Finest Kind and Texas BBQ

Day 6, the last day actually, in my effort to compile a compendium of commonly used Pepper Patch Phrases and bridge the gap between a picture and a thousand words.

Today's P3 phrase: "Finest Kind", a phrase with Downeast roots.

I grew up in New England, born and raised in Rhode Island but hitch-hiked to Maine at 18 to go to school and spent most of my adult life there. If you're familiar with the movie and subsequent tv series M.A.S.H, you may remember hearing Hawkeye Pierce use the phrase. It generally means "the best", not in a competitive I won and you lost sort of way but more "the way life should be".

If I use it to comment on your journal entry it means that while I don't intend to ramble on (which by now you know I'm prone to do) I want you to know how much I like what you've done.

In the Patch it's the ultimate compliment and if I haven't left a heart, it's because it's been a good day, I don't have any left, and I'll have to come back.

Backstory about today's pic. In the old days in Maine lobsters were considered trash fish that washed up on the beaches. Poor man's food, frequently used to feed inmates at the state prison (think Stephen King and Shawshank Redemption) until some fellow from away (Paris, the one in France, not Oxford County) created a culinary sensation at his restaurant when he created and served Lobster Thermador. Today, Maine Lobsters sweetened by the cold Atlantic waters off its coast, are considered the world's best and are shipped worldwide.

So one summer, when friends of friends of relatives in Texas asked if we could arrange to have lobsters shipped so they could host the ultimate surf 'n turf bbq for friends and neighbors we weren't surprised. Spare no expense - this is Texas. We, being nice folks as most Mainers are in a taciturn sort of way, of course obliged - it was their money (a lot) not ours. The next day we went to our favorite lobster wharf and distributor to make the arrangements, stopping off at LL Bean on our way home.

Here's the tragic part of my sad tale. We later learned (through the friend of the friend of a relative) that when they opened the cold packed boxes of lobsters that arrived, they discarded them as spoiled, not realizing that lobsters don't turn the distinctive bright red color you see in the pic above until after they're cooked.

I could have cried.

By the way, the lobster in the pic above was delicious, served with corn on the cob and steamed clams and washed down with an ice cold Moxie.

Once again folks, thanks for your patience as I've played fast and loose with the rules about "fresh caught" pics. I'll explain where I've going with all of this tomorrow and probably ask for some advice.

Stay safe, be kind, care for each other ... and the adventure through the viewfinder continues.