crabs!!!

i can’t think of any better way to spend the weekend than by sharing good food & drinks with great friends. the fact that it is crab season is just an added (delightful & delicious) bonus! so i knew when bgg said she was going to come & play with me for the weekend that crabs should definitely be in the mix & thus began my planning for the perfect weekend festivities.

instead of going to annapolis, as we had toyed with before, we decided to go to the wharf at 1100 maine ave sw & were absolutely ecstatic at what we found! the market place was filled with the largest red snapper you’ve ever seen, shrimp the size of lobster tails (& more variety of shrimp than i’ve ever seen in one place – note the picture), raw bars full of bivalves of every kind, & best of all CRABS. after surveying our options, we ended up buying our little guys from a place that didn’t market clearly any shop name, just “fresh cooked seafood & crabs”.
 
& boy did they have crabs!

after liberally assessing how hungry we were & how much we would possibly be able to devour, we decided on a dozen females - which actually seems quite reasonable, if you ask me. generously, troy (the man who was dutifully helping us) gave us a few extra, threw them in the steamer, & cooked them up for us as we anxiously awaited. & all of this goodness was only a whopping $10! sweet, eh?

the wharf is located in the southwest waterfront & was confusing at first for me to get to. i finally figured out that i had to drive through the parking lots of some of the restaurants along maine to get into the tucked away area they are located in. although the wharf may not be a hidden gem for most of those who live in wdc, it was certainly a gem for me to find. the seafood is fresh, beautiful, plentiful & cheap. cheap. cheap. if i have my druthers, i’ll be making this part of my weekend shopping routine.

& in case you’re wondering… yes, we had a feast at home & ate most of our finds. after snacking on some earlier eastern market buys of cheese, ciabatta bread, pears, figs, olives & prosecco (the figs & olives actually came from dean & deluca in georgetown) we still managed to eat most of our crabs, minus a few that are in my fridge waiting to become the main star of a pasta dish, coming soon to a plate near me! crabs – the gift that keeps on giving…

the silliest part of our dinner was including baby kale we found at the market. clearly, we are well-balanced eaters who love our veggies!