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 #210 - Chocolte Crackles and Recipe #211 - Holiday Crab Dip

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 on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 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 210 and 211

My Mom's Chocolate Crackles and Holiday Crab Dip

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Or Getting close to it anyway.

 I know that some of you don't agree with that statement, but I have always enjoyed the process of the holiday season.  I like the planning and cooking and doing and wrapping and sending.

I am a pretty organized holiday person. 

That and I have a handyman who doesn't mind wrapping gifts--and he's better at it than I am.  He's kind of a perfectionist wrapper.  That stems from his first job at JCPenney's when he was hired for 'gift wrap' back in the day when you took your gifts to a certain station and they had the perfect box, perfect wrap and perfect bow.

Ahhh--the joy of leaving your gifts at the gift-wrap station and coming back two hours later after perusing the rest of the mall, picking them up and placing them under the tree. 

These holiday cookies and appetizer have been a part of my family for as long as I can remember.  My mom made them and now I do too.

While there are no holiday decorations in this cookie photo below, I have a feeling that I took them out of the freezer last January to snap a photo (yes, that's how long I've had things in my drafts!).  I also thought that cookies and coffee go well with books.  And they do!

I think these brownie like cookies look snow dusted --- the Handyman says they look like something our dog leaves behind  in a snowy backyard. (sigh)  He does not have a romantic view of anything!

They are a great cookie--and he loves them.  They are seriously like a powdered sugar dusting brownie--in cookie form.

CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Mix together oil, melted chocolate, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix well. Chill 2 hours.
Form dough into small balls, the size of a walnut and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Or use parchment paper or silpats.
Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
10 minutes for chewy cookies, 12 minutes for crispy cookies.
*****

The dough freezes well also. To make it really easy on you, make into balls and freeze on a cookie sheet (before rolling in powdered sugar of course) and then store in Ziploc freezer bag. To bake, remove as many balls as you need from the freezer and let thaw for 30 minutes, then roll in sugar and bake.

Very good and chocolaty and chewy.

 There are so many variations of Holiday Crab dips--this one is just a spread, that you use with crackers, but it's so good.  Anything with cream cheese is, isn't it?

The Handyman doesn't have anything derogatory to say about this dish--he's too busy scrapping it up and putting it in his mouth!

I took some license with my mom's Holiday Crab Dip, because I am positive she didn't mean to mix it all together.  I feel sure of this because I've had it before.  She mixes the cream cheese, mayo and garlic powder together and spreads the cocktail sauce on top and then sprinkles the crab.  (I also added a sprinkle of cheddar cheese--but just a tad)

This is my mom's 35th appearance in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.

I've probably mentioned this 100 times, but my dad was in law enforcement. He was on the Police Department the whole time I was growing up,  He was head of Hanford Patrol at the Hanford Nuclear Site, when he had young grandchildren and in his last career he did private investigative work.

So it seems only fitting that they should have attended the International Law Enforcement Olympics in Australia in the early 1990's. 

My dad and a couple of his friends walked in the opening ceremonies and they all attended a few events to cheer on the Americans.

My mom said that she's never felt safer in her entire life-- with a stadium full of law-enforcement!

But the thing she loved the most during that holiday  (see, I can bring this right around to the theme of the cookbook countdown--I said holiday instead of vacation! ) was being able to hold a Koala Bear.  She even  had a special shirt for the occasion. Her Koala Bear shirt.

She also petted a kangaroo.  Or a wallaby.  I'm not sure what this is.

She is not smiling like she was with the Koala Bear--you never know when these things will kick the **** out of you!

My parents came back from their trip abroad raving about Australia and New Zealand.  They loved their time spent there.

It was safe and cuddly. 

That's my story!

This is recipe #'s 210 and 211 only 156 left to go!