Sorry for being such a bad blogger lately, but Christine and I have been on vacation for the past week and a half and sadly, blogging was just not in the equation. But the good news is that we did lots of fun stuff that I’m just itching to write about…so stay tuned.
In the meantime, wanted to post some pics of the tastiest Fourth of July feast we’ve had in years! Forgoing the traditional BBQ meat and chicken route, my Dad, Wendy, Courtney, Christine and I elected to have a crab boil instead! And what a treat it was…
The crab was pre-boiled and cracked — not all the way, but just enough to still make foraging for the meat fun! — at a crunchy hippie store in Santa Cruz called Staff of Life. I have not been to “Staff” in years, but man, if you wanna taste (and smell!) Santa Cruz in all it’s earthy glory, you gotta check this joint out…time warp city.
Seriously, if I wasn’t carrying a digital camera and a cell phone, I’d swear I was shopping in the patchouli-scented Santa Cruz of old. And the food, well, the food there is even better. Fresh, organic, green and always totally awesome. With the exception of some foul carob chips in my youth, I have never tasted anything bad from the Staff of Life. So, rock on you old hippie store!
And since no crab boil would be complete without corn on the cob, we had some heaping piles of that too. And when you throw in some fresh-baked bread, a nice big salad, and a view of seaside fireworks in the distance, well, what else do you need? Happy birthday, America!
make. see. eat. do. 
Blogging is hard in the summer–too much fun to be had out of doors. I like your crab boil idea. It takes me back to my youth (about five or six years ago) when we would get a bushel of Maryland blue crabs, some beer and an old newspaper and make a day of it. Lamentably, this is impossible in my current Ohio home, but it is nice to have the memories. May you continue to have a fun summer.
Wow…your Maryland blue crabs sound pretty damn good too…delicious! Here’s hoping you find some freshly-flown-in crab in Ohio some time very soon! 🙂
Wow, sounds like the type of thing you’d be eating on Martha’s Vineyard with the Auchencloss clan. Way to church it up on the Fourth! 🙂
Crabs were eaten on the first celebration of the 4th of July on the east coast by the Tomas Garcia family after the big guy got home from the sea. So it is American as Apple pie, corn on the cob and hot tamales.