Ever wonder whether the work in front of you is worth the effort? Maybe you’re spread thin trying to get focused or tired of the grind. In this episode, we step back to discuss three key criteria for determining if the work is worth it as we prepare a recipe that unequivocally pays off.
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Episode Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Feed Your Fire. I'm Kim Baker, founder of Kim Baker Foods, and today we're going to dig into a meaty question. We all live in a world where we're spread so thin. We're often in search of life hacks and convenience, but on the other side, we know that all great things come with putting in hard work, the toil, the learning and the growth that comes from the actual labor itself. Well, that led me to the question, when is the work worth it? And I'm exploring it with you today as we dig into the ultimate labor of love with a crab boil, literally cracking into our meal piece by piece to extract the sweet, juicy morsel inside.
I think for the most part, people generally fall into one of three categories, right? There's the person that has fully embraced the joy of leisure. They're good at it. They have fun. You know them, they'd be sitting by the pool lounging with a cocktail every day if they could. They'd know how to soak life in.
And then, of course, there are those that have mastered the work smarter, not harder, mentality that was sort of my brother. I always remember the story that his friend shared where they were doing a project at school, and everyone was outside in the heat digging these holes in the ground for something that they were building. And he looked over, and in true fashion, my brother had finagled his way to be on the tractor, and was sitting there having fun riding by, smiling as he passed everyone out in the field.
And then, of course, there's the workhorse, the steady, reliable one that you could always count on to do the heavy lifting. That was very much my father. And while it was extremely admirable to see that kind of dedication, it was also really taxing for him.
Do you find yourself falling into one of those three categories? In full disclosure, I'd probably fall into the workhorse category, but I have learned over the years how to embrace leisure and be more judicious in what I take on. And as I've navigated that change, I've come to know there are really three things that go into deciding if the work is worth it. The first is really being clear about what's on the other side of that work. What's the reward? There is a relationship there that's relevant. That reward may not be instantaneous; it may be delayed gratification, but there's still value in what's achieved.
The second is whether or not there was value in the process itself. Did putting in that work make you stronger, physically, mentally, emotionally? Did it bring joy into your life? Was it fun to do. Could it have been fun to do?
And lastly, was it purposeful? Did it add meaning to your life or someone else's? This is the difference between a grind and being caught up on some hamster wheel, and what I like to call constructive effort. And while these ideas, I think are universally useful in determining whether or not it's worth doing the work, you get to set the score for each of these things. What might be worth the effort for me might not be worth the effort for you, and vice versa.
That said, the recipe that we're going to make today is a crowd pleaser, but it does take a little bit of time and effort. While it might not help us save the world, it does create a communal experience that is meaningful. It's meant to be shared.
And so we're going to take you along a little journey in the kitchen where we do the work together. We're going to begin this by making a flavorful stock. Start this in a really big pot, the biggest one you can possibly find in your cabinet. We need room for crab legs and corn and potatoes and shrimp and sausage. I made mine with some chicken stock, a bottle of beer and the shells from some shrimp to give it a seafood infusion. Because I don't want those shells kind of mixing in with the other ingredients, I'm going to put them in a little bit of cheesecloth that I'm going to just tie up at the top and secure with some butcher's twine. I put the cheesecloth under some cold water so that it doesn't absorb all of my stock and it's wet going into the pot, and then I just let it simmer.
I'm going to add in some onion, garlic, bay leaves and cajun seasoning. I don't have any pre-made seasoning on hand, so I'm going to make it just by combining a few simple staple spices from my cabinet. So in a small little ramekin, I combine paprika, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and cayenne. I put the majority of this into the broth, but I'm going to save just a little bit to combine with some butter at the end that we could use to dip our crab into. On top of that cajun seasoning, I'm going to add in some Old Bay and a bunch of lemons. I just cut about two or three lemons in half, throw them in the pot. Now let all of this come to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes so that all of those flavors can combine.
Then I'm going to add in some sausage and halved yukon gold potatoes. I'm going to let that cook for maybe about 15 minutes, and then I'm going to add in my crab. These are snow crab legs that we're using today. These were frozen when I bought them, but I just stuck them in the fridge overnight to defrost. Now you'll want the crab legs to cook for about 15 minutes in that broth, and by that time, the potatoes should be tender and the sausage will be cooked through. Just before the crab is finished, I add in some corn on the cob. I usually cut these in half so that they're smaller pieces.
And then right before I'm ready to serve it, I add in shrimp. Now, this is shrimp that's been peeled and deveined, and I like to season them with a little bit of salt and pepper. These shrimp shells—it's like a tongue twister to say—are what I had added to the stock earlier, when we started the recipe. I'm adding the shrimp at the bitter end, because they only take about 60 seconds to cook, and they're going to be in the hot broth, and I just don't want them to overcook.
Now comes the fun part. The best part of a crab boil is the sort of informal, interactive nature of it all. I took a brown paper grocery bag and just cut it open so that it laid flat and made a paper tablecloth from it, essentially. And then I scoop out the crab and the shrimp and the sausage and the potatoes and the corn from the pot, and I just lay it on there real casually. It's just this beautiful mound of seafood. And then it's time to dig in.
Have plenty of paper towels on hand, because this is messy. You'll also want to have butter that you could combine, if you'd like with that leftover cajun seasoning that we set aside. Cut up lemons, and you can sprinkle a little extra Old Bay on if you'd like. But now is when we get to reap the rewards of our hard work.
There are plenty of recipes that can be enjoyed solo, but a crab oil is best enjoyed with company. So invite your friends and share the experience together. There's something to be said for a meal where it's totally appropriate to get your hands dirty, to have food flying about, and to be interacting with the person beside you.
I once heard that happiness is an indirect pursuit, that searching for happiness is kind of elusive, but when we do things—things that enrich our lives, things that make us better, we ultimately find happiness, or perhaps it finds us.
I have found that when we inject joy into a single experience, we're more likely to see it trickle into other areas of our lives. It's as if joy does not like to be confined. It finds a way to spread and propagate. Perhaps ironically, sometimes the path to joy is through hard work.
I have found in the darkest times of my life, the way to get to the other side was fairly painstaking. It was not easy, but it was a constructive effort, and whether I moved step by step, moment by moment, or meal by meal, the work was worth it. Until our next episode. I say so long.
Feed Your Fire, where food nourishes growth.