August (Charles)

Herb’s Crab Dip

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 (6 ounce) cans crabmeat (but preferably use fresh crabmeat)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Paprika, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Cheddar cheese, crabmeat, lemon juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Transfer to a shallow 9x13 inch baking dish. Garnish with paprika.

Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

Gastrography
If you have never gone crabbing, I suggest you head to the grocery store, buy some chicken gizzards and string, and head on down to a dock because it is the best. There are a couple of methods to crabbing. You can go with the slow and patient method in which you tie the gizzard onto a long string and then lower the string into the water until it hits the ground. Once you start feeling tugs on the string, slowly start winding it in and have a friend snag the crab on the gizzard once it gets near the surface with a net. Another method is to get a crab net that lies flat on the bottom of the creek and just randomly pull it up every now and then trapping the crabs inside. However, my favorite method is to combine these two. My parents live right on Charleston Harbor and we have a long dock that is perfect for crabbing. At mid-tide I go down on the dock with a friend. One person mans the big net and the other the stringed gizzard. The water is shallow enough so that you can actually see the crabs on the bottom, and you essentially try to lure them into the big net with the gizzard. It is so much fun and extremely effective. Last time my friend Emily and I went crabbing off my dock we caught fifteen blue crabs in a little over an hour.

This recipe is actually Emily’s dad’s recipe. Herb is a man of the sea who sells electrical wiring for buildings during the week and lives on his boat on the weekends. This being said, he has some great seafood recipes.