The River Gal: Cape Vincent Crab Dippers

Nicole Hartshorn -

As much as we love the summer season, we really do enjoy the  off-season also. Summer can go by so fast, with so many fun times, it’s  hard to take it all in and just live in the moment.  

The winter gives  us time to slow down, reflect on the summer and re-,group.  The  off-season also gives us time to think of new ideas for the next boating  season!  Possibly chart out a new adventure, maybe look for new  nautical equipment or products that will enhance your boating  experience, or perhaps even use the down time to brush-up on your  navigation skills.  So, if you feel the need for speed, or crave the  wave this time of year, don’t worry, boating season will be back in  action before you know it!  Meanwhile try to use this time to expand  your horizons!

For instance, at our house, the little skippers are getting bigger  and have decided that wearing those pesky, extremely important  life-saving devises while swimming at Potters Beach are just not “cool”  anymore.  They have convinced us to enroll them into winter swim  lessons, fantastic idea on their part!  It really has been a great way  to break-up the winter and will get them beach-ready by spring.

As for Captain Tom expanding his horizons, he is using the off-season  to finally commit to reading our Sea Rays owner’s manual from front to  back.  He claims, “a good captain knows his vessel inside and out”!   Unfortunately, the “Number 15 MerCruiser Service Manual” is not exactly a  Barnes & Noble bestseller, so I do give him a lot of credit.

And me? I have been using this winter to expand my recipe collection,  by creating new and simple food ideas for my second edition of River Entertaining (food and drink ideas for boaters).  I’m so excited about my most  recent addition and would love to share it with you, the readers of  THOUSAND ISLANDS LIFE first!

Stock your galley with:  

  • 8oz chunk crab meat
  • 8oz light whipped cream cheese (sour cream and chive or plain)
  • 1 “bunch” of celery (when referring to the whole celery it is a  head or a bunch of celery. And the individual "pieces" as stalks or  ribs.)
  • 1 lemon    
  • Fresh dill    
  • Your favorite cocktail sauce

In a mixing bowl,  simply combine the whipped cream cheese and crab meat, then squeeze  half a lemon into the mix, and stir.  Rinse celery stalks and cut into  3-4-inch sections.  With a spoon, scoop the crab mix and fill each  celery stick, then arrange them on a serving platter.  Sprinkle with  fresh dill and garnish with the rest of the lemon.  Use your favorite  cocktail sauce for dipping and you’ve got yourself some Cape Vincent Crab Dippers!

This is sure to please even the ‘crabbiest” of crew members!    

Serves 4-6 people (about 24-26 celery sticks)

About River Entertaining:

From recipes to product reviews, Nicole Hartshorn (The River Gal) is featured in every issue of the Great Lakes Scuttlebutt Magazine and has also been highlighted in Sea Ray Living.   Friesen Press published a collection of her “Thousand Islands themed  recipes” in 2014, titled RIVER ENTERTAINING, and has been a great galley  reference ever since!
Interested in trying more of The River Gals recipes or  know a boater who would be?  Nicole’s book RIVER ENTERTAINING is  available for purchase on Barnes & Noble.com  or at Friesen Press.com/book store, search River Entertaining on Amazon.