Sometimes...It ain't what you buy for someone on their birthday, it's what you do for them that makes it special.

Two parents, two birthdays...both two days apart. Christmas is always a blast, and my folks usually clean house, but their birthdays are more sedate affairs (usually small exchanges of gifts and one night out on the town for a good dinner to cover both....). The problem is, Dad ALWAYS gets the bill.....even when an offer is made to cover it.......and it's HIS birthday....don't seem right. In comes the son (me) with the bright idea to put on a feast that would do both New England-born parents proud........A lobster/shrimp dinner cooked at home.

It's nice to have neighbors who are not only good friends...but one of them is a driver for Poseidon Seafood. If it crawls or swims in the ocean, he can get it for me......at HIS price (wholesale). I've already got the shrimp (good Carolina Coast wild-caught shrimp purchased my last visit to the coast in October....frozen in blocks of ice)....and John came through with the lobster the day after I made the request. They sell in sizes from the "chicken" lobsters (1lb to 2lb) on up to the 5lb to 7lb tanks. Decided on the medium 2lb to 3lb babies.......4 lobsters at a little under 11lb.....about 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 apiece. I've got a pretty good background in seafood (catching and cooking), but being a southern boy, I haven't really dealt with live lobster. Lobster tails don't count......they don't fight back! (haha)

John gives me a little advice on keeping the perky crustaceans happy and alive. Keep 'em cold....keep 'em damp......give 'em plenty of air. he brings them to me in a syrofoam cooler......bed of ice on the bottom with a frozen gel pack to keep the ice from melting......a layer of saltwater soaked newspaper on top of that.........then the lobsters.......another layer of saltwater soaked newspapers on the lobsters...and a gel pack on top of it all. Keep the lid loose to let the air in. Still and all, I want it to go perfect, and waking up the next day to find dead lobsters would NOT be a desirable outcome, so I make sure everything's just right. Off to bed.

Morning time. The lobsters are alive! Oh boy, are they alive! I check the ice and the melt and make sure they ain't drowning in melted freshwater. Pick 'em up and out come the claws and crawlers. One old boy does a backstretch and extends his claws and legs and tail like a gymnast doing a back handstand. Then the S.O.B. looks at me as if to say "take these rubber bands off my claws, tough guy and we'll see what's what"! Well I ain't about to do that, even though I got about 230lb on the boy....no sirree! Transfer to the cooler after tickling him on the tummy to close up the tail and claws.......Fresh ice on the bottom, plug undone.......Newspaper on the ice....lobsters....more newspaper, and in you go boys. Thaw out the shrimp.........Shell them down to the tail segment and devein. Marinade them in italian dressing, olive oil, couple squirts of soy sauce, lemon juice, lime juice....keep chilled, then make the cocktail sauce. Everything into coolers with a 12-pack of beer in case me and Dad get thirsty (we do).

Water's boiling...the charcoal grill is heating up....the shrimp and the mushroom caps are on the skewers....the corn/cob (from the garden last summer) is boiling, and the salads are made. Dad's retired, so he's happy to sit in the garage with me...prepping the food and cracking open a couple of cold ones while we ponder the blustery day (winter's finally arrived in NC) and make plans for the upcoming fishing/camping trips this Spring and Summer. Mom's now home from working the VA (they'll have to drag her away from there kicking and screaming to make her leave...haha). The dogs are on the blanket watching expectantly while we pick up the critters one by one and drop them head-first into the boiling water doused with salt and old-bay seasoning. After a last few swipes with their protesting claws...in they go. Now we got 'em cooking and the shrimp and mushrooms are on the grill and the heavenly aroma of seafood is wafting through the cooling, breezy air of the NC winter. Aaaaah!

Aunt Marie (just moved down here from Vermont......bunch of New Englanders are we!) arrives and the plates are ready. Dinner is a success! Somehow we managed to down most of this feast......That pound of butter I brought down didn't stand a chance! A 2 1/2 lb lobster....a dozen LARGE (16-ct) grilled shrimp....corn/cob...salad....half a dozen mushrooms.......Does it get any better? Can this be duplicated in a restaurant? I think not!

So now that I'm feeling proud of myself and everyone's filled like a tick that's been on a dog for a week........Here comes my dad with "where's the lemon meringue pie"?.......Aargh!!!.....I knew I forgot something!!!!

There's always next year!

To the lobsters: RIP, boys. Sorry we dragged your happy tails off the bottom of the North Atlantic a couple of days ago and threw you in into scalding water. BUT....You made my folks happy.

To the parents: Happy Birthday, Mom and Dad. May you have many, many more!

To anyone in FTE who actually read this whole thing: I salute you!

*Treasure these moments with your parents or other loved ones. I fully intend to have nothing but happy memories of them and don't want regrets like too many of my friends have had.

Steve

 

damn you now I've got a craving for lobster!! But I do have to say that was a very nice thing you did for your parents and it's a memory I'm sure they will cherish for quite some time!




Jim

 

as i was reading, i was waiting for one of the lobsters to go stephen segal on someones hand..........nice story though, nice of you too put thought into a birthday celebration.......BUT NO PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! just kidding

 

Be honest...y'all were rootin' for the lobster!....(haha)

 

actually i was. But that's only cause I was getting more and more jealous each time I saw the word lobster



Jim

 

i wasnt rooting fot the lobster, i was just thinking of every tv show with a live lobster in it, and wondering what it would be like if it really happened.........i think id be wearing my welding gloves..........the thick ones........

 

Now you have to wonder - Down Under what you think is a big lobster is paralelled by what is called a "YABBIE".

Yabbies are crawfish that grow to about the size of a yummie Main lobster - lets say eighteen or so inches overall.... (Claws not included)

I wonder how big LOBSTERS get down there?

PS: I caught my share of crawdads in southern california before the CLAWED Frogs ruined everything. Grab them behind the head, and they can't get you.

 

Nice job, maybe next year you will get it right...SHEEEEESH some son you are.




Kidding kidding kidding...good job. Leave it to dad to notice the one thing you missed.

 

Thread moved to NON-Automotive forum.

Such a nice son. You made their day.

-Matt

 

Man you sure made me hungry. Living in Memphis its hard to get good seafood. I miss living in Louisiana. I'll have to get some seafood now.

 

Should have planned this a little better. Pop's got a couple of bags of clams in the freezer we raked out of the sound last October........Perfect for chowder (suckers are about as big as your hand).......

Imagine putting some good old New England clam chowder on the crock pot and dipping into that before the main course?......

We're a seafood family...(haha)

Man....surprised no New England FTEers jumped in here with advice on the perfect lobster!

Steve

 

A good friend of mine is the cook at the local "choke and puke" and comes from New England. Every Friday is Lobster and Clam Chowder day, and people come all the way from Portland [137 miles!] just to eat the real thing . Hats off to you for doing the right thing for your folks. Great memories!

 

Thanks, fabman!

By the way, 4 more postings and YOU'RE A GURU!!!

Congratulations

 

Dad was kind of tongue-in-cheek with that, BUT....when he said it, we were both thinking the same thing......A nice slice of lemon meringue would have perfectly complemented the rich butter-slathered hunks of fresh lobster meat with buttered corn/cob and sweet-tender grilled shrimp with cocktail sauce......Aaaah! Slightly garlicky and peppered butter-slathered mushroom caps on the grill.....small green/tomato salad....!.......

Boys...that's about a $40 or $50 dollar plate at the local eatery......

Heehee.....Trying to make taisa hungry again!......

 

I don't know about Taisa, but I have drool all over my keyboard! If your as good with cooking as you are with words I'll be right over!!!