A trip to Fresno brought the promise of a traditional crab louie! In the olden days every coffee shop in the Los Angeles area offered a crab louie. When I came back from Boston in the early 80's they had disappeared off the face of the earth. There's a retro restaurant in Fresno that has them now so we made a special trip with our mouths watering, visions of giant crab chunks dancing in our heads. :( The crab delivery didn't come so they were out of crab ... sniff. The restaurant was really cool though and the weather was perfect. We watched the blossoms fall like snow. Their outdoor patio features a heated stone floor and a combo fireplace/waterfall/fountain. I had actually made traditional Crab Louie last week so I wasn't too freaked. Here's how I do it:
Lettuce, avocado wedges, tomato wedges, asparagus spears, black olives, hard boiled egg wedges and of course huge hunks of crab all festooned with thousand island dressing. I found a copycat recipe for Thousand Island Dressing that imitates Kraft. I had everything, otherwise I would have just used Kraft Thousand Island Dressing.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon finely minced white onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 dash of black pepper
Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well. Place dressing in a covered container and refrigerate for several hours, stirring occasionally, so that the sugar dissolves and the flavors blend.
My sister and I are on the salad bandwagon -another stab at Weight Watchers. We love Chinese Chicken Salad. Back in the 80's this was quite cutting edge. Way back then department stores used to have restaurants right in them. The Broadway (before Macy's took over the world!) had my favorite version in their restaurant. Here's how I recreate this long lost treasure:
Chinese Chicken Salad
2 chicken breasts
1 TB chinese red pepper paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 garlic clove crushed
1 TB oil
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 Tb sesame sticks (or fried wonton skins)
1 can mandarin oranges
1 bag romaine or spinach leaves
1 bottle Joey D's Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing (I've never been able to match it)
green onions and sesame seeds
Slice chicken and combine next 3 ingredients. Heat oil and saute chicken. Toss greens with dressing to taste. Add remaining ingredients. 
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