Recipes Of Our Mothers - Rosemary Urban's Crab Dip

I find this crab dip to be the perfect crowd-pleasing dish to bring to any party, but it's particularly best to share around the holidays, or the Super Bowl! What's best is that it's easy to make too! You can definitely splurge on lump crab meat, but canned white crab is absolutely fine and much cheaper. Thanks to my sweet Rosemary for sharing.

Submitted by Ed Urban:

"My mother was a nurse at Fitzgerald Mercy hospital when she met my dad, a dashing young intern MD, who was immediately taken by 'the nurse who filled out the uniform like no other'. After they got married (43 years ago!), she followed my father to Korea where she was not only an army wife on the DMZ, but taught English to Koreans (one of her students went on to graduate from Columbia University) and also became pregnant with my sister Melanie, who was born there. After a year, they came back to an army base in South Carolina where my other sister Heather was born (they're pretty much Irish, um, Polish twins, being 13 months apart). After dad was done with the service, they returned to their native Philadelphia to raise the family. Armed with the knowledge of cause and effect, I didn't come along for another four years. I'm told I was a pleasant surprise. All through grade school, my mom was a stay at home mother and domestic goddess, cooking all of our meals from scratch. She also could host a family get-together or cocktail party at the drop of a hat. Being the youngest and only boy (i.e. mommie's boy), I always was looking to help my mom out in the kitchen. One of my first jobs was picking the shells out of the crabmeat for my mom's staple crab dip recipe, a fequent delight at all suburban Philadelphia soirees. I guess I took this precious dip for granted, for when I brought it to a potluck playreading cocktail party in NYC, assuming I was just 'the guy who brought the crab dip', I was regaled with RAVE reviews from friends who did not grow up with this delicacy. Who knew? My attendance at certain social gatherings thereafter was contingent upon my arriving with this crab dip as my date!"

Rosemary Urban's Crab Dip

2 pkg. 8-oz Cream Cheese (preferably Philadelphia, being a local favorite), softened
1 pint sour cream
1 lb lump fresh crabmeat (2 15oz cans is also fine, just be sure to get all the shells)
1 heaping tablespoon of horseradish (more or less, to taste)
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
Grated Parmesan, paprika and fresh ground pepper (optional)

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, crab, horseradish and Worcestershire sauce together, the good ol' fashioned way, by hand, until combined. Put into a baking dish and bake in a preheated oven at 325 until the top begins to brown and it is bubbly. Let sit 10 mins to cool A LITTLE before serving to your guests. Sprinkle Parmesan and ground pepper on top if desired, or a little paprika for color. Serve on top of your favorite bread or cracker (although traditionally in my home it was always served with the mini rye or pumpernickel bread).