Sharon: THANK YOU FOR THOSE FANTASTIC PICTURES !! I also did red-cabbage test today Sat. 7/25/20. Distilled water boiled in red cabbage is actually acidic according to on-line info. "Pure distilled water should be neutral with a pH of 7, but because it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it's actually slightly acidic with a pH of 5.8." From your pictures above, the grayish blue solution is alkaline with pH 7.5. My pH 7.7 clay is a bit bluer (tested by Earth Corp. soil testing company). Black, gray, or clear solution is neutral pH .. means it's a fantastic buffer (good for plants). I tested COMPOSTED grass clippings and it's clear water above black solution. Buffer is great to neutralize the acidity of rain. Clay buffers better than sand/loamy soil, but the best buffer is composted organic matter. Coffee is also a buffer (at first pinkish, but after 20 min., it's a clear solution). COMPOSTED plant-matter is very alkaline and neutralizes acidic rain well. COMPOSTED leaves decompose to alkaline pH, when I stuffed a bunch of leaves in LOAMY & fluffy soil .. the next year that got converted into HARD CLAY, very alkaline. Green grass clippings stay fluffy longer (more nitrogen & more acidic). Brown leaves are considered "carbon" in a compost pile, and decompose to alkaline pH & hard like clay. My tap-water in red-cabbage is VERY BLUE, it's at pH 9 as stated on village's website. I also tested baking soda and it's more blue than my tap-water. I tested paver's sand or yellow coarse sand, and it's slightly alkaline. I tested composted manure and it's very alkaline (from the lime added to deodorize and kill weeds in the bag). The pH of composted manure is just as alkaline as my clay at pH 7.7. Your LAST pic. is slightly acidic. Rain-water is even more acidic & reddish purple. Rain water here is pH 4.5. I also tested some drops of vinegar and it's fuchsia red around pH 3. All my rooting-soil for cuttings are black or clear solution at neutral pH (they have lots of yellow sand or vermiculite mixed in). The clay taken from diseased & black spotted roses are slightly acidic, rather than blue like my pH 7.7 clay. I had tested 5 different roses with black spots in the past, and the soil taken from the root level is pinkish in red-cabbage juice. It's either acidic rain can't drain well from that spot, or else there's NOT enough buffer to neutralize the heavy rain going down.

Lou, I have a similar recipe that I use for deviled crab, and I have also substituted canned tuna for the crab with good results as well. It is also baked and then broiled. I'll have to try the salmon recipe, although I really like Marilyn's fresh salmon cakes, and I had no problem with hers falling apart. I'll have to look at her recipe again. I have a feeling now that it was the type of bread I used, as rococogurl suggested. And the recipe does call for fresh bread crumbs as opposed to dried ones. The end result was still very good, even though it was difficult to get them to stick together. I'm considering adding a bit of potato starch to the insides to see if that will make them "stickier". Carol, I had saved your recipe before (it was one of only two that I had saved), but I neglected to look at it before I started. I'll try yours next time, as it looks really more like what I wanted, which is why I saved it in the first place. As for the recipe from the Anapolis native (I saved that one also) - what is regular mustard? My first thought is that it is dried, but it might mean prepared mustard. Crab meat is so cheap right now that I will be making more variations. The first batch of cakes I did not refrigerate, but the second batch had been refrigerated over night, and it had the same problem. I'm pretty sure it is the type of bread, which gave an excellent flavor, BTW. Thanks for all the help! Lars

I am going to try this tonite for dinner....cross your fingers for me. I am not a very good cook, but am trying new things. DH is a great cook, but since I am not working, I am trying to ease the burden for him. I have made some homemade cole slaw to go with, and may cut up some tatoes and onions also to bake. Thanks for all your help, I have printed the recipe's and taped it to the inside pantry door with the rest of my new dinner fixes and helpful kitchen hints. Trin

I don't think they should be spicy. I want to be able to taste the crab. Joe's Crab Shack used to have such good crab balls....not really cakes. They had chopped up shrimp in them too. I liked them....then they started putting jalapenos in them. I don't know how they make them now....I only went there for the crab balls and haven't been back...and that was a few years ago. I make my own....but the last time I made some I used Paula Deen's recipe, and was really disappointed in them....for crab cakes. I followed the recipe exactly and they tasted more like salmon patties to me. I haven't made crab cakes very much....prefer just boiled crab, and I usually just get them off our boat, but this time, I had trapped them in the bayou, cooked, cleaned and picked them out....a lot of work and a big disappointment.