Browse > Home / Archive: June 2007

Keys Cuisine: Simple tips to *Real* Conch Cooking…:-)

June 29, 2007

Some good culinary tips from Jan Norris of the Palm Beach Post for wannabe Key West Bubba's..:-)  Short Order Shrimp and other Tasty Tips…..I'm actually getting hungry just reading it!  I've got my Coffee Pot, now all I need is the Shrimp..;-)  Read all of Jan's interesting Key West spirited cooking and food preparation secrets at the link below:
 

 

MOTEL ROOM COFFEE POT SHRIMPNo kitchen? No problem. Use the drip coffeemaker in your motel room. Take out the coffee filter basket, put a handful of shrimp in the glass pot and run the water through the machine. Let stand until opaque. Peel and eat. Scrub the pot with a little baking soda to get rid of the shrimp essence, or better yet, go to the thrift store and buy a new pot just for this endeavor.STONE CRABSStone crabs are not in season as you read this - it begins again Oct. 15, but a majority that are served around the state and shipped elsewhere come from the Keys crabbers. Joe Weiss of Joe's Stone Crab in Miami put the crustaceans on the map - and created an industry for them.The crabs ,with their sunset-colored claws, are caught in traps (smelly ones - which you know if you ride with the windows down in Marathon and southward where the traps for crab and lobster pile up near the fisheries). They're baited with fish heads or pig's feet, then dropped into the shallow flats along the edges of seaweed beds. The traps are hauled out of the water and stored in the shade till a claw is taken from each, then they're thrown overboard to regenerate a new claw.They're called a renewable resource, but just how many survive with only one claw is debated by scientists.The claws are cooked for 8 minutes either aboard the bigger processing boats or on the dock, iced to stop the cooking, then chilled and sorted into size for market (medium, large, jumbo and colossal).In season, find the crab claws in a number of eateries, including in the Keys Fisheries in Marathon, which supplies Joe's with claws, or Louie's Backyard in Key West. You can buy them by the pound, too, at a number of seafood markets and fish houses throughout the Keys. No kitchen needed: just a cooler to keep them icy, and some cocktail or mustard sauce if you like, for dipping.

A landlubber's guide to eating like a Conch (that's Key West native to you)

 

fat_1.jpg

Popularity: 5% [?]

Written by Ian · Filed Under Happening Now!, LifeStyle 

Hemingway Days 2007: The Old Men and the scene return July 17th-22

June 16, 2007

Papa Hemingway returns en masse each summer to Key West - giving the slower summer pace a little bit of a poetic kick in the proverbial pants -as hundreds of Ernest look-a-alikes descend on the Island to win the coveted title of Papa's Doppelganger. ( which means ghostly double of a living person - or in this case a long deceased legend - you can tell I am actively getting in the Hemmingway spirit by using big words. No Pun Intended..:-)

Anyway - for the rest of the less literary crowd - you can read more about Hemingway Days at the link below:

Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West during throughout 1930s and the 1950s. On the second floor of his converted den, Papa hammered away at the bulk of his writing, working in the mornings, and drinking and fishing (and drinking) in the afternoons and evenings. He was well-known in the city, often carousing in public. To honor his legacy, Key West holds an annual event known as Hemingway Days. This year, the event runs from July 17-22.

The celebration includes a number of Hemingway-inspired events, like:

I've actually wished that I had whi

 

technorati tags:,

Popularity: 23% [?]

Written by Ian · Filed Under Fantasy Fest, LifeStyle 

Key West Culture: A quick look at Key West Through the eyes of another

June 12, 2007

It's always interesting to get the perspective of Key West through the eyes of the occasional visitor - rather than the rose ( black or red ) colored glasses worn by those who make these streets their home.  hotels-orange.jpgSeemingly an endless supply of snippets and glimpses of Key West Culture permeate the online landscape - I occasionally find it interesting to post a few of these less - let's say - jaded perspectives of what life *is* like in Paradise..:-) Read the full article at the link below:
 

 

Key West boasts historic charm, raucous nightlifeBy Kelly KazekTHE NEWS COURIER

 (ATHENS, Ala.)KEY WEST, Fla. — With its historic island charm and picket-fenced bungalows combined with raucous pubs and seedy adult shops, Key West could be the half-sibling of New Orleans’ French Quarter.Although a modern side exists to the 2-by-4-mile island, complete with a home improvement center and supermarkets, tourists come to see Old Town at the tip of the island, where food and trinkets are plentiful and parties are perpetual.Though the nightlife in Key West’s Old Town may not be suitable for children, the island offers plenty of family-friendly activities, including tours of museums of pirate history and treasures, tours of historic homes such as the island’s oldest home and the Little White House, shopping in art galleries and souvenir shops along Duval Street, munching on island treats such as homemade ice cream and Key Lime pie, watching carnival performers at the nightly sunset celebration in Mallory Square, and taking ghost walks.

Shelbyville Daily Union - Key West boasts historic charm, raucous nightlife

 

 

Popularity: 10% [?]

Written by Ian · Filed Under LifeStyle 

Next Page »