On my own,

[Juls]

My husband left for Taiwan today, so I'll be on my own for then next week or so. Even though I know that SARS is pretty much under control, I am still worried about him being there and catching it.

Today I went and bought my daughter a fresh cooked crab for dinner. She is only six, but she loves crab. It started me thinking on when I ate my first crab. I grew up in San Francisco, and having fresh crab available is something I've always taken for granted.

There is a whole ritual to eating a crab, with the only faux pax (Lilya help me with spelling here) being that you make sure you suck out every single, sweet, juicy morsel off that crabs body. LOL
When my mother fed us crab, we never ate it clean enough for her. She would always say, you've left all that meat in the shell and then show us how to suck it out properly.

Now I share that ritual with my daughter, except I don't nag her about sucking out every bit. Just melt butter and dip. She is already a crab connioseur because I only buy and eat the freshest crabs.

I enjoy this because it connects my past to my present and I can share something I enjoy with my daughter, who enjoys it as well.

Juls

[Lilya]

Juls;

This sounds like a delicious and yummy week. I love watercrabs as well and even though I make a lot of faux pas , It´s fun to eat them, especially with all those tools. I take it you have the right ones?

San Fransisco, the city of my dreams. I only went there on a daytrip, but fell in love with the city. It reminds me a bit of Seattle with the Fisherman´s Wharf (Is the spelling right? LOL) and it also reminds me of cities in Europe. It´s a lovely combination.

Do you like oysters? I dislike them, but I love baked mussles (moules in French) in garlic and butter.

I think it should be a rule in every marriage to seperate for a week or so. Rekindles the flames of passion...

Have fun with your daughter!

Use adversity

[Juls]

Lilya,

I'm not too big on oysters, unless they are baked, same with mussles.

The tools I use for eating crab are a pair of walnut crackers, or cooking shears, and my hands. Messy, but oh so tasty.

I feel fortunate for having grown up in San Francisco. It was/is truly a magical place for me. Particularly as a lonely child, from an abusive family. The city was my playground. At seven I was taking the bus all over having "adventures." I had alot of freedom that way, and no fear to go out on my own.

Of course I think Paris must contain alot of magic as well. I would have like to have seen the paris of the 40's and 50's I think. Or during the era when Josephine Baker was considerd a Chanteusse.

Juls

[Lilya]

We French love San Fransisco. There is something about the city that appeals to us. I remember when Hitchock´s "Vertigo" was screened in a big movietheatre in Paris the early eighties - all his golden films came out - and in Paris, major American movies have always been considered as treasures. "Vertigo" is shot in San Fransisco and I remembered everyone in the audience applauding and whistling when they saw the scenes. (We get emotional)

Paris has endless story and I think the charm lies in the old squares, the pawed streets, the fountains, sculptures and gardens. You have the old world and very modern 21 century charm mingling and lots and lots of mixed race. It has a very bloody history as well - I pass the place where the Guillotine used to be at Place de la Concorde on my way to my AA meeting. Around the square there are sculptures of women who represent the major cities of France and the Guillotine was where the statue of the city Nancy is - not far from the American Embassy.

There is also my favourite nightclub, The Bouddha Bar, where you can eat fabulous Oriental/Mediterranian food and listen to dreamy music. It´s The In place in Europe right now and people come from London and Berlin etc just to visit it.

I used to live in one of the oldest quarters of Paris when I was younger, Le Marais. The foundations are from the 14th century and the buildings are so old, you can almost feel the weight of the centuries. The crusaders came there from Jerusalem and settled in this area and you can still see the old buildings looking like castles.

I used to love to play under the bridges of Paris when I was a kid, visit the beggars, fish in La Seine and let the gipsies teach me how to read Tarot cards.

The periode I really love is the bohème aera when Paris was full of poets and original people. My oldest aunt was a good friend of Anais Nin, the writer, and they corresponded by letters for years and years. I´ve read them all and it contains wonderful stories of her life with Henry Miller. She lived in a boat on the Seine and danced Spanish dances in a cabaret to make money.

I also love the sixties and seventies, the New Wave periode.

Use adversity

[clancy]

Hey, ive never had a crab, you dont get them in my neck of the woods. they sound kind of tasty and i love anything that has a little ritual attached.


I have problems with food, but i like sushi, and sea food so i think id like crab.

Just sounds good. I didnt really for 3 days apart from fruit. sometimes i do it just cos i can.

But may be i look for a crab. do have to cookit or is it done alredy? xxx

[Juls]

Lilya,

Anais is one of my favorite authors. I think I cut my erotic teeth on her books.

Clancy,

I don't know anything about crabs in the UK. From what I know they come from the pacific ocean. Do you have lobsters there. The come from the atlantic. At least the most popular are the lobsters from Maine. There are actually different kinds of crabs, hard shell, soft shell. The one's I eat are the hard shell Dungeness crab. You can cook it yourself, if you get them live, or you can buy them cooked.

The thing for me is freshness. I only will eat the crabs that have been cooked that day. Many places you can get what they call "fresh-frozen." They will say to you it is fresh, but you have to ask has it been "fresh-frozen." This supposedly means that it has been frozen very quick after it was caught. I can tell the difference though. Anything that has been frozen is usually very salty, and has a different texture.

The one exception being is Alaskan King Crab. This is a special crab from Alaska, and only the legs have the meat. Even frozen and thawed it is tasty. Very expensive though.

Juls