Tonight's going to be an adventure...

Dan and Renee brought by live fresh mussels they gathered on the coast this weekend. I never worked with mussels before. Dan kindly sent me directions. We'll see how it goes!

Here are Dan-and-Dan's-Mom-tested cleaning and cooking methods from Allrecipes.com:

Cleaning Mussels If you want to avoid serving a bowl of full salty, sandy mussels it's a good idea to become familiar with the simple process of cleaning and debearding mussels.

1. When selecting your mussels, NEVER choose a mussel that is chipped, broken, or damaged in any way. Also, never choose a mussel that is open. The mussels should be tightly closed and stored in a cool area where they can breath. When you purchase your mussels, make sure to immediately unwrap them at home so they can breathe, otherwise they may die before you cook with them.

2. Just before cooking, soak your mussels in fresh water. Soak them for about 20 minutes. As the mussels breathe, they filter water and expel sand. After about 20 minutes, the mussels will have less salt and sand stored inside of their shells.

3. Most mussels have what is commonly called "The Beard ", also known as byssal threads. The beard is comprised of many fibers which emerge from the mussel's shell.

4. To remove the beard, using a dry towel, grasp the beard and give a sharp yank out and toward the hinge end of the mussel. This method will not kill the mussel. If you were to pull the beard out towards the opening end of the mussel you can tear the mussel on the inside of the shell, killing it. Discard the byssal threads.

5. Remove the mussels from the water. Do not pour the mussels and water into a straining device because the sand has sunk to the bottom of the bowl. Pouring the mussels and water into a straining device would cause you to pour the sand back on top of the mussels. Place these mussels into another bowl full of clean cold water.

6. Once the mussels have been soaked, use a firm brush to brush off any additional sand, barnacles , or other oceanic attachments. Rinse the mussels under cool tap water, and set aside. Dry with a towel before cooking .

Cooking Mussels There are many ways to cook mussels . The method we have chosen (steaming) is applicable for use with every different type of mussels and is an especially simple way to make delicious mussels quickly.

1. We used 1 pound fresh cleaned mussels , 1/4 cup white wine, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon butter. This preparation begins once the mussels have already been cleaned and takes about 3 to 4 minutes to cook completely.

2. Preheat a pan over medium heat. Once you have chopped your garlic, place a small amount of butter into your preheated pan. Stir the garlic into the butter. A light olive oil could be substituted for butter.

3. Cook the garlic in the pan until it becomes a tan color. Do not burn the garlic, as burned garlic is very bitter. If you do wind up overcooking the garlic, throw out both the butter and the garlic, then wipe out the pan and start over.

4. Once the garlic is tan, add the mussels. Do not add too many mussels to the pan at once. If the mussels are stacked on top of each other, the weight of the other mussels will make it more difficult for the mussels on the bottom to open. Using this method, you should only cook enough mussels to cover the bottom of the pan at one time. Toss the mussels around in the garlic butter and coat the shells with the fat. Be careful not to be too rough when tossing the mussels in the butter, as the shells are somewhat fragile and will crack and chip.

5. Once the mussels have been coated, add about 1/4 cup of wine per dozen mussels. This creates the necessary steam required to open the shells. It will also decrease the overall heat within the pan. Cover the mussels with a lid to finish cooking.

6. After about 4 minutes, remove the lid. At this point, most if not all of the mussels will be open. Mussels, unlike clams, will open before they are cooked all of the way through. If some of your mussels have not opened, then it is possible that either they were not cooked long enough, or they are bad and should be discarded. If most of them have not yet opened, place the cover back on the pan and wait another minute or two. Be careful not to cook the mussels for too long, as they will become tough and grainy if overcooked.

7. Remove the mussels from the pan. Pour the juices left in the saucepan into your serving plate or bowl with the mussels. The juice is delicious when sopped up with slices of fresh bread.