Oysters with RQS

 

While at dinner in NYC, RQS and I discussed dinner plans for the weekend.  I suggested picking up Lobster at Shoprite, while RQS was thinking of Oysters at Whole Foods.  Guess what we chose - Oysters on Friday night and Lobsters on Saturday.  Yum!  (Just don't tell my doctor about this.)  Seafood would be the theme for the weekend, and all I might want to do was find some clam chowder or lobster bisque to make things perfect.

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I didn't get a good night's sleep before, and I woke up early on Friday morning having forgotten about our dinner choices for the weekend.  So, when RQS mentioned that she'd be coming up around 2:30 pm, I realized that I had to rush to get ready.  Like a typical woman, my dilemma was what to wear.  So I picked out a coral version of the navy blue dress I wore the night before and got ready to pick RQS up at the station.

Croton-Harmon station is undergoing major renovation.  The town is installing solar panels over the entire parking lot (at least, over the areas not prone to flooding) as a way of generating new revenue for the town.  This has caused major sections of the parking lot to be taken off line while the solar panels are installed above the parking areas.  (It'll be nice for many to be able to park in areas protected from inclement weather.  Sadly, this only helps those with preferred parking space permits.)  This week, construction took out the parking area that the local taxis normally use and this created a mess around the area where passengers usually depart the station and get to their rides home.  The taxi stands have been relocated to the far end of the station, people have to walk further to reach parked cars, and the pick-up area is much more congested than normal.  This made it hard for RQS to find me, so I had to call her to tell her where to find me.

Once in the car, we ended up going to Whole Foods for oysters.  Arriving at 3:00 (or so), the first thing we did was to order 3 dozen oysters and have them shucked for us.  30 minutes later, we were feasting on our trays in the store.  It's nice to be able to get oysters at $1 each on Fridays, as something expensive becomes an affordable treat.  Both of us found that 18 oysters each was a perfect midday meal to start a summer's weekend.

After finishing our meal, it was time to go home and relax.  Although we went out later for a ride, the oysters were the high point of the day....

Cleaning out a closet - not much to say about today.

 

I'm not much of a believer in the principles of Feng Shui.  But I agree with this post, that having a messy apartment, as well as messy closets are bad for someone's health.  Excessive clutter reflects problems that a person has and must be dealt with.  Today, RQS and I attacked the closet in my hallway.

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RQS has been at my place from Friday to Wednesday, and on two of those days, it was too hot to do anything outside.  So, after a mild amount of prodding, I shifted our cleanup focus from making the bedroom neater to attacking the mess in the closet.  By the time we were done, we had 4 large bags to be donated to charity, as well as some garbage bags for the dumpster.

By the time we were done with the closet, it was too late to go out.  (This would have been a day spent as Marian if we had gone out.  But I digress.)  There wasn't much to do, now that Labor day festivities ended.  So we stayed in our jammies and watched a couple of movies and some old reruns. 

Although RQS has to go home to take care of some things, she'll be back this weekend.  Hopefully, we'll again find some inexpensive lobster to boil, and we can have another feast while the crustaceans are in season.  Until then, I'll get back to paying my bills and doing laundry, so that RQS can feel comfortable when she returns.

Looking for lobsters, and we didn't find any.

 

The North American Lobster - a treat to many.  And yet, these animals were once so plentiful that they were fed to prisoners, slaves and apprentices during the American colonial era.  Today, they are considered a delicacy, and I only buy them when they are on sale.

Last night, RQS and I planned to go to the local ShopRite after seeing a movie to take advantage of a sale they were having.  Lobsters were on sale for $7.99/lb.  That meant that I could stock up on lobster, cook a couple for the two of us to eat that evening, and have the meat for lobster salad over the next day or so.  Unfortunately, this was a mistake.  Before we made it to the store, they were all sold out of live lobsters. But we didn't know this when we went to the store.

Arriving at the store, RQS went to pick up some things while I headed to the seafood department.  The fellow behind the counter told me the bad news when I asked for lobsters.  So, I picked up a tray of two partially cooked lobsters (with potatoes and corn) ready to be steamed to perfection.  At that time, an announcement came over the PA system - Lobsters were on sale for $7.99.  So I sent RQS over there to find out what was going on, since I was there already.  That's when we found out that all of the announcements were on a prerecorded loop, and that no one could stop them if a selected item was sold out.

We then went home to try the "heat and eat" lobster dinner, and were both impressed and disappointed at the same time.  The seasoning for the food was very good, and we plowed through the food quickly.  However, both the quantity of lobster and preparation instructions (tiny lobster, with no reheating information) took away from the enjoyment of the dish.  (RQS had to saute the lobster meat in the tails because it was underdone.)

Would we do this again?  Maybe, but only if I wanted to reheat everything in my oven, and not using a steamer for the lobster.