Assignment #4: Best romance item.

Work, work, work!

Yesterday we picked up the winners of AdHack Assignment #4, the dynamic duo Giant Ant Media, to redeem their prize: a day of crabbing.

After a fortifying stop for coffees and muffins, we hit the water of Cates Park. Weather bedamned!

We equipped ourselves with wetsuits, fins, snorkels, masks, gloves and crab calipers and pushed into the salty water. Slack tide, excellent conditions. Though we could have asked for a little better visibility underwater.

Over the next hour we dove and surfaced and landed 6 beauties: 4 dungeoness crabs and 2 red rock crabs. Our cooler runneth over! We had our haul.

We skinned off the wetsuits and pulled on warm, dry clothes. Then we made our way back to cook those bad boys we'd worked hard to catch.

After some quick preparation we settled in to our feast: crabs and melted garlic and herb butters and mixed salad greens from the farmer's market.

We used a nutcracker to get into the tough claws of the red rocks. We dipped the sweet crab meat in the butter, one flavored with asiago cheese and shallots.

All in all, I think a very successful day in the water. Chocolate Love transformed into crab love.

More photos available on Flickr courtesy of Monique.