Not shrimp

I was a bit puzzled yesterday when Dh called the dinner we were going to a shrimp fest. About twice a year one of the companies he delivers oil to have a huge crawdad feed. Why had they switched to shrimp? I was hoping he was right; I would much rather peel a shrimp. I never did figure out why he said that. We arrived and it was crawdads they were serving. Lane, Princess, and Curly top were the only children that had went with us. The girls had never even seen a crawdad before so I knew they were about to be grossed out. We were a little late so there was not much of a line. Piled at the start of the table were a bunch of cardboard trays. The were actually those shallow boxes that cans are shipped in. From the large pile I handed one to each of the children and kept one for myself. After I watched the large man who was serving the crawdads dump a large scoop into the person's tray in front of me I reached over and put Curly top's tray back up. Princess shook her head no at the man and passed him by. The next server put a boiled red potato into my box, Curly top didn't want one of those either. She did want an ear of corn so I asked for two of those. Princess was happily accepting everything she was offered now that she was past the crustaceans. A bowl of white rice was covered with spice beans and sausages and handed to me. Curly top said no to rice, but she would take some beans. We both passed on buttered white bread, but I made two for Princess. She would eat hers quickly since this is her favorite food. Most of the people were just taking them to butter their corn with. On our way to sit down I see another table serving hot dogs and hamburgers. Our hands were full so we passed by the ice chests full of pop and headed further into the crowded shop to find a seat. As I was walking I tipped my box to one side and juice from the crawdads spilled out of a hole in one corner and ran down my jeans and splashed on my shoe. Great, now I was going to stink.
After we were seated I took the kids back up and to grab a drink. Princess filled another plate with hot dogs and chips. Curly top took a pop and a bag of chips and this was all she would eat that night. The corn I had for her was sitting too close to the crawdads so she refused to eat it. The same with the bowl of beans. The only things she would eat were packaged and sealed when she received them. Kind of odd for a five year old, but she has always been a bit odd about her food. One day last year she wanted a second bowl of oatmeal. As I was carrying it back to her I lifted a spoonful to my lips to feel how hot it was. I didn't actually touch any of it, I was just feeling how much heat was coming off of it. She would not eat it. She said she couldn't eat it now because it smelled like me.
Now that the kids were all busy eating I settled down to the dirty job of peeling these things. There are not many things uglier than a crawdad. I am always happy to pull off the tail and toss the rest of the creature to the side. Unlike a serious eater I do not suck the brains out of the head. Honestly, I'm not putting the head anywhere near my face. I pull the meat out of the first tail and dip it into the sauce. Woah, something is extremely salty. I dipped my potato into the sauce and taste it. No it isn't the sauce somebody must have went a little crazy when salting the water. After a few more pieces of meat I become used to the salt. I like the flavor of the meat, but after a while I move on to my rice and beans. I eat mine and most of Curly top's bowl and I was stuffed. People are going back to have their boxes refilled. My problem is that I never like my food to be so much work. That is why I don't eat many crab legs or sunflower seeds either. I used about ten complimentary baby wipes to wash the itchy juice off of my hands. The itchiness is gone, but they probably still stink even though I washed them twice once I was home. I take the girls to see the pots the are cooking the crawdads in. They always remind me of large Bunsen burners. We then look into the buckets of water that are holding the live ones. There are always a group of boys hanging around these buckets picking them up and playing with them. I'm sure the crustaceans are thrilled, first they are a petting zoo, then the are boiled alive. I won't be surprised if I turned the girls into vegetarians yesterday.
While we were eating Curly top pulled my sleeve and said 'Hey look it's that girl I was playing with the other day, at the golf place.' I looked up and there they were. I'll have to explain this odd coincidence in my next post.