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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Sea Scallops

Sea Scallops
(Placopecten magellanicus)

Sea scallops are called giant scallops in some areas, where they are known as the King of Scallops. They can be found in the eastern North Atlantic from northern Gulf of St. Lawrence and northern Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.


The sea scallop is a bivalve--it has two valves or shells. Both are round, almost equal in diameter, and held together by a small, straight hinge and the adductor muscle. The lower valve is white or cream in color and the upper is usually reddish. Inside these shells is the "meat" (the adductor muscle), which is the part of the scallop commonly eaten in North America.  It happens to be my most favorite sea food!  They always taste better when someone else cooks them!   (Photo: Wikipedia)
Here in Atlantic Canada, we actually have scallop farms (aquaculture).  I was lucky enough to help a fledgling farm a few years back.  I worked with scallops the size of dimes and nickels,
counting and sorting, and readying them for the next stage of their development.

The shape of the scallop shell has been used by crafters and business for centuries, and I am no exception.  (Photo: http://www.internetstones.com/)


Here is a scrappy snowball quilt that I made for my neighbor as a thank you for his many kindnesses over the years.  I hope it keeps him warm while watching his beloved hockey games
during the coming winter months.

14 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

Wow your snowball quilt is amazing and generous. I love the snowball with the 9-patch. The scalloped quilting in the center is beautiful.

Just Ramblin' said...

Love your scrappy snowball quilt. You did a great job.
Did you hand quilt it? I'm sure it will be treasured on those cold winter evenings. Nola

penny said...

You are an artist at heart, I can tell by the gorgeous quilt that you made. And a most gracious friend also.

West Michigan Quilter said...

Love your snowball quilt. The quilting is amazing too. Does your neighbor know how lucky he is?

Linda Reeder said...

Wow. Is that hand quilting?

Carrie P. said...

Lovely quilt and the scallop quilting is so pretty.
I love fresh scallops. My husband and I have gone scalloping when we lived in Florida and owned a boat.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Karen: What a fun post, I hear they make scallops out of skate wings.

Glennis said...

Lovely quilt I like the shell design, but, mostly I enjoyed reading about your scallops. They are rather different to the shape of our scallops, but I assume they still taste the same. Wonderful!!!
We bought scallops in Australia which were different from the New Zealand ones, but tasted similar.

Steve Willson said...

I love to eat scallops, but have never seen a live one. I read years ago that mock scallops are sometimes made by punching rounds out of shark steaks. That may explain some of the scallops I've been served at restaurants.

Sherri said...

I love this snowball quilt with the 9-patches...and how very kind of you to give it away!

John said...

Hi Karen,

Finally get to start catching up. Sorry I have not visited recently. Love the Scallops, though I cannot eat shellfish they look very special sea creatures.

Love the Quilts esp the Dragonfly one.
John

Carver said...

I love scallops. The shot of the sea scallop is so beautiful. Your quilts are fantastic. The one in this post looks great and I love the dragon fly ones in the next post.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh..that quilt is amazing and I must say that I learned something today..what an interesting job you had....Michelle

manda said...

My Mum has a shell collection with many different coloured scollop shells. They are very pretty! I love the quilt, I'm sure your neighbour will too!!