Matt and I have been talking about getting a shellfish license for a while now. We've been watching the tides, watching the weather, and just waiting for the right weekend. This weekend was IT!
So after much research regarding the safe beaches to collect nontoxic, non polluted, non mc nasty mussels, we stopped by our local Ace Hardware to pick up a 5-gallon bucket and a license. That part of the shellfish adventure went fairly smoothly, other than the fact that the current shellfish season CLOSED in less than 20 days so Matt was forced to purchase a DAY license as well as a license for next season. DOH!
Upon arriving at the beach area, we realized that just to park in the small gravel lot on the side of the road we DID, in fact, need our Washington State discovery vehicle pass we left on the kitchen counter. Two licenses, and now this. Matt and I both agreed that this could potentially turn into one of those REALLY expensive adventures should the friendly park rangers decide to leave us something not so friendly.
I left my phone in the car, so unfortunately I don't have photos of the "harvesting" process, but it was fun. We had to carefully step across this "stream" to get to a sandier, easier digging spot. Matt had ingeniously suggested we bring a small pail and garden shovel for Fin, so he had a lot of fun collecting his own bucket of broken shells, mud and other lovely goodies. He had fun... until he either tripped, or stepped into one of our holes and fell into the water. :) It was sunny, but not exactly a day to take a dip in the Puget sound. By this point, Matt had only dug up about 6 clams, but regardless, I gave him the universal "we gotta wrap this shit up because one of our kids is about to LOSE it" look.
Still, going home with a hungry baby, a wet toddler and 6 clams didn't seem acceptable. So while I headed up to the rocks to start plucking some mussels, Matt started another hole. SNAP. The shovel broke. Classic. Yeah, we were pretty sure that was God telling us it was time to head back home.
Thankfully, we were able to pull off a few small patches of mussels all at once, so it took us a matter of seconds to have MORE than enough for the 3 of us.
Once back at the car, I got out my phone and made Matt reluctantly pose for a photo with his broken shovel.
"This is a little embarrassing," he said.
Back at the house we started the cleaning process. Unfortunately, the low tide was at 3:44pm, so that meant cleaning started at exactly the WRONG time: dinner time. But that's ok. We fed Fin a simple pasta dinner (just to get food in his belly) and then focused on the mussels. We decided during the process that although clams are a little harder to find and harvest, mussels are much harder later! The mussels required a lot more work than the 6 clams we got. The mussels need to be de-bearded (sounds dirtier than it is), scrubbed with a brush, soaked...etc.
Starting the cleaning process:
We found a couple little friends along the way. Tick or crab? Don't worry, all the friends we found we threw back in the bucket of bay water and later returned to the ocean.
Whoops, pretty sure this mussel is NOT of legal harvesting size.
All clean!
The sink, and the faucet, and the window... not so clean!
Our large clam harvest :)
So I'm chopping tomatoes for the broth, and I feel something on my shirt, TWICE. I look down... the damn clam had squirted me! Poor little guy wasn't going down without a fight.
All ready to start cooking!
While Matt finished up cleaning the mussels, I ran out and grabbed a fresh loaf of bread and a chilled bottle of chardonnay. Because dinner would not have been complete without bread to sop up the amazing juices and a refreshing white to wash it down.
Matt and I waited until Fin was in bed before we cooked the mussels and ate. It was the first meal we've had just the two of us since August. :) Pretty sure we need to do that more often.
Stop taking pictures, woman! I'm ready to eat!
It was a lot of work, but it was a fun, eventful, educational and DELICIOUS Northwest adventure here on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. Can't wait to do it again. PS. We saved Fin some mussels and bread for lunch the next day and he gobbled them up and asked for more. Poor boy! Don't worry Fin, we'll go out and get more soon!
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