Dinner last night was crab salad, white bean dip on garlic bread, and watermelon. The weather was rather cool, surprisingly, but this would be a perfect hot weather meal. No oven required. Yay! It's also simple and quick to put together.

For the bean dip you need some white beans, I used canned, just one can. A clove or two of garlic, some rosemary, olive oil, and lemon juice. I just eyeball the ingredients. Put it all in a food processor and process until smooth.

For the crab salad use about a pound of lump meat. Generally I wait until crab is on sale to make this because it can be expensive. I think it would work well with chicken salad as well. You mix the crab with some lemon juice, a little mayo, and seasoning of your choice. Being a Maryland girl I use Old Bay. Serve on a half an avocado.

See? Simple.

Dinner last night was awesome. The cherries I turned into a sauce with a bit of stock and butter. Very nice on the Cornish hens. We also had roasted asparagus. I do these in a hot oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Toss them with some salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Then the mashed potatoes, so simple and delicious. I make mine with heavy cream, not too much, divine.

I'm trying to think of other uses for the cherries. The book mentions drinks so I might try that. Any ideas?

Today I'm canning brandied sweet cherries. Maia pitted 3 pounds of cherries for me,fortunately for her we have a cherry pitter. Mixed up some brandy,sugar,red wine and orange zest and boiled it for a bit. Then added the cherries and boiled it a bit more. Now I'm waiting on the jars then I'll process them. I'm using the author suggested recipe tonight and making Cornish game hens adding some mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. I haven't decided whether I'm going to grill the hens or use the oven but I'm thinking oven. I'm a little worried that the cherries will be too boozy but I think the sugar will balance it out nicely.

When the processing is done I'm going to make some chocolate zucchini bread. Hopefully the kids won't find out what's in it. Perhaps I'll take a picture of dinner later.

Well that was quite the hiatus! Right now, with the summer months, my passions are cool foods and canning. This Saturday I'm preserving brandied cherries which I plan to serve with cornish game hens, or mini chickens as my son says. Last week I did strawberry preserves which Maia went crazy for. I'll leave you with this photo. It's not food, exactly, but it is pretty and makes me smile on my way into work.

Can't say I've gotten a lot of cooking done this summer. Lots of burgers and dogs on the grill. Tacos once a week. I'm going full time at work which means only 2 days to cook. There will certainly be some slow cooker meals when the weather cools down, soups and stews.

I do miss cooking though. The smell of food in the oven. Decorating cupcakes. Kneading bread dough. It's going to be weird cooking so few days a week. My daughter is taking over one of the days. She plans to start with Hamburger Helper but I'm going to try to convince her to attempt some recipes that are easy.

Crabs are a summer tradition in my family. When I was too little to pick my own my grandfather picked them for me. Poppy was a man that liked to keep his hands clean but he made an exception for crabs and just used a lot of paper towels. I remember him passing along sweet morsels of choice lump meat. Only the best for his little girl. When I was old enough, I'm thinking 6 or 7, he taught me to pick my own.

When I was a girl my grandparents lived on the water and we caught our own. Every morning we would go out and check the pots putting what we had caught in the live box. We also chicken necked for them which was a lot of fun. I would slowly pull the crabs up and Poppy would scoop them up with a net. When the box was full it was time to steam and enjoy.

I loved watching the crabs try to escape from the hot pot. Cruel, yes, but delightful to a 6 year old. Granny would load them up with old bay and the scent was heavenly. When they were done we would spread newspaper all over the table and dig in.

The house on the water is a thing of the past and Granny no longer steams them, they are bought that way. I'm older so a few beers replace the sweet coke and the taste is that much better. These gems were had at my parents home. Stuffed with meat they were the most amazing crabs I had in a long time. My husband is a master picker and leaves me looking like a big old crab waster. My 10 year old picks his own. The 13 year old didn't make it and missed out. Ha.

I miss my Poppy. I would have liked it if he could have taught my kids to pick. But when they were little he always picked out the choice lumps and passed them down to their chubby little fingers. I also wish that my Granny had been there but I get to go to the shore and see her in a few weeks.

Lots of things have changed in my life since those early days on the water. But crabs are still my favorite and I don't mind getting my hands messy at all.

Black Bean Corn Fritters

1/2c yellow cornmeal
1/2c all purpose flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne
1/2c milk
1 egg yolk
1c cooked black beans
1c grated sharp cheddar(4oz)
2tbs minced cilantro
1/2c fresh or frozen corn
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
2tbs diced green chili peppers(available canned)
2 egg whites
1/2c canola oil

Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne in a medium bowl.

Beat milk with egg yolk and add to dry ingredients, mixing well.

Stir in beans, cheese, corn, cilantro, red pepper and green chilies.

In another bowl beat egg whites with electric mixer(or by hand if you are less lazy than I) until stiff. Gently fold into batter.

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet(I like cast iron) over medium high heat.

Spoon in 1/4c batter for each fritter, making 3-4 at a time, Fry until golden, 3-5 minutes, then flip and fry other side. Drain on paper towels.

This recipe serves for an comes from the Beyond the Horn of the Moon cookbook.

I love to serve these with the salsa I posted earlier. We also eat them with sour cream. I like a nice green salad with lots of cucumber and grape tomatoes and goddess dressing.

WIth the weather warming up I'm not in love with cooking as much as I am in the colder months. These are nice as they do not heat the kitchen up too much.

Next week my meals include sloppy joes, flank steak on the grill, and a linguine with brie, tomato and basil . Nothing requires the oven and that makes me very, very happy. I do miss cupcakes, though.