mail-order oysters

i'm a huge groupon user.
and i'm also a big fan of raw oysters.

a while ago, i got a deal for 4 dozen fresh oysters delivered to my doorstep for like super-cheap.
i finally redeemed it and had it delivered last weekend. they came in a styrofoam box with a bunch of ice bags. they were also freshly picked and muddy, so i had to scrub them pretty good.

i bought myself a shucking knife ahead of time. i'd never shucked oysters before, but i figured with the proper tool, it's gonna be a breeze.

was i wrong!
shucking is serious business.
it took me 15 mins to do the first one.
the rest got progressively quicker, but it still took me an hour to shuck a dozen. i stuck the rest in the fridge coz i couldn't do any more.
the next day, i watched a few "how to shuck oysters" video on youtube.
it took me about half an hour to shuck another dozen.
stuck the rest back in the fridge.

day after that, i decided to just throw the whole lot on the grill. they all opened up within a minute on heat. i pulled all of 'em off the heat, peeled off the top shell, added a butter/lemon/parsley concoction, then grilled them all up for another 5 minutes.

i gotta say... eating them raw, these were prolly some of the BEST BEST BEST oysters i've had ever! so salty and sweet. not fishy at all. even joe (a non-fish/seafood-eater) enjoyed them.
but after i grilled the last dozen or two, i quickly realized the error of my ways. cooking them is a good way to waste good-quality oysters.

i just got a coupon from the oyster company (hood canal seafood) for repeat customers, so methinks i might buy more to give me some much-needed shucking practice.
definitely raw this time!