Got Shrimp?

A close friend of mine has a friend who heads down to the Outer Banks in NC every year on a 'shrimp run'.  I have gotten a few pounds a couple of times, and because I was out of town, she has cleaned them and frozen them for me!  (Thank You So Much Kathy!!) 

This year, it just happened that I was in town, so....time to learn! I had 27 pounds of shrimp on the way, and had no idea what to expect!

Thanks to you tube, and lots of advice from my friend and the shrimp runners themselves, I rolled up my sleeves, grabbed my gloves and got down to business!

The very first thing I found out was that shrimp have this spike on their heads that is very, very sharp! Gloves and being careful are a must!

I had no idea!! They really are pretty interesting when you check them out! they look a lot different then they do in the bag from the local grocery store! :)

Long antenna and bulging eyes, this was actually very interesting....and lots of fun!....work, but fun!! 

This is the 'throw away', it would be great for making a seafood stock, but I don't have much experience with that, that is a plan for the future!! 

....usually the heads end up to be about 1/3 of them and is thrown away, out of 27 lbs I ended up with right at 19 pounds of shrimp, not too bad!

I found this guy caught up in the cooler, poor thing, he was about the size of a nickel (that's my index finger in the glove next to him.)...not sure what kind of fish it is, looked like he should have been in an aquarium... :(

Fortunately he was the only rider, other than the shrimp.

I cleaned them and bagged them up, and they looked just like they do from the grocery store!

I felt a little challenged at first, but I had a system that worked pretty well....and the added benefit is shrimp whenever we get the urge!  If you get the chance....try it..!!

::Shelllady Hugs!::