Lobster for the price of a happy meal?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I get a nagging itch for lobster every now and then. Unfortunately, the mark-up price per pound on lobster in the restaurant biz is something ridiculous. The price of lobster per pound in your local supermarket is probably between 11-15 dollars. That is of course, unless you are blessed enough to live in Maine. Lucky bastards. Now, I haven't been to Maine in years, but I've heard the tales of cracking and devouring bushels of lobster (as we Marylanders do with crabs) some 40 years ago, for--get this--quarters. Every time I hear that story, my face turns this lovely shade of pale green. Sorry guys, we're not going to eat lobster for quarters. I doubt that will ever happen again. You can however, have lobster for the price of a happy meal. I'm not kidding. Timing is everything.

My mother steamed lobster for us on New Years for as long as I can remember. We anxiously ate them, along with our petite filet mignons, baked potatoes and haricots verts. I looked forward to this dinner all year long as a child. I recently learned that it is bad luck to eat lobster on New Year's. That explains EVERYTHING. Apparently, the reason has everything to do with symbolism. Lobsters move backwards along the bottom of the ocean floor. It makes sense then, that it would be back luck to consume something that moves backwards when we are moving forward with the new year. Okay, end of tradition.

I happened to be shopping at Giant on January 2nd of this year. As I walked by the seafood section, I felt like someone was watching me. I was wrong. It was "some-thing." Actually, they were a lot of "some-things." Before my eyes, stacked on top of one another like bunk-mates, were package upon package of plastic-wrapped, steamed lobsters. What was the cause of this mass assassination? I couldn't hold back. I asked the seafood clerk what the deal was. His answer was simple. Grocery stores order large quantities of lobster for holidays. Whatever doesn't sell, gets marked down for a quick sale.

You want a five dollar lobster? Now you know how and when to get one. For all your other seafood needs at amazing prices, I suggest Cameron's Seafood.