More cooking...lobster anyone?

The Clawson boys, from left to right: Kink, John, George (brothers) Grandfather, Kraig, and me (brothers)--three generations of rapscallions...

Saturday night we received a call from a local merchant about some fresh lobster that had just arrived on island. Of course we were interested! We love lobster, though have never actually cooked it ourselves. I rode my scooter to a little roadside stand that had been set-up, and there, packed in ice, were a number of lobsters. I chose a small one, and headed home. I put it in the fridge to cook the next day.

On Sunday I decided to go all-out and have a surf and turf dinner--lobster and steak. Terri deserved a good meal after a crushing weekend on-call at the hospital (it had been one of the busiest weekends she had had on island).

After some study on the Internet, we chose the standard way to cook lobster--to boil it whole in salt water. The 'timing' of how long to cook the lobster was all over the place: from 12 minutes to 22 minutes! We decided to sort of split the difference and boil our lobster for about 16 minutes.

We didn't hear any screaming when our little friend went into the pot...and it soon turned the customary bright red color. I got out my trusty pliers to break-up the shell and get to the meat.

Next was cooking the steak we had found in Saipan (I am saving half the steak for cooking Burgogi later this week). I learned how to cook a great steak from my son Michael (the Marine). He started experimenting with grilling while a bachelor, and became quite good. At some point I finally gave up my position at the family grill to Mike (it was a profound day at the Clawson home--the passing of the barbecue spatula!). Over time, I learned from him.

Mike was so good at grilling, he competed in a National cook-off in the Marine corps, and came very close to winning! After winning all the local contests, he was flown to New York City, where the national finals were held, and was shown on the morning TV program the Today Show! Unfortunately, he didn't win...the commanding officer did...hhmmm....

The Clawsons have a long, and strange, tradition of cooking. Every New Year we would go to Uncle George's home, where he would feed everyone new and strange food--it was required that everyone try what was cooked (this is the same man that had a still in the back room where he made his own beer!). He would not tell what we were eating until everyone tried it and said whether or not we liked it! It wasn't long before we were willing to try anything...

My Uncle John once pulled a practical joke on his guests. My Grandfather had stolen the arm and hand from an Egyptian mummy from a traveling museum (he was a police detective that had been working as a security guard...). This mummy's arm had hung on my grandfather's wall for years. After his death, my uncle John got the arm.

One day he had an elaborate dinner for his friends (always be a hesitant guest at the Clawson's...), where he served horse steaks and a beautiful salad. As a joke, he took the mummy's hand and placed it upright in the middle of the salad bowl, covering it with salad. As his guests dished out the salad onto their plates, the mummy's hand was revealed...to the delight of John and the horror of his guests! And, of course, in Clawson tradition, no one knew what the meat was, until after all the compliments had been given!

This is the legacy of cooking tradition that has been passed down to me...anyone want to come to dinner?