“Would you rather saw off your own arm pinched in a boulder, or eat some crazy salad?”

“Um…eat the salad?”

“Oh good, I thought you were gonna say saw your arm off.”

As of late, B and I’s latest obsesh is creating scenarios such as these, while speaking in the voice of Harry Carey (Will Ferrell’s version, anyway). This phrase was uttered by Bryan and was very reflective of the weekend’s happenings.

Around the dinner table, my family will often play a little game called High/Low. Where you go around the table and say the high and low point of your day.

Here’s mine for the weekend:

High: Dinner at Osteria with the Elevated Grounds coffee crew. Campari, wine, chocolate cake shots consumed.

Low: Laying on the bathroom floor next to the toilet after Osteria (maja food baby + shots = bad idea). I had a towel under me though so it’s coo.

High: Hanging out with Matt + Holly and watching the Hangover. “Next week’s no good for me. The Jonas Brothers are in town.” Bahahaha. Here is Matt and Holly at dinner (nobody saw, I promise.)

Low: Unsuccessfully trying to break into the hot tub at  Hotel Terra with our Albertson’s cards using the drunk-logic that maybe “they were just swipe-activated”. We got in though, thanks to a friendly couple.

High: Watching “127 Hours”. Holy balls. Gory and magnificent.

Low: Watching “The Ring Two”. Don’t judge ok?

High: Pounding out 4.5 miles on the Elk Refuge with the wind in our hair.

Low: Drinking Pedialyte + H2O cocktails all weekend. This stuff WORKS  on monster hangovers guys. Don’t wait for the Mythbusters to come out.

The biggest high of all?

B and I decided to recreate our ultra-memorable gastronomical experience at Seattle landmark, Canlis. We prepared the world-renowned Canlis salad as well as scratch-made crab cakes.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THIS SALAD: Do not take the ingredient notes lightly guys. If you want to enjoy this salad in its purest form, follow this recipe to the T. Get all Iron Chef about it.

The Canlis Salad

(serves 4 to 6)

Salad

• 1 large head Romaine hearts, cut into 1″ pieces
• (Wash individual leaves in warm water, drain and dry in colander then chill in refrigerator. Don’t ever, ever toss a Canlis Salad with warm or wet leaves!!)
• 8 cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup very well done chopped bacon
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mint*
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced oregano leaves
• 1/2 cup croutons*
• kosher salt and fresh ground tellicherry black pepper to taste

Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground tellicherry black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 coddled egg*

Ingredient notes:

Mint – you can’t use too much mint (experiment yourself)

Coddled Egg – Pour boiling water into a cup and put a whole egg (in the shell) into the hot water , let sit for 1 minute. You may substitute with pasteurized egg mixture (found in the dairy section in cartons).

Croutons – We make our own croutons. Butter and Italian seasoning.

Directions:

To make the dressing, put the salt and pepper, lemon juice, oil, and coddled egg in a bowl and whip vigorously, then reserve. To a salad bowl add the prepared Romaine, green onion, cheese, bacon, oregano, and mint. Pour dressing over salad and toss thoroughly. Split the salad on to four chilled plates and arrange croutons, a sprinkle of Romano cheese and halved cherry tomatoes on the salad to finish the presentation.

We loosely followed the crab cake recipe on the back of the can, but modified it so we used some of the ingredients we had on hand.

Crab Cakes

• 1 16oz. canned claw crab meat
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbs mayonnaise
• 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 2 tbs finely chopped green onion
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tbs Old Bay
• 1/2 cup Panko

Directions

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients except crabmeat and oil; blend well. Gently fold in crabmeat; avoid breaking lumps of crabmeat. Using an ice-cream scoop, shape cakes into little patties. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Gently add the crab cakes; fry each side until deep golden brown (about 4 to 5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

All together now…

What is the best restaurant meal you’ve ever had?