Making progress shelf by shelf

Cleaning the freezer is taking more time than estimated in the beginning. Still progress is constant and the advancement can be observed when the door is open.

A clarification must be submitted at this point. My wife Garnet and I own more than one freezer. Restating the above sentence is required here. The advancement of progress can be seen when the door is opened in more than one freezer.

I was rather proud of the development, the improvement, the step forward. Remember, my way of cleaning a freezer is on the slow side.

Instead of emptying the entire enclosure, defrosting it if necessary and then placing each item back inside, my plan is to pick through a section at a time to determine what wonders are enclosed.

If a package of elk ribs is on the menu, it's placed aside to thaw and then cook later in the day or the next day. If the package of ribs is not on the menu, it is placed back in the freezer for future use.

Recently I was elbow deep into one shelf when Garnet appeared by my side.

"Haven't you finished this job yet?" she said.

"Great advancements don't come easy, they take time, ya know," I said.

"Well you should hurry it up," she said.

"Why?" I said.

"Because...," she said, unable to complete the answer.

"In fact, I'm thinking cleaning the freezers should be a constant chore," I said. "Once a month I could work on a shelf, making sure everything is fresh, removing items we should eat and making sure the freezer is neat and orderly."

"Well, I'm just tellin' ya," she said.

And this ended the discussion about cleaning the freezer for a moment.

Then picking up a package, she said, "What does this mean?"

On the package were the marking, "CF/CB."

"I told you last week "CF" means Cat food," I said.

"I remember," she said, "but what does "CB" mean?"

"Oh, CB means crawfish bait," I said.

Garnet shook her head mumbled something which I couldn't understand and walked away.

The designation of CF/CB was indeed cat food/crawfish bait. Only when meat becomes not fit for cats does it become crawfish bait. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

When a package of spicy sausages becomes freezer burned because I didn't package them properly, the cats will not eat them. Not wanting to waste the meat, it becomes crawfish bait.

Washington state waters contain native and invasive crawfish. The invasive ones in Crab Creek, Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir are from the Midwest and are large enough to tempt people to go after them with crawfish pots.

The season is the first Monday in May through Oct. 31. No license is required to catch crawfish. There is no limit on the invasive species, but there are size and pound limits on natives. Very few natives appear in the Crab Creek, Moses Lake and Potholes crawfish pots.

The lobster-shaped critters are delicious. The traditional crawfish boil is one way to cook them, along with potatoes and corn in the pot.

My procedure is to boil them for 10 minutes, longer than is necessary most likely, then place them in a cooler and cover them with ice.

When I have time, later in the day or the next morning, the critters are cleaned. My process is as follows: First the tail is torn off, then the claws. Although it is said the tail can be easily removed by twisting the very end, where the flapper is, I have found this to be difficult. Instead a small scissor is used to cut from the top of the tail to the end and the meat is removed.

The tail has two parts; a small flap-like piece and the larger piece of meat. The small flap is removed and the tail is then deveined, similar to deveining a shrimp. Both pieces of the tail are used in cooking. The larger ones are suitable for crawfish cocktails and the smaller ones for crawfish omelets.

In the beginning of my crawfish-cleaning career, the claws were also cleaned at this point. Friend Kris Chudomelka had a better idea.

"Just put them in a Ziploc bag and freeze them," she said. "When we are together for a barbecue, thaw them and put them on the table, along with melted garlic butter and let the guests crack and eat them."

This is the perfect way to work the claw meat into a meal. Guests will crack and eat them until they are all gone.

Garnet joined me again at the freezer an hour later. Remember I hate to waste anything salvageable, so when I picked up a package of walleye ribs, she asked, "CF or CB?"

"CB," I said. "Not only the ribs, but, in time, ..."

It is not possible to feed walleye heads and guts to the cats, but crawfish love such extras. While I'm not in the habit of putting fish heads and guts in my freezers, such would take place if space allowed. I stood in front of the freezer eyeing the free space and anticipating the amount of crawfish bait which could be stored inside with a smile on my face.

"Don't even think about it," Garnet said.

It amazes me how a female in general and a wife in particular can anticipate the actions and thoughts of a man in general and a husband in particular.

"But, but...," I stammered.

"Well, I'm just tellin' ya," she said, ending the discussion and walking away.