do we do there? Read a lot. Eat a lot. Dig ditches and plant things and ride the train and go to town. We build towers, too, and stay up late to play games.

And we spend lots of time on the back porch rocking and swinging and waiting for something to happen. Sometimes there are deer, or wild turkey. At night there is just the sound of tree frogs and mysterious rustlings in the leaves. This time we saw a real bear, but I was not fast enough with my camera. We've seen bears at the cabin before, but this one was really big! He looked something like this:

I have always heard that bears love salmon, so I blame my mom's salmon spread for attracting him. It really is delicious. When I'm coming to visit she makes a big batch of it, and I can't ever get enough.

Salmon Spread

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

First

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix until just combined.
Next
Add the smoked salmon and mix with a spoon only, being careful to leave larger pieces of salmon. Chill and serve with celery, cucumber, or crackers.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and the Food Network.