Salads, Seafood, and Turning 60

February 13, 2021

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Happy 60th. Birthday to ME!

Cake

Presents and Flowers

Who Knew Turning 60 Would be so Much Fun?

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The Spice Cake my daughter Veronica made for me.

Spice Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and my Roasted Honey Spiced Pecans with Red Pepper

Me, Turning 8, My Spice Cake

I remember this cake very well. I had tasted a spice cake from where I cannot remember, but I told my mother that I would like one for my birthday, so she made me one. I have been wanting to make my own spice cake now for the past 2 years of birthday’s but I never got around to it. So, I asked my daughter to make one for me. She had made a spice cake for her 2nd. wedding anniversary in January and gave us a few slices. I loved it except I didn’t want the apples that she had put in theirs. So, she made mine without. She did such an excellent job on my cake and helped to make my 60th. birthday very special.

Julie Barefoot Birthday Blogging

I’m excited to do this write-up. 🙂

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Strawberry Wine

Keel and Curley and Barefoot

I was craving Strawberries, and Gordon provided me with those in my Fruit and Spinach Salad that you will see below, but I was also craving Strawberry Wine.

So, we scrounged around in our master bathroom bathtub and found a few.

(You have to really be a regular reader of ours to know what I am talking about. And yes, all that alcohol is still in the bathtub.)

Keel and Curley

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With Veronica taking care of the Birthday Cake, and the Ice Cream being store bought Vanilla, all Gordon had to do was to focus on my Birthday Seafood and Salads. That is really all that I wanted to eat.

Salads and Seafood

Giant Shrimp Cocktail w/ Wasabi Cocktail Sauce

Crab Louis w/ my Favorite Salad Dressing in the World (Thousand Island)

Crab Cakes

(We bought these from Fresh Market.)

Fruit and Spinach Salad w/ Pecans, Bacon, and Blue Cheese

With a Honey Vineagrette

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My Delicious Birthday Dinner

(Had I known my Crab Cakes weren’t centered better in the photo I would have fixed them. Now I won’t be able to sleep.) 🙂

A Nice Birthday Seafood and Salad Buffet

My Delicious Dinner Plate

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My Beautiful Birthday Cake Veronica Made for Me

I was really surprised at how nice it turned out. What I mean by that is that I just expected a spice cake with white frosting and not the lovely beach theme that she gave me. Look how nice it looks? I wasn’t expecting a nice work of art. But, I was pleasantly surprised. 🙂

Sand (Graham Cracker Crumbs), Shells, and Cookies

Always Cookies……

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Gordon Brought Home the Goodies From Shopping and From Veronica’s House

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Recipes Start Here:

Spinach and Fruit Salad with Pecans, Bacon, and Blue Cheese

Topped with Honey Vinaigrette

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Candied Pecans

These will go in my Fruit and Spinach Salad and on top of my Vanilla Ice Cream.

Ingredients:

Pecans (About 1 Cup)

Honey (1/4 Cup)

1 T. Granulated Sugar

A Pinch of Salt

A Sprinkling of Red Pepper

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Pre-Heat Oven to 325F

Spray some Parchment Paper with a Cooking Oil spray on a baking sheet.

Also, spray your microwaveable measuring cup with cooking oil spray to that your honey won’t stick to it.

Granulated Sugar, Salt, Red Pepper, and Honey

Place your honey into a microwave for about 20 seconds.

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Stir around your Pecans in the melted Honey,

then pour out onto the Parchment Paper.

Like So…

Sprinkle with Granulated Sugar, Salt and Red Pepper

Into the Oven They Go

Bake about 15 minutes, then remove from oven, stir them around a bit,

and then place them back into the oven for an additional 8 – 10 minutes.

Set Aside and Allow to Cool

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Microwaving The Bacon

The Bacon Will go in the Fruit and Spinach Salad

A convenient and easy way to cook bacon without us having to. 🙂

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Making The Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup White Balsamic Vinegar

2 T. Honey

1 T. Mustard (Use either a Honey, Dijon, or any you prefer.)

1/2 t. of Salt, (We used Hawaiian Sea Salt)

1/2 t. Freshly Ground Black Pepper (Or White if you prefer.)

2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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You want to get a small mixing bowl for this.

Add your White Balsamic Vinegar.

Then Add Your Honey

Next Your Mustard

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Now add your salt, whichever you prefer.

