When I was nine, my mother and I moved to from Canada to a small historic town in Hawaii called Lahaina.   Lahaina had been a pleasure port for visitors since it’s days as a whaling ship port.   We lived at the hotel where my new step dad was the on call handyman, so we had a pool.   We hopped from bar to bar in on Friday nights watching the sun set, eating free pu-pus and ordering cocktails.  I favoured the virgin pina-colada and the Maui Sheraton cocktail lounge had the best view of the sunset and good sweet and spicy chicken wings.   My dad went net fishing with his local co-workers every Saturday night so our fridge was full of fresh fish all week.  We took a picnic to the beach every Sunday….poke (a Hawaiian salad made with raw fish and seaweed), taco (raw octopus with sweet miso sauce),  chips, carrot sticks and dip.  Sometimes we made sweet Maui onion dip and sometimes we made this  crab dip.

The original crab dip had crab, cream cheese, horseradish and toasted almonds.  I do not know where my mother got the original recipe but she quickly adapted it by replacing the horseradish with Thai sweet chili sauce which had become our new favourite condiment.  My mother’s amazing crab dip is excellent for a picnic, a cocktail party or just to have in the fridge to encourage the eating of vegetables.  I like to eat it with celery sticks and roasted asparagus.  I love to eat this crab dip not only because it is simple to make and crazy delicious, but also because it reminds me of a golden era of my childhood…my excellent new step dad, my mother in love and happy, our glamourous and fun-filled new life in Hawaii.

MY MOTHER’S AMAZING CRAB DIP

• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 2 drained 6 oz cans of crab  (you could use fresh crab if you are feeling flush)
• the juice of 1 lime
• Thai sweet chili sauce (to taste)
• blanched, sliced almonds