It was a crab and stormy night

People here have their preferences: King Crab vs Dungeness Crab, and you'll have your diehards on either side of the argument. I like them both, but I will say this: Dungeness are just a little more "picky" than King. Smaller bodies. Takes a bit of work to get the meat out.

So I picked a bunch of Dungeness last night, while waiting for John to get home from his Rotary Board meeting of no fun.

We received fennel bulb in "the box", also green onions. I've always thought that the faint licorice flavor of fennel goes very well with seafood. So:

Put on a pot of brown basmati rice.
Slice up the fennel bulbs (take off the stocks to use in stock, halve them, cut out the little hearts) into slim slices.
Cut several green onions up into similar lightly longer pieces.
Melt a 1/4 cup of butter in a big sauté pan over slow heat (it is going to be a LONG board meeting) and begin to wilt the fennel in it.

Prepare a salad of frisee, Napa cabbage, and mixed greens, marinate the leftover broccoli from yesterday in balsamic and olive oil.

Slice up a crispy delicious apple and a perfect Bartlett pear.

Sit down with a glass of Lindemans Bin 95 sauvignon blanc and do a little embroidery, while waiting for the "en route" call.

When it comes, add garlic and butter to a small pan to reheat the beets from yesterday.
Bring the fennel and butter back up to a hot temp and add a good bit of the freshly picked crab and sautee to heat through. Add the green onions and a splash of wine.

Hand John a glass of wine.

Put the rice in a bowl and top it with the crab mixture, put the beets in a lovley pink bowl, light the candles and dinner is served.

conversation about previously mentioned least fun ever board meeting. Has anyone read Tastings by Nigel Slater? it was left in our book exchange at the Arts Council, maybe I'll read it.

To bed, but alas not to sleep: The house was slammed by gusts of wind all night, and the general anxiety from the day would not be allayed.