My aunt would make this appetizer for the buffet at any special occasion.

Last week, I shared salmon-stuffed mushroom caps. This one is similar but features crab meat as well as other pantry staples, so it’s not hard to put together in a hurry.

We always used fresh crab meat or fresh that we had frozen at the time it was ready earlier in the year. But canned is very convenient as you can keep it on hand.

I will also share with you the sauce that went over the finished product and truly makes the dish.

Crab Meat Stuffed Mushroom Caps or Crab “Meatballs”

Use two cups of drained, crab meat of your choice.

Add 1 whole egg.

Add 1 cup of fine bread crumbs.

Add 1 finely chopped boiled egg.

Add 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (Duke’s only).

Add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Mix well together.

Form into small balls about the size of a large gumball.

Roll these into a mixture of equal parts panko and regular bread crumbs.

Pack into cleaned, medium or small mushroom caps and place about 24 mushrooms into a greased baking dish.

Sprinkle it with dry cheese like Asiago.

Cover with foil and place into a 350 degree oven until they are firm and the crab is cooked and the cheese is melted. This usually takes about 30 minutes. Remove foil and leave in the oven for about 5 minutes to crisp.

Serve on small bread and butter plates, silver bread and butter plates or on any small plate you have. Use white linen napkins and silver cocktail forks to give your guests a memory to look back on for years to come.

Alternately, make as directed above, not using the mushroom caps. Cook the same way and then serve over hot, buttered egg noodles. Comfort food in spades!

I can easily remember the many parties at our home that spilled out from the front and back porches onto the gardens below. I can still hear the crunch of the oyster shell paths underfoot as guests walked from place to place carrying cocktail plates of these incredible treats.

The orange and lemon trees were heavy with fruit, and the sky was that particular color we associate with the Lowcountry.

A cassia tree languidly draped over the iron fence; the fierce yellow blooms were breathtaking.