Lobster Tales of 2014
Is anyone out there an "I Love Lucy" fan? Well, I'm a huge Lucy fan and have been ever since I was a kid. Every time I think of the month of February, I think of how Ricky Ricardo would pronounce it. "Feb-ri-airy!" In the season 1 episode, "Men are Messy," Ricky and Lucy share the phone receiver since they've divided the apartment in 2 (Lucy's clean side and Ricky's messy side), but the phone is "on the line" in the middle so they agree to share the phone. As Ricky listens to his manager on his piece of the receiver, Lucy translates into the other end. "Last Febriary" and "Take a t-easy" comes from this episode. You can watch the full episode HERE. If this makes me a nerd, then I own up to that!
All Febriary, the weather has been COLD in Texas! I'm not used to this! We've had on-n-off ice the last two weeks and my work wardrobe is pretty anemic when it comes to warm but professional clothing. How do people up north handle it? Eventually, I started to wear my rubber boots to work and then change into my "professional shoes" once I got inside. I wont get into the north verses south outlook on ice and snow, but I will tell you that in Texas, if you don't close schools and companies, it's kind of a waste of time due to lack of productivity. When it snows or ices in Texas, everyone gets so excited at the idea that they could potentially make a snow-man (something very rare in Texas). Like kids, adults don't seem to accomplish much when it's snowy outside in Texas so companies might as well shut down. Or maybe that only applies to companies with windows...
Jordan and I had a lovely little Valentine's Day celebration. We decided years ago to carry on a tradition that started with my parents.
I'm not sure I can do the story justice because I was too young to remember the details of course, but here goes: When my parents had a very young family of 3 kids, Valentine's Day was a financial challenge. On a budget, my parents could either afford to eat out, or afford a babysitter. Paying for both was pretty expensive, so, my parents did the next best thing; they decided to stay home and make a nice dinner together. They decided to cook a lobster dinner together because lobster turns red when you cook it and it is a pretty special meal to share. Year after year, they would carry on this tradition and cook live lobster at home. As the years rolled on, 1 lobster turned into 2, because us kids wanted a little taste. The tradition morphed into an affair for the whole family as each of kids eventually wanted our "own" lobsters each year. Every Febriary we looked forward to our seafood dinner with the whole family to celebrate Valentines Day. I'm grateful to Mom and Dad for carrying on this tradition because I'm pretty sure that 10 years later, they were spending way more on 5 lobsters than they would if they had a dinner out for just the two of them! Every year, Mom would let me set the table and the boys would prep the lobster for cooking. We have tons of hilarious pictures of past Valentines dinners, which to me, celebrates the real love behind this hallmark holiday, family. (My favorite pictures include: each of us kids, in turn, crying out of fright of the lobster claw or of touching the lobster, snowy Valentine's Days which seemed out of place in Texas, driving 6 hours from Lubbock just to enjoy the Valentines weekend, or of my brother, Andy, coming home after Naval boot camp to be with our family and enjoy the Valentine's seafood dinner. Here are some pictures from our past Valentines Day.
The month of Febriary has brought a lot of fun so far! Jordan and I had a lot of fun watching the Superbowl with our friends, Nathan and Mallory! I really wasn't into the game. I was mostly there to visit with Mal and eat Superbowl food!
They made pizza (Jordan says YUM!), I made queso per Jordan's request, and Mal made this amazing chocolate lasagna (double YUM!)! I discovered I have a weakness for oreo crust. Thank you Mal!
They made pizza (Jordan says YUM!), I made queso per Jordan's request, and Mal made this amazing chocolate lasagna (double YUM!)! I discovered I have a weakness for oreo crust. Thank you Mal!
Left: Mal's chocolate lasagna!
Right: Yummy pizza with chips and queso.
All Febriary, the weather has been COLD in Texas! I'm not used to this! We've had on-n-off ice the last two weeks and my work wardrobe is pretty anemic when it comes to warm but professional clothing. How do people up north handle it? Eventually, I started to wear my rubber boots to work and then change into my "professional shoes" once I got inside. I wont get into the north verses south outlook on ice and snow, but I will tell you that in Texas, if you don't close schools and companies, it's kind of a waste of time due to lack of productivity. When it snows or ices in Texas, everyone gets so excited at the idea that they could potentially make a snow-man (something very rare in Texas). Like kids, adults don't seem to accomplish much when it's snowy outside in Texas so companies might as well shut down. Or maybe that only applies to companies with windows...
Top Left: Abby with a snow beard.
Top Right: This is about as bad as the roads got. It appears to be snow but it's mostly a layer of ice.
Bottom Left: Abby's footprints in the back yard!
Bottom Middle: First flurries starting to stick!
Bottom Right: 24 degrees??? Yup.
I'm pretty sure Jordan is sick of hearing me say "drive safe" every time we hang up the phone. The ice and crazy drivers is my reasoning behind this. Jordan's truck got a nice ice shell coating one evening this past week.
