Crabs.

My food cravings are very specific. My friends will attest to this. They can range from hard-shell tacos to fried green onion pancakes from Earthen Restaurant. (http://www.yelp.com/biz/earthen-restaurants-hacienda-heights) On this particular Saturday, I was craving steamed Dungeness crab. As evidenced by the existence of my blog alone, I'm not particularly reluctant to make what I want to eat. If I'm craving something, I'll make it or find a restaurant that will make it for me. Even as a party of 1. (I overcame the fear of eating alone in public long ago while living in Tokyo.) So naturally, I made the trek out to the nearest Chinese market for a live Dungeness crab. ($2.99/ lb.!)

In the kitchen is where I find my solace. Not just in the food that I make, but the process - whether it's de-veining shrimp or zesting a lemon. There is something uniquely therapeutic about de-shelling a crab and something inexplicably fulfilling about retrieving a perfectly intact lump of crab meat.

The aftermath:
I obviously didn't think this one through. Usually when I take pictures of my creations, I attempt to create the illusion of a professionally taken photograph with my now-endangered Canon Powershot SD430 (5.0 megapixels!). And usually, I take a picture of the dish before I devour it. I failed on both accounts. Regardless, this party of 1 thoroughly enjoyed the Dungeness crab, along with a glass of Moscato.