Oyster Shooters: the Home Version

Well, Readers, after posting earlier about my oyster shooter mandate I of course ran straight out to the store to gather supplies and started experimenting. My husband informed me that he has actually NEVER HAD a bloody mary before(!) so I decided to remedy that first thing. Here is the recipe I used after a careful review of the literature available from the finest cocktail recipe websites:

Basic Bloody Mary

• 6 oz tomato juice
• 1 oz vodka
• 1 tsp Worcester sauce
• dash of Tabasco
• dash of prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbs fresh lime juice
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• celery stick for garnish

This turned out pretty good, my husband seemed to like it, and they also limbered up our courage for the main event: the raw oysters I got at the store were HUGE! They were also disconcertingly wiggly and slimy--like some kind of sci-fi movie alien spawn--and the jar they came in had a warning printed on it about it being unsafe to eat raw oysters--like, it says you should consult your physician first...! I don't remember being warned last night at Flabby's about this! Anyway, it was a good thing we had already had a stiff drink, so we went ahead and assembled the shooters: oysters on the bottom, then covered with the bloody mary mixture describe above. I put a little more Tabasco on top for good measure, then down the hatch they went...

I have to say, it definitely reminded me of the ocean. We may steam the oysters next time, or at least cut 'em in half--but I felt pretty good about eating them...it's been a half hour and I don't feel like calling the doctor yet, so I guess I'm in the clear. I also purchased some shelled oysters, which I am planning on grilling later tonight and eating on the half shell with more bloody mary. I will of course document this experience and report back to you...

Oyster Shooters from the Heart of Schnitzelburg

Readers, I attended the Schnitzelburg street festival last night in the Germantown neighborhood. The big draw is not so much the FIVE confirmed cover bands playing simultaneously(!), or the unofficial uniform for females over 200 pounds (spandex), or even the less-hostile-than-usual neighborhood camaraderie: it was the suspension of the open container law for the evening. Several streets were blocked off and festival goers were encouraged to go from bar to bar with their beverages, spreading that special Germantown brand of drunken goodwill everywhere along the way. The fest is centered around some of the best dive bars in town: Flabby's, Check's and the Zeppelin Cafe.

Pictured here is an example of what was definitely one of the highlights of the evening for me: oyster shooters from Flabby's on Lydia Street! For 1.99 you can have a raw (I think) oyster swimming in "hot sauce" (which tasted more like a bloody mary mix to me) to slurp down your gullet. It was AMAZING! So amazing, in fact, that I have decided to devote my Sunday to recreating it at home. My go-to resource for all my culinary adventures, allrecipes.com, has a couple of promising leads for ingredients and preparation, but I'm going to check the cocktail sites for an especially tasty-sounding bloody mary recipe--I think that is the best way to go about this. I'll of course be posting the outcome here...Cheers!

World Championship Dainty Contest

Hurrah, readers! It's finally that time of year again: today is the 39th annual World Championship of Dainty in my hometown of Louisville, Ky. Dainty is a street game that was introduced to Louisville in the mid-1800's by German immigrants, who settled in the area now known as "Germantown." It involves wacking a 5" long tapered stick with another, longer stick (I believe the official Dainty Wacking Stick was a mop handle in its former life) so that it launches upwards, and then hitting it in mid-air down the street as far as you can. It is said to be based on a European childrens' game known in England as "tip-cat." However, only those 45 or older are allowed to participate in our version (along with receiving the senior citizen discount at the movie theater, being eligable to play dainty is pretty much the only perk of getting older that comes to mind).

According to John E. Kleber's Encyclopedia of Louisville: "...the origin of the "dainty" name may be related to the ice cream confection peddled by pushcart vendors in the neighborhoods where the game was popular. The "dainty man's" treats, wrapped in wax paper and resembling a small stick, suggest a connection."

Well, however it originated, the modern day dainty contest, celebrated on the last Monday in July, was revived in 1971 by George Hauck and Jim Vettiner. Hauck is the long-time owner of the miniscule grocery store on Goss Avenue, Germantown's main drag--the contest takes place on the sidestreet next to Hauck's Grocery, which sells fried bologna sandwiches (a local delicacy) for a nickel.