Ollas and Oysters

Today was my day off from the bookstore. I had planned on doing a lot of little things today so when Cynthia texted me to see if we could meet for lunch, I told her that, regretfully, I had too much to do. I had ERRANDS. Yes, the formidable ERRANDS, mundane stuff that needs to be done. I had to run to the bank, make some payments on bills, run to the store, and then the hunt I've been planning began. I have been looking for an Aztec clay pot. I knew exactly what I wanted but had no idea where to find it. but find it I did, after a search through several stores.

There are various styles of Aztec pots, some of them quite beautiful and pure art. Here are some examples:






The artwork on some of these is nothing short of outstanding:







But I didn't want anything quite that exquisite; I wanted just a simple Aztec terra cotta pot, something like this:



This is what I found:




And a close up of the detail, which continues along the bottom:



The pictures don't do this pot credit. It really is beautiful.

i got home and admired my find and was just about ready to do some chores around the house when John appeared home early.

"Let's go get some oysters." he said.

I do not eat oysters. I will eat just about most any other seafood, and I will eat myself silly on steamed clams but there is something about oysters that does not appeal to me, but off I went with him, anyway, to Barrentine's Fish Market and Oyster Bar.



As you can see, this is not a fancy pants place. It's just a small, plain building, a long trough running the length of a back wall. In that trough is ice and oysters and at the bar, men shuck the oysters non stop. They put these on large trays after shucking and checking for pearls (one man told me he recently found a nice black pearl.)

The owner, a small elderly, but quite spry woman, makes up her own sauce with ketchup, horseradish and a touch of Tabasco. People get a sleeve of crackers, toss the oysters on them from the half shell, douse it with the mixture and down they go.

I ordered a hot dog with chili sauce but the more I watched everyone delighting in these crustaceans, the more I was inclined to give one another try.

I chose a small one...no need wasting a cherished large one...plopped it on a cracker, drenched it in the sauce. It wasn't half bad! I didn't want another, but I gave it a try and might get some for myself one day.