The night before last we dinned at the Gowlland Harbour Resort. Very elegant (posh) and I wore my long brown Bohemian (hippy) skirt and a new blouse. I ordered the "Beef tenderloin with mixed grilled mushrooms and caramelized leeks".


DH was in the mood for "Chicken breast stuffed with dried blueberries and hazelnuts"

but he also had an appetizer. He was all eyes and no ears when our pretty, little Swedish waitress with her pretty, little Swedish accent asked if he'd like the live scallop with something or other garnish. She talked him into it with more ease than I have convincing him to leave a yarn shop. Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "Is she saying LIVE? No, she can't be. It must be her accent. I wonder what this dish is really called." I don't like most fish but I promised I would try it. So, his appetizer arrives; two big shells with a mountain of chopped tomato and goodness knows what else. DH offered me a shell, I stuck my fork in and caught what appeared to be a whitish, fat, slimy worm which promptly slid off my fork and disappeared under the mound of garnish. I made a face at DH and said, "OK, I tried to try it but I can't eat that. It's disgusting!" DH retrieved his shell and tucked in with gusto. Unfortunately the scallop appeared to be super glued to the shell and he had so much trouble cutting and prying the thing off he didn't really enjoy it. While I watch with mixed amusement and disgust another couple arrives and are seated next to our table, directly in my line of sight. They too are offered the scallop special but the lady inquires further, "Live?" she says. "You mean it's really alive?" "Oh yes." says the waitress. "It's not cooked. It's still alive." Those two actually ordered it and I had to stifle my laughter as I watched them, open mouths hovering just inches over the shells as they cut, pried and shovelled the slippery, slimy mess into their gullets. Not wanting to spoil the rest of his dinner, I waited until we were ready to leave before telling DH I was sure I could hear teeny tiny little screams as he pried the poor little scallops from their shells. He was not amused.