Crab Feed

What do you do in the evening after your training run? Why you go to an all you can eat crab & shrimp feed because you don’t have to run the next day and you deserve to because you burned all those calories running earlier. You can tell I am the voice of experience. You don’t want to do this the night before you run. You need a tummy recovery day. I had a very enjoyable dinner with my sister Nancy, Dean and some of her neighbors and friends at an annual crab feed they go to. Once you get tickets to this event, that seat is yours for years until you choose not to purchase. And at Mary’s table she takes care of you. If someone is in your assigned seat she personally gives them the boot! Nobody messes with Mary.

The feed starts out with wine which they provide. Although quickly more bottles of wine appear from bags and join the house wine on the table. Jan and I did a BYOB too - of Mount Olympus water. Next they serve rolls and butter, and before the next course arrives those who like butter on their shrimp and crab light the candle under their personal warmers to melt the sticks of butter they brought. And they don’t leave getting the crab out of the shell to chance, even though the cooks have pre-cracked the crab legs for you, Nancy is ready with her crab eating tools. Some metal nut crackers and a hard plastic crab pick. Joe also brought extra tiny forks to share with us to help with getting the crab to come out of its shell.

Before the salad makes it to the table your crab friend Jim (who you see once a year at the crab feed) whips out his dad’s homemade bottled peppers and carrots. These things are hot. And no, I had to take the word of others. I do want to live another day to run.

The salad arrives family style and boy is it good. You don’t want to fill up on salad but it is so tempting. Once the salad course is finished then they bring out the meat & marinara pasta, also family style. Don’t be shy, they makes LOTS.

So now your tummy is feeling like you could be happy and quit, then they bring out the perfectly cooked shrimp and crab in big cold metal bowls and set them on the table. Crab is by far the most popular, and while it is ok, I prefer the shrimp. Since I am a fast eater, the crab really slows me down. lol. All that work. Of course if you think about it maybe you burn calories trying to get that tiny piece of crab out of the leg. But really, I still like the shrimp better. Of course both taste like butter before they go in my mouth.

Now my sister Nancy is there for the crab, although she dabbles in a couple of shrimp - she has crab eating down to a science or maybe even an art. When the bowl is piled high with crab and shrimp Nancy just takes from the top like everyone else, although I didn’t watch her carefully at this point. After she selects a leg she takes her metal nut crackers and breaks the shell of the largest part of the crab leg. She does it just right and then detaches the pincher and finishes getting the shell off and she has a larger piece of crab to eat then I did the whole evening. My sister is a pro crab eater!

Now as the amount of crab goes down in the bowl she begins to fish around in the big metal bowl, choosing the larger legs. Yes, larger legs mean more crab for all your hard work. And she just keeps a slow rhythm going. Don’t get a piece of crab out for her, she wants to earn her next piece of crab and do it herself. And here is the part that is funny to me, I have always eaten more than her. At every meal. She has always been petite. But at a crab feed, watch out, she goes and goes like the energizer bunny. She loves crab. I love her. I have the best sister in the whole world. I hope she still likes me after I’ve shared how she eats crab.