Maria said she had a surprise for my birthday, she wouldn’t tell me where it was or what it was. She gave me directions, and I drive about a half-hour north of Bennington until I figured out where we were doing and what for.

I figured it out at the last minute when I remembered we had crab cakes at a friend’s house last week and I asked our host where she got it. I forget the name, she remembered it, she knows how much I love crab meat.

She had called ahead to order some jumbo lump meat crab from a seafood market called  Earth and Sea.

Jumbo lump crabmeat is as rare and precious as gold these days around here, and the can of crabmeat – among my very favorite foods – cost more than $30. I love crabmeat in almost any form – especially jumbo lump – and I said I wanted to cook my birthday dinner myself.

I fell in love with crabmeat when I lived in Baltimore, I used to haunt the great old crab houses there – hundreds of people sitting at long, paper draped tables with hammers going to down on crabs just in from the Chesapeake Bay. I loved those crabs.

It was a messy and chaotic and deafening crab riot in there.

I wanted to mix the lump crabmeat – gorgeous white chunks of crab – with some Vermont Spatzle.

The Spatzle, created over seven hard years by Julz Irion of Arlington, is nothing like the Spatzle my grandmother used to make, heavy german pretzel-shaped dough.

It is light, think, gluten-free and delicious.

It cooks to a crisp coating quickly.

It goes well with all kinds of goods, and the spatzle soaks up some of the flavors of whatever it is being cooked with. Jules and her husband Martin have been wildly successful with this new Spatzle, it’s being sold all over the Northeast.

It is often sold out whenever I go looking for it.

I love to cook (no one else in my house does) and I’ve cooked Spatzle with beef, fish, vegetables, clams, and a half dozen other things. People rave about it every day, Julz makes me look good.

I usually can’t find it in the stores, it sells out quickly, and Maria has to call Julz and ask her to bring some to belly dancing.

I have to say that tonight I cooked perhaps the best meal I’ve ever cooked, a birthday celebration that was delightful.

I cooked the spatzle in one iron pan and the lump crabmeat in another. (Lump crabmeat is composed of smaller or broken pieces of jumbo lump, along with other small pieces of body meat. It has a delicate flavor and is used for the best crab cakes or seafood salads.)

When the spatzle was crisp, I added some pesto and parmesan cheese.

Then I mixed in some kale, fresh from our vegetable garden. Then I put in the crabmeat and stirred it all. I added some pine nuts for crunchiness and flavor.

Maria and I both agreed it was one of the best meals either of us had had in memory. I’ve got more spatzle and more lump crabmeat, we’ll do it again tomorrow or Monday.

The more I do it, the more I love cooking. Especially if I can eat like this. Thanks, Maria,  you couldn’t have found me a better gift. And thanks Julz, and congratulations on your success.

While at the store we got some King Alaskan crab legs. I like this new place, it’s now a part of my shopping itinerary.