Oyster Night

This is Grandma Bob.  He’s really the grandpa of the neighbors up the hill, but we pretty much consider him our Grandpa Bob too.  Right around the New Year, Grandpa Bob has an annual tradition of ordering fresh oysters from the West Coast to share with family and friends, which happily includes us, although to be honest, I didn’t actually have an oyster.  They are separated out of their shell and eaten raw, and honestly, I’m just not that brave.

Last Monday night was Oyster night.  The oysters are delivered in packed in ice, and need to be eaten soon upon arrival in Minnesota, which meant that we gathered at the neighbors half way down the street even though among the families there were several people down with viruses.  The more germs the merrier!  It’s always fun to be together with friends.

The oysters are separated with some special kitchen tools.   The insides are scraped out and eaten with a fork.  I’m told they have a surprisingly mild taste, not very fish at all, but that the texture is kind of like snot.   There were other appetizers as well, like some amazing aged cheddar cheese and delicious crackers, fresh bread, humus and other yummy things.  

While the grown ups were tearing it up in the kitchen, the bigger kidlets hung out in the living room, and the littlest kidlets built some great train tracks.   Then, at the end of the night we bundled everyone back up and headed down the alley back home.