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Keith Lee's Family Sampled Crabs From Kahler's In Rosedale. The Maryland Favorite Proved Tough To Crack.

Keith Lee can't eat blue crabs, but his family made sure to sample some while in Maryland. And now they've got the internet picking apart their crab-picking technique.

The TikTok food critic has been touring the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area for the past week, eating at local mom-and-pop restaurants and posting his thoughts. (His enthusiastic video about Baltimore's Rooted Rotisserie helped drive scores of new business to the Hollins Market dining spot.)

Since Lee announced his DMV visit, though, some followers wondered how he could truly get a feel for the area's cuisine without eating crabs. The TikToker has a shellfish allergy, and has previously posted about taking precautions to avoid a reaction.

His family stepped in to lend a hand (and their tastebuds), stopping by Kahler's Crabhouse in Rosedale to chow down on a half-dozen steamed crabs. They approved of the freshness of the crab meat and appreciated the generous seasoning — but struggled to find the right approach to picking the juicy morsels.

One person used teeth to crack into a leg. Lee's wife, Ronni, pressed down on the middle of a crab shell like she was performing CPR.

Ultimately, their efforts worked — and picking crabs is not an exact science, despite what many Marylanders might believe. But some viewers had thoughts and advice.

"Oh no! Yall should've watched a tutorial on how to eat Maryland crabs," one person commented.

"The way they're cracking those crabs is stressing me out!" said another.

Rachel Troyer, the general manager at Kahler's, said the crabhouse's staff is accustomed to giving dine-in customers crab-picking tutorials. "We're more than happy to sit down and show them how," she said.

Troyer said friends and family have been texting her about the video since early Thursday. Labor Day Weekend is already a busy time for the crabhouse — an answering machine message recommended making reservations Friday — but Troyer said she thinks Lee likely gave the business a bit of a boost, too.

"A lot of people have said congrats on the review," she said. "We're just this little crabhouse in Rosedale, and for them to choose us, I think, is just amazing."

Though Marylanders take pride in our blue crab-picking skills, we were all novices at one point. In that spirit, the Sun is resharing our guide to picking a steamed crab, complete with photos illustrating each step.

Originally Published: August 30, 2024 at 3:22 p.M.

HOLSONBACK: Suffering Allergic Reactions To Penicillin, Shrimp, Ants And Kindergarten

All summer long, my youngest grandson told everyone he couldn't start to kindergarten because he was allergic to school. He was very serious with his pleas. He told us he would swell up and die if we made him go.

I was a little worried because this child can be very convincing, but my daughter laughed and told him if he started having an allergic reaction, she had plenty of Benadryl to give him.

Our entire family was beyond relieved when Javin came home that first day with no swelling or hives.

I asked him if he thought he was still allergic to kindergarten. "No, I'm fine," he told me. "If you are five years old when you go to school, you aren't allergic to it."

Thank goodness he had just celebrated his fifth birthday a few days before.

While I don't think any child is actually allergic to school, one out of every four children do suffer from some sort of allergies with certain foods being the most common, mainly shellfish and peanuts.

Over 50 million people are reported by the CDC as having allergic reactions to something every year. The 10 most common triggers include foods, animals, pollen, mold, dust mites, medications, latex, insect stings, cockroaches and household chemicals.

My mother was allergic to penicillin. She once told me she almost died when she was younger and took a dose of it.

None of us kids inherited that from her, but when my middle son, Jake, was just a baby he swelled up like a balloon and broke out head to toe in hives when the pediatrician prescribed amoxicillin to him one time for a bacterial infection.

A trip to the emergency room and a few hours later, he was fine again. He makes sure now to inform his doctors of his allergy.  

While raising my three children, we were on a very fixed income and ate a lot of beans and potatoes when they were little. There wasn't a lot of money for "fancy" foods, and chicken was a luxury reserved for Saturday nights.

During the 1990s, our finances began to improve, and I splurged one week at the grocery store and bought some shrimp.

I grilled it and proudly served it with all the fixings that night. I hadn't eaten the shellfish in years myself, and my kids had never even tried it to my knowledge.

Within minutes of us gathering around the dinner table, my oldest son started having a little trouble talking. His bottom lip began swelling and his face quickly became almost unrecognizable.

I gave him some Benadryl to counteract the allergic reaction, and within the hour, he returned to normal. I didn't cook shrimp again for a very long time after that scare.

Allergies are a condition in which the body's immune system considers a substance as a harmful invader and overreacts to it.

When you have allergies, your immune system makes antibodies that identify a particular allergen as harmful, even though it isn't. The severity of allergies varies from person to person and can range from minor to life threatening. 

Growing up in Rabbit Town, I stayed barefoot most of my childhood. I walked through weeds and dirt and stepped on everything that grew in our yard. I never had any type of allergic reaction to anything.

I got bee stings, ant bites and hickory stripes that never caused anything more than a few tears. Things changed, however, when I became an adult.

In 1995, I was walking barefoot in our backyard vegetable garden with my three kids, planting corn and beans. We were all having a grand old time, kicking up the freshly tilled dirt and dropping seeds into the ground.

I walked through a huge ant bed but didn't think much of it. I had been in ant beds plenty times in my life.

The tiny pests covered my left foot, and I shook them off and even pulled a few off with my hands. I kept walking and dropping seeds, but my foot started tingling pretty bad. Within minutes it began swelling, and I started feeling kind of funny all over.

I put down my seed bucket and told the kids I was going inside for a while to cool off. By the time I got to the house, I decided to jump in the shower and rinse off to see if that would help.

I remember getting undressed and stepping inside the tub. I also recall that I felt like my entire body was swelling up, and I felt like I couldn't breathe very well.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the emergency room. Apparently, I passed out in the shower, and when my husband came to check on me, he called the ambulance.

I stayed in the hospital a couple days and am still thankful to be alive. I carry an EpiPen with me now at all times … and I know how to administer the lifesaving shot to myself in case of an emergency.

I still cringe whenever I see an ant of any kind and am reminded how something so tiny can change your life so quick.

While most people don't have to worry about allergic reactions to ant bites or shrimp, millions suffer each year from seasonal allergies. Springtime is tough for me with all the trees blooming, and I have recently been plagued with some allergies in the fall of the year from all the ragweed.

I'll take the sneezing and watery eyes any day, though, over the food or medicine allergies or the insect sting ones which can all lead to anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening emergency.

While allergies are common, their reactions can range from mild to severe. Whether it's just sneezing, runny nose or watery eyes or something more frightening like hives, facial swelling or trouble breathing, all allergies should be taken seriously and treated accordingly.

In my family, we know firsthand how dangerous allergies can be ... From penicillin, shrimp and ants … all to the way to that potential allergic reaction to kindergarten.

Sandy Holsonback is a local contributing columnist for The Reporter.

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