When a live lobster for delivery arrives at your door carefully unpack and make sure claws all have been banded before handling. Sometimes they may slip during transit. You do not want a loose claw to grab one of your fingers as it would snap it into like a twig. Only take the bands off claws when the lobster has died.

Defrosting frozen lobster meat or whole lobsters can destroy the flavors of them. Instead take directly from the freezer and heat until they are warm not hot. This will give you delicious tender lobster that takes as fresh as the day you placed it in the freezer.

It is very simple to cook live lobsters and only takes about ten minutes a pound to boil. All you need is a very large pot for boiling them with salt added and crab or seafood boil if you want them to turn out with more of a Louisiana flavor. Place lobster head first into pot and cook until the shells turn a bright shade of red. This means they are ready to be moved from the pot.

Lobsters heads hold much of the water they were boiled in so making a slight hole in them will drain out the cooking juices and seal the flavors in. This helps the meat inside stay tender and just ripe with flavor.

You can also recycle the water the lobsters were boiled in and freeze in jars or bags for soups or casseroles that you may want to make in the future.

Be sure your live lobsters are healthy. When you touch or handle a lobster its tail should curl downward and then go back to normal when let go of. Always check the smell of the lobsters it should be fresh, if you have any doubt then throw it out. They also should show a good amount of aggression when you handle them, this is a sure sign of great health in them. It is best that you cook live lobsters immediately upon receiving them as the flavors and taste are more delectable.

Softer shelled lobsters are more tender and take much less time to cook. The harder shelled ones still taste great but are a little tougher and they take a longer amount of time when boiling.

You can also grill whole lobsters on a hot to medium hot setting. Whole lobsters are placed onto a pre-heated grill and then left on one side til it turns bright red then turned and left on opposite side until that is the same in color. Serve with delicious garlic butter and gumbo if you have it on hand.

You can split live lobsters for delivery and cook on the grill too if a whole one is too much for just one person to eat. Place split sides down first and cook three minutes then turn to shell side and cook about 6 minutes longer. The shell will be the shade of bright red as it is when boiling when done. Add some lemon juice squeezed on it and of course butter and your ready to eat.

You know that guy in your life who never seems lucky in love or in life, in general.  I’m sure that you have such a friend; it seems that all of us do.

The gift suggestion that I’m about to make for him is rather expensive, so be prepared.  I assure you, though, that you will discover it’s a very sound investment on your part.  Perhaps that nameless man is your roommate, your cousin or even your own son who you can seem to get to move out of your house.

Try giving him a truly romantic dinner for which he never has to leave the house or apartment.  Hopefully he’ll be able to find the right date with whom to share it.  When you get right down to it, nothing impresses an unsuspecting date more than an intimate dinner that the host has prepared himself (with your encouragement and careful guidance, of course.  Now, the friend I’m thinking of needs all the help he can get in this regard.  Give him specific directions for this.  You know candles, subdued music, the whole thing.

He can begin the evening with the first part of your present, a fine gourmet cheese as the first course.  If he is capable of slicing a couple pears or apples, suggest that as well.  This course can actually be a nice appetizer, before they are actually seated at the dining table.

For the entree, present him with a certificate for a gourmet dinner of lobster a different seafood dinner or perhaps a combination of steak and lobster.  Since this man needs so much help, you will want to be certain that the lobster is as fresh as possible.

Tell him to cap off the evening with a magnificent, New York cheesecake or a turtle cheesecake, if he is a chocolate enthusiast for dessert.  Whichever cheesecake option you choose, tell him to spruce up the serving with a few fresh berries.

You might also recommend a fine wine, if he consumes alcoholic beverages.  Lobster is very hearty fare, so don’t be afraid to suggest he pair it with a bold wine such as a Merlot or even a Burgundy.

Now, sit back and wait for the inevitable wedding invitation.  If you learn that the perfect evening didn’t work, just give up on him, and next time you can enjoy the delicious meal with your own favorite partner.

I am not a shopping enthusiast. Except around the Christmas and Channukah holidays, I hate the parking problems, I don’t enjoy browsing aisle after aisle looking for something that would be honestly appreciated by Grandma or Uncle Arthur. I certainly do not like waiting on line with inpatient people killing time for the lone employee to handle yet another exchange. During the holidays, I enjoy meandering through stores just people watching, without being weighted down with packages. The experience for whatever reason gets me into a holiday emotional state, but I do my actual shopping and buying almost entirely online. That’s a practice I developed in the very early years of the Web.

While online shopping keeps me from being pushed around in a busy department store or standing in line at a little boutique, it doesn’t keep me from the most dreaded part of any gift giving event; choosing the right gift for a birthday, a holiday, a sick friend or whomever. Then about five years ago, I discovered food.

Of course, I actually discovered food when I was still an infant, but it didn’t occur to me as a great gift until I had suffered through many rounds of birthdays, baby showers, and countless other events that seem to always pop up. I received a gift basket of little sausages, spreadable cheeses and plain crackers. It was terrible! At the same time, though, I thought what a great gift this could have been. All they had to change in the gift was the quality of the contents!

Since that moment of momentous insight on my part, I have been a dedicated sampler of a variety of food gifts that I buy for myself on the Internet. (It’s a tough job, but I am up to the challenge as long as I carefully pace myself!) I have found that the online gift food stores handle everything from shipping to the accompanying gift cards. Yes, I actually send myself a gift card to test the store’s dedication to detail. The Internet boutiques are now the sources for all of my gifts, except those gifts of my loved ones who happen to live very nearby.

The wide selection of quality gift foods available is truly remarkable. It ranges from live lobster dinners to a fresh fruit basket; from cookie bouquets to live lobsters; from wine gift baskets to imported caviar or fine Wisconsin cheeses.

I do keep gift foods around the house, beautifully or cleverly arranged, for my guests who come to my house or for those whom I visit in person during those gift giving times. The Internet provides assistance to me even in these cases, because it is packed full of great ideas for arranging and wrapping gift food.

So help me thank the Internet for allowing me to walk through an aisle of a store, empty handed, with a huge smile. I can do that, now, just to soak up the atmosphere of the season, whatever season it happens to be. I’m a tourist when I’m there instead of a frantic shopper.