LOBSTERS

Most of my friends know that I enjoy gourmet cooking, and that my wife and I love to travel. In fact, my wife was a travel agent when we were first married, which facilitated lots of wonderful trips that we would not have been able to take otherwise.

What’s the best way to combine these two hobbies of mine? Through lobster, of course! And where do lobsters come from? Well, besides God, I mean. The finest lobster comes from Maine. As such, we have planned (for a long time now) and finally made good on a trip to the land of lobsters, Maine, USA.

One of the driving forces behind the vacation was to search out, find, and consume as much lobster as possible. I’m proud to say that I averaged at least one lobster per day, and on a good day put away two of these exquisitely delicious crustaceans.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with you for the next several entries some highlights from our trip and interesting tidbits learned while on it.

Lobster Fun Facts:

• Most lobsters are sold as “chicks” - about 1 ¼ lbs in weight – seven years old.
• American (Maine) Lobsters have claws of different sizes – the larger of the two is the crusher claw and the smaller is the shredder claw.
• Lobsters can be green, brown, orange, or even blue – they all turn red when cooked, however.
• Only one-tenth of one percent of lobsters will live beyond their larval period. This is why is it crucial to return to the sea female lobsters carrying eggs, or any that have recently done so (marked by notching a vee into a section of their tail).
• Although they typically crawl lobsters can sprint backwards very quickly (15 feet per second) by curling and uncurling their tail.

Praise to you, Lord God, King of the Universe - you create all things, including these delightful and fascinating creatures known as lobsters. Thank you, Lord, for these and all your gifts you pour upon us.