Since fishing the piers at Anna Maria Island is not going well, I thought that I would gather some sea shells with Cheryl; I discovered that some of them have live meat in them – Escargot, the French word for snails, which is a “shell” or “mollusk.” I scooped up some Lightening Whelk shells that the Gulf of Mexico spit up on the beach and took them to our vacation home.
Below are the pics from the beach to the belly, with a brief description of the process. So if the same happens to you, maybe you can try this easy meal worth $75 and enjoy.
Walk the beach and collect your shells.
Thoroughly rinse, rinse, rinse in cold water.
Bring them to a boil for 5 minutes
Cool down and rinse, rinse, rinse
With needle nose pliers, grab the tail/claw that will be sticking out
That slimy thing will easily slip out
They’re all out
Cut off the tail/claw
Hand rinse each snail to get the sand off
Find any recipe that you would use for oyster, clam, or mollusk – add some roasted veggies, and enjoy. Bonus: you can take home some beautiful boiled sea shells that won’t stink your house up, or your car on the way home!
the sound board 