i consulted a few recipes and then kind of winged it. For a pound of fresh crab meat i added 1 good sized shallot finely diced, a bit of fresh parsley, about 3/4 - 1t Old Bay and about 2-3T of mayo, and a handful of breadcrumbs. i baked them in mini muffin tins at 400 for about 15-18 mins. They were pretty delicate while still hot, but really simple and delicious.
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For now, inspired by oyster aguachile,
and some grillled pork loin in a bit of bottled Goan coconut sauce.
But later; daughter just got this!
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The mini muffin! Great tip. I bet it helps hold the shape of smaller crab cakes while baking. I like your add in suggestions. I have close to 2 cups of steamed mussels I’m thinking of basting in garlic infused olive oil and slathering on crusty bread for brunch tomorrow but now I’m kinda thinking mini crab cakes. 
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Gorgeous scoring on that skin! Worth the scars.
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Thank you @LindaWhit, @Scubadoo97, and @TheCookie! Yes, the years just flew by. Hopefully, there will still be Social Security and Medicare when I’m ready to collect it. I can’t afford to retire yet. @LindaWhit Mrs. P’s birthday is just past yours on October 5th.
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Continuing my birthday weekend celebration we had some outstanding takeout from former Top Chef contestant Ariane Duarte’s restaurant Ariane’s Kitchen and Bar. We enjoyed an excellent stuffed artichoke with breadcrumbs, parmesan, mozzarella, and lemon; grilled hangar steak; pan seared halibut; bacon wrapped dates, and smoked gruyere mac and cheese. It all went great with an outstanding Malbec.
I had been following Betty’s Bakers on Instagram and decided to order dessert from them. I ordered the most amazing peanut butter pie and crack bars. For anyone that loves peanut butter this is the ultimate pie. It had an Oreo crust. The crack bar was sweet, salty, crunchy goodness. The only thing is that the graham cracker crust was falling apart. I highly recommend them for anyone living near Clifton, NJ. I am fortunate to only be about 10 minutes away.
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No dinner pics tonight.
I was on a long call through dinnertime, and later the kids (I suspect not them but an adult) wanted McD’s for dessert, so I had fries and nuggets 
But - lunch was a bomb sandwich - korean short ribs sautéed with onion and the reduced sauce, charred bread, pressed on cast iron.
I also made (GF) banana bread per kid request - but the kid was yammering through the entire process and I forgot the baking soda until the batter was in the pan… so… I sprinkled it on and used a fork to mix through. Sigh. Kids were over the moon about the flavor, but the texture wasn’t the usual (might also have been the GF flour, though).
And… my appetizer before the long call - chai and samosas.
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Happy Birthday, Eli.
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90 lbs - whoa! This little guy of mine isn’t exactly stingy but…
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That slightly pleading look always gets me
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A man who relishes Celebrations! To your good health Eli 
Happy Birthday!
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Many Happy Returns!
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I must say, your (or presumably Mrs. P’s) plating skills do wonders for take out food. Was she a food stylist in another life?!
Before the quarantine, we rarely did takeout (mostly pizza), preferring to dine in restaurants. I follow many restaurants in the New England area and its sad for me to see their beautiful tasty food sitting in takeout containers.
Happy Birthday and many more!
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I do the 30 lb refill buckets at Petco, and hate going frequently, so I wait until I have 3 of the 4 buckets empty and refill all at once. It just seems like they go through it in less than a month, although it’s probably more time than that.
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Thank you @digga, @PHREDDY! @Rooster, and @RedJim!
Mrs. P is very artistic and has a great eye for design.
So after telling Mrs. P not to get me anything for my birthday, I wake up to this large package. I open it up and found the equivalent of 96 rolls of toilet paper (Quilted Northern and Charmin) 
It was the perfect present It took about 2 months to find normal toilet paper. She had to go to 2 different stores.
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Great choices all around! Happy birthday! 
Yes! And bake at home Porto’s! That just made my COVID Eating list (yes I have one) or really my anytime list longer! Oh and the pork looks yummy too. 
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