Crab Salad, my grandma's way

 In case you are wondering why this picture (actually, all of them) are kinda bad, it's because I was to impatient to stay still and snap sharp, detailed pictures. I was trying to hurry up so I could shove some of these yummy things into my mouth.

Originally, I was going to make chicken salad, but I couldn't find a can of chicken in the pantry. Instead, I found some crab. So crab salad it was! (What a expensive substitute! - but oh well!)

It's fuss free, and I made it using my grandma's method. My grandma taught me this a few years ago. Basically, you need a few ingredients. Five, to be exact.

Mayo, relish, crab meat, salt and pepper.

 

First, open the can of crab and drain the water. Drain every last drop. Remember to take out the paper too. I almost didn't! (If you forget, that's okay. Just say that the crab salad has a very special secret ingredient in there.)

Transfer it to a small container and mash the crab up with a fork.

By the way, it's really nice to have your cousin around doing this stuff, so you can focus on taking pictures. (You don't have to juggle the camera with one hand, and stir with the other. Furthermore, you also don't need to worry about accidentally dropping the shiny new camera you got for your birthday into crab meat. That, my friends, would be terrible.)

Add mayo.

And give it a stir.

Add the salt and pepper.

And stir. (Not pictured because I accidentally deleted it and didn't feel like going through my recycle bin to retrieve it. Hey! at least I'm honest!)

Get some relish and drain it. Add it to the mixture and mix.

Put it on a Ritz cracker and put some avocado on top. The avocado adds some creaminess. The Ritz cracker gives it crunch. The avocado is optional. The Ritz cracker isn't. Why? Because my grandma taught me to put it on a Ritz cracker. (You can also make a crab salad sandwich too. That's allowed. My grandma does that sometimes.)

Then shove 10 crackers into your mouth eat it. You may also put some additional relish on top instead of the avocado. Either one works. Just remember the Ritz cracker. That's mandatory.

Then make it again, since you just ate the whole batch. (Seriously! I'm not joking! Make another batch or double the ingredients the first time around. My family polished it off, and I had to make another batch. For the next batch, I added some paprika. I couldn't taste it, but the crab salad was more pink. And I like pink. So that's good. (It also makes it look more seafood-y) The first picture has paprika, if you're wondering.)

And before we get to the recipe, a short interruption by the girl who runs this blog:  OH MY GOODNESS! I'm featured on Steamy Kitchen! Look here! And the post is here. I'd never thought that could possibly happen! And the second thing I'd like to say is that I survived the earthquake on Tuesday. (You probably figured that out already, right?) Not much damage was done - some things shifted positions in our china cabinet, a picture frame slanted, and a few dresser drawers opened. Yay! God is good! At first, I thought that some neighbor was chopping a huge tree down and the floor was vibrating... Okay, back to the recipe now...

Crab Salad, my grandma's method

Note: My grandma showed me how to make chicken salad without measuring. That's why I didn't provide measurements (except for the 6 oz. can of crab meat) in the recipe below. Just add enough to your liking.

Ingredients:

6 oz. can of crab meat, drained

mayonnaise

relish

salt

pepper

Directions:

Using a fork, mash up the crab meat in a small bowl. Squirt in enough mayo to cover the crab meat and mix it up. Add some salt and pepper and throw in some relish (Try to use a spoon to drain the relish first. Watery crab salad - a big no-no). Try some and adjust it to your taste. Then serve with Ritz crackers, or make a sandwich.