Endless Sunner

I recently had the great pleasure to provide a beach bride with sea glass jewelry to give as gifts to her wedding party.

Including this cobalt blue sea glass necklace accented with a sea horse. I designed it as a special order to give to the bride’s mom, who loves sea horses and the color blue:

Check it out here, worn by the bride’s mother:

Sea glass is a wonderful choice for a beach wedding!

Now THAT’S something to celebrate!

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Something a little different today in the Coastal Cuisine section of my blog.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to open a steamed crab.

When you’ve grown up in the Baltimore area like I have, steamed crabs are a ritual. My family adds quite the local touch when we get together for steamed crabs.

Take, for example, a crab feast in honor of my mom’s birthday. It makes me smile to watch her sporting a modified 60’s beehive hairdo, wearing a corsage made by my sister-in-law (who used to work as a floral designer), while pounding crabs with a mallet (love you, Mom).

But I digress. And truth be told, there’s a better way to open a steamed crab than by pounding it with a mallet.

And here it is!

First, start with a box of steamed crabs (or steam them yourself). Mmmmm. They smell good!

Just look at them!

Empty them out of the box onto a table covered by newspaper:

Select a nice, big, heavy crab. Here’s our first victim:

Step 1. Remove the legs:

Step 2. Remove the claws. Set them aside. You’ll want to eat them later:

Step 3. Insert a knife under the crab’s apron and lift it upward:

Step 4. Remove the apron:

Step 5. Split the crab open into two parts, top and bottom:

This is what the inside looks like:

Step 6. Remove the gills:

Step 7. Remove the yukky inside stuff (I think some people call this the mustard):

Step 8. Now for the good part. With your knife, cut the crab in half:

Step 9. Break the crab in half:

Step 10. Use your knife to cut each half in half again. (Trust me. You’ll want to do this to get some nice big pieces of back fin lump crab meat):

Mmmmm. See what I mean? There’s your nice back fin lump crab meat:

Step 11. To open the claws, insert your knife as shown:

Use a mallet with the knife if necessary:

Here’s the crab claw meat:

And, ta-da! The crab meat! Enjoy!

Special thanks to my lovely hand model, Angela.

And if my mom can wear a corsage, I guess I can wear this!

Chesapeake Crab Sea Glass Necklace

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Beach in a Box Assorted Sea Glass Greeting Cards - You Choose 4!

You're the Flip to My Flop

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Warm Birthday Wishes

Smooth Sailing

Warm Holiday Wishes

Let It Snow Somewhere Else

Just Moved to a New Castle

Warm Wishes Gift Tags

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Remembering

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Autumn Wave Vista - Sea Glass Stained Glass Pendant Necklace

Autumn Beach Vista - Sea Glass Stained Glass Pendant Necklace

Truth be told, amber sea glass and brown sea glass are different. But both make such an eco-friendly, natural statement.

Amber sea glass has a reddish-brown tint, and is considered uncommon.

According to Richard LaMotte, author of “Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature’s Vanishing Gems”:

Not to be confused with standard brown, the reddish-amber color can be found about once for every 25 to 50 pieces collected.

Brown sea glass is more common.

Again, according to Richard LaMotte:

For every 10 pieces of sea glass found, it is likely that at least three or four will be brown … It may be safe to say that Anheuser-Busch is the leading producer of brown or amber-colored bottles in the world.

Let’s raise a glass to Anheuser-Busch!

Display your eco-conscious style!

There’s a story to tell behind each piece of sea glass jewelry…

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Enjoy crab imperial from the famous Haussner’s restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland!

My copy of the recipe, yellowed with age, was published in the Baltimore Sun many years ago.

Haussner’s was a popular restaurant in Baltimore for many years until it closed in 1999. Guests were greeted by a display of unbelievable desserts made on the premises, and were served by waitresses, who, in typical Baltimore style, sported beehive hairdo’s and called you “hon”. Dinners were served amidst an impressive collection of artwork that later sold for $10 million.

Enjoy!

Haussner’s Crab Imperial

Ingredients 1 lb. crab meat (lump or backfin) 2 slices white bread, crust removed 2 eggs, beathen 4 tbsp. mayonnaise 1 tsp. prepared mustard salt pepper Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp. chopped parsley white sauce paprika yellow food coloring

Directions

White sauce: Haussner’s used a basic white sauce, and added a dash of salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and yellow food coloring.

Serves 4 - 5.

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Happy Labor Day!

Fall is in the air.

In true back-to-school fashion, here’s my report on “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”.

Sea Glass Hunting on Local Beaches

Like most people, I was in tune with budgetary constraints. Instead of my usual trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I visited my favorite local beaches on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to look for sea glass.

I visited a friend’s private beach on Love Point on Kent Island, Maryland:

This beach is near the site of a long-gone, turn-of-the-century hotel. The beach is always good for some truly spectacular finds, like this vintage apothecary stopper:

It’s so romantic to wonder who the people were who vacationed here. What would they think if they knew that their glass and pottery are now being enjoyed by future generations?

I also visited my very favorite “Blindfold Beach”:

This beach was aptly named by a tugboat captain who I dated years ago. Want more details? Click here.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I also spent a few days in Ocean City, Maryland with some old friends from high school. We had a GREAT time sunning during the day, and spending evenings on the porch at our oceanfront place listening to oldies music and drinking margaritas. Hey, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Weathered Mother Nature

I weathered a SCARY earthquake.

And a hurricane.

The silver lining behind all those clouds is that after a storm, the sea glass hunting is good.

I also weathered blistering heat and humidity that had my hair looking like Albert Einstein.

But that’s another story.

Added a New “Stained Glass” Sea Glass Techinique in My Shop

I added a new technique of sea glass items in my shop — sea glass “stained glass”!

I apply stained glass techniques using copper foil, flux, and lead-free soldering to sea glass gems that have been shaped naturally by the surf and sands.

No glass cutting involved here, as there is with traditional stained glass. And that’s a good thing. I’m not a big fan of glass cutting. Let’s just say that I was the only one in my stained glass class who needed a band-aid.

Stained glass techniques applied to sea glass produce beautiful results, don’t you think?

And, one more!

So that’s it! That’s how I spent my summer vacation.

But don’t forget — it’s always summer at Endless Sunner!

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It’s easy to get beach cottage style on a budget. The key is to work with what you already have, and then add some accessories.

Ready? Let’s give my favorite Sanibel Island beach cottage a virtual re-design.

First, we’ll start with the sofa that you already own.

Let’s add a nautical striped slipcover. Slip covers are a budget-friendly way to get a beach shabby chic look. Plus, they’re so practical at the beach! Easy to clean.

Indigo Stripe Slip Cover

This one is by Sure Fit®, and it’s sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Next, we’ll add some great pillows. Throw pillows are a fun way to add instant beach cottage style. Check out these by fellow Etsy seller, reiter8. reiter8 recycles sails into throw pillows and other great accessories. Cool, cool, cool.

Recycled Sail Pillow Blue Star

Recycled Sail Pillow Blue Number 4

Recycled Sail Pillow Blue Stripes

Next, let’s add an end table.

This beachy white nightstand from Pier 1 Imports makes a great end table. Top it with a gorgeous coral lamp, also from Pier 1.

Ashworth Nightstand

Coral Lamp

And don’t forget to scout out yard sales and consignment shops for some great bargains on one-of-a-kind vintage shabby chic items, like this mirror. This one’s mine, but you can find tons of great items to complete your beach cottage look.

Vintage Mirror

Finally, sea glass candle holders add warmth and sparkle to your beach cottage style. These are available in my shop!

Click here for more beach decorating ideas: Shore Finds.

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