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For the past two weeks, I've picked up oysters from Tony's Seafood, and they've been outstanding. But confessions are in order: I'm an oyster weenie. I can't handle the whole raw, down-the-hatch unadorned thing. I know; and I call myself a foodie? It's kind of embarrassing, but I prefer them polluted with anything from a Saltine cracker and Tabasco to the green, Pernod-spiked dressing of Oysters Rockefeller.

In fact, I love making both Oysters Rockefeller and Bienville, and when I had hours of free time, I was happy to follow their from-here-to-eternity procedures in River Road Recipes, a trove of old-school oyster dishes. One year, after roasting a sack of oysters on the grill, I painstakingly cleaned the half-shells so I could serve up these classic dishes properly. My only complaint was that it took too long to prepare them.

Then I tried RRR's Oysters Fitzpatrick, another baked oyster recipe that's fast and easy and just as classic. It takes merely a quick rub of a garlic clove on the surface of the clean, dry shell, followed by a drop of hot sauce, an oyster, a piece of bacon and a dribble of catsup on top. Broil for 3-4 minutes, (or bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees), and they're briny, spiky and salty. Just delicious.

Last night, we tried them another way -- poached in clean half shells on the grill over low heat. To each shell, we added one oyster and a tablespoon or so of combined oyster liquor, melted butter, a dash of Tabasco, lemon juice and salt.

By the way, Tony's boiled crabs were also fabulous this weekend. The large size sells for about $25 for a dozen and they were sweet, meaty and full, plus the server threw in a gracious plenty of loose claws.