August, 2020 ~ ~ A HOT Time in the Old Town Every Night!

Tonight is seafood central!

I'm steaming the King Crab Jim asked for. I've thawed and shelled the final gigantic lobster tail he brought a while back. I'm going to cut it into small 'chunks' and poach it in butter. The whole tails I cooked on the grill came out pretty tough so I'm hoping a more gentle cooking method will give a better result. And since Dane doesn't care for crab, I have a piece of salmon to cook for him.

I've got some little 'new' potatoes to bake (no one wants a huge baked potato here....) and I've got a bunch of asparagus I'll steam in the microwave.

And with that, supper will be served!

That sounds wonderful!  When I was on my first real adventure after my husband died, I spent a week on a private catamaran in the Bahamas.  (just two guest cabins) The captain went spear fishing every day.  He got either the Carribean "lobster"  really a gigantic crayfish, or a grouper.  That's basically what I got for a week.  It was seafood heaven for me.

P.S on edit. John and Nancy who own the fabulous BIKINI catamaran were such wonderful hosts. Wanted to cook different things for me and I told them that whatever he was able to catch was great for me. One day, as she was making lunch, she said that she could make a salad with some canned tuna on top................. I said "wasn't there some grouper left from last night's catch?" And she said that yes, but they were not used to serving guests "Leftovers". I said, I'd much rather have some fresh caught grouper than anything out of a can. I said to add a little mayo, some spices and it was great. Great vacation........... Time to go back, I think.

Went to my fishing son's house today. They were out on Lake Erie, unfortunately only caught one little perch! It will be a snack tomorrow. London broil from my favourite butcher shop is dinner, as I had a plan "B" already if the fish were not co-operating. Oven roasted mini potatoes and red cabbage that I had in the freezer will round out diner.

Sounds good, Lore ~ what a shame about the perch not running.....better luck next time.


Supper was a resounding success! Only thing is, now all three of us are too stuffed to move.


Butter poaching the lobster:




Steaming the King Crab:




Seafood Feast:

It has been years since we had lobster or crab.

Well if you decide to 'bite the bullet' and go to Sam's Club or Costco for lobster, DON'T get the gigantic African lobster tails. Besides being way too expensive (like $40 each....but Jim bought them so it wasn't MY dollars.....) they were tough as compared to the smaller Maine ones. Even with a very low temperature butter poach the lobster meat was not as tender or sweet as you would hope for.

The king crab was, however, EXCELLENT. But, way too expensive to have more than once a year as a special occasion. It was $26/lb. and I got 2 pounds for the two of us (Dane just had a little of mine). I'd rather spend my 'special occasion' money on snow crab clusters when they're on sale. They're more work to eat but still very tasty.

I have bought a can of lobster meat here at Costco a couple of times. I think for about $22,00. It's a good deal to use to make a special meal. You really don't have to have a great amount of something to get the great flavour. I have a recipe from an old seafood cookbook for a broccoli/tuna recipe with a white sauce, I have changed that up to use crab for rave reviews.

At the local asian market up where I used to live, they had tanks of live lobster we used to buy. I don't know the source but they were good. At one time I could get a 3 pounder for around
$27. I don't know what they are now. They would steam them for you if you wanted. I just had them cut off their heads. I can't do the killing. I once talked to a chef at a fancy restaurant who told me they only had 6oz lobster tails because anything larger is tough. IDK if it is true. Katie went out on a date and had the nerve to order a 7 pound lobster (I can't imagine what that cost) and she ate the whole thing. It probably was the first and last date.

August 1st was Charlies birthday. He invited a few friends and relatives over and I grilled some of his favorites: Korean style baby back ribs and beef short ribs.

NormM wrote:August 1st was Charlies birthday. He invited a few friends and relatives over and I grilled some of his favorites: Korean style baby back ribs and beef short ribs.

Tell Charlie Happy Birthday for me!

I bet everyone had their fill ~ that's a ton of food!

