Ok- I am sending this from one airplane that is half-way from New York to Seattle (just a breezy little 6.5 hour flight) and then I am going to unpack and turn around and get on another flight to Greece tomorrow morning. I have some strategies for this whole situation, but PLEASE let me know if you have any advice or recommendations.

I am going to go for a long walk when I get home- like an hour so that I get my blood flowing and un “cramp” my body from sitting in weird contorted positions for so long. Then, I am going to go to my sisters house and mooch food for dinner so I don’t have to cook. Then, I am going to stay on East Coast time (where I have been getting up between 5:30-8:30am ET every morning anyways.) So, I think that means going to be really early (like 7-8) and getting up at like 3:30-4am PT (just hear me out!) and then taking another walk and maybe force the kids to go with me to get their little legs all stretched out! Then, when we get on a 1:30pm PT flight we will be exhausted and want go to sleep for like 6-7 hours? What do you think? Have I just over thought the whole thing? I just need us all to sleep on the plane because we hit the ground running in Athens and will have to stay up another 6-8 hours. OK, please!!! any thoughts???

Don’t worry- I have a ton of recipes stored up for you while I am gone, but I will be on Instagram big time, so you should follow along with my European vacation!! We are a week in Athens, a week on Mykonos and then a week between Florence and Rome. By request, I am showing you not only what we will be eating (My GOD it’s good food) but also lots more lifestyle action including an outfit a day!!) If you are not instagram, you should join!!!

And TOO exciting- I am going to do a Facebook Live on Saturday morning while I cook with my husbands Auntie in her apartment in Greece and show you the crazy authentic spread that she is making for all of us- It should be fun!! (I will post here and on Facebook with the exact time later this week)

Ok- now onto the food! This recipe is just basically taking the two most glorious assets ever from the Pacific Northwest and combining them into the most wonderful dish.

You guys already know how obsessed I am with all of the ripe gorgeous cherries (even growing in my backyard right now!!) that are in season and hello beautiful salmon, fresh from the Pacific. Seattle has ample amount of both (thank GOD!) and I can’t get enough of either.

This dish also happens to be incredibly easy and is so beautiful that you could serve this for a party (Or Fathers Day?! Yum!)

And if grilling is more your thing, you could also cook the salmon on the grill and then just top with the honey glazed cherries- obviously also completely delicious.

I would serve this salmon with this AMAZING salad and baby potatoes or this quinoa salad!

To make this Balsamic Roasted Salmon with Honey Glazed Cherries, this is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the cherries from their pits and set them aside.

Put a sheet of tin foil on a sheet pan. Place your side of salmon on the foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and the balsamic and sprinkle generously with salt.

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and place the salmon in the oven. Cook for 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon and then remove and let sit a minute before serving. (if you are going to transfer to a serving platter, it is fairly easy to move the whole side of salmon as one piece if you use two large spatulas.

While the Salmon is roasting, make the honey glazed cherries.

In a medium pan, combine the olive oil and the honey. Bring them to a simmer and then add the cherries. Let them simmer for a few minutes and then add the balsamic. Simmer for a minute longer and then turn the heat off (you don’t want the cherries to start to fall apart). Season lightly to taste with kosher salt and then serve the cherries over the top of the salmon.