Of Crabs and Cookbooks

The other day my neighbor texted me to ask me if I wanted to buy fresh live crab. Her regular crab vendor (yes, she has one!) was there and still had a few crabs left. Now, even if the kids and I love crab, I never cook it at home. My mother-in-law makes the best crab for Sunday lunches, and my own mom will occasionally have Thanh Long style crab at Sunday dinners. Between the two moms, my kids are I are crab-spoiled.

The first cookbook, which we like to call "The Silver Edition"

After three printings, it's finally out of print. If you have one, hang on to it!

But this was a chance to finally try out the crab recipes in our Assumption HS79 Cookbook, The Pearl Edition. My classmate Annie,  who committed herself to kitchen testing all the recipes before the book was published, swore that these recipes were excellent. 

There are two crab recipes in this book, but decided to try Leah's since her hilarious anecdote intrigued me. I was spared her trauma because Annie had cleverly included a cooking tip (which she does throughout the book) on cooking crabs.  Apparently, the way to cook crab is to put them in the freezer where they will be "lulled to sleep" (better than saying "stunned by frost"). After fifteen minutes or so, take them out and cook them. They won't give you any trouble. 

 Here's the recipe for you to try

As always, Annie was correct. The crab was  delicious!  We were so excited to eat the crab that I forgot to take pictures of the cooked dish. The kids and I ate these two huge crabs by ourselves! (Okay, maybe I ate most of it).  Hubby came home late, so he had chicken. 

The Pearl Edition is available at National Bookstore, Powerbooks and Fully Booked, and at the Family Council office of Assumption San Lorenzo. The bookstores don't stock more than ten copies of a book, so if the branch near you is out of stock, ask for it. It will remind them to keep their stock up. 100% of the proceeds goes back to support the Mission Schools of the Assumption. In fact, we are going to make our first donation to San Simon Technical School through HS'56 soon.