Great Outdoors Mussels (on a board!)

INGREDIENTS: 4 lbs. uncooked mussels Crusty bread Butter

INSTRUCTIONS:
You will need a large wooden board about 1-1/2 ft. by 2 feet, several nails at least 2 inches long and a hammer and tinder-dry pine needles, enough to cover sides and top of board with a layer 4 inches deep.

Arrange board in sand on beach taking care that sparks from needles cannot possibly ignite brush or forest. Drain and dry mussels. Place them side by side with pointed ends upward so that ashes will not get inside when shells open. The arrangement will be a big rosette design, a circle of shell "petals."

The tricky part is propping up the first 4 mussels. If you are a beginner, you may want to drive a nail or two in the center of the board to lean these against. When all are arranged, cover sides and top with needles and set afire. When needles burn out, fan ashes away. Eat mussels at once with crusty bread and butter.

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