Robert, Monday, June 2
The day started off cloudy and overcast. By mid morning it was raining. We can’t complain as Ketchikan is the rainiest place along the southeast coast of Alaska and this is the first rain we have had here. We did take Molly to the vet to get the lump at her chin looked at. The vet said he would a needle biopsy and that would let us know whether she needed more antibiotics. He sent the slides to a pathologist in Seattle so he is going to call us when he gets the results. We got back to the trailer just before the rain started. Rain does make sightseeing a pain so we just hung out in the trailer until late afternoon. Then we went to town to get a few things and our crab. We checked out a store that has hardware; hunting, fishing, and camping supplies; clothes; household items; and tons of other stuff. We then returned to the laundromat to get internet access and finally to the fish store for our crab. Sure enough, they were just unpacking a box with six, live king crab when we arrived. We got to pick our dinner and they cleaned the crab for us. Live, the crab weighed 9.75 pounds. I never realized that they were so heavy. We like to watch the TV show, "Dangerous Catch" and the crab were exactly the same as you can see on the show. After we got the crab we decided that we didn’t have a pot big enough to cook it so we stopped and bought a huge pot. I can’t imagine that we will ever need that pot again, at least on this trip. We were planning on grilling the crab but the owner of the fish store said that it was better to boil them for 12 minutes and then grill them for 5. As it was raining cats and dogs, we decided that we were just going to boil them. We had been told to boil the crab for 18 minutes so that is what we did. It was cooked perfectly. We ate about a third of it and put the rest in the refrigerator. In a word, it was great. We will probably get one more dinner and then a lunch or two on the rest.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ketchikan and King Crab
Leslie Monday, June 2, 2008
Today appeared as if it would rain all day. Our day began by taking Molly to the vet. She’s had a swollen lump under her left jawbone. Although it didn’t seem to bother her, it really worried us. Because this is the largest town we’ll visit this month, we really wanted to have her checked here. The vet took a needle biopsy and sent the slide to Seattle. He gave us some antibiotic to take along in case the biopsy comes back with a report of infection. (He called on Tuesday and reported that the biopsy report indicated that the lump is not cancer and is most likely an infection from her tooth issues. We’re now committed to brushing both cats’ teeth every day.)
We spent part of the day watching the crazy fishermen out in open boats in the pouring rain. They didn’t appear to be catching anything. Because of all the rain I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any pictures to post. How wrong I turned out to be.
As Robert written a few days ago, we had ordered a live King Crab from our fishmonger. He had told us that these would be the last live King Crabs of the season. We stopped by the fishmonger around 6:30 pm. The crabs had just arrived. He was fishing them out of the cold box in which they had traveled to Kitchikan. He offered that Robert could select his favorite crab.
Those of you who watch the Discovery channel’s Most Dangerous Catch know these crabs are very large – and they have big claws.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854934_fjoRX-M.jpg
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306855051_p4TY9-M.jpg
Notice our rain gear. We looked right in place in town. (This picture is out of focus but I wanted to show the size of the King Crab.)
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854698_7jvy5-M.jpg
After we selected the crab, he was weighed. This crab weighed 9 lbs, 12 oz. Big CRAB.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854254_LTmgE-M.jpg
The fishmonger had offered that he would split and gut the crab. We gladly accepted. Look at the size of that knife.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852752_r8FPE-M.jpg
He had also told us that the perfect way to cook the crab would be to wrap each leg in foil with butter and garlic and grill it for 18 minutes. Because of the pouring rain, we were concerned about grilling the crab. Unfortunately we don’t have a pan anywhere large enough to boil all this crab. We decided to stop at the store and look for a big crab pot. Luckily we were successful.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852752_r8FPE-M.jpg
Robert unwrapped the crab and figured out how we could fit the crab in the pot.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854852_SZdn5-M.jpg
Here’s Robert showing off a crab claw.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852593_74KoS-M.jpg
After the water was boiling, the we placed the crab in the pot. Poor crab!
