Shucking Oysters

During Lent, we eat fish on Fridays. After work, we headed over to Central Market because they were having a "Dive In" sale. Don and I were feeling especially adventurous, especially after our turbulent visit to the pediatrician. (sidenote: I think we are FOR SURE looking for a new pedi. I was stuck at work a little longer than planned and missed the first part of the appointment. Don had conferenced me into the visit by putting me on speaker. When it came time for the questioning, my one questioned multiplied into 10 and she made an off-hand remark to Don saying, "I guess you're just the chauffer, huh?" I know she was just joking, but that was totally unprofessional. Not to mention she told us that Mari had yet another ear infection and was going to prescribe the SAME antibiotics when I had to specifically request another kind. She mentioned the tubes again, and that put me on edge. This is only her 3rd infection for goodness sakes!! *sigh* We did get a few samples for allergy medication. My theory is that the allergies are causing the congestion, which gets backed up in the ear, which in turn causes the ear infections. Either way, she got her most current vaccinations and we headed home.)

Anyway, so we're at Central Market and we went there to get shrimp, but instead we walked out with shrimp, scallops, and oysters. I'd made scallops just a few days earlier, but we'd never shucked our own oysters. The guy at the counter did his best to explain how to properly shuck an oyster, but ultimately, I went to the Internets and found this little gem to help me out.

We bought 6 oysters and a tartar sauce that had horseradish and jalapenos in it. We already had low sodium crackers and some special Louisiana hot sauce from our buddy Will. Even though we paid for 6, they gave us 8 because sometimes oyster shells don't always have an oyster on the inside. 7 of 8 had one. Lucky us! We had one free!!
After shuckin' 'em, we put them on ice because that is how they do it at the restaurant. Oh, and we had to have some lemon, too!
Here I am showing off the one oyster I did. I was very nervous since the guy at CM told me that if I wasn't careful, I could end up in the ER. Knowing my clumsiness, I was EXTRA nervous, but my adventurous side won out and I was glad it did. Oh, and isn't Mari cute passed out in the mei tai my MIL made for me? She wasn't feeling so hot after those vax shots (blech, 4 of 'em!) and again, after we made it back from the doctor, I lectured myself over and over again for not being smarter about the shots.