Monday, April 13, 2009

A Cajun Crab Feast!

Jean's story of our trip continues....

Dipper arrived early and he, Gordon & John loaded up the trailer and headed off to the coast to catch blue crabs. Their journey took an hour and a half and the fishing consisted of throwing in a line of pots baited with turkey necks then pulling them straight out again and unloading the crabs. In two hours, they had caught well over 100 but threw back about 20 or so of the smaller ones. Dipper steered the boat, Gordon pulled in the baskets and John unloaded the crabs. One of them bit right through the welder's glove he was wearing, breaking the skin on his hand.
In the meantime, Brenda, Debs and I drove to Houmas House, a former sugar cane plantation, which has been beautifully restored to its former glory.
We walked round the gardens in the beautiful sunshine, had lunch in the restaurant then bought a few souvenirs in the gift shop. Brenda rang Dipper and got the news that the crab catch had been a success so between them they rang about another five couples and a big crab feast was organised for the evening. This never ceases to amaze me about the Cajuns - they can rustle up food for 20 people at the drop of a hat without any panic or fretting. They are laid back, friendly and sociable and great people to have as friends.

On the way back to Brenda's place to meet up with the guys, we called briefly in the supermarket. I was in the back of the car and Debs and Brem got out and headed towards the door, not realising that I was locked in by the child-lock in the back. I knocked on the window but couldn't attract their attention and off they went! I could see the headlines in the local paper next day - "OLD BRITISH LADY FOUND SUFFOCATED IN HOT CAR" but eventually they came back to see where I was and I got released. What a laugh....

So, that evening we headed over to Brem & Dipper's house by the bayou to have a taste of Cajun-style Blue Crabs.
A large table had been set up on the porch which was laid with salads, baked potatoes and lots and lots of crabs - we dove in. What a mess it all made and I have to say the crabs were a lot of work for little reward - from my perspective at least though everybody else seemed to manage no bother and it was a great evening. We played music and sat round the fire again and a great night was had by all. Memory building!!

Check out Dippa's hand selected crabs--Katie got this one

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