Feeling Crabby?

I sure am! It wasn't the best weekend. Hubster has started to study for his Boards, and it's pretty serious stuff--like his profession's version of the Bar. So, big ball of suck. Plus, that feeling is back in the house again. That anxiousy, stressy, overwhelmed feeling that became so unpleasantly familiar last summer during the Bar. For both of us. And during that time, nothing ever really made it go away, except for when he listened to me, and helped me work through whatever I had to do that day in excruciatingly repetitive detail. This weekend I realized how amazing he was during that time, because now I'm trying to do the same thing for him, and I seriously suck at it. I selfishly want to get away from the ewwy feeling this whole process invokes...I've been there, and I don't want to go back. But I have to. I've got to find a way to do for him what he did for me. Now it's my turn to be less needy, and find a way to appreciate and make the best out of the time that we get to spend together. I hope I am able to rise to the occassion the way he did.

Furthermore, Saturday I had a very poopy knitting day. I was so excited because I was actually going to finish a project--a project I had started just because I knew I could finish it in a short amount of time...a beautiful cowl. When I got to the end and bound off, all I could see was how shitty the cast on looked, and how loose the first five rows were. And so I did what a novice knitter should never do--I started to undo stitches without knowing how to fix it. Even worse, I started to frog backwards. I'm not even sure if you can fix a shitty cast on, but I tried anyway. Needless to say, no dice. I ended up screwing it up so badly that there was nothing for it but to undo the whole thing and start all over again. Ribbit. Frogging that damn cowl got me so down--way more than it should have. I got to experience first hand that knitting isn't funny. The whole experience made me reevaluate what knitting means to me--it scares me that I could become so invested in a silly project. After all, this is supposed to be relaxing, right? Finally, I concluded that yes, it is supposed to be relaxing. And most of the time, it is, and that's great. But it's also a craft, not just a hobby, and it's something through which I define myself to a certain degree. It's okay to care a lot about it, so long as I leave myself some room to screw up. I'm new at this, and knit happens, right?

So the long and short of it is, the weekend could have been better, and as a result I was feeling pretty crabby. Well, what better way to cure the grumpy doldrums than to gobble them up?  Therefore, Sunday was ALL ABOUT THE CRAB. Softshell crab, that is. They are in season, and one of my favorite types of seafood. Sunday night Hubster made an amazing dinner of sautteed softshell crab, green beans and twice baked potatoes. He made enough of them to enjoy today in a softshelled crab sandwich. I can't friggin' wait until lunch--the sandwich will be stuffed with freshly shredded romain lettuce, sliced romas and some homemade tartar sauce. Nothing cures the grumps better than some yummy softshells....and a Disney themed photo montage...."Ahem..." *Laura clears throat dramatically*

"Les poissons, les poissons, how I LOVE les poissons! Love to chop, and to serve little fish. First I cut off their heads, then I pull out the bones, ah mois oui ca c'est toujours delish...Les poissons, les poissons HEE HEE HEE HAW HAW HAW, with the cleaver I hack them in two! I pull out what's inside, and I serve it up fried, God I love little fishes, don't you?"

"Zut alors, I have missed one! Sacre Bleu, what is this? How on earth could I miss such a sweet little succulent crab?"

"Quel dommage, what a loss here we go in the sauce..."

 

"Now some flour, I think, just a dab..."

"Now I STUFF YOU WITH BREAD"

"It don't hurt, 'cause you're dead! And you're certainly lucky you are...."

"'Cause it's gonna be HOT in my big silver pot..."

"Tootle Loo mon poisson..."

"Au revoir!"

 

Ahhhhhh, dinner was very, very good.

Some notes on the actual preparation--there's seafood breader that you can buy (you can see the brand we used in some of the photos)  that I like a lot--plus it makes it easy because there's already salt and seasoning in it. Also, normally we would coat the crab with fat free milk, but we don't buy it anymore (tasty soy is such a great substitute--except that it's a little too sweet for things like this) so we used an egg wash instead. You want to saute them in equal parts olive oil and butter--gives them great flavor, while allowing them to brown up beautifully. They only need about four minutes per side until they're done! Yummmmm.....the perfect cure for the grumps.

Too bad our neighbors didn't have the same for their dinner. Apparently one of them got kicked out of the house last night (they're a bunch of younger guys, straight edge and in their early twenties), and one of them actually kicked off all the railings on their porch in protest. Like, literally destroyed their front porch. Then slowly (but noisily) this guy's crap got piled out at the trash cans in front of the house. A mattress. A computer chair. A futon frame. Now that's a pretty intense case of the grumps!

And the sun sets on another exciting day in the Bottom...