Crushin' on Crustacean

The towel on my head is pulling my hair (and skull) out, so I think this might be a brief one tonite kids.

And truthishly (spoken like Gillian from "Family Guy"- this one line has been cracking me up for weeks now) I kinda have no idea what I'm gonna write about, so I'm just gonna let the thoughts flow where they will, so bear with me.

You ever eat lobster? My experiences with this horribly ugly yet wonderfully decadent crustacean are pretty limited. I remember once when I was pretty young my parents had my aunt and uncle over for dinner and they were eating some. Even back then I had always heard lobster being referred to like food of the gods--and had a price tag to match. I had walked into the kitchen and my mom asked me if I wanted to try some. Curious as to what I could be missing out on I accepted the small buttery morsel off her fork. I closed my eyes, waiting for the bright lights and mystical forces to apprehend me because I was eating something so special.

Much to my dismay, I was disappointed. There didn't seem to be anything special about it. It tasted just like cold slippery butter. I didn't hate it, but being such a connoseaur of the finer things (or as much as I could be as a preteen), I was less than impressed.

The next time I tried it was while on a family expedition to Maine in the summer. We as kids were looking forward to the new scenery, new beach, and new clothes (at the massive outlets). Our parents, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get their hands on that lobster. So again, after the adults had had their fill we were allowed to sample the leftovers. And again, I didn't get the big hooplah.

After a while I kinda gave up on lobster. I either checked it off as something I simply didn't like or just didn't have a palate for. In the meantime, I decided to try shrimp (another food that my whole family seems to go crazy for). I went from disliking shrimp--mainly due to its texture--to slowly actually craving it. It's like when you try something for the first time and you don't realize you even like it till weeks later and you can't stop thinking about it.

Once I felt my love of shrimp was well solidified, and I figured my tastes had finally evolved, I decided the next opportunity I had to try lobster, I would do so. Problem is, like I said, that opportunities are rare and expensive. So I moved onto crabs for a while.

It always interests me that even two areas like New Jersey and Maryland (which hardly seem significantly different) could have different food traditions....

well, it's my birthday...i'm out...to be continued....