Nantucket Bay Scallops Are Back

Mr. Steve Bender is at it again, sending us Nantucket's freshest bay scallops.  We buy our scallops from him because he searches the island over to find the largest and sweetest scallops available.  The season opened November 1st and we should see a steady flow of beautiful bay scallops until the weather gets too far below freezing and the industry is shut down.  Nantucket's are known to be the sweetest scallops available and are very seasonal.  Prices this year have started out about average, but high winds have kept supply limited.  Here is a link to more information about Nantucket Bay Scallops.

What's Up With The Stones?

Where have all the stones gone? No, I'm not referring to that great rock band, I'm talking about those delicious Florida stone crab claws that we get each year from October and through the winter.  It seems as though Mick and the gang have been much more visible this past month than his crab counterparts.  Many of you are wondering what the story is and I can't blame you.

Here it is: At the beginning of this season the crabbers actually went on strike due to low prices.  Joe's Crab Shack of Florida fame buys so many claws every year that they are actually the ones who set the price at the docks.  This year the crabbers were not too happy with initial pricing, but eventually an agreement was made and they have since gotten back to work.  However, good weather for us is bad weather for crabbing.  The industry usually booms after a big storm, but there haven't been any of those recently.  Couple that with incidences of red tide and all of a sudden we have a scarcity in the market.  Right now claws are hard to come by outside the walls of Joe's and the state of Florida.  Crabs are on the move and we just can't seem to catch them.  It's sounds counterintuitive, but hopefully we'll soon see some storms.  If not, there won't be many claws to go around, and if you do find some, the price tag could cause serious sticker shock.