Crab Bawlin'

We had our first boiled crab Sunday night, and it was pretty good! A bag of seasoning, including whole allspice, is put in a kettle of boiling water along with corn, onion, peppers, potatoes, and spices. Then the crabs are dropped in and boiled for abour 20 minutes. They then sit in the hot water for a bit and are then put in an insulated container to keep warm. The potatoes and corn come out quite spicy, but the crab doesn't pick up much of that flavor. It was just sweet and good. It sure is a lot of work for a little bit of meat, though; it's good the meat is very tasty! We also had speckled trout, fresh oysters, shrimp and soft-shelled crab, all deep fried in various breadings. Those were wonderful! I knew Lisa could cook great, but she also makes it look so easy. We kidded her, saying they're just fattening us up to feed to the gators.

Ironically, we've not seen one gator since we got here. We've seen anoles, egrets and one lone pelican, but no gators. Friday or Saturday, we're going out on the bayou with our friends in their boat, so maybe THEN we'll see them. Lisa says it's cool here, and the gators are sluggish. To us, these temps in the upper 60's to lower 70's are lovely and spring-like, but to folks (and reptiles) used to weather up over 100 degrees, I guess it is chilly. It's snowing in Ohio, though. Hee hee hee.

We've already picked up the turducken (complete with seafood stuffing), and that will be baked Thanksgiving day; we're also deep-frying a turkey. I am so on food sensory overload. I can't believe how good it is here. Even the buffets are good here. At home they taste drab and homogenized, just assembly-line food. But here, there are spices in the food. Amazing. And have I mentioned Lisa can really cook?

Not only that, but their house just feels loving and welcoming; it's been the nicest vacation ever, just spending time with friends. The surroundings and history, the wildlife...it's all interesting, all beautiful...But feeling so at home is the best thing of all. And to think our paths probably would never have crossed were it not for Dave's Garden. It's just mind-boggling, this whole Internet thing. Almost as mind-boggling to me as the sightings here of plastic snowmen and Santa Clauses standing next to planted banana trees and tropicals in folks' front yards down here. But in a good way. ;)