And your freshly ground Black Pepper.

And now add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Whisk Together

Now pour into a jar or bowl and place into the refrigerator until needed.

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Assembling The Salad

The Ingredients:

Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves

Fresh Fruits: Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Cherries (pitted), and Raspberries

Red Onion (Sliced into Thin Rounds)

Crumbled Bacon

Blue Cheese, Crumbled

Honey’d Pecans

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Make sure your Spinach and Fruits are Clean

Ignore the Garlic, that is for my Shrimp

Slice the Red Onion into Rounds

We want to assemble our salad into a nice bowl and toss all the ingredients.

We wanted the Honey Vinaigrette on the side so as not to make the salad soggy for leftovers.

Our Honey Vinaigrette

Crumble Over Your Bacon and Blue Cheese

It’s Ready! 🙂

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The Inspiration for my:

Crab Louie

I love Vintage Foods. Probably because I am Vintage. 🙂

But, Thousand Island Dressing holds a very special place in my heart. I spent a lot of time with my Grandparents when I was growing up and we ate at quite a few cafeteria’s in my day, especially Morrison’s. I was living in Rome, Georgia and my Grandfather would take me and my Grandmother to the Morrison’s Cafeteria in Cartersville, Georgia. It was about 30 miles away from Rome. Oh, Rome did eventually get their own Morrison’s Cafeteria when the mall sprang up. But, prior to that we had to drive to Cartersville.

As a child I would always follow my Grandmother’s lead and when the ladies would ask what salad dressing I wanted I always said, “Thousand Island please.” Simply because that was my grandmother’s choice every time.

I didn’t grow up eating fancy lettuce in salads. It was always Ice Berg for us. Usually with a little tomato and always chopped up onion and bell peppers, and celery. Nothing ever fancy which is why that Thousand Island Dressing was always special. It made that plain salad taste spectacular to me.

That is why I wanted this very special salad for my birthday. Everything I love all together.

Good food wrapped up in good food memories. That is the best food. 🙂

Julie’s Version of Crab Louis

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This is very easy to put together.

You just need some Ice Berg Lettuce, Tomatoes (Quartered), Deviled Eggs (Quartered), and King Crab.

Steaming the King Crab Legs

Gordon let the crab legs thaw a bit before steaming them. Placed them in a pot big enough to hold the long legs of the crab.

Placed the crab in the pot with about an inch of water.

Placed the pot on high heat.

Once the water begins to boil, place the lid on and steam the legs for 10 min.

Once done, remove the legs from the pot with tongs as they will be hot.

Break off the legs from the main body of the crab. Gently break the leg joints and pull the meat out of the leg as shown. Do the same with the rest of the legs. If the leg meat doesn’t pull out, break the leg and remove the meat. You will have to break the claws to remove its meat. The body of the crab also contains small bits of meat.

I loved placing the claws around the salad! That pleases the creepy Halloween girl inside of me. 🙂

There is also meat in those claws.

A Delicious Vintage Salad Birthday Memory for ME

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Giant Shrimp Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 lb. large tail off, de-shelled and de-veined Shrimp

3 Tbsp. Butter – (Kerrygold)

6 Cloves Garlic – minced

Rinse the frozen shrimp to thaw them and remove any bits of shell or other.

Use a large saute pan to cook the shrimp.

Mince your garlic as shown and place the Kerrygold butter in the saute pan and place it on medium heat.

When the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and let it cook for about 3 minutes being sure to stir the ingredients often.

After three minutes, add the shrimp and toss them around in the butter and garlic. Cook the shrimp for about 5-6 minutes or until the shrimp have turned a pinkish white and just started to curl. Remember the shrimp will continue to cook while they are hot, even after being removed from the heat. If you overcook shrimp, they become chewy and rubbery like.

Placed around a Glass or serve in a Bowl or Platter.

You can use a regular Cocktail Sauce or add some Wasabi Paste to the Cocktail Sauce for extra Zing!

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Crab Cakes

I love Crab Cakes!

Some are better than others. The best crab cakes I ever ate were made by Gordon’s parents, Milton and Sarajane. Their Maryland Blue Crab Cakes have no equal, BUT, when I can’t have their then I do look for substitutions. And, sometimes you can find nice substitutions from your local grocery stores so Gordon picked these up from Fresh Market.