In case you’re hosting an Oscar party, here’s a throwback post to one of my favorite appetizers!

The Oscar for Outstanding Food in an Academy Award nominated film goes to Crabby Snacks and Homemades, starring in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” certainly provided some strong competition (the star of the movie is named Hushpuppy, afterall). Messy fresh crabs, fried alligator tail and even (gulp!) cat food had huge scenes.

Another contender: the White Cake that never got served in “Django Unchained.” Of course, “Life of Pi” and “Les Misérables” were most notable for the lack of food.

But back to the winner.

In Matthew Quick’s novel, “The Silver Linings Playbook,” he describes Crabby Snacks as “buttered crabmeat and orange cheese on English Muffins.” Homemades refer to homemade egg pasta.

I thought it would be fun to whip up my version of Crabby Snacks. They’re relatively simple to make. Because they’re made with processed cheese, white bread and mayo, you just know they are going to be absolutely delicious.

This recipe makes 48 bites, so if you aren’t feeding a crowd, cut the recipe in half. And serve it Sunday night during the big broadcast… it’s guaranteed to keep everyone from getting crabby when their Oscar picks don’t win!

       Print this recipe.    

I’ve always assumed that all of the meat I bought in the supermarket originated in the United States.

Wrong!

I had no idea that the pork roast I served for Sunday dinner might have come from China… or that the roast beef sandwich I just consumed was from South America… or that the chicken I ate was from Canada.

Boy, was I naive.

I stumbled upon this knowledge when I learned that meat processors are blasting a new USDA regulation requiring meatpackers to include country-of-origin information on supermarket meat.

Like everyone I know, I thought all the meat I found in the grocery store originated in the United States. And yes, I know that a lot of our seafood comes from overseas, like Indonesia or Europe.

The new rule on meat, which goes into effect this Saturday, would require meatpackers to track and label every major step of livestock processing and meat production: where a cow (or chicken or pig) was born, where it was raised and slaughtered, and where it was packaged.

Giant meatpacking companies, like Tyson and Cargill say this tracking process is expensive… and doesn’t benefit the consumer.

Really? I mean… REALLY?

There’s one obvious benefit for the consumer: We’ll all be able to decide whether we really want to buy a rump roast from a country that has sub-standard sanitation and food safety laws.

Needless to say, American ranchers and farmers are VERY MUCH in favor of the new regulation, hoping that more of us will opt to buy “locally” (even if “local” in this case means anywhere in the entire United States).

The meatpacker’s lobby is working furiously to amend this regulation in their favor before it becomes law this weekend.

Do you want to know where your meat comes from?