Bugster2 wrote: I once talked to a chef at a fancy restaurant who told me they only had 6oz lobster tails because anything larger is tough. IDK if it is true.

When we went on vacation in Maine and I had a chance to buy lobsters for $3.99/lb (live weight) I bought a bunch at a lobster pound (store that only sells lobsters fresh from the ocean) and they would weigh them and then offer to break them down for you.  They would pull the large front legs and claws off (most I bought were 'culls' without 1 claw because they were cheaper) and the tail and then I was able to clean them up at the rental house and freeze them with the 'Seal-a-Meal' thingy I took along with us on vacation.  I brought home over a dozen frozen lobster tails and the meat I had pulled out of the legs & knuckles.  We ate good for a long time on that vacation souvenir!

And you're right ~ the smaller (younger) lobster meat is much more tender and sweeter than the larger ones. Makes sense to me. I like to buy the ones that are about 4 oz. for the tail only.

Dane is golfing with our contractor today ~ he's at a 'new-to-him' course about half an hour away from The Villages. It should take them a while to play a full round (18 holes) and then go out for lunch.

So, with him out of my hair.....er, I mean, otherwise occupied, I'm taking the chance to make a guilty pleasure....a meal from my childhood.....Corn Fritters.

It was one of those meals Mom would make when there wasn't much in the refrigerator. We usually had a good supply of corn kernels in the freezer and that's the main ingredient. I used a couple ears of fresh corn I had in the refrigerator.

I cut the corn off the cobs and scraped them with the back of the knife to get all the juicy pulp to add to the corn flavor. I added 2 egg yolks to the bowl of corn, sifted 2 Tbsp. of flour & 1/2 t. Baking Soda over and mixed it up. Meanwhile, I used Grandma's egg beater (yes, I still use it regularly!) to whip the egg whites into peaks, adding about 1 Tbsp. of sugar. Oh, and I sprinkled a pinch of salt on the corn. Then I folded the egg whites into the corn mixture.

It's important that the batter is 95% corn ~ you just need enough batter to hold it all together but it's not suppose to taste like pancakes with a little corn sprinkled in.....it's CORN! LOL

Then the fritters get dropped in a medium hot cast iron skillet with a good amount of corn oil. Fry until bubbles form and break and then flip to brown the second side.

When done I usually blot the oil off on some paper towels and then put them on a rack in a warm oven until they're all cooked.

They are great as a side "bread", sprinkled with powdered sugar or, as I have done since I was a child, put on a pat of butter and drizzled with pancake syrup.

You can see these are mostly corn. Oh, it's good to cover the skillet with a spatter screen ~ sometimes the corn kernels 'POP' and if you get hit, it HURTS!



Turn when golden brown:



Keep warm on a rack in the oven:



My childhood on a plate!

I just got a phone call from Lyn. She and Bill are packing to drive to Cleveland.

Her father's wife, Natalie, (100 year old) passed in her sleep last night. Lyn is glad she got the 'OK' from her doctor to travel if she had to. She's no longer only allowed to move around in her wheelchair but can use a walker or cane. I'm sure the drive to Ohio will wear her out but she'd rather be in the car for 2 days instead of being in an airplane.

She said they'll only stay a couple extra days but is looking forward to spending some time with her father who she hasn't seen since last Thanksgiving. He's 101 and seems to be declining a lot lately.

bethk wrote:

NormM wrote:August 1st was Charlies birthday. He invited a few friends and relatives over and I grilled some of his favorites: Korean style baby back ribs and beef short ribs.

Tell Charlie Happy Birthday for me!

I bet everyone had their fill ~ that's a ton of food!

Charlie invited his cousin's family with two teenage boys and the back yard neighbors but that couple were going to another birthday party and Ryan's wife was feeling sick and stayed home so there were only five of us and there were leftovers.

I'll tell him you wished him a happy birthday.

After yesterday's cooking marathon I decided I really didn't feel like cooking tonight.

I had my mouth all set for some smoked brisket and chicken from a local smokehouse. According to their website, they're open Wednesday through Sunday. And today's Sunday. But when I got there to order a carry out order they were closed.

