There's More Than One Way to Eat a Lobster

You know the saying, "there's more than one way to skin a cat"?  Well, the same can be said about eating a lobster.  Every year around Christmastime, my parents host the Annual Chance Lobsterfest.  We determined that this has been going on since about 2005.  It all started after a trip to Bar (pronounced Bah) Harbor (pronounced Hah-Bah), Maine.  We stopped at this restaurant that was, literally, on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (at least that's how I remember it).  There were these big wooden pots out front with steam rising from them.  We were about to find out that those containers were the lobster cookers.

the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound -- the best lobster in Maine (in my opinion)

I don't remember what exactly we ordered, but I do remember that it was lobster of some sort.  The lobsters were put in a netted bag and boiled in those big wooden pots.  And it was delicious!!  At some point, we met George (one of the owners) and found out that they could ship lobsters to us whenever we would want.  Live lobsters? Shipped straight to our house?  How cool is that?  

Little did we know that that stop would turn into the Annual Chance Lobsterfest.  So, here we are 2010, continuing the tradition.  Our attendees this year were: Dave & Carla, Tai & Tad (my mom's parent's), Grandma Chance, the Whitmores (Steve and Laverne), and me & Alex.  Emily and Tony were there for appetizers, but had to leave to see Christmas Vacation on the big screen.  At least we (Em & I) were invited this year.  :)  One year, we were written off and were not very happy.  You'd understand if it were you, right? 

After delightful appetizers of shrimp and beef wrapped in bacon, we all squeezed around the dining room table for the main course.  Bibs are tied, butter is melted, grace is spoken, we are ready to start.  We have two plates: one big and one little.  The little one is to hold the cole slaw, green beans, and baked potato.  The big one holds the lobster.  Now, if you're like most people, you crack open the lobster, dig out the tail, and get some meat out of the claws.  You wouldn't even bother with the tiny claws, fins, or tomalley (aka green stuff or lobster liver).  Ok, I wouldn't even bother with the tomalley…ICKY!  And yes, I've tried it, so I can say it's icky.  However, I do labor hard to get all the meat from the lobster I can.  Call me determined, call me greedy, but I just look at it as not being wasteful.  

But before I can get to that good meat, I work hard at getting Tai's lobster ready to go.  I steal the legs (because I know she's not going to want to work for the meat) and get started on the tail.  Now, I'm kind of slow, so Alex decides to help (of course this was after his lobster was out and halfway devoured).  He works on getting her lobster tail out and I start on mine.  I start in on the smallest leg, of which I now have 16 to open.  I break off the leg and use the little shrimp fork to break up the side of the leg.  Yes, it's a lot of work, but oh the meat is so sweet and delightful.  It's so good, you don't even need butter for it.  I do this for 16 legs.  By now, everyone else is finished with their meal (except for Steve, who is a hard-worker like myself).  I haven't even gotten to the tail or claws yet.  

Fortunately, Alex has pried my lobster tail from its shell, so I have little work to do there.  I tried to use the big red claw cracker, but it just wasn't working.  Thankfully, Al took over, which is also good because then all the juices could leak onto a plate other than my own.  He owed me this too for some snarky comment he made during dinner (which I can't remember what it was, but I'm sure it was something that would require him to make it up to me in some way).  I was able to sneak bites of green beans and cole slaw during all this, so I didn't waste away to nothing.  I didn't even touch the baked potato, as I was saving my carb intake for the bread pudding dessert.  Anyway, while Al does that, I work on the claws.  Those require the use of the cracker and the shrimp fork.  The claw part needs the cracker and the leg part needs the shrimp fork.  I wish I would have had a better shrimp fork as mine ended up bent.  Or maybe I should have been less forceful with it.  Either way, it was all bent to hell.  

In the end, it was just me and Steve left eating.  I had divided up the claw meat and the tail meat and was deciding which would be my last bite.  Some of the pieces soaked in butter as I pondered this.  I went with the claw meat as it was sweeter and less chewy.  I savor every buttery bite until there's no more.  It was fabulously delicious! And, I'm not that last one left eating…woohoo!  

I retreat to the kitchen to complete the amaretto sauce for the bread pudding dessert (one of two things I make well and now a lobsterfest staple).  It was a joyous evening full of great food and friends.  I look forward to the lobsterfests yet to come!

Happy New Year!

--Am  

PS - Sorry for not having many pictures.  I really should start carrying my camera with me!