More about the lobsters

My father in law (Grandude) happened to be visiting on May 24 when I posted the first lobsta post.  He had some stories to add, especially after other family members started commenting on Facebook.

Grandude reported that he isn't sure how many lobster bakes (vs boils) there actually were over the years--that there were many that Mr. Ranch and his sister might or might not remember and some that it is possible that The Girl was actually at (and many in between).  Among those of us at my house there were a lot of discussions that started with, "Now, wait, was that the time....?" and ending with, "oh, yeah...I think I remember that!"

Grandude reports that he thinks the first lobster bake he remembers was at Grandma and Grandpa's house in West Auburn.  Grandude and the Uncles dug a pit and layered the lobsters with fresh seaweed.  The trick is to put the potatoes on the top of the layers, when the potatoes are done, the rest of the meal is done.  The first time they did it, no one realized that the tarp had to be wet and it  almost caught on fire.  After that they knew to keep it wet!

At another bake, according to Grandude, Uncle C thought it would be a good idea to back Grandma's (his mom's) station wagon up to the pit, to eliminate carrying stuff to the pit they just dug.  Unfortunately, he became stuck in mud up to the axles.  It was so deep that they had to dig out under the axles, put in boards, insert a jack, jack up the axles enough that the wheels were in the air, then stick boards under the wheels to drive out.  Through the whole process, Grandpa kept asking how it was going and Uncle C's answer was consistently, "Piece of cake, Red, piece of cake!".  Grandude remembers that it took a really, really long time to get the car unstuck!

Mr. Ranch figured out while talking to his dad that one of the last lobster boils we went to at Grandma's house someone used turkey fryers to boil the lobsters outside.  The discussion continued as to whether it was Grandma and Grandpa or a caterer who used the fryers, but none-the less, we think that is where we got the idea to use a turkey fryer (ah, ha!).

Maybe this summer I should write a series of family history blogs so that all the family members will have more to argue about.