I was hustling through the grocery store the other day, picking up last minute essentials for dinner, when something new caught my eye in the cracker aisle: Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish. Holy smokes! This was a news-worthy discovery. And they were Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish Crackers, which might might be bigger news than “The Crab Chip” Utz potato chips with Chesapeake Bay Crab Seasoning (although my all time favorite remains Utz Sour Cream & Onion potato chips).
As you no doubt know from personal experience, Old Bay seasoning enhances everything it touches: crabs, French fries, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, Bloody Marys, hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream, chicken, pizza, popcorn – all of the major food groups. I imagine there are folks who have concocted their own homemade Old Bay-seasoned Goldfish. Which is probably a good thing, since the store-bought, Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish sold out in hours. The next time I went to the grocery store that shelf was empty. Wiped out. Ignored Cheddar-flavored Goldfish bags sat forlornly. Pizza-flavored Goldfish are passé. I hope I remember to swap out the Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and use Old Bay in my Chex Mix next Christmas.
Now that I have done a little snack research I find that I missed last year’s smash Goldfish hit: Goldfish Frank’s RedHot Crackers. What was I thinking? Why wasn’t I paying attention? This Old Bay Seasoning on Goldfish is such brilliant idea that the news has been covered not only in Food & Wine Magazine: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/old-bay-goldish-crackers but in the hard hitting, take no prisoners Washington Post, too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/17/old-bay-goldfish-baltimore-history/
The price of these Goldfish has soared! Normally I can get two bags of common, garden variety Cheddar Goldfish for $4. One 6.6 ounce bag of Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish Crackers on Amazon will run you $9.16, as of Thursday morning, May 26. https://www.amazon.com/Goldfish-Crackers-Limited-Seasoned-Snack/dp/B09SVT866G?
The folks at McCormick have Old Bay recipes for everyone: https://www.mccormick.com/old-bay/products/seasonings-and-sauces/old-bay-seasoning They will even answer your questions: “Hi Mac. You can use 4 1/2 to 5 cups of Old Bay Seasoning for 40 quarts of water.” Of course they even have an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdd6JBNpGri/
For your own homemade Old Bay-seasoned Goldfish, here is one recipe: https://www.cookingismessy.com/2017/12/23/old-bay-goldfish-crackers/
Now that I have merrily fallen down the Old Bay rabbit hole, and sent you on a wild goose chase to the grocery store, let’s not forget that this is Memorial Day Weekend. Once you have whipped up a batch of homemade Old Bay-seasoned something snack, because for love or money you won’t be able to find the Limited Edition, you’ll need to get down to the matter of the beginning of the summer season. We are sticking close to home, Covid not having truly departed, so we will be flipping burgers on the back porch, and watching the fireflies dance. Heat up the charcoal briquets, enjoy your crab feast, fry up a batch of chicken, spike a cold watermelon, melt a batch of s’mores, enjoy the Chestertown Tea Party, wave your flags at the parades, and remember the brave souls who gave their all.
“O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; / Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills.”
-Walt Whitman
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