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I can’t recall the last time I personally purchased crackers, yet I always seem to have them in abundance.

People bring and leave them, and I try to ration them into my lunches, so I don’t eat too many at once. As a kid I was not keen on saltines but considered Captain’s Wafer’s a fancy treat.

Now my sister goes crackers when she visits and hits H-E-B. Their lines came in jalapeno, rosemary, beet and more. Can’t “beet” that.

So then I begin to wonder why we say “going crackers” crazy or wacky. Turns out we can thank the Brits for this naval expression referring to firecrackers in one’s head. Or it could mean becoming extremely annoyed or angry, as if someone ate all your crackers.

Prime Shrimp makes is easy. Say you’re in the Cajun Capital of Texas (Port Arthur) and you’re dreaming of Louisiana Boil or New Orleans Style BBQ shrimp for supper.

You pull out some Prime Shrimp boxes of those varieties and in 10 minutes you could be sopping up the juices from your plate. But plan ahead Cajun food lovers.

You’ll want to make a pot of rice, acquire a loaf of French Bread, eye some corn or make a salad to go with your feast. Prime Shrimp is a box of frozen stuff that gets rave reviews   online and from me.

Cook in the bag with no thaw and no mess and you get two servings sure to impress. These compact boxes fit in your freezer so you’ll always have something special in the house. The “about us” section at primeshrimp.com shows a young fella at work.

In 1943 the founder was 16 and dreamed up a shrimp peeling machine for his dad’s packing plant in Houma, Louisiana.

Wild Mackerel — Maybe I wasn’t supposed to eat all the olive oil, but it was so good on the fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes I brought to augment my can of wild caught fish. Omega-3s make a great lunch date when you are otherwise alone.

Insert joke here about eating boring cans of smelly fish. But wait, this was neither boring or smelly in any way.

Safe Catch Skinless Boneless Wild Mackerel is from the North Atlantic and joins the line’s better-for-you fish products. It’s clean protein touted for kids, pregnant women and lunch-box divas like me.

This was a delicious quick noon meal or it could be inspiration for a more fancy dinner.

No rules here, except the Safe Catch high standards you can read about at safecatch.com.

My can was refreshing and my body felt good absorbing the nutrients and olive oil in the tin. It also prompted me to ask why we say Holy Mackerel and it is apparently a reference to Catholics eating fish on Fridays.

Bonus Kitchen Thing — Lock Socket is a charger lock that screws into an outlet so your USB charger cube is always ready for your iPhone. If charger-lock.com could make your life easier, you can install this in minutes.

 

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie going crackers in search of fun foodie research. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com.