A friend of mine, Chris, lives in Memphis. He sent me an email saying that he was coming to Vancouver for a Lobster Party. Lobsters? I have always wanted to go to a Lobster Party.
The way it works is, Chris buys all the live lobsters and the adult beverages and asks for a $20 donation to cover the cost.
"It all started with my first birthday away from home and I wanted to do something special," Chris said. "So I ordered a live lobster to chow down on. My friends were jealous and so the next year I ordered a few more." And the rest is party history. Even though he now lives in Memphis he flew back for this ongoing Lobster Lovin' tradition.
What you need
Friends (preferably friends that like lobster and beer and, have money too)
A B IG pot to boil the water in
Lots of tools to get into the lobsters (Crab crackers and poker thingys)
Melted butter with some chopped garlic
Eating space
Plastic garbage bags
Paper plates and paper towels ( If you set up a giant wash basin for faces, hands and dishes you can skip this one)
Live Lobsters (See link below)
Getting Started
Just so you don't buy too many or too few lobsters - get your friends to commit to the cost per person. They can pay the night of the party, but set a date for the lobster ordering cut off
Give yourself a good hour to boil the pot water ( It takes a really long time for a giant pot of water to boil)
Take the rubber bands off the claws
Do not stick your fingers in the claws (Chris said, "One of the little buggers pinched my thumb and I had to get somebody to help me." Now we are not lobster scientists at Discover Fun but you think he would have learned this lesson after ten years of boiling the little fellers)
Don't stick your hand right on the pot (this happened too - I think Chris needs a safety inspector at his Lobster Parties)
Don't stress out the lobsters by playing catch with them or racing them across the kitchen table
Once you the water is boiling, your friends have arrived (and they have paid) put the lobsters in the water for about ten to twelve minutes
Eat the lobster. Now when you open a whole lobster there are some pieces that I didn't recognize. When I think of lobster meat - I think of sweet white succulent pleasure. Inside my lobster thee was a large pile of unknown poo colored non white looking material. Some of the partiers called it lobster guacamole. I called lobster crap. I am pretty sure that the people who ate this were either really hungry or filled with beer
After the Big Party
Beware of people that keep the shells as a souvenir (Try not to make eye contact with them)
Expect a good day of clean up - there will be fish juice everywhere. It is probably better to eat the lobsters outside but you may have a large raccoon party out there the next morning.
Seal the garbage bags and put them out on garbage day because you want to keep the vermin away
A party is only as good as the people that were there. Now two people caught my eye. Mike and Sandra from Seattle. Mike had been working on a project with Jer ( A friend of Chris's). Even though Mike and Jer had never actually met (just in Cyberspace) Mike and his wife Sandra came up to Canada on a spontaneous urge to have some lobster. Without knowing anybody they crossed an international border to take a fun gamble. We need more people on the planet like Chris, Jer, Mike and Sandra.
Chris's and his gang of lobster lovers went through 78 live lobsters at this year's party. His goal for next year is to serve up over one hundred lobsters at the lobster bash. So either get an invite from Chris or start your own bash. Until next time, party on!
