Crab Toast

1 can (8 oz.) crabmeat, well drained (can use fresh)
¼ tsp. garlic powder or ½ tsp. minced
1 jar Old English cheddar cheese
1 ½ tsp. mayonnaise
6 English muffins

Mix together crabmeat, garlic, cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on English muffin halves and place on a cookie sheet. Place under broiler until cheese is bubbly. Serve with cocktail sauce.

Think With Your Taste Buds - Use 1( 3 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened and ¼ cup of room temperature shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice instead of Old English. Use 1 container of soft serve cream cheese flavored with chives or add your own seasonings to soft serve cream cheese. Change the bread to rye or use bagel thins. This makes a great appetizer or brunch item. You can also use tuna, salmon or even chicken in place of the crab.

Stuffed Eggs with Crabmeat

Need something to do with all of those Easter eggs this year? Try this.

Stuffed Eggs with Crabmeat

12 hard cooked eggs
1 can (8 oz.) cooked crabmeat, flaked and well drained
¼ cup finely chopped celery
2 Tbl. Finely chopped green peppers
2 Tbl. Finely chopped green onion tops
1/3 cup sour cream

Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and mash. Combine yolks, crabmeat, celery, green pepper, onions and sour cream. Blend well. Refill egg whites with mix. Chill until serving time. Makes 24 stuffed eggs.

Changes – Use mayonnaise instead of sour cream or half mayo and half sour cream. Use tuna instead of crabmeat. Just get creative with this one.

Crab Pesto

1 envelope dried Pesto mix
8 oz. pasta
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 pkg (1 lb.) imitation crab meat, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Pesto according to package. Cook pasta until tender. In a large bowl toss pasta, Pesto, olives, mayonnaise and imitation crab meat. Transfer to a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with cheese. Bake until cheese melts.

I love Pesto and I love pasta salads but have never tried combining the two. The idea came to me in steps as I started making up my Pesto to go over some spaghetti. I first decided to add the black olives and then added a little mayonnaise to thicken and allow the pesto to stick a little better to the pasta. Then I spotted a package of imitation crab meat. It sounded pretty good so why not? Then I thought about adding the cheese and allowing it to melt. I have a best friend, Dusty, who loves any seafood and any pasta dish so she and her husband were perfect to test this one on. She called me later to tell me that it was perfect just the way it was but her husband Richard decided to spice it up by adding a little garlic and onion powder to his. The only other thing I might try adding would be some French fried onions on top of the cheese while melting. You can also use real crab or shrimp.