Mussels from OWL

This past weekend Chief, Wyatt, and I gathered mussels from the beach at the Old Wharf Lot. They had been plentiful several years ago, but in the past couple of years my favorite places were barren, and a few red tides had gotten me quite out of the habit. Sunday the two grandboys and I found an amazing trove of them hidden under seaweed on the rocks at low tide. We brought up lots -- really too many. I cooked them for dinner, along with spaghetti and a salad. The boys stuck to the spaghetti and the salad.
Saturday night we'd gone to the Lobster Pool and I'd ordered mussels. Why, Chief wanted to know, were the mussels so much smaller. "The ones I crack for bait to catch crabs fill up the whole shell." I explained that when the mussels cook they shrink. But truth to tell the Lobster Pool mussels were quite overcooked. The ones I cooked were much bigger and much tastier. However, they were also quite gritty. Cleaning mussels means scraping lots of stuff -- mostly beards and barnacles -- off, and I had definitely short changed the process.
To try to clean them a bit more I boiled some water and steamed them briefly, no doubt sacrificing a major bit of flavor. Then I transferred them to a pot where I'd sauteed peppers -- red and green, plus a small hot Thai pepper -- plus an onion in oil. I added some white wine and the water I'd steamed them in, which I'd strained to try to catch sand and stuff. As they opened I turned off the heat and served them in the cooking pot.
We ate them for dinner, and for lunch the next day, and... and finally I threw the last few away.