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852664_ZG8tp-M.jpg
Here’s a portion of the cooked crab on the table.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854172_df2ms-M.jpg
And each of us just before eating some crab. We put the picnic table cloth over the dining room table and used dish towels as bibs. My newest trick for eating messy crab is to wear gloves. We each have a box of disposable latex gloves for messy jobs around the rig. By keeping the crab from getting under my fingernails, it was easier to pick out the meat.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854780_GGRVn-M.jpg
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852824_nDt8M-M.jpg
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of just crab. We’ll get at least two more dinners from this crab. We both report that fresh crab tastes far superior to previously frozen crab. The shell is also easier to open. You don’t have to use a cracker; we were able to cut the shell on the legs and just use a fork to pick out the crab meat. Yum.
Molly and Cody enjoyed sleeping in on this rainy day.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852926_mp3t7-M.jpg
Tomorrow is our last day in Ketchikan. On Wednesday we will board the ferry for a 6 hour trip to Wrangell. Tomorrow I’ll write more details of town of Ketchikan.
More later,
Leslie
Today appeared as if it would rain all day. Our day began by taking Molly to the vet. She’s had a swollen lump under her left jawbone. Although it didn’t seem to bother her, it really worried us. Because this is the largest town we’ll visit this month, we really wanted to have her checked here. The vet took a needle biopsy and sent the slide to Seattle. He gave us some antibiotic to take along in case the biopsy comes back with a report of infection. (He called on Tuesday and reported that the biopsy report indicated that the lump is not cancer and is most likely an infection from her tooth issues. We’re now committed to brushing both cats’ teeth every day.)
We spent part of the day watching the crazy fishermen out in open boats in the pouring rain. They didn’t appear to be catching anything. Because of all the rain I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any pictures to post. How wrong I turned out to be.
As Robert written a few days ago, we had ordered a live King Crab from our fishmonger. He had told us that these would be the last live King Crabs of the season. We stopped by the fishmonger around 6:30 pm. The crabs had just arrived. He was fishing them out of the cold box in which they had traveled to Kitchikan. He offered that Robert could select his favorite crab.
Those of you who watch the Discovery channel’s Most Dangerous Catch know these crabs are very large – and they have big claws.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854934_fjoRX-M.jpg
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306855051_p4TY9-M.jpg
Notice our rain gear. We looked right in place in town. (This picture is out of focus but I wanted to show the size of the King Crab.)
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854698_7jvy5-M.jpg
After we selected the crab, he was weighed. This crab weighed 9 lbs, 12 oz. Big CRAB.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854254_LTmgE-M.jpg
The fishmonger had offered that he would split and gut the crab. We gladly accepted. Look at the size of that knife.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852752_r8FPE-M.jpg
He had also told us that the perfect way to cook the crab would be to wrap each leg in foil with butter and garlic and grill it for 18 minutes. Because of the pouring rain, we were concerned about grilling the crab. Unfortunately we don’t have a pan anywhere large enough to boil all this crab. We decided to stop at the store and look for a big crab pot. Luckily we were successful.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852752_r8FPE-M.jpg
Robert unwrapped the crab and figured out how we could fit the crab in the pot.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854852_SZdn5-M.jpg
Here’s Robert showing off a crab claw.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852593_74KoS-M.jpg
After the water was boiling, the we placed the crab in the pot. Poor crab!
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852664_ZG8tp-M.jpg
Here’s a portion of the cooked crab on the table.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854172_df2ms-M.jpg
And each of us just before eating some crab. We put the picnic table cloth over the dining room table and used dish towels as bibs. My newest trick for eating messy crab is to wear gloves. We each have a box of disposable latex gloves for messy jobs around the rig. By keeping the crab from getting under my fingernails, it was easier to pick out the meat.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306854780_GGRVn-M.jpg
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852824_nDt8M-M.jpg
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of just crab. We’ll get at least two more dinners from this crab. We both report that fresh crab tastes far superior to previously frozen crab. The shell is also easier to open. You don’t have to use a cracker; we were able to cut the shell on the legs and just use a fork to pick out the crab meat. Yum.
Molly and Cody enjoyed sleeping in on this rainy day.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/306852926_mp3t7-M.jpg
Tomorrow is our last day in Ketchikan. On Wednesday we will board the ferry for a 6 hour trip to Wrangell. Tomorrow I’ll write more details of town of Ketchikan.
More later,
Leslie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)