I Went to a Party and came Home with Crabs

Dungeness crabs, two big fat ones! Aren't they beautiful?

If you know anything about dungeness crabs you are thinking something is a little odd, as crab season opens on Monday, November 15, the day this post will be published. That is the season for the commercial fisherman, not sport fishermen!

My son is on a club lacrosse team, and sports are very expensive. We do everything we can to keep costs down and affordable for all who want to play. 

Our biggest fundraiser is an annual fiesta with a silent auction and and a real down to earth bidding auction. After everyone has eaten, drinks are flowing, the auctioneer comes out and the donations start pouring in.

This past season we donated three 6 packs of wine along with a tasting and hor  d' oeuvres for three groups of 8. I think the total those brought in at the auction was close to $800.00.

The dinner I attended Saturday was one of those stunning donations, it brought in a sizable amount of money for the club and we had an absolute blast! 

The winner was bidding on dinner for 8, prepared at their home, served and cleaned up! We were one of the lucky couples to be invited to fill out that group of 8, which ended up being 11, and that made it even more fun.

The host is a recreational fisherman, and I don't mean a line and sinker kinda guy, he has a boat, and a big boat. He caught lots of crab Saturday morning just in time for our dinner.

And I got two big fat ones to take home with me!

We had martini's, hor d' oeuvres, soup, salad, entree, dessert and David brought along a case of wine. I think we got home close to midnight, it made it hard to get up early for the gym, so I did something I rarely do, I slept in till 6:00 a.m. 

Now the only reason why I even bothered getting up at 6 was because my son had 5 lacrosse games on Sunday, the first starting at 7:30 a.m. so I just got up with the rest of the family. Off they went to the SportPlex for the first couple games and I headed off for my shoulder workout at the gym.

I was able to get there for the third game at 10:30, they won the first three and lost the last, it was the playoff tournament for the fall season, and his team came in second in Varsity. 

An hour rest at home and he heads up to San Francisco for practice for two hours with one of his Varsity travel teams. 

But back to the crab!


Fresh dungeness needs very little done to it, I first boil it in salted water.

I boiled it until it was red in color and therefore should be cooked through, about 20 minutes, these are big crabs!

Then take them out to drain and cool.

Crab is very nutritious, and low calorie, a dieters dream. What makes it fattening is the melted butter many people dip it in, you don't need all that!

We will cut up the crab, so every leg has a piece of body, which I find to be the sweetest tasting part anyway. Then we will spread it on newspaper on the dining table and everyone can eat what they like.

My son will probably have melted butter, David will have his plain and I will squeeze lemon over it.  

On cold winter nights I will put my Tuscan grill in the fireplace and get a nice oak fire going, then make a mixture of Spanish paprika, minced garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon, and toss the cut up crab with this, then grill the pieces till hot and crackly. 

The paprika gets a wonderful smokey flavor and your fingers retain the garlicky flavor as you pull the meat from the shells. 

Just what is the nutritional content of dungeness crab? 

3 ounces crab

94 calories
19 grams protein

1.06 grams fat

.81 grams carbs

321 mg sodium

To top it off, it's over 75 degrees, the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day. Ah we are so lucky to live in California!