So, Plan B.

I stopped at a local pizza place and got a little pizza for us to share and a side Greek salad for Dane. And it was just right for tonight ~ probably better than a bigger meal.

Hamburgers / hot dogs / sweet corn on the cob. Macaroni with sour cream.
The kids came over.... No One went outside to eat. Way too humid.

Happy Birthday to Charlie Norm; from Jimmy & Tina in NJ....

The corn fritters look like there is something poured over it. What is it?

Bugster2 wrote:The corn fritters look like there is something poured over it. What is it?

They are great as a side "bread", sprinkled with powdered sugar or, as I have done since I was a child, put on a pat of butter and drizzled with pancake syrup.

Oh, I can't imagine them with anything but butter and salt. My husband loved potato pancakes sprinkled with sugar. YUK! I put cheese or ketchup on them.

I happened upon a salad called a devilled egg salad on the net yesterday. Hard cooked eggs, whites chopped, yolks mashed up and spiced as if you were making the deviled eggs, then mixed with pasta. I'm going to try that today with either some tagliatelli or Spaetzle. I like egg noodles. I'm invited to a Covid safe 60th. b-day party in a few days, and offered to bring a salad. This will be my "tester" today. LOL

Cookin Lore wrote:Oh, I can't imagine them with anything but butter and salt.  My husband loved potato pancakes sprinkled with sugar.  YUK! I put cheese or ketchup on them.

That's like people who like polenta and weren't raised on corn meal mush, fried until crispy in a cast iron skillet and served for breakfast with butter and syrup. It's all in how you grew up, I guess.

I remember a neighbor, one time, was a German girl married to an Ohio G.I. (they met when he was stationed in Germany). She came to the US with him and he asked her to cook sweet corn for him. She was shocked because she said corn was 'pig feed' and she couldn't imagine eating it.

I love potato pancakes, too, but eat mine with a sprinkle of salt and some sour cream on top. Applesauce on the side.....

To each their own ~

Corn, as well as turnips were always considered to be animal food in Germany I think until maybe 35 years ago.   I remember the first time I saw a sweet potato at a market also.  And, of course, they had only white asparagus.  Broccoli was not available in Germany until about 40 years ago either.  Interestingly, what is called daikon radish here, was called winter radish when I was little, and I love it the way my mom made it.  Hubby liked it too.  Sliced very thin, or perhaps even grated, add some sweet onion, s/p a little oil, and it's a great side dish.  I like it best room temperature, and that could be because we didn't have a fridge.  I am not fond of really cold things.

I have to remember to put the ice cube trays in my freezer before I have company, because I just don't use ice.  Making such a German dinner tonight.  Pork schnitzel, sauerkraut and a potato.Ate red cabbage last night which is the standard accompaniment for a schnitzel.

P.S. on edit. I grew up on polenta. Didn't like it as a kid, have not learned to like it since. But, we only had it as a kind of mush. Maybe I'd like it made in a different way.

When I went to Costco I picked up one of their 'twin' packages of pork tenderloin. It was the same price for two packages as it is in our local stores for one.....and each package has two tenderloins. This morning I broke it down to remove the silver skin and trim into nice pieces to cook. I cut the ends off, which are uneven bits and cut it into small bits to use for sweet & sour pork. I ended up with four 11 to 12 oz. pieces and two packs of the same weight for the s/s pork. So, I kept one out of the freezer to have for our supper.

I like fruit with pork so I made a fresh peach compote to spoon over. It was really tasty. Baked sweet potato & some broccoli to complete the meal.

bethk wrote:

Bugster2 wrote:The corn fritters look like there is something poured over it. What is it?

They are great as a side "bread", sprinkled with powdered sugar or, as I have done since I was a child, put on a pat of butter and drizzled with pancake syrup.

I have got to try them. Yesterday I watched Fried Green Tomatoes and have a big hankerin' for fried green tomatoes and BBQ (not the human kind LOL). Now I want fritters with butter and syrup.