Round Robin: By the Numbers

It's another photo challenge over at Round Robin.
Since this one was my idea, I guess I have to participate, right?
The topic is "By the Numbers."
Head over to Round Robin to see who else played.

Most of these were taken on the recent seafood-eating excursion to the Redondo Beach pier.
Who knew there were so many numbers involved in eating seafood?


Your orders, 01401 and 18387 will be ready in 20-30 minutes.
(And hammers are available in the beer department.)


Speaking of the beer department... Carta Blanca... 1 quart for each of us.


Hammers. For a mere $3 deposit each.


Our finest table coverings were recent editions of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.



I saw some numbers here in a few fonts I liked.
Not that I know what it says. But it sure looks cool

And the number that started it all. Nothing to do with seafood here.

This was taken at the parking garage at work.

It was one of the first pictures I took with the new camera, a Canon G9, that I got back in October 2008.

'Tis all.

Hope to see y'all back here soon with some cool underwater photos from my dives at Anacapa!

Feeling crabby ... in a good way

Things have been crazy here when it comes to the manfriend. He has been working like crazy. It's been tough with his schedule and my schedule to try to find time just to hang out and do something chill.


We finally had a chance Sunday, a very beautiful day, to get out and get some fresh air and some fresh food. Seafood!



We headed down to Redondo Beach to get some grub at Quality Seafood on the pier. (For locals, this is on the side near the international boardwalk, the Fun Factory, etc.) MF stood in line and picked out a couple crabs for us and had them steamed.


I did my thing with the bivalves and got us an assortment of clams and mussels, also steamed.


While we waited for the food to be ready, we grabbed a couple beers, some lemon and a little cup of butter for dipping. Then we copped a spot at one of the many outdoor tables. It was busy, but not too crowded. Some days you have to wait a while to find a spot.



We spread out of fancy newsprint tablecloth and then it was about time for our clam and mussel appetizer to be ready.

Yes, hammers are indeed available in the beer department - for a mere $3 per hammer deposit.



The assortment I got was black mussels, some manila clams and some larger top neck clams.
We inhaled those pretty quickly, washed down with some cold Carta Blancas.

Next up was the main event: the crab.
This is a labor intensive meal.
The crab is cooked whole and served whole.

Which means dismantling it before eating.
I joked that it is a defense mechanism for the crab.
If they are going to be that tasty, they have to be a pain in the ass to eat to try to deter people from wanting them. It did not deter us in the least.


We cracked and whacked - with the hammers we got for a $3 deposit each - our way through the poor crustaceans.
The poor tasty crustaceans.

It was a lovely day to sit outside (in the shade, mind you) and enjoy the people watching, the food, and in an odd way even the roving mariachi band.

Tea time

The article is up online. CLICK HERE to read it.

There are four recipes and lots of pretty, pretty pictures by a real photographer, not just me with my point and shoot.