The Traveling Crab Cooker
Whenever anyone talks about visiting my in laws in their home on the Northern Neck of Virginia on the Corrotoman River the first thing they speak of fondly besides my in laws is the crabs. Every weekend during the summer my in laws steamed crabs and Silver Queen corn on the cob in a big pot outside. Then everyone would go out on their huge screen porch and sit on a picnic table covered in a roll of heavy paper and crack crabs, eat and drink lemonade. Afterward, I would usually pass out on a hammock on the back porch, this was long before our children were born when rest was part of my life.
Five years ago my in laws sold the dream home they built and retired in; it was a difficult decision. Although it was the perfect home for them it was in a rural area and not near family or high quality medical care. They decided to move to North East Florida to be closer to the Mayo Clinic where they receive medical care. Their new home is beautiful, navigable water front, Granddad got a new boat, it has an indoor pool and great neighbors. There is just one thing, the crabs in Florida are just not the same, they don't taste right. They have blue crabs but they are not sweet the way they are in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina. Don't even get us started on the whole garlic crab thing, ick.
After five years my in laws decided to pass the torch, the propane kind that is. We were headed up to Virginia for a quick family picnic on my side of the family. On the way back home we were going to stop at UberGeek's brother's
new beach home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. UberGeek's parents asked us to take the crab cooker with us to give to his brother. We packed it lovingly into the minivan along with all our other trappings.
When we arrived at the beach UberGeek's brother fired the cooker up once more. Great big jimmies met their fate steamed with beer, Old Bay and a touch of vinegar. Even the ceremonial crab hammers with our names on them were there. Whenever a new person marries into the family they receive a crab hammer with their name engraved on the side. Sitting there with our two families it wasn't quite the same tradition but maybe it was a new one getting started.
