Greetings, All, I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration, filled with family, friend, and fun!! We ventured down to San Diego, and stayed with my Mother-in-law, and whilst there, got to see my own Mom, sister, brother-in-law, and some very good friends!! One of my friends gave me a gift-certificate from REI and I stopped by to see if anything special might be offered. The store was selling off quite a few goods that had been returned, for one reason or another, some damaged, and some just because the owner did not care for it, for some reason. I found an almost mint MSR Whisperlite Universal, which is an outstanding stove, and it appeared to be in perfect condition, with it's original box, paperwork, tools, and adapters, for 1/2 of it's regular asking price! After inspecting it carefully, I was certain that the little stove would work just fine, and bought it, saving the gift certificate for another time. Back up in our mountain home, after unloading the Jeep and carrying all the boxes and bags upstairs to the house, I got a proper fuel bottle and tested the stove. At first, it didn't seem to work, at all, just hissing, with no fuel coming out of it. Then, after removing the fuel pump, and taking it apart to see if something was amiss, I noticed that the fuel intake hose was in the wrong position, and was facing UP, instead of DOWN!!! Once the fuel hose was put into it's proper position, the stove roared to life, immediately, and it worked perfectly with both Coleman Fuel, and after changing the necessary parts, also on a fuel cartridge!!! It appears that the previous owner tried to use the stove with it's fuel hose in a position where it would not draw fuel, so he/she returned it as "damaged". They made a mistake, or course, and so I got the little stove, which is a favorite type of mine, for half of it's regular price. A nice after Christmas blessing, indeed!! I will add this stove to the other MSR Universal that I have, and be able to take a pair of them, when camping, when necessary. Fun!! Photos, later.... Whilst down in San Diego, we enjoyed some outstanding food, as Sweet Bride is an outstanding cook, and we ate like pigs (with NO guilt, at all)!! 8) It has been customary for us to enjoy lobsters on Christmas Eve, and so this year, we ventured to a local sea food market, owned by the actual fishermen, and procured live lobsters for our feast! Buying them directly from the fishermen is MUCH more cost-effective, than buying lobsters other places, and that was nice. I cooked up the tasty crustaceans on our trusty Coleman 426D, three-banger stove, and later used that same stove along with our old Blue Bird camp oven, to roast some cauliflower. Here are a few photos of our wonderful Christmas celebration, and some of the delicious comestibles we enjoyed together. Lobster, anyone? A fresh roasted beet salad always goes great with shellfish, like lobster. Here is our family, and a dear friend, getting ready to enjoy our Christmas Eve feast. Sweet Bride also made a really tasty cheese souffle to go along with the lobsters and beet salad. Delicious!! Here is our Christmas family photo: And, for those of you who are akin to the GRINCH at Christmas, here's a photo to which you can relate! I'll post some photos of the "new" MSR Whisperlite Universal soon, as that was a fun post-Christmas find! Take care, friends, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Tasty! Looks like you had a great time! Um, BTW, those are East Coast Lobsters, the claws are a dead giveaway...
Hey, Baja, Yep, they are Eastern, indeed! We had our choice of Spiny lobsters, which are taken from our Western waters, or the Maine lobsters, which were flown in, fresh, that very morning. We ALWAYS go for the Eastern, 'cause we loves eatin' them meaty claws! Best to you and Mrs. Bum in 2014! God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Um, BTW, those are East Coast Lobsters, the claws are a dead giveaway This may be a dumb question but since I live in the Midwest ( Missouri ), and rarely see these things, please excuse my ignorance. What is the difference ? Ken H.
Hey, Guys, Yes, we had a fine feast, and lots of Christmas fun! Ken, the difference between Eastern and Western lobsters is that the Eastern versions have the huge, meaty claws, and a nice meaty tail, whilst the Western lobsters have no real front claws, but still have a large, meaty tail. Also, the carapace of the Eastern lobsters is smooth, as you can see in the photos of the ones we ate, whilst the Western lobsters sport a spiny carapace, with lots of pointy, but short, spines sticking out. Both are tasty, but we miss the claws whenever we eat the Western versions, and so try to get their Eastern family members most of the time. John, the salad began with raw beets, off of which SB cut all the greens, than parboiled the beets with the skins on. Once parboiled she used a knife to remove the skins, then separates the different colors of beets, or the red beets will make everything red. Then, she cuts them into large chunks, tosses the chunks in her home-made dressing, which consists of honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper. Then, she roasts the lot, separately, as noted above, and when ready, she lets them cool. She says to make your salad without the beets, but with the greens, avocados, etc., toss it with a little of the salad dressing, and then lay the roasted beets amongst the rest of the salad and serve. It was delicious, and not a shred was left after our dinner. Oh, and I forgot about dessert! Sweet Bride baked up a scrumptious rum cake, and my dear Aunt Lona's custard pecan pie, both made from scratch, including the pie crust. Here, I'm about to lay waste to a large piece of both rum cake, and pecan custard pie, covered with fresh whipped heavy creme, and a large amount of Hagen-Daz vanilla ice cream! Am I a PIG??? You can bet your bottom dollar, I AM especially at Thanksgiving, and Christmas!! 8) John, if you want to actual recipe, just send me a PT, and I'll copy and send it along, or just post it in the Recipe section. Stove photos to come.... Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
