Thanksgiving Oysters

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This past month my sister and I have been extremely busy with work, dealing with horrible colds, and spending time with our family. Time slipped away from us but now we are officially back with a few changes! We have decided to integrate our art into blog posts instead of doing a hint each week. We rather spend the time making more content instead of having the hint. Because we are not using the hint, we hope to have more posts available each week!

Our family has a special Thanksgiving tradition that started when my sister and I were in high school. It was a time of transition in our family and we needed something new to help bring joy around the table. Our parents and grandmother decided oysters answered all problems and the tradition never ended. In the past, our parents would supply the oysters. However, since Elizabeth and I are now living in coastal Annapolis, we offered to bring a local, fresh bushel with us this year from the Annapolis Seafood Market.

Every year, our family makes our way to my grandmother, Nina’s, house. The night before Thanksgiving, our family cooks up some appetizers, pours the wine, bundles up in warm clothes, and makes our way outside to where my father (now joined by my beau) are steaming oysters to perfection. Once their shells have peeked open, we gather around and dig into the delicious feast from the sea that’s piled on the table. Oysters are the best for the day before Thanksgiving – they don’t taste like anything you would eat on the big day so there’s  no competition, and they don’t settle in the stomach. By the time you wake up in the morning, you are ready for the Thanksgiving feast.

If you do not have a the equipment for steaming oysters, you can do what my father does. He uses a shrimp pot. Here we are going to teach you how to make delicious steamed oysters in a shrimp pot:

1. First put the oysters in the shrimp basket.
2. Place a large rock in the bottom of the pot. Add water around the rock but do not let the water pass over the rock.
3. Place the basket into the pot. The basket should sit above the water because of the rock. The rock must be big enough to sit above the water but small enough so the lid can fit onto the pot. Do not let the basket touch the water. It can cause the oysters to boil instead of steam.
4. Turn on the gas and let the oysters steam. Check every five minutes. Once the oysters start to open up check more often so they do not overcook.

If you have steamed oysters, you must have some cocktail sauce to go with it. All you need is some hot horseradish and ketchup. Mix the two together until you have whatever combo you enjoy!

There is nothing better than sitting out on the back porch, with your family all around you, chilled to the bone with nothing to warm you besides the wine and the warm, steamed oysters in front of you. The night is always filled with laughter reaching out to the stars.

My sister and I took pictures of the entire night. The appetizers pictured are jalapeño poppers. Click this link to take you to the recipe!

*Note: this is not a sponsored post. We are linking you to shrimp pots. We are not paid to post these links and we have not personally tried these different pots.

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