Live Crab

We have a store here called Central Market. We enjoy going there once in a while because not only do they have all the regular groceries, but they also have fun things like Asian import items that Seth remembers from his mission in Taiwan. Kayla's favorite thing about the store is the large fish tanks full of live crabs. As soon as we get near the store she says "cabs! cabs!" She loves to watch them climb over each other and reach their claws out of the tank trying to escape.

As we recently learned, the peak of the crab season is late December and January. So crab was on sale, plus we had 20% off coupon. So Seth and I looked at each other and said, why not? We researched online how to pick a good crab and cook it, then headed over to the store. Now, I've never bought a live crab. I've had fresh lobster when we visit family in Maine, but someone else has always done the selecting and cooking. It was quite an experience when the guy pulled our selected crab out of the tank, slapped him upside down on the scale, legs a-wriggling, then wrapped him up in butcher paper and handed him over to us. Once he was wrapped up he didn't wriggle so much, but as soon as we got him home and unwrapped his legs were going again!

The lady at the seafood counter suggested that we put him in a sink full of warm water and let him die before transferring him to the boiling water because he would die and expel then we wouldn't have any of that in the boiling water while he cooked up, plus it is more humane than putting the live crab in the boiling water. So we did that and it seemed to work just fine. Our crab didn't expel anything so that part really didn't make much difference.

We cooked him up, cleaned him up and ate him up. He was delicious! And it was a fun at-home date night activity. A few posts ago I shared how I was enjoying more of my time in the kitchen by trying new recipes. The crab certainly fell into that category. Here are a few other recent dinners and treats that I am quite proud of:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Spinach Lasagna
Blueberry Muffins