Food Fest #1

It's about time I catch everyone up on what has been going into my tummy for the last 8 days. There is no problem with variety here. Of course sea food is at the top of my list because of the freshness and availability. But then there is also grass fed beef, pork and more grass fed beef and pork. Oh, and let's not forget all of that cheese! And, of course a lot of that great wine we brought home from the wine country.

My first tale will be of the seafood shopping spree Charles and I went on in San Francisco. We went to a Chinese market district on Clement Street to search out fresh crabs, clams and oysters. It nearly brings me to tears when I see this much wonderful sea food in one place. Just can't find this in the mid-west.

Absolutely everything is brought out of the water alive in front of your eyes. Getting home without having a crab attaching itself to one of your fingers or your pant leg isn't easy. We made our selections and drove back across the Golden Gate Bridge to get the pots boiling. Of course we start our seafood feast with oysters. Yum!! That

salty sweet hunk of wonderfulness sliding down your throat is a gift from heaven. Who needs to swim in the ocean when you can eat it instead! Our next chore is to try and separate the crabs as they have now latched on to each other for dear life. Somehow they know that if they grab on to each other, it will be harder to get them in that pot of boiling water. Pretty smart for a delicious little crustacean! Charles risked

the fingers on his right hand to do this. Finally, he decided to just drop the lowest one into the pot, and of course it only took 5 seconds for the other one to be free of his friend. Each crab was a whopping 3 pounds each. And, we still have to eat steamed clams first! Ugh! This is just a little sample of what it is like to dine with Charles. We learned to eat like this back when we were doing the AIDS rides and cycling over 250 miles a week (that was over 8 years ago). Lets hope we can survive it now. Maybe I just won't use as much melted butter for that crab :o)

I will catch you all up on our next food fest in my next blog.