North Beach? Who knew?

 This hermit went out to dinner last night, meeting Marsha's friend Luckey at Portofino on Grant Avenue. The first time I have had crab in ages and I enjoyed every messy bite. I had NO idea that hordes of people were going out these nights and there were sparkly, inviting parklets all over the place, meaning terrible traffic problems, but so what? Lots of happy vaxxed (we hope) party people enjoying the warm night.

yup, it's here

Fresh Dungeness crab ~ hooray. This is the first year in ages that there
hasn't been some reason to delay the bounty. The crab fishers will strike
or there is a suspected ailment or buyers and sellers can't decide on a
price. But this year it is on time, not expensive (this whole beauty for
$9.95 cleaned and cooked) and simply luscious. Reason enough to live
in the Bay Area as far as we are concerned. Don't forget the fresh
sour dough bread and say "Yummmmm!" every three minutes.

the best season ever?

Maybe because we've been cleaning up the ocean and the bay. Maybe
because the past two seasons have not produced quality or quantity of
crab, but wow, this year the crab is not only relatively cheap, it is
sweet and meaty and succulent. Yes, sprinkle liberally with lemon
and dip those babies in a half pound of butter or so. Of course SF's
sour dough bread is a must.

the best ever ~ honest

The Dungeness crab season was very late this year due to some strange
something-or-other in the water in our bay. So now that we can buy these
glorious crabs, they are FAT and full of flavor and really not that expensive.
Part of the pleasure was going down to Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf
because we think these guys came in on the boats early yesterday morning.
We feasted last night and today we pick over the shells for crab pasta
tonight. Part of the extreme joy is that Husbando is feeling so much better.
Life is good here in Frisco.

the spoils of wharf visit

The freshest crab possible ~ and we know that "they" have been working
on cleaning up the Bay in recent years, so this seemed like the tastiest
crab ever. Luscious, really, especially when dipped in a garlic butter
concoction and accompanied by a green salad and Acme sourdough bread.
The good life.

green table turns blue

We took advantage of the fact that our Casa Verde is spotlessly clean and
entertained again last night. Also our friend Bill W. is here from Las
Vegas and we don't see him very often and he loves the SF crab. So
that's why the newspaper is on the table ~ we just dump the shells on
there, then roll it all up and have dessert and coffee on the nice clean
tablecloth underneath. Wish I had taken a photo of the 10 lbs. of crab
covered with butter and crusty garlic, enough garlic to insure that no
customer will get too close to me today.

crab catch-up

We finally had our Dungeness crab ~ late this year. The season started
with the usual fisherman strike, then the rains and the boats don't go out
to sea and now it's very expensive, but worth every penny. There was
enough left over for Husbando to make a special crab pasta and of course
I've been reeking of garlic for about a week, but that's OK and I don't
mind if some customers back off in the crowded Girl store at the DY.

celebrate!

I was so busy having fun last night at Husbando's birthday
celebration that I neglected to take any photos. As you can tell
from the elegant tablecloth, we had cracked crab again, his
all-time favorite food (even if he had to roast it himself) along
with a salad and then the Blum's crunch cake from Japantown.
Really I could write an entire paragraph on how lucky we are
to have such delightful friends, but I'll save it for a rainier day.
Suffice it to say, we are the MOST fortunate people on earth.

Big football game today and I'm working out at the deYoung and
that's OK. I'll be home for the ending which will probably be
exciting again.

crabs 'n family

A friend sent this glorious floral centerpiece!

Six large fresh crabs cooked in butter and garlic

Sweet granddaughters: Lindsay (left) and Samantha (right)

Good job everyone ~ now wrap up those shells in the table cloth.

Messy and delicious and unforgettable. We demolished the salad,
yummy crab and panettone last night and had an enjoyable family night
getting our memory banks all in order. The children and grandchildren
were all blessed with GREAT appetites, none of this "she's a picky
eater" stuff in this family. Rob and family traveled all day from
Buffalo yesterday, but they were lively last night and we had a great
time. Even better than our usual movie and Chinese dinner, but
do stay tuned...

crab boats are a crabbing!

The "girls" at Alioto-Lazio Fish Company just emailed to announce
that the fishermen (and women) are racing down to their boats
in front of their store on Jefferson Street because the crab season
is finally, officially open. 1-888-673-5868 to order. Live or
cooked. Give them a couple of days to set their gear and we're
all good to go. Hooooooray!