It was pretty thick on his truck after driving through the sleet.
Jordan and I had a lovely little Valentine's Day celebration. We decided years ago to carry on a tradition that started with my parents.
I'm not sure I can do the story justice because I was too young to remember the details of course, but here goes: When my parents had a very young family of 3 kids, Valentine's Day was a financial challenge. On a budget, my parents could either afford to eat out, or afford a babysitter. Paying for both was pretty expensive, so, my parents did the next best thing; they decided to stay home and make a nice dinner together. They decided to cook a lobster dinner together because lobster turns red when you cook it and it is a pretty special meal to share. Year after year, they would carry on this tradition and cook live lobster at home. As the years rolled on, 1 lobster turned into 2, because us kids wanted a little taste. The tradition morphed into an affair for the whole family as each of kids eventually wanted our "own" lobsters each year. Every Febriary we looked forward to our seafood dinner with the whole family to celebrate Valentines Day. I'm grateful to Mom and Dad for carrying on this tradition because I'm pretty sure that 10 years later, they were spending way more on 5 lobsters than they would if they had a dinner out for just the two of them! Every year, Mom would let me set the table and the boys would prep the lobster for cooking. We have tons of hilarious pictures of past Valentines dinners, which to me, celebrates the real love behind this hallmark holiday, family. (My favorite pictures include: each of us kids, in turn, crying out of fright of the lobster claw or of touching the lobster, snowy Valentine's Days which seemed out of place in Texas, driving 6 hours from Lubbock just to enjoy the Valentines weekend, or of my brother, Andy, coming home after Naval boot camp to be with our family and enjoy the Valentine's seafood dinner. Here are some pictures from our past Valentines Day.
This was 2004 when Andy was visiting us from San Diego after Naval boot camp. I'm wearing his Navy p-coat and he had just hit me in the head with a lobster claw (I'm not actually crying). This was such a memorable holiday because we'd all missed him so much that winter.
This is Valentine's Day 2006. Dad is missing because I think he is the one taking the photo. Back then, Jordan was my "boyfriend" and I was so excited to have him join my family for dinner! Gosh, we look so young!
All this brings us to 2014! This year, my boss recommended that I get our seafood at this Asian market. I had such a fun and exciting experience shopping at this Asian market! I've never seen anything like it in the United States!
This market is actually called "Ranch 99 Market" and everything there is in both English and Japanese. I was the only white girl in the place and pretty much the tallest person around. It was like walking into a grocery store in another country. Everything was totally bizarre. I walked through the produce section which was twice the size of anything I've ever seen at a Walmart and saw some fruits and vegetables that I never knew existed! What is a "Jack Fruit" exactly? I don't know but it looks like a giant spiky avocado!
Top Left: This market had 8 live tanks where you could get blue crab, live tilapia, lobster, and other interesting seafood.
Top Right: Some of the fresh caught fish was just hanging out on ice where I could inspect and pick out the fish I wanted.
Bottom Left: Ranch 99 Market! You can visit HERE!
Bottom Middle: Blue mackerel I think?
Bottom Right: Seriously huge foreign fruit! Jack Fruit.
We got the lobsters home and put them on ice. Abby was pretty timid around them but eventually she gave them a sniff.
Top Left: Abby getting to know the lobster
Top Right: Up close and personal
Bottom Left: This little guy had some heavy claws.
Bottom Right: Crab and lobster cooked!
Lively Lobster
Lobster Scares Me
Lobster Sniff Sniff
I love using our wedding china for special meals! Heck, we should use it for non special meals! We got our china as gifts for our wedding and I'm so in love with it! I remember changing my mind 3 times on what china pattern I loved. I felt really good about our decision when we finally found the perfect pattern. I'm so glad I didn't let my friends talk me out of registering for china.
Top Left: Mikasa champagne flutes!
Top Right: Our china pattern! It is called "Opal Innocence" by Lenox
Bottom Left: Candle stick holders that my mom gave me as a gift that matches our china! We used these on our wedding day on either side of our unity candle.
Bottom Right: My fancy silverware! I don't remember where I got this nice silverware box but it's perfect and holds everything! Our silverware is also made by Lenox
Here are just a few pictures from the rest of the evening..
Top Left: Cheers!
Top Right: Homemade cheddar biscuits
Middle Right: The claw!
Bottom Left: Our pretty table!
Bottom Right: The best part of the lobster, the claw meat!
We wouldn't forget dessert! I usually make a pie but this year I wanted to make something a little lighter. Went with a red velvet cake with coolwhip. Coolwhip is always a better choice than frosting to me!
And that's all I've got to share with you all about Valentines Day! Our bi-polar weather had a mood swing into the 80's so Abby is outside sunbathing today! Hope you all are having a great Febriary!
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