Man, I’m thinking about dipping nets in the Copper River today. Salmon from that river is in the markets already, that unmistakable sign of summer. I drove to Costco last Friday only to watch another shopper snatch the last fillet ($13.99 a pound!). Luckily a friend had me over and we ate it, hot off the charcoal grill, the way you should do.

Kim Sunée is clearing out the last little bits of last year’s bounty to make room for this year, using her frozen blueberries in this new recipe for cream cheese Bundt cake. It’s a perfect dish to bring when you get invited to dinner.

Should you get your hands on some salmon and want to think outside of the old grill routine, you might try a pan sear or you could throw it under the broiler with a birch syrup glaze.

[Read previous newsletters here. Find more Alaska recipes here.]

Unrelated, but: HOW DID THE RHUBARB SUDDENLY GET SO BIG? Who knows? But let’s make some rhubarb barbecue sauce. And, perhaps, a rhubarb-basil smash?