Back in January, the CCR encountered Handy Crab Cakes, hoping that stumbling across a brand they've never seen before might actually be a frozen crab cake that is a worthy substitute for when you can't get a freshly made one.  As it turns out -- not so much.  Alongside those regular crab cakes were the Crab & Shrimp Cakes.  Call us a glutton for punishment, or maybe just consider us adventurous.  But we went ahead and bought a package.  For science!  They are, according to their website,  America's oldest seafood processor, who still maintains a plant in Crisfield, MD.  In this day and age of rampant patriotism, we say let's support the local Maryland economy and give them another shot.  Were these any better?  Let's find out!

Shopping in a grocery store that you've never been to before is always an adventure.  New store layout, new brands that you might not have seen before, and yet another store card to sign up for in order to take advantage of the sale prices.  When touring foreign grocery aisles, I can't help but look and see if there is a new crab cake offering (both fresh or frozen) that may that one secret find that will satiate my crab cake hankerings without having to go to a restaurant (which gets expensive after a while).  One such trip introduced me to Handy crab cakes.  According to their website, they are America's oldest seafood processor, who still maintains a plant in Crisfield, MD.  Being a local seafood company, they should know a thing or two about crab cakes then.  Do they?  Let's find out!

What hasn't been said about the Phillips empire?  We here at the CCR have reviewed many of their products, both at one of their restaurants, as well as their retail offerings.  Love them or hate them, they are a big part of the Maryland seafood scene, and are here to stay.  Locals tend to write them off as being too "touristy".  Those very same tourists have heard nothing but good things about Phillips, and come to our town intent on sampling their offerings.  Either way, you will have had them once in your life, and could use them as a baseline for all things seafood related.  

BUT --  you read the label on the box a little more closely.  Coastal cakes.  What does that mean?  Crab cakes are advertised as such, and often time are described further as 'jumbo lump' or 'lump'.  Just to be clear, the coastal cakes are the "lesser" offering.  Made from flake and claw meat, as opposed to the prized backfin and jumbo lump.  Clearly, based on crab classifications alone, they can't be better.  Can they?  This, dear readers, is what we set to figure out.  Follow along and join us on an eye opening quest.

SeaPack is a familiar frozen seafood company that you've most likely come across in the grocery store, and probably grew up on. They are most notably known for their shrimp products, ranging from popcorn shrimp to jumbo butterfly shrimp. So many shrimp products that they'll keep 'ole Bubba Gump happy for at least a month. We've always known that they have a Maryland crab cake, but haven't been able to find them in the stores yet. So imagine our surprise when we find the mini crab cakes in one of our local Giant stores! We took one for the team to get this week's review, so read on and see how our experience was!

What more can you say about Trader Joe's that hasn't already been said?  They're a private label upscale grocery store that puts as much emphasis into the quality of their products as they do keeping their prices extraordinarily low.  And if you happen to live in a state that allows them to sell beer and wine, they have an exceptional selection of private label and name brand wines for dirt cheap (even though the Two Buck Chuck no longer costs $2, it's still pretty damn cheap).

With all of these culinary treats available at affordable prices, it almost becomes a challenge to see if you can make it out of there with just two grocery bags and to keep costs under $40.  Although it doesn't help when they have sample stations set up so you can try products you were recently introduced, or ones that you might easily pass over.  But, then again, this is America, where we like to keep ourselves fat and happy.

Speaking of which, on a recent Trader Joe's run, there was a specific item that happened to jump into the shopping cart while walking down the frozen fish aisle.  It was as if it was meant to be.  That's right -- Maryland Style Crab Cakes.  And for only $3.29!  At that price, you figure, "How bad can it be?"  Well, dear readers, this is what we are here to find out.  So continue reading and see how it all worked out!