I have been carrying the 30th birthday...

in my mind, not sitting down to share. It was amazing. The Halloween rain didn't happen this year. I got some great catch, and the garden mollusk kheema in a pumpkin with aloo gobi surrounding it was well-received. People ate with ease and were not averse to the land oysters offered. They were well-flavored in the spices and squash; a good texture and seasonally warming feast.
Tim Pearce told me that the slug pics I sent were both in the family Limacidae. One, the bigger, was a Limax Maximus (sounds like it can lift you car and toss it over a bridge), the other most likely a Lehmannia Valentiana: "I haven't eaten very many slugs from the Limacidae, but I do remember trying a Limax Maximus a long time ago. I don't remember whether the digestive gland was foul tasting or not; since they are in a different family from the Aronidae, for which the ones I have tasted do have bad-tasting digestive glands. You could try the Limacidae digestive glands yourself and see how they are...I am glad to hear you are practicing biological control by eating your pests!"
So we ate the glands of the European invaders; nothing detectable to describe as foul-tasting. I can't quite express my impression about that night, it was such a grounded and vibrant affair. Considering how many people think slugs are gross, this was a gourmet-appreciative group eating with silver in a home being created to capture the colors and qualities of far away travels. Not pretentious, but conscientious.
Afterwards, after the hours of cooking and being filmed while making a dish I had never tried before, I needed to go tango dancing. Sure, I was in "costume" and people thought I couldn't get over Halloween...well, maybe one of my old housemates was right, "I would think Halloween was a high holy day for you." So no one thought that I was just in from a day of Miss Snail Pailing. I shared some of the left over Garden Mollusk Kheema with a couple people there. OK, 2 people tried it.
"What is it?"
"Garden Mollusk Kheema."
"This is GOOD."
I wondered, "Do I need to say that slugs are in it? I mean, I have always announced when even the slightest bit of snail is included, like in my gingersnail bread men cookies. But this night I said "garden mollusk kheema...it has meat."
"Do I look like a vegetarian to you?" and the bite was being swallowed and I know, I know. I plan to declare the ingredients boldly and in plain laymen's terms when I serve for them again. Somehow at the moment, I didn't want to act like something was wrong, when nothing was. Garden mollusks are a local meat source found in gardens. It is for the people with mollusk allergies that I worried. I was being honest and didn't want to act like I was dishing out an eww sick kind of meal:
"Wait!! There are slugs in there! Are you ok with that?!" No, "It is garden mollusk kheema. (pause) there is meat in there. (pause)." I wasn't pushing it since I was there to dance and drift into the musical dreaminess and loving connection. He swallowed and smiled and I smiled and danced.