The good kind of crabs!

This post is a lil different... it's about great food combined with a fun learning experience.

I am a BIG nature person but the cities I live in are not exactly conducive to the great outdoors... It's frustrating, but hey, political communications and social sciences are hard to come by when you are in the middle of a lake, and I love those too...

Either way, I was in desperate need of a trip out of the city and an offer came up!

This tale begins with a visit to some friends who live off of the Chesapeake Bay where I got a refresher course in fishing and then we used the fish I caught to bait crab traps... then I was taught how to steam the crabs that I caught.  It was awesome. 

Thoughts on fishing:

Eeeep. First Catch! 

I used to know how to fish when I was little.  My uncle taught me at the family cabin in Canada, but I found it very upsetting when the fish flopped around in the boat, so I chucked the fish back in the water to save him.  Little did I know... that was probably the biggest fish my uncle had ever caught... To this day, I am still a little surprised that he  didn't throw me in after the fish. 

This is when I started apologizing to the fish... Clearly
a little terrified... Oh well, fear conquered. 

For fishing round 2.... we kayaked for about 40 minutes to a small inlet that was home to a lot of creature including a beautiful Great Heron. I was also home to a lot of sticks... I caught 2 sticks in a row. I know, it is very impressive... But FINALLY after learning to keep the tip of the fishing rod town, I finally had a bite and reeled in my first catch of the day.  It took me a minute to balance holding the rod while trying to conquer a mild fear of grabbing a fish (no judgement zone... I don't palm fish everyday, so it is OK to be a little jumpy).  Once I finally got him, I felt like apologizing to him as I tried to delicately remove the hook from him mouth... but it turns out that it is not an entirely delicate task, even when a fish has sharp fins. 
Long story short.... fishing is like gambling... you keep saying "just one more cast" until you get a fish and then the cycle repeats itself. 


CRABS:
Once we got back from the fishing adventure, we tossed the fish into the crab traps at the end of the dock and waited for a day or so... they had a few crabs in the keeper trap so we fed them too...  

Around lunchtime the next day for lunch... INTO THE POT FOR MY NEW CRAB FRIENDS!  
This was another "experience" for me... we put them directly into the pot and my job was to keep them from wondering off... We went back into the house... did the Old Bay dance, and steamed these blue crabs... 

Because it was early in the season, they were still a little small so overall I ate 5 of them, but honestly... Most satisfying lunch EVER.