Mary Garwood of Glen Burnie was looking for a copy of a little cookbook called “Fun with Seafood” that she said was published sometime in the 1960s by The Evening Sun. In particular, she wanted the recipe for fried hard crabs.

Several readers sent me the crab recipe from the booklet but none were willing to part with their personal copies of “Fun with Seafood.”

While researching this for Garwood, I learned that the booklet was one in a series published by The Evening Sun, all “designed especially for the busy Maryland housewife.”

Carole Linthicum of Forest Hill kindly offered to photocopy the whole book for me, but instead I had her send me a photo of the book cover and introduction page, along with the recipe for fried hard crabs.

She told me that the well-worn book originally belonged to her mother. She and her brothers had delivered The Sun when they were kids, so that may have been how they came by the booklet.

Linthicum said she still uses it frequently and that her favorite recipe for crab cakes comes from the book.

Sun archivist Paul McCardell was able to locate a copy of the booklet and confirmed that it was part of a promotional giveaway. He also said the booklets could still be checked out at the central Enoch Pratt Free Library.

“Fun with Seafood,” published in 1960, was compiled by Virginia Roeder, who at the time wrote three columns that appeared on what were then known as the “women's pages” of The Evening Sun.

The little book contained a treasure-trove of Maryland seafood recipes for everything from the blue crabs and oysters of the Chesapeake to the sweet clams from the Choptank and fresh fish from the Atlantic. As it said in the advertisement at the time, “all the recipes have been tested and were selected for their appeal to the busy housewife who seeks quick but delicious dishes.”

While I would not exactly classify the recipe for fried hard crabs as quick, I'm sure they are quite delicious if you are willing to take the time to prepare them. The directions are rather bare-bones, but now that we have the benefit of the internet and YouTube cooking videos, just about anything is doable for an ambitious home cook. The recipe did not specify how many crabs to use, but the batter should be enough for about a dozen.

Requests

Jackie Creager of Ann Arbor, Mich., is in search of a recipe that she got from a Sunday magazine supplement (Parade or USA Today) for something called dandy milk candy. The main ingredients were sweetened condensed milk and instant milk solids. You could add items such as almonds, candied fruit and flavorings.

If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request, write to Julie Rothman, Recipe Finder, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278, or email baltsunrecipefinder@gmail.com. If you send in more than one recipe, please put each on a separate piece of paper and be sure to include your name, address and daytime phone number. Important: Name and hometown must accompany recipes in order to be published. Please list the ingredients in order of use, and note the number of servings each recipe makes. Please type or print contributions. Letters and recipes may be edited for clarity.