I Really Miss My Seafood!

Growing up in the southern US and living here all my life, gulf seafood is a way of life. My Daddy would make the 4 hour journey to Apalachicola once a year to meet the oyster boats at the dock. There he would pick up several burlap sacks full of oysters straight from the gulf. He would bring those home and we would have an oyster fest. Raw oysters, oyster stew, fried oysters, oysters rockefeller......well you get the picture. Oh, they were so good back then. I really miss those oysters. I remember though that daddy would never get oysters after a storm. When Katrina disturbed so many of the beds and stirred up the gulf I laid off Apalachicola oysters for years. Just when I am thinking that it is ok to start enjoying those oysters again, BP ruins my idea. I don't care what the USDA says, I am not comfortable eating oil filled seafood. And I certainly would not chance eating oysters. I really miss my seafood. Living so close (a few hours drive) of the coast it has always been so nice to get fresh seafood that came off the boats that morning. We have a fishmonger near us who does just that. Meets the boats in the wee hours of the morning and by midmorning that days catch is in his shop. I don't like grocery store fish. It has usually been frozen and shipped miles and miles, then thawed out to place in their case to look "fresh". I remember visiting my sister in California (yep she lived there at one time) and we went to buy clams. They were so fresh and the fishmonger there made sure to show us how fresh they were by tapping on the clams shell and it would close up. If they stayed open they were dead and no good. Here, I don't know why they bother to ship in clams since they are dead as doornails. I often wonder if people here actually buy them. Now she lives on the coast of Maine and she often goes clamming for fun. I haven't had a chance to visit yet, but I hope too one summer(winter is out of the question!). With the mess that has been made in the gulf I wonder if I will ever eat fresh seafood again or if I will have to settle for seafood from somewhere else. Don't get me wrong we have plenty of freshwater fish, but I love grouper and oysters and shrimp and snook and others. We don't eat a whole lot of the larger fattier fish because of the mercury levels, but grouper is a great occasional treat. Oh well, maybe good ol' sis will take pity on me and send me some of those fabulously delicious Maine lobster! Wouldn't that be great, but I don't think I will hold my breath. Anyone else going through seafood withdrawal? Blessings from the farm, Kat