Spaghetti and Tuna Fish

“Hey mom…Bri and I wanted to know if we can bring home some lobster tails or crabs from LBI?”

There was initial silence on this end of Marie’s cell phone, followed by “What!”  “The lobster tails are how much!”   “Okay….okay, but make sure the crabs are alive when they give them to you.”

Then Marie turns to me and says -”So guess what your daughter wants for dinner tonight?”

Just another typical Sunday afternoon at Casa de Kern…….

Suddenly, our humble little kitchen was turned into Marie’s Crab Trap.  All we needed was the old wooden table with the one leg that was shorter than all the others and a bunch of Acme (“ack-ka-mee”) paper bags to line the aforementioned table with.  Hold onto that image for just a second.

Lauren and Brian arrived home, with that distinct (one-of-a-kind) scent, equal parts salty ocean air and sunscreen, carrying a half bushel of the first crabs of the Season.  The Shore had officially arrived in Moorestown!  Laughter and commotion could be heard in our backyard as Crab Team Kern went about prepping the crabs for dinner.

At the dinner table, the kids recounted their daytrip adventures to Marie and me.  They laughed about the days’ events and corrected each other’s stories, as only kids can!  Staring at this seafood feast in front of me, I couldn’t help but think about another summer meal that I enjoyed as a kid – spaghetti and tuna fish.

What and what, you said? 

Come with me….as I take you back to one of my favorite meals that I enjoyed as a kid growing up in Philly.  My mom would cook boxed spaghetti (No. 9) with store bought “gravy” and throw in canned tuna fish.  You know – Chicken of the Sea!   As one of three kids, with a stay-at-home mom (before that term even existed) and a dad working multiple part-time jobs and going to college at night, meals like this were commonplace.  Even now, in the dead of winter, Marie will occasionally surprise me with spaghetti and tuna fish. 

Another childhood favorite of mine was “Red Soup” - my Grandma Martino’s specialty.  This delicacy consisted of a beef soup bone, orzos (elongated pasta) and tomato paste.  While cooking the meal, the soup’s broth would turn a light shade of red and hence, red soup was born!  All you needed was buttered white bread.  Delicious!

How many families ate unusual meals like this growing up?  I would venture to guess many!  The best part was having these meals on nights when our friends would come for dinner.  The looks and comments we got from our guests were priceless!  This took place years before the Food Channel and Iron Chef ruled our culinary choices!

The thing was….we kids never knew anything else, so this made perfect sense right?  It’s funny how some of the most commonplace everyday events (now) can trigger some long ago forgotten memories from our childhood.

Anyway, that’s what I was thinking as I sat there picking at my salad.  I am not a crab person.  Don’t get me wrong, I love crab meat, I am just the laziest person in the world when it comes to eating crabs.  You cannot be lazy when you eat crabs!  Give me crab-cakes or seafood stuffed with crabmeat.  Hell, I even struggle with making grilled-cheese.  The fact that I do not cook, but clean-up the dishes each night, probably extended our marriage more years than I will ever know!

I would argue that eating crabs is a sport, if not a competition.  In fact, there are multiple tiny instruments that are required to eat crabs, with each tool possessing its individual purpose. There are different techniques and usually two different camps of crab connoisseurs; pull-twist-eat as we go group versus the make a big pile and devour the remains crowd.  

For the benefit of the kids, Marie quickly recounted her fond memories of those hot summer days, as a child, eating spicy crabs and putting cold soda cans to her lips to ease the burn of the crabs.  Her dad would drag out the old wooden tables from the garage, line the tops with brown paper bags and invite the whole neighborhood over.  Of course Marie’s two aunts lived right across the street on Princeton Avenue!  It was an instant six hour party.

Lauren then told Brian about our traditional Labor Day Crabfest.  We hosted this event for years, inviting friends and family over to the house to enjoy Marie’s crabs (and some beers)!  I could do nothing but smile when I watched Laur attack her crabs like a pro (well she learned from the best – Marie).  I thought back to when she cut her teeth (no pun intended) on her first Blue Claws, probably around age 6.

So, as the remains sit quietly in our frig, I secretly hope that Marie will clean those crabs and make me crabs and macaroni for dinner one night after work.  What a treat that would be?  Are you reading this Marie?

Until then…..I’ll leave you with another saying from the old Philly neighborhood…..

Dinner question:  “Didyaeat?” (did you eat, pronounced as one word)

Proper response: “No, didyou?” (three words slurred together to sound like two)

Save me the claws, less work.  Mangia!