Everyone loves hush puppies, and with crab and bacon they are the ultimate.

Wow, that's about the most decadent thing I've seen in a long time.

DEEP FRIED CARBS + SHELLFISH + BACON = AS UNKOSHER AS YOU CAN GET WITHOUT DAIRY

This recipe is trickier than it seems and had a somewhat surprising outcome.

* The key is to use THIN CUT bacon, chop it quite fine (e.g. bacon bits), and maybe use less than the recipe calls for. 8 rashers of bacon is quite a bit for 2 cups of cornmeal. I used 6 strips of thick cut bacon and it was too thick and potentially too much.

* I used Dungeness crab rather than blue crab, because I live in the west -- it worked fine.

* I used quite a bit of black pepper but very little salt. A pinch of cayenne would not go amiss here.

* Maybe my idea of golf balls is bigger than your idea of golf balls... but I used a heaped 2T coffee scoop and ended up with only 2 dozen hush puppies instead of 3 dozen.

* I fried my hush puppies to the color of those I've eaten before, but I have to admit that straight out of the fry pot they seemed quite dry. However they were much better the next day! They had lost their hard crunchiness after a night in the refrigerator, but in return the fats seemed to have redistributed themselves a bit. My taste-testers said the larger hush puppies were yummiest the next day. Reheated for just a second, I could see these hush puppies being amazing at brunch... or on a camping trip!

YUMMY!!!