When we were stationed in Brunswick, Maine, we used to buy 'lobsta' fresh off the boat, for $ 1.00 a pound. Average size maybe 1 1/2 pounds per... Those Doc had were HUGE! To me, lobster is pretty much tasteless, it takes on the flavor of whatever you dip it in, IE: melted butter!!! Clams and oysters, now, they be Delicious
Howdy, Baja, WOW!!! $1 a pound!!! That sounds like the stuff we used to get down in Mexico, back "in the old days"!!! The price on our Christmas lobsters was considerably more than what you used to pay, but getting them where we did, we got what I consider a great deal on them, and also some black mussels we bought the same day. Sweet Bride actually clarified the butter we used to dip the lobster into, but truthfully, I love the taste of good lobster, and didn't need much butter, if any, to make them good to me!! You are right that the ones we ate were huge! I got to pick them out myself, and the kid that helped me was really "into" me being so excited about eating those "bugs", so he did right by us! I love clams, mussels, and oysters, too, but for me, lobster is still the King of shellfish! Man.... I'm still thinking about paying only $1 per pound for lobsters!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
For some reason a post card that my Aunt painted in water color comes to mind. Jolly old crustacean heading down a chimney with a bag of joy. Christmas as it should be in Maine. She called it "Lobster Claus". Pass the butter and Bon Appetit, AR
Merry Christamas Doc thx for sharing. I had a diverse upbringing a small part included steaming clams on a green suitcase AND haulin in Lobstahs (w/my buddy, he has scars to prove it) w/coleman lantern light, all this north of Boston. It’s childhood recall so consider the source: I used to sell bucket loads but point I’ll make is re lobster-rich waters say CapeCod north past the St Lawrence, the catch #’s were dropping-off. A BIG time change was made, not sure of the US-CA regulating body but fisherman complained about it all of 1 season. The regulation implimented was, much like a farmer leaves a field to lie fallow. Vast areas of open water off the coast were charted on a grid, sections were made off-limits to pulling lobster and enforced. The chart changed every year, I imagine it’s still in affect. Right away, when boats were allowed back in to the JUST opened off-limits area… BOUNTY !!! and every year after that too. I thought of it because prices that had been going up up up DROPPED, alot. I wanna say for decades they remained in a range BELOW what they were? Bad news for me and my buddy Bobby 9 fingers.
Yep, one buck a LB, but remember, that was 1974 ish, And I was making maybe $400 a month, so that was ...not that cheap! Uncle Sam was a cheap Bastige, back then...
My Uncle had a place on South Harpswell Maine and would have us down to fish in the summer. Sometimes we would go down the the docks and haggle with the fishermen to get some of their culls. "Lobstahz" that were a tad short or one armed. To make up for it, we'd get 2-each. AR
Many "Fresh Maine Lobsters" come via Louisville Kentucky. We host one of the largest live lobster holding tanks(prisoner internment camp) in the world. These fine fellows then dispatch through UPS World Port to your local grocer and then your plate. Kentucky Lobster Holding Tanks AR
I tried lobster once, and couldn't see the point of it. So all youse guys can have my share of the world's lobster harvest. Same with clams, oysters and mussels. Scallops now, that is a whole different ball game. And nearly any fish what gots fins. Salt water fish especially halibut, salmon, cod, flounder, rockfish in that order mollusks I like are scallops and octopus. There's a messican jernt near me than serves ceviche containing halibut, cod, scallops and pulpo (Lil' octopuslets about 3" across) muy delicioso!! I told the owner of the place about Puget Sound octopus that get to be over 8" across the arms. He thinks I'm lying. I'm not. I've even seen a few. Anyway, everyone enjoy the sea foods you like and never mind me. I'll be fine. Gerry
G,,day I love all shellfish our local lobster, southern rock lobster. locally known as crayfish. a couple of months ago they reached a high price of $92 ausd per kilo. that is what the fisherman was getting, known as beach price, so imagine what they were selling for at retail. cheers kerry
In the US the little freshwater lobsterettes knows as crayfish, crawdads, and mudbugs are nearly everywhere there's water. Now those I love. A good crawdad catch means a crawdad boil and I can eat a dozen and a half of 'em no problem. The lil' debbils really come to the traps if you bait with supremo-el-cheapo fish flavored cat food. Just punch some holes in the can with a screwdriver and Robert is yer Dad's male sibling. Years ago at a campout at a private resort where a small creek emptied into a medium sized lake, my buddy Joel and I were fooling around in the creek with our flashlights. We saw all kinds of creepy lil' critters scurrying in the light, then we saw 'em all disappear. Crawdads! dozens of 'em. They were too quick for us to catch by hand so we swiped a hot dog out of the cooler, broke it in two, tied the bits onto pieces of string and went to work. In half an hour we had fifty crawdads in a plastic tub when one of the dads saw us. He got more hot dogs and string and in an hour we had that tub and two big coolers full to the tops with crawdads. Next day for lunch the dads built a good fire, put a metal tub with water in it over and boiled mudbugs and corn on the cob for everyone. We all ate until we could hardly move. Joel and I checked the creek again that night to find it just as full of crawdads as the night before. That lake must have been crawling with 'em. Gerry
Suck the head. A fondest of memories is, no sooner than my crawfish was served up, a beautiful southern belle joined me, explaining just how to suck the head. This being the proper way to eat crawfish. It's quick, it has to be, 1 serving is the size of a basketball and ya want to finish while they're still hot. For crawfish boils i tip my hat to Louisiana and Texas. This is NOT an old-old cajun tradition by the way and I wonder if it may fade away? If it does it sure was fun while it lasted.
