Running with Teaspoons: camp weekend, part 1: good eats!

Two weeks ago, Scott and I got to spend about 6 days at the camp (read: cottage) his family owns in Maine. The house is right on a lake and is absolutely gorgeous. Every summer we invite all of our friends to come up for a long weekend. This year was lucky #13, and it was filled with laughter, friends, fun, and FOOD!
The big ticket item of the weekend was LOBSTAH! Lobster prices in Maine are extremely low right now, so I took advantage of that and visited a local lobsterman (friends with my aunt-in-law) and put in a nice big order of lobster (with clams as well). Naturally, before cooking the lobsters, we played with them:

hanging out with my dinner before i cook it

hello there

just petting a lobster, no big deal

even his little claws are strong - look at that grip!

lobster pots filled with water, salt, and beer.. yum!

Lobster is pretty simple to cook. The most important part is keeping the lobsters alive until you boil then (if they die beforehand they go bad pretty quickly). Fill a huge pot about 2/3rd full with water and add a lot of salt (the water should be almost like salt water). You can also throw other things in the pot. Beer is probably the most common - just pour a can of beer in. Why not? Then, instruct your lobsters to dive into boiling water head first. Don't worry, they will only scream a little :-)

sorry lobster, but it's time to ~~die~~ boil

boiling!

lobsters are done!

Depending on the size of the lobster, you will cook them from anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes (or more). We had 1 1/2 lb. lobsters so we cooked them for 20 minutes. If they are bright red you are probably on the right track, but some people will warn you that red doesn't necessarily mean done, so using a timer is a good idea.

dinner is SERVED!

so ready to be EATEN!

The preferred method for eating lobster includes dipping the meat in butter, which we definitely did! Just melt a stick of butter in the microwave (or 4 if you are feeding 15 people!).

the lobster remains!

Clams are also pretty simple. Soak in water (or beer), and then boil for about 3-4 minutes, or until the clams open. To get rid of grit, some people will soak the clams in water and flour, but this isn't a requirement. Once the clams are open they are done. If one doesn't open up, then it's probably bad and should be discarded.

and a side of clams!

The lobster feast was a big success, and I hope we get to do another one next summer! We had a few other meals while we were there too... lots of grilling! Here's a sampling: