Eating Alone, A Visit and Crab Cakes, Revisited

I enjoyed a four day visit from my sister and my niece this past weekend.

Sue, my older sister has been a pillar of strength, a source of wisdom and a listening heart throughout this sad journey of mine.

Phoebe, her daughter, my niece and god daughter, accompanied her on this most recent visit from Virginia.

What joy! Phoebe recently passed her state boards and like her mom is now a Registered Nurse. RN.

We carved pumpkins on Sunday; this in the one I carved for Phoebe:

We carved a couple of other pumpkins too. All the pumpkins came courtesy of my CSA. My neighbor, a graphic artist stopped by on Saturday and brought me a picture from last year's Halloween. Halloween was one of those holidays that TBHITW embraced in all his Best Husband In The World's style. We made a little "shrine" on the front porch with our candy and pumpkins for all the trick or treaters:

Most people would think this obscene at the least and inappropriate at the most - but we laughed and remembered what a kick TBHITW would have gotten out of this. Anyway, all the candy was gone long before Trick or Treat was done.

Tonight I ate alone. Lonely for my sister, my niece, but most of all my husband.

He always liked my crab cakes but as I was putting it all together I decided to forgo the most fattening elements of crab cakes and focus on the flavor and overall lightness of crab.

Here's what I came up with:

Lighten Up You Crab: serves 2

1/2 pound jumbo lump crab, picked clean of any residual shells
1 stalk celery, minced
1/4 small onion, minced
Dash smoked paprika
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 lemon, squeezed (plus another half lemon, sliced for serving)
salt and pepper to taste
butter
olive oil

Saute the celery and onion over very low heat in a bit of butter and equal part olive oil until soft.
While the celery and onion are sauteing, comb the crab for shells, place in a bowl, dash with the paprika and squeeze the lemon half over the crab. Add the fresh thyme.

Add the crab mixture to the saute pan and turn up the heat to medium. Stir and toss until heated through. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

I ate this with a small salad with honey mustard dressing and a side of tri-colored couscous. Pass lemon wedges to squeeze on top of hot crab.

If you are eating alone you can freeze the remainder crab and just reheat. If you are making this for two, say a silent thank you to the universe - meals are made to be shared.