Blow That Dough! -2021

[kgtest]

In pending talks with DH about a serious purchase. Stay tuned.......

Oh boy this is gonna be good! NEW SAILBOAT!

 

[W2R]

Oh boy this is gonna be good! NEW SAILBOAT!

Maybe! Or maybe NEW RV?

 

[Jerry1]

My BTD for today is a new truck. As I pointed out in another thread, I did get a really good trade on my 2-1/2 year old truck. I thought I'd drive it to the ground, but I just wanted a nicer, higher end vehicle. So timing was good with the trade and the current incentives and I pulled the trigger and got a GMC Sierra Denali. I should have done that at retirement. Instead, I thought I'd downgrade and it would be okay. Well, I can't describe how much better I like driving a well optioned vehicle. This is the type of car I leased during my working years. I guess one gets used to a certain level of vehicle and it's hard to go back.

At any rate, I do hope I drive this one at least until the extended warranty runs out (6yr/100K miles). It sure is a lot smoother ride and the stereo is impressive. Another feature I really like, silly as it may seem, is the memory for the seat position. I don't mind DW driving the truck (my vehicle) at all, but of course there's no way for her to put it back the way it was (she's sweet and tries). Now, push the button and the seat and mirrors are back where I like them. Also has keyless ignition, which I have come to like and missed. This is my second car with adaptive cruse control. I'm looking forward to taking a road trip with that again. It's not self driving, but it's a nice feature.

 

[RobbieB]

Wait, so you can't just go to the fancy food store in town and get stone crab from the fish counter, if you don't live in FL?

Nah, ain't no fancy fish counter out here on the left coast that has stone crabs

 

[RobbieB]

Where do y'all get these bad boys?

I always import them from some place on the internet in Florida.

 

[Leo1277]

Stone Crabs - You Rock Baby!

Been a long time. Next up as the season will be ending soon. Much cheaper to send the crabs to me compared to sending me to Florida.

Well, I don't know... COL is much lower than in CA, and there's plenty of space and suitable temps year round for the cool motorcycle in your profile pic.

 

[harley]

Sounds like they blew the dough.

Not really. Other than the shipping, which is pretty expensive, the actual food isn't that high. Stone crab claws probably have the highest mark up of any individual food item in the US. If you know a shrimper you can get 5 lbs of shrimp for about 10% of what they cost in the seafood market. I'll pull the heads off myself at that markup.

Plus they kept a satisfied customer, good for future marked up prices.

But as was previously stated, if you don't live in FL you have no other options.

 

[audreyh1]

Nah, ain't no fancy fish counter out here on the left coast that has stone crabs

Ours amazingly does often carry them. I usually asked for the still frozen ones.

They also have a bunch of different varieties of crab claws in the counter, including Dungeness!

But today I bought a whole gulf Red Snapper. It’s a beaut! I’m making Huachinango Veracruzano. A favorite. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huachinango_a_la_Veracruzana

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of seafood, I told my wife that one year, I would take the RV and make a trip to the Gulf Coast, and linger for a while to eat all the seafood, particularly freshly caught shrimp until I decide I have enough. Was going to do it, but then Hurricane Harvey intervened, and then one thing and another, and the Covid.

I did make a quick RV run to New Orleans one year, but had to hurry back home for a scheduled major surgery. In fact, the reason for the pre-surgery mad-dash RV trip was that it could very well be my last RV trip.

Anyway, that was 8 years ago. I survived, and am doing well. I am still going to go camp out with my RV on the Gulf Coast to gorge myself one of these days, before I get too old.

 

[RobbieB]

Dungeness we have fresh and frozen in buckets here on the left. Even fresh and live if you want.

Sorry, no stones at the super. Must be nice!

No Grouper and no fresh gulf shrimp either. No flounder, but that's up a bit Atlantic.

We have sand dabs, a smaller cousin.

