Friday Friend Recipe #218 and #219 -Seafood Spread/Seafood Salad

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends . At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 19 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus so much more....)

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipes 218 and 219

Seafood Spread or Seafood salad

(it's the same exact recipe with a different name, turned in by my mom and my friend Georgann)

Seafood Salad

Bev Hambelton-Kennewick, WA

Bread/Crab Spread

Georgann Beavers- San Leandro, CA

1 cup minced celery

1 large loaf of white sandwich bread

1 can of crab

2 cans of shrimp

1/2 minced onion

4 boiled eggs, cut up fine

2 cups mayo

juice of large lemon

Drain seafood.  Cut crust off bread.  Butter one side of each slice. Cube.  Mix with onions, eggs, & celery.  Chill overnight.  4 hours before serving, add the rest and mix.

Serve with assorted crackers.

I made an executive decision--and since I'm the only executive around here, it stands!

Since I've just done recipes and stories about Georgann and my mom, and even tho this recipe is theirs, this is #219 and I still have 148 to go, and stories are becoming hard for me.  

Since the main ingredient is seafood, I am segueing into my seafood dinner house story.

I'm taking literary license, if you will.

By the way, this seafood spread (or salad if you're my mom) is really good. I would definitely recommend it to take to a superbowl party!

Funny thing about me--I have this fascination with supper clubs.

I even own this coffee table book (I also have a fascination with coffee table books.  It's a fun fact about me!  *eye roll* )

In my fantasy life, I own a soup restaurant called "Ahhh--some Soups" and it is so popular that there is no menu, but a choice of 5 soups that I make each morning.  The soup varies of course--and there are not sandwiches but toasts--don't groan, it's MY fantasy.

And instead of a bowl of chips (like in Mexican restaurants) or a basket of bread or breadsticks ( like at Italian restaurants) the server would immediately bring a dish of 'relishes' like carrots, celery, pickles and stuff like that---midwestern stuff!  I'm not even midwestern, but we always had a tray of those types of 'relishes' when we had a big holiday dinner or family get together.  

  And everyone would get a homemade cookie at the end of their meal.  Maybe a basket of assorted homemade cookies.

There would be a fireplace in there and a big screen TV somewhere --hidden but able to be brought out to play black and white classic movies at the right time.  Just like they show sports shows in bars.

I'm getting really specific aren't I? 

My place would be very trendy and unique.

 Like I said--my fantasy life.

A few years ago a  few friends and I flew to Minnesota to see our friend Mitzi and we happened to stop and eat at this fish house. Which is similar to  a supper club in my mind...…

And see?!  They just brought out pickles with the 'not' garlic bread!  The bread was good, but I'm not sure what was on it.  BUT PICKLES!

Pickles and bread and wine and friends!

The best!

Larry and Mitzi, me, Jolina, April, Shelly and Doug.

And supper club salads on a fish plate!
Supper club salads are --lettuce.  With a slice of tomato and cucumber and maybe an onion.

We from the west side of the U.S., laughed at the "and booze" on the sign and

the menu and the napkin. Booze must be an important thing to serve.

Shelly peering around the corner from our table, wondering what I was doing.  I was taking a picture of the fish house!  Notice the fish nets hung from around the ceiling.  and the big sword fish?  I'm not sure how accurate the sword fish was to the region. Do they have sword fish in the Mississippi River?

It was fun supper club décor!

We had a great time in Minnesota -- they'll be more stories about that trip in the future I'm sure, but one of the highlights was having fish at a fish house with friends!

Which I feel, segued nicely back to this seafood spread recipe.

And then baring my soul about my fantasy life soup restaurant. 

Supper club?  Fish House? Dinner House? Dinner Club?  Fish Fry?

It's all semantics...or is it?

Let's see what makes a supper club: 

Note Number 2 and number 6.  I can do those at my Soup Club (themed around a supper club, but unique and  one of a kind)--and I can call you "Hon" (even tho I hate that--another fun fact about me!)

This is recipe #218 and #219 only 148 left to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #217 - Spinach Salad no.4

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 19 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #217

My Mom's Spinach Salad

This is Spinach Salad #4 in the Friday Friend Cookbook.  You really can't go wrong with a salad of any kind--that is unless you don't eat greens.  

Now days you can buy spinach any time of year, but it still reminds me of early spring--a salad we would have when the buds were just starting to appear on the lilac bushes.  In my mind a spinach salad is a sure sign of spring!

Spinach Salad

Bev Hambelton

Kennewick, WA

6-8 cups spinach

1 cup sliced celery

2 cans drained mandarin oranges

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup nuts

1/2 cup sliced red onion

dressing:

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 oil

2 T orange juice

2 T honey  or 3T sugar

Mix first 6 ingredients together in a bowl.  In a jar, mix dressing ingredients. Shake well.  Just before serving, add dressing and nuts.

********

My mom was a stay at home mom until I entered the 7th grade. Then she went back to work--I don't think she had any career aspirations, I think it was mostly financial at the time, but she was a good worker and she found her niche as a Optometrist's  receptionist and assistant. She could spot bad fitting glasses at 50 yards--and wouldn't even watch a certain TV channel's local news because the newscaster had 'bad fitting' glasses, and it bugged her something awful.

My mother first worked for Drs. Nelson and Elson

Then Vista Optical

Then Dr. Coburn  (seen below)

and she finished her career in the 'eye' field at Duane's Optical.

One time while at work at Duane's Optical, my mother-in-law, walked in for her appointment.  The foyer was full of patients and my MIL walked up to the counter and said in a loud voice "Oh my, are these your grandchildren?"  (my mother had pictures of my boys on her desk) and my mother say, "why yes they are."   My MIL exclaimed, "Goodness, I have never seen such attractive children!"  

My mom answered,  "Well yes they are, aren't they?"

My mother-in-law came back with, "I just can't get over how beautiful they are!"

This went back and forth a couple more times while the patients waiting looked on in wonder -- wondering why that lady is gushing over random kids on the receptionists desk, when finally my mom let them in on the joke.  She said "We share grandchildren."  And as the story goes, everyone waiting for their appointment chuckled and guffawed.  (there were probably only 2 people waiting, but it made them smile.)

Below are two photos of the grandmothers of my children--- 39 years ago at my oldest son's baptism picnic. (what?  your kids didn't have a baptism picnic?  weird.)

and then upper left and lower right (2 aunts are also pictured) --18 years ago at my middle son's graduation dinner.

They love their grandchildren! 

While searching for photos to put into this story--I came across a few of what must have been a time when they 'updated' the examining rooms at Dr. Coburn's office.  They are funny to see -- it doesn't look a think like my optometrist's office today. What the heck is that floor lamp doing in an examining room? 

Loved the style of glasses then!

That's my story!

This is recipe #217 only 150 left to go!