Crab Cakes, Huell's Music Video, And A Question For My Readers

You may recall, dear reader, a post I did about six weeks ago, a stuffed flank steak I made as a surprise for my Elizabeth so that she wouldn't mind me watching Ken Burns's Baseball on the big TV while she watched Glee on the small, non-HD TV in the bedroom. My plan worked beautifully.

But that was a small effort compared to what I was trying to accomplish Sunday night. Not only was it a new episode of Huell Howser, it was an episode of Huell making a music video, singing "California, Here I Come." Elizabeth cannot handle Huell under the best of circumstances. When I told her what that night's episode was going to be, she gave me a look I usually only see when I tell her that New Jersey is basically the same thing as New York. (Which I admit I do too frequently, but if you saw how hilarious her reaction is, you would understand.)

Clearly, this was going to take a Herculean effort to commandeer the big TV. My idea was to make another dinner, something so spectacular that she would say "By all means, please watch Huell." Cleaning the Augean Stables would be easier than getting her to say those words, perhaps. For some reason, crab cakes seemed like it would win her over.

I've written many times of Taylor's Ol' Fashioned Meats in Sierra Madre, about their prime meats and marinated poultry. But I don't think I've ever mentioned their seafood. Because, on the whole, it's not very good. But they do have frozen crab cakes that I have made before that are outstanding: the kind of crab cakes bursting with crab and almost no filler. I picked up a package.

But, as I said, this was going to have be something more special than just crab cakes. Luckily, I had two other things going for me: my charm and a bunch of leftovers. Okay, I had one other thing going for me. We had some lobster chowder left from the night before, some fresh cilantro from the farmers market, and some"gourmet" potato chips.

I seared the crab cakes in a pan on each side, then finished them off in the oven for a few minutes. I plated them, drizzled some lobster chowder over the plate, and topped each crab cake with cilantro. (I heated the chips in the oven long enough to get them hot and slightly sweating oil, and I put them on Elizabeth's plate, but did not take any myself.)

They were very good, and once again my plan worked. I got to watch Huell. He was fantastic:


Now, on to the question I have for you. Next week I will create my 500th post. It seems like I just started doing this a couple months ago, I can't believe I will be up to 500. What should it be about? I can't decide. I was thinking about going somewhere for dinner Saturday night and writing about that for my 500th post. Should I go someplace that's meant a lot to me over the years? Pie 'n Burger? Hutch's? Yujean Kang? Should it be a celebratory dinner? The idea of going somewhere more formal is fun, but then again I rarely write about the fancy dinners I go out for, so that seems silly. Should I cook at home for some friends? Should I drink a few can of Guinness and walk down to McDonald's for a McRib?

I'm conflicted. Any thoughts are appreciated.