A lovely surprise.
Sunday morning at my parents' house. It's quiet here. Almost 11:30, but Daylight Savings Time has everyone confused and tired, which is why my dad and I are the only ones awake. He, because he's always the first one up, and I, because I'm so behind on blogging (February sucks, OK?) and I'm excited to start sharing my weekend eats and treats.
Aren't they lovely? Weekend with the family began with these. Promptly after walking through the door on Saturday, setting down my wicker basket of laundry and kissing my mom hello, she presented me with a plate of crab legs. A birthday treat. An awesome birthday treat. It was midafternoon and I hadn't eaten anything yet, knowing that there would be something in my parents' fridge to feast on upon arrival. Oh was I right. And my growling stomach was oh-so-thankful.
And the best part is that my dad had already split open the shells, so there was almost no work involved in pulling out the cold, sweet meat. That's the kicker when it comes to crab legs -- you really have to work, get messy, and dig in if you want to enjoy the meal. The reward is quite worth it. Especially when there's that one stubborn claw that you know is housing a plump, juicy morsel but just can't get open -- even after your fingers are sore and red and you have bits of shell in your mouth from using your teeth and you can see the meat but it just won't come out and then, with a squeal of victory, you pull out a long, fat, hook-shaped piece of crab meat and, after a short pause to admire your efforts and think, "Coooool, it's shaped like a claw...." you devour it and move on to the next.
That's the fun part, really.
I've always learned to work for my food. I didn't always get the hang of it, though. At the dinner table, my parents would always suck the meat bones dry and gnaw every bit of meat from every little corner. It can be pretty exhausting(Have you ever seen an ox tail? That's a lot of corners.), which is why I became accustomed to dropping my meat bones onto their plates after my fork and I did all we could with them. I'm getting better, though. Last week I tried bone marrow for the first time. It was interesting.
But when it comes to crab legs, I'm not afraid to get dirty. I'll suck those shells clean and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Aren't they lovely? Weekend with the family began with these. Promptly after walking through the door on Saturday, setting down my wicker basket of laundry and kissing my mom hello, she presented me with a plate of crab legs. A birthday treat. An awesome birthday treat. It was midafternoon and I hadn't eaten anything yet, knowing that there would be something in my parents' fridge to feast on upon arrival. Oh was I right. And my growling stomach was oh-so-thankful.
And the best part is that my dad had already split open the shells, so there was almost no work involved in pulling out the cold, sweet meat. That's the kicker when it comes to crab legs -- you really have to work, get messy, and dig in if you want to enjoy the meal. The reward is quite worth it. Especially when there's that one stubborn claw that you know is housing a plump, juicy morsel but just can't get open -- even after your fingers are sore and red and you have bits of shell in your mouth from using your teeth and you can see the meat but it just won't come out and then, with a squeal of victory, you pull out a long, fat, hook-shaped piece of crab meat and, after a short pause to admire your efforts and think, "Coooool, it's shaped like a claw...." you devour it and move on to the next.
That's the fun part, really.
I've always learned to work for my food. I didn't always get the hang of it, though. At the dinner table, my parents would always suck the meat bones dry and gnaw every bit of meat from every little corner. It can be pretty exhausting(Have you ever seen an ox tail? That's a lot of corners.), which is why I became accustomed to dropping my meat bones onto their plates after my fork and I did all we could with them. I'm getting better, though. Last week I tried bone marrow for the first time. It was interesting.
But when it comes to crab legs, I'm not afraid to get dirty. I'll suck those shells clean and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
What a wonderful birthday surprise! Now you have me craving crab legs :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! You described those crab legs sooo beautifully, you've got me craving them! Hope your weekend was wonderful.
ReplyDeletexo,
Linnea
vicki - hey, who says you need a special occasion to eat crab legs? go and get some and love them and hug them and caress them and then eat them.
ReplyDeletelinnea - thank you! it was a nice weekend...i just popped over to your blog and it looks like you had quite a lovely weekend, as well. glad you stopped by!