Thursday, August 22, 2013

Coquina Soup: Theme Thursday Food!

no, joseph doesn't look that weird in real life,
yes, he does need a haircut
Is is just us (and by "us" I mean all members of the Family Es excluding me) or does everyone else make a hobby of "how many weird things can we eat?" 

Everywhere we have lived, Obi and his ever-growing crew of flying monkeys always end up asking themselves this question, "What in these here parts can we make into food?" 

When we lived in Arizona, it was prickly pear cactus, in Indiana, they actually ate the marigolds out of our garden (they are edible, look it up), in Louisiana, they spent hours in the mud setting and retrieving crawfish traps. 





A couple weeks ago the beach was literally glutted with these beautiful little coquina, each one seemingly individual in color and shape. The funny things sit just below the surface of the white sand, the waves lick the shore and the exposure is too much for them: their invisible bodies push their shells on end and they dig themselves under. So, so cute! The kids had endless fun piling a lump of coquina infested sand on top of their feet and feeling them dig through to the ground, right between their toes.

So the obvious question was, "Can we eat these things?" I mean, that's what anybody would ask, right?

Obi consulted Google (not Pinterest, he's a man), and discovered this lovely recipe for Coquina Soup! 

Honestly it was Joseph's idea, and he did all the work, other than stirring, because he insisted it was an unnecessary step, and Obi argued it was the most necessary. Life around here...



clearly, my food photography could use some work,
although I do contend that table crumbs and headphones
add a nice bit of realistic ambiance...


As pictured, the coquina are so tiny they really just make a sea-food-kinda tasting broth, leaving no meat, which is all washed away with the shells. It was mainly just butter, onions, potatoes, and yummmmmmmmmmm.  I'm not kidding. I mean butter and onions anyway, but I am still shocked at how delish this was. So much better than marigolds.

Check out Cari and all the other foodie photographers, or better yet, join in the fun!

25 comments:

  1. Your kiddos are learning excellent survivor skills! =)

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  2. We see those all the time and I didn't know a)what they were called and b)that you could eat them! Sounds like clam chowder without the gummy clams. How did they get that many? Sifting throught the sand?

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    1. There really were more than I have ever seen. You could scoop them up almost like that, then just wash the sand out with a colander. I actually had to stop him from taking too many of them because it was so easy! Two weeks later, and there are hardly any left out there, it must have been coquina season!

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  3. That's amazingly resourceful. The 6th graders here go on this camp out where they make dandelion food. Salad, jelly and soup I think... I don't know. Your soup sounds 100 times better than that.

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  4. Yummy! And the shells are so beautiful too!

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    1. Put up a picture!!! Either of the whole fam, or at least just the kids, or send me one!

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    2. The whole Internet is talking to you!

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    3. Yes, you, foo!!! I wanna see faces, not some google logo!!!

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    4. I tried to do a gmail picture a month ago, and it told me my picture was too big. So I crawled back into my Hutterite hole and haven't come out again!

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    5. By the way, I look the same. Except about 1000 more wrinkles around each eye.

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    6. Um, I just tried to do it but I don't know if it worked. Silly, silly picture, but pictures are always a dicey thing for me. I can't just stick one up; I over-analyze - can't be unrealistically good or terribly bad, etc.

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  5. Awesome!! Sounds like your clan would love Alaska. Everyone is always trying to figure out how to eat the things that are naturally here. (SO much cheaper and more healthy than trucking/barging everything in!) That soup looks really good. (Okay, bagels, cinnamon bread, clam (we don't have coquina) soup...this theme is seriously helping my menu planning for the week!)

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  6. You have got to make a disclaimer at the top of every blog post that includes wanton interaction with marine life. I'm not kidding. Between your kids fearlessly piling starfish on their heads, or LETTING COQUINA BURROW INTO THEIR FEET, I often times experience actual panic attacks reading about your kids exploits. I can't even put my feet in the ocean above my ankles, and watching my kids flop around in it is almost more than I can bear. Do your kids not know that coquina have venomous fangs that can rend flesh from bone in an instant? Or that starfish like nothing better than sucking eyeballs out of sockets? And don't even get me started on the stingray and sharks and squid and such, just lurking in the water.

    Ok, I have to go breathe into a paper bag.

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  7. Interesting. I have eaten my share of "interesting" critters from the farm. I think the worst is cows tongue. Like..who ever looked at that and said.."Let's eat it!!"

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  8. What a fantastic story - thanks for sharing your adventure. Although my toes are crawling a bit at the thought of letting something burrow around my feet as well!

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  9. I agree with Natalie. Survival skills. I love the name "coquina." Sounds like a nickname I would give one of my kids.

    Laughable: "Obi and his ever-growing crew of flying monkeys." As if he's the only one responsible for their existence. Ha!

    I'll eat pretty much anything if it's cooked with potatoes and butter, especially if there's a broth involved.

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  10. This is brand new to me, friend. But it sure looks good! : )

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  11. Too cool! You guys are way more adventurous than I could ever be - seafood is totally my enemy!

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  12. I would never ever think to try eating those (in fact, I'm not even sure I would know what they are!) but oh my, that looks good! And their shells are beautiful, too!

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  13. How exciting to have such adventurous eaters in your household. I, myself, am not one and so I never even think about what I can eat that might be in my yard. Good for you guys! Oh, and I do think the headphones and crumbs make it real!

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  14. I love how adventurous you all are, what fun memories your kids are going to talk about as the years roll by! The soup does sound delish, but really how could it not be good with butter, onions, seafood tasting broth...yep, I'm ready to pack up and go find some for myself!
    I'm taking 2 teens for haircuts today, mainly because I want to go sit in the piney wood shop and hear Dale tell his stories. I seriously want to adopt him and bring him home just to talk with.
    I hope all the E's have a great weekend!

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  15. I am stunned. Wow. I don't ever venture out of my comfort zone when it comes to food so people who are actively seeking new food adventures are akin to something requiring studious inspection under a microscope! Your kids are so brave!

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  16. Um, I love your kids. And I'd eat that soup...you had me at butter!

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