 

[Time2]

Not really. Other than the shipping, which is pretty expensive, the actual food isn't that high. Stone crab claws probably have the highest mark up of any individual food item in the US. If you know a shrimper you can get 5 lbs of shrimp for about 10% of what they cost in the seafood market. I'll pull the heads off myself at that markup.

Plus they kept a satisfied customer, good for future marked up prices.

But as was previously stated, if you don't live in FL you have no other options.

I'm not sure where you live, and prices probably rise as you get further from the coasts. A few years ago I was selling shrimp, the price off the boat was $2.50 to $3.50 depending on size, 26/30 to 16/20s, 10/15s could go higher, we usually doubled the price for resale. If we got a good count shrimp we could do a little better. A few days ago, my wife checked on 10/15s and the wholesale price was $6, she declined and will wait for the price to drop.
Blue crab are good, to bad they are not the size of turkeys! I don't like picking them. We had a relative with a business that picked crab and put them in pints and quarts, that's the way to get and eat blue crab.

 

[audreyh1]

Being close to the gulf coast we get tons of locally caught great quality shrimp. Really great stuff. I always make sure to buy local.

Crazy thing is HEB even has their own shrimp fleet! Photos are displayed at our seafood counter. I had no idea until I looked at all the pictures hung overhead one day.

I’d have to drive 70+ miles to the Brownsville Ship Channel to buy directly from the shrimpers and so don’t bother. We used to buy directly from shrimp boats when visiting Corpus Christi or Rockport decades ago. I also remember wading out crabbing for blue crabs in my 20s. They were plentiful then, but I don’t think that’s true anymore.

 

[jcretire77]

Definitely a Want versus a Need. I ordered a set of new golf clubs. Ping G425's. Cuz I wanted them.

 

[braumeister]

I would take the RV and make a trip to the Gulf Coast, and linger for a while to eat all the seafood, particularly freshly caught shrimp until I decide I have enough.

That's my routine whenever I go to Nova Scotia. Specifically lobster.

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, that’s us in the Pacific Northwest! I think we visited the oyster and clam farm near Friday Harbor 4 times to eat raw and grilled oysters there, and still brought clams back to the condo for dinner.

 

[NW-Bound]

That's my routine whenever I go to Nova Scotia. Specifically lobster.

In our RV trip to the Canadian Maritimes provinces a few years ago, we did 2 lobster dinners with each having a lobster of more than 2 lbs. After 2 such lobsters, I decided that I had enough lobster for a while. It was for the fun of having it right there on the location, but I can buy live lobster from a tank at local markets.

It's the same with Dungeness crab. They sell live crabs in fish tank here, so that's no big deal.

But, in a trip to Washington state, while staying in Copalis Beach, we visited a fish market called Lytle that I found on Yelp. The idea was to get some clams, and I happened to also spot some sturgeon steak in their glass case. My eyes lit right up! How often can you get surgeon in a market? I had sturgeon once before at a downtown restaurant in Portland, and still remembered it.

Needless to say, that evening I cooked up a nice seafood dinner at the timeshare we stayed at.

Now, they say that fresh Gulf shrimp is something you need to experience, and I have yet to do that.

 

[braumeister]

It's the same with Dungeness crab. They sell live crabs in fish tank here, so that's no big deal.

Ah, another of my favorite things. A great memory is from a cruise on a small ship we took through southeast Alaska some years ago. One evening for dinner they offered "all you can eat" Dungeness crabs. After everyone else had finished, there were two of us still enjoying our crabs while our wives looked on in embarrassed amazement. We rarely get them around here, so it's always a treat, but eating regional seafood in its own area has always been a special favorite thing of mine. I grew up on the east coast and went deep sea fishing every chance I got.

 

[Christine]

In pending talks with DH about a serious purchase. Stay tuned.......

Oh boy this is gonna be good! NEW SAILBOAT!

Maybe! Or maybe NEW RV?

Maybe! Or maybe a NEW PHONE?










My old one recently died of old age. And when I got a replacement I got the top of the line model. Cost 3 times what my old phone had. 3 years ago. Whao!

 

[audreyh1]

Now, they say that fresh Gulf shrimp is something you need to experience, and I have yet to do that.

