Lums Pond State Park, Bear, Delaware
Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies’ your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness – who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. ~ Genesis 49:8-12 ‘Judah the Ruler’ – In Judah’s (son #4) blessing, we find Messianic Prophecy. The blessing begins by saying that Judah will rule over his enemies and his brothers. When the Twelve Tribes divide into Northern and Southern Israel following Solomon’s reign, Judah remains firmly God-rooted with many Godly kings following in succession from father to son; while in the north, the kings are often killed by someone and the kingship taken over. There are many stories of God’s deliverance of Judah because of their steadfastness. And when they do stray, a Godly king or priest brings them back. The line of Judah is preserved because prophecy about the coming Messiah must be fulfilled. After the lion analogy, we enter Messianic Prophecy. Jesus comes again and will rule the nations forever, and it will then be an earthly paradise, and “every knee will bow at the Name of Jesus, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Chris is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
By the way, the boundaries for each tribe were set up when, “Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh, in the presence of the LORD, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.” ~ Joshua 18:10
Guess what?!? I learned today that I share a birthday with George Jetson who is to be born July 31, 2022. At least according to some internet guy. Happy Birthday to George, wherever your birthplace is today! 😊
We’ve been celebrating my birthday for about a week now, starting with Philadelphia and then enjoying the overnight to Annapolis and Baltimore, so today, we didn’t do much. Besides blogging (of course!) and researching a bit on New York City (coming up soon), we took a short walk just to get a few steps in.
Since we didn’t end up going to Phillip’s in Baltimore for my birthday dinner, I had this thought that I’d just make what I wanted! So I did! And it was delicious and maybe about a third of the price – plus we got several meals out of it! What did we have?
Crab Cakes, Baltimore Crab Soup, lemon green beans and homemade garlic bread. Soooo good!!!
I love cooking, so it wasn’t a problem that it was my birthday. 😊
Dessert? You guessed it! Brownie cake!
Maryland Crab Soup
Bold and spicy with a heady scent that fills a room with the flavor of the Chesapeake, Maryland Crab Soup accompanies our best-known seafood star with the bounty of Maryland’s farms. As far as which is the best soup in the world, Maryland Crab or Cream of Crab, the obvious answer is both!
Total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes – CLOSER TO 1.45 D/T PREP WORK
Serves: 6 (THIS IS PRETTY SPOT ON – I HAD 8 LADLES-FULL)
Ingredients:
☐ 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
☐ 1 yellow onion (1 Cup), chopped
☐ 2 cups celery, chopped
☐ 1 medium potato, diced
☐ 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
☐ 6 cups water
☐ ½ pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in 1 inch pieces
☐ 1 ½ cup fresh, Maryland sweet-corn kernels (About 3 ears)
☐ 1 cup lima beans (Fresh is best, but frozen is OK) – Blaine refuses lima beans
☐ ½ cup peas (fresh if you got ‘em, frozen if you don’t!)
☐ 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
☐ 3-4 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
☐ 2 tbsp dry mustard
☐ red pepper flakes to taste
☐ 1 lb. handpicked Maryland crabmeat, lump for sweetness, or claw for richness
Step 1: Combine all of the vegetables and the canned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, dry-mustard, a pinch or two of the red pepper flakes, and six cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for half an hour.
Step 2: Add crabmeat to soup and simmer for 45 minutes more, stirring often. Season with pepper, salt, or more crab seasoning and serve. For a change of pace, consider combining with equal parts Cream of Crab Soup. It’s what we Marylanders call a bowl of “Half-and-Half!”
2 C. real crab meat
1 egg
1/3 C. mayonnaise
¾ C. bread crumbs – ADD LAST
½ t. black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
½ t. dry mustard
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Place crab meat in a large bowl. Add egg, mayonnaise, mustard, peppers and Worcestershire sauce. Mix gently. Add crumbs and mix again. Shape into 4 large or 8 small patties.
Heat about 1” of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, fry crab cakes about 1 ½ – 2 minutes per side, until cooked through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. (If using an electric skillet, set temperature to 300⁰.) FOR AIR FRYER: brush both sides with oil, 425⁰ for 5 minutes, turn and cook an additional 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
Serves 4
HINT: I’ve tried several different crab cake recipes, but I always come back to this one. No more experimenting for me. This one’s the best!
CHRIS’ GARLIC BREAD (that’s our oldest son)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick butter, softened
1 Walmart $1 French bread, cut in half lengthwise (separate top and bottom)
¼ t. kosher salt
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
¼ C. “real” Parmesan
Preheat oven to 425⁰.
Line a jelly roll pan with foil. Mix up the butter, garlic, salt and parsley. Spread the bread liberally, then sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake until bread is toasty and golden at the edges, about 10 minutes.
HINT: I just mix the Parmesan in with the butter.