December 12, 2025

“Crabbies,” tonight’s Friday Happy Hour treat along with a predictably good Sancerre with carrot and celery sticks on a wintry night at #vanaprastha. Stories and recipe on my Substack tomorrow.

Last Friday’s snow was followed by Monday’s storm and another 4” of snow then a period of rain on Wednesday late afternoon and freezing cold. Schools closed. Keith and I stayed in most of the week but celebrated Friday Happy Hour as usual, this time with a recipe from Mrs. Taffel, my mother’s best friend who saved me, as you’ll read in Wisdom Builds Her House.

Note: I’ve always been able to find Kraft’s Old English Cheese, but not this time. So, an experiment. The result was okay, not as good. Goes that way sometimes.

“Crabbies” Yield: 72 bite-sized pieces

Ingredients:

½ cup butter softened

1 5-oz jar Old English Cheese, or sharp cheddar spreadable cheese (Pub Cheese available)

1½ tsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. garlic salt

Seasoned salt (scant)

7oz can crab meat, drained (6-oz available)

6 English muffins, split in half

Directions:

Place first 5 ingredients in mixer and blend. Add crabmeat and mix. Spread mixture on split muffins, place on cookie sheet, and freeze. When frozen, cut each muffin half into 6 wedges and bag; freeze until needed.

When ready to serve, take out what you need, place mixture-side up on cookie sheet, and broil until slightly browned and bubbly. Serve immediately. These can also be made and used immediately without freezing.

That’s it for today. Again, stay warm, active, and well fed. See you next week! -C.D.