Holey Moley

It's been about a month now since I've last updated the blog and a lot has happened.  Reason for my lackadaisical blogging has been because we've been busy hanging out with Frank's family for the past 2 weeks.  Catherine, Frank's mom, decided to surprise Frank and showed up around mid-July, so we got to spend some tourist time with them.  During that time, we did a lot of fishing, swimming, touring St. Augustine, and just plain relaxing.

Fishing off our docks

St. Augustine Lighthouse 

Krystie, newest member of Blue Man Group

We also discovered the oh-so-delectable mole crab.  These little creatures, though they look like bugs, are crabs that burrow in the sand along the shore where the waves break.  You catch them by waiting until the waves crash and stir up the sand, and watch them scurry as they quickly re-burrow themselves back into the sand.  They only bury themselves about an inch or two, so you can just grab a handful of sand where they were last spotted, and voila, you've got yourself a little critter.  Cleaning them is just as easy, you simply remove their digger and pull, thus deveining them (similar to shrimp).  A light batter of flour, salt, and ginger powder, and deep fry them with peanut oil and you've got yourself a tasty little snack.

When Frank was younger, he had used these as bait for surf-casting and had only known them as "sand fleas" as they call them down here.  He had no idea that they were edible until we watched an episode of Bizarre Foods, when Andrew Zimmern went to Thailand.  They looked so good, when he described them as a combination of "popcorn shrimp and soft shell crab," that we decided that we had to give them a shot.  We must agree that they are very much like a combination of popcorn shrimp and soft shell crab with a crunchier shell.  Even Frank loved them and he's not exactly what you'd consider an adventurous eater.  Yum...just thinking of them is making my mouth water.