A Crabby Birthday Dinner

 

A Crabby Birthday Dinner

Happy to have had left the February 1960 snow covered tundra in Milwaukee and cruising along in the gas guzzling Buick that I brought to the marriage, we were on our honeymoon. Destination – Florida! We stopped to have dinner in Georgia and ordered crab. We’re from the midwest and knew nothing about crab = freshwater perch, we knew. When asked if we would like crackers with our crab, my new husband let the waiter know that the bread was enough! Hard to crack crab shells with bread!

It’s another February. It’s 1967 and we’re settled in Northern California. Cousin Katie had taken us, the newcomers, under her wing and it was lovely and so was she. She invited us to have dinner at her comfortable, welcoming home up the peninsula. She served cold, cracked Dungeness crab, crisp salad, crusty sour dough bread and the most delicious sauce – herbed mayonnaise! Recipe to follow. Still didn’t know much about crab, but we were really quick learners! We learned to love it!

Now it’s January, 2026. When asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I had no problem asking for a crab feast at my house. My former flipping (flipping houses - not a derogatory term for him) partner and very dear friend, and his wife came with pounds and pounds of fresh cracked crab and bottles of chilled Chardonnay. It was quite a feast enjoyed with my son and daughter-in-law. We are never unhappy that my daughter-in-law doesn’t eat crab. “Let her eat hot wings.”

We’ve come a long way since that dinner in Georgia when we turned down crackers – implements to crack the shells. And not to be spread with cheese. I’ve seen the prices go from 69 cents a pound to $19 per pound in the last 60 years. The season is short and so is life, so pay for what you want - it’s worth it!

Henry’s comment: They all think it odd that I’m am not crazy about crab. I much prefer pate. How do I know I like pate? I helped myself to some on the appetizer spread on the coffee table!

Herbed Mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/8 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. fines herbs or salad herbs

1 1/2 tsp. grated onion

1 1/2 tsp. chopped chives or green onion tops

1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

a couple of shakes of garlic salt to taste

Bon Appetit!