Fathers Day, Crabs and Hushpuppies

It's Fathers Day weekend, so like most moms out there in blogland, I am busy worshipping the Father of My Children. It's his weekend, so he gets to do what he wants and eat what he wants. Last night, he wanted to pick crabs. Since this was going to be dinner, I whipped up some dessert and hushpuppies to go along with the crabs. (Dessert turned out great, but that's for another post!)

Picking crabs takes a long time, and when all is said and done, you really don't get THAT much meat, but what you do get sure is good! There's nothing better than Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs, and that's the truth! Pair them with some fluffy balls of fried cornbread with Vidalia Onion and man, oh, man, that's good eatin'! I don't know if you can get some Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs to pick where you are, but I know you can make these hushpuppies. They were light and fluffy, with a crispy crust and surprisingly easy to make!

Crabs & hush puppies with all the fixin's!

Hushpuppies
2/3 c. yellow cornmeal
1/3 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 heaping T. minced Vidalia Onion
1 tsp. hot sauce (I used Texas Pete)
1/3 c. milk
2 large eggs
vegetable oil for frying

Mix together your dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, hot sauce and onions. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix well.
 In a large, heavy skillet, heat about 1 to 1 1/2" vegetable oil until hot. The oil is ready when you drip a little bit of the batter in and it starts to sizzle immediately and floats to the surface. Drop the batter by rounded spoonfuls into the hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan -- keep an inch or two between each hushpuppy.

Cook them for a minute or 2 on each side, flipping them once, until they are lightly browned and crisp looking. Drain them on paper towels. I like to eat them with butter, but my guys like to dip them into catsup and sprinkle on a little extra hot sauce.

Hush Puppies draining on paper towels

And while I am posting on Fathers Day, I can't forget to mention my dad. Long gone, but not forgotten. He was a nice guy.

My dad, with his mom, going off to boot camp at age 17

That's him and his mom, circa 1941, right after he finished high school early, so he could enlist in the army and serve in WWII. He was a career army officer, who came up through the ranks and served his country in 3 wars, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. Love you, Dad!