Wait. Wot

The banana is a mazano or apple banana and is 4 inches long. Still, those are huge oysters.

I brought six oysters at Safeway on Kauai a couple of weeks ago. Banana for scale.

Welcome! If the shell is soft enough to cut, chew and swallow I can't imagine it doing you any harm. Soft shell crabs are available frozen and, in season, fresh in the US. I had a similar experience decades ago with lobsters. They were probably just starting to expand to break the old shell. When we cracked the old shell and pulled out the meat it was larger than the shell it was in. We had to peel off the new shell. The new shell was the thickness and consistency of writing paper. The lobster was excellent.

I'm back! In keeping with many of my previous posts here is a bone-in rib steak (frozen, sous vide for 2.5 hours at 122F) with overcooked (unfortunately) frozen swiss chard from 2020 and mixed mushrooms with garlic and red wine.

Welcome! I'm looking forward to seeing your recipes.

Our neighbor has young hens. They are just beginning to lay eggs and don't quite have the hang of it. This morning's eggs, one with an extra large yolk. An extra jumbo egg that weighs nearly 1/4 of a pound.

It seems that retirement really means that you're going to be busier than you have ever been before. That's what happened to me. Welcome.

I try. It's the only life I have.

Antique Cast Iron Fry Pan. Likely my mother's grandmother's. Keep them seasoned and they are damned near immortal. People used to sift through the remains of their house fire for their cast iron cookware that only needed to be re-seasoned to be used again.

The Elda doing it's job: Bone in rib eye SV four hours at 123F searing in an ACIFP at 700F, 90 seconds per side. Mushrooms in butter, olive oil and red wine. New Zealand spinach in garlic and butter. Plated:

If you can, chill them to about 28F. They won't freeze at that temperature but they can't put up much of a fight.

A good oyster knife and a pair of silicone cut resistant gloves are a requirement. Neither need be expensive. Other than that, an understanding of bivalve Mollusk's hinge anatomy. If that fails you, YT is your friend. I couldn't make a living shucking oysters but I don't have to 😄.

I've been remiss in posting for various reasons, interesting and otherwise. I finally shucked the oysters I bought for NYE. That platter is 16" wide. Today I harvested the last produce of 2021 or the first of 2022 depending one the scorekeeper's interpretation of the calendar. All brassicas, red vein kale, nth generation of broccoli side shoots with leaves and the smallest Brussels sprouts I've ever seen. They ranged from the size of peas to the size of acorns. I sauted them with our garlic, olive oil and butter. There will be no more until I replant. I pulled the plants out so I could put the garden to bed under a blanket of tarps before it snows tonight. Served with a bone in strip steak (SV 4 hours at 123F and seared in a ACIFP at 700F on the Elda) smothered in red wine mushroom sauce. I was going to have air fried french fries but a large Manhattan got in my way.

Hearty breakfast: Toasted Jessica's Irish oatmeal bread, Sunnyside up with ham and bacon. Salt, pepper, butter and blackberry preserves not shown.

Or they no longer have a kitchen 😄