It’s interesting. I’ve lived near enough to the Texas gulf coast all my life to have plenty of great gulf shrimp. But once we stayed on the Alabama coast, and they had a very different gulf shrimp there. I think “Reds” was in the name. It was delicious. I’ve also had terrific shrimp from the GA coast (Atlantic).

 

[W2R]

Maybe! Or maybe a NEW PHONE?

My old one recently died of old age. And when I got a replacement I got the top of the line model. Cost 3 times what my old phone had. 3 years ago. Whao!

Yikes! That had to be a shock.

I bowed out of the expensive phone market when my iPhone 5 cratered, four years ago. Then I got my present LG phone free as a sign-up bonus when I changed providers. It's fine and free is always good.

 

[CardsFan]

Royal reds. We had them in Panama City Beach, as well as Gulf Shores.

Almost like eating a lobster tail.

Locally, in STL we can buy frozen Argentinian reds at Fresh Thyme. Not as good, but not bad.

It’s interesting. I’ve lived near enough to the Texas gulf coast all my life to have plenty of great gulf shrimp. But once we stayed on the Alabama coast, and they had a very different gulf shrimp there. I think “Reds” was in the name. It was delicious. I’ve also had terrific shrimp from the GA coast (Atlantic).

 

[audreyh1]

Royal reds. We had them in Panama City Beach, as well as Gulf Shores.

Almost like eating a lobster tail.

Thank you! Yes, that’s it. We were in Gulf Shores. We don’t get Royal Reds in the western Gulf.

 

[lem1955]

My BTD Covid purchases for the last year:
iMac 27-inch, 3.7GHz 6-Core intel Core i5, 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Apple Watch Series 6
Air Pods Pro
Knit Stars5 (online education of advanced knitting techniques)
all new baking pans (King Arthur, of course), flour, and other supplies
new clothes (dropped twenty pounds)
yarn, yarn, yarn
IceBug GoreTex running shoes
Women's Crosstown Leather Hoodie Jacket - Carbon2Cobalt
2018 Honda HRV for DW

I also sold:
FatBike - I found I was skiing rather than bicycle riding in winter.
Wonder Washer - it didn't work for felting as I thought it would
Snow tires for DW traded in Prius

 

[pacergal]

DH bought a new Snapper electric mower, no more gas smell!

 

[oldphd]

I always import them from some place on the internet in Florida.

+1...

There are a few easily found places to choose from on the internet. Place I chose was just because I had been in their retail outlet. Also, you need a way to crack them. Some folks just use a mallet, but I blew some dough last year to buy a shell cracker/shucker, makes it easier. If you are buying local, they will crack them but suggest only doing that if you are consuming that day.

Few pieces of info re stone crabs... you just get the claws, almost positive it is illegal to keep the whole crab. Fishermen catch them, clip a claw (assuming they have two), and return the crab to the water. They will regrow the claw, so this promotes sustainability. It is also why you don't see them elsewhere in even a high end market, they can't transport live crab.

The ones I got were Florida Stone Crab, so guess what, they don't have them on the west cost. Or much of anywhere but FL. There might be some in other places on the Gulf or up the Atlantic coast, but could be cousins?!?!

Can't say how many days they last, but typically we eat any ordered in 2-3 days. Think it's OK up to several days, maybe a week, but with a day of shipping and maybe caught the day before, you have 2-3 day old crab by the time it reaches you. I haven't frozen them, though I've ready you can do that. They are sold cooked.

Happy eating RobbieB!

Should add... minimum 1 lb per person per serving for a meal, some folks will do 1 1/2 lbs. This is due to waste from the shell, yield is under 50%. Also, I read something once that the smaller size, which cost less per lb, presumably due to more shells to crack to get the same amount of meat, are more cost effective. I just sort of balance the price, and take a shot. Also depends on what's available, the jumbos can be hard to come by, so large is typical. Though you could go medium and save a few $ (not the point of this thread!) and get more practice cracking.