Spring doin's

We've had a family reunion/crawfish boil and a trip to Illinois/Indiana since the last post...so there's lots with which to catch up.  The crawfish boil happned the last weekend in April, and the weather was very cooperative.  These first pictures document the boil itself.

First you must have good crawfish...which we enjoyed courtesy of Scott's "mudbug mafia" connection (215# worth!).

Then, the crawfish should be purged and placed in their death pot...(remember to always post a watch to prevent escapees)

Then, lower them into the seasoned cauldron of cajun goodness, and enlist assistants to encourage the transformation from trotline bait to fine swampland cuisine.

Proper cooling and soaking affects the final product (plus people get really hungry when they smell that, and hunger is a cook's best friend).

Then it's load up and deliver to the consumption site. (Make sure you have competent drivers...since Jack wasn't drinking, we let him drive).

Thankfully, abstinence from adult beverages was not required to dump the crawfish.

Then let the feasting begin while another batch is being boiled up.

If there is too long of a wait between batches, clowning with crawfish is likely to ensue.

Between boils and afterwards, there was plenty of relaxation and visiting.

And one of the jolly congregation (minus Alice, who had to take an early leave), along with a rare shot of my brothers and sisters all together.

That's about it for the crawfish boil.  There were way too many pictures to sort through.  I'll have to do the Illinois trip on the next installment, but I'll leave you with flowers and fish - Jack, Joe and I were able to squeeze in a little saltwater trip when they came early to help with the boil preparations (and Joe & family were a big help in getting ready...for sure).

until next time...