Daniels' Crawfish Boil

April 21st, 2012

Menu: Crawfish!!

Ok, before I begin, know that I did mean to make what looks like a grammatical error in the title of this post. While one would first think that the apostrophe should go after the l and before the s, I did in fact put it in the correct spot. That's right, it should be both plural and possessive. One of mine and Carrie's best friends since junior high, Nicki, married a Daniel as well! Their last name also begins with a C, so we can't even differentiate by calling one of them DC, because they are both DC. Well anyways, they have more than just their initials in common, in fact many things. But, one that I will focus on in this post is their love for crawfish and enjoying good times with good friends! So, now you can understand why it is titled, Daniels' Crawfish Boil. And you may ask, why not include the wives in the name of the crawfish boil? I mean you did help host and pay for the event. Well, I must say that we really can't take much credit, because they did it all! It's nice to know that we married men that can envision a party, plan a party and execute a party, and very well I might add! 

So, the Daniels spent lots of time planning the party, though in men terms, planning consist of a week of planning, where women usually take at least a couple of weeks, if not more. Well, they proved that planning a successful party can in fact be pulled off within 6-7 days.  Nicki's Daniel was in charge of getting the crawfish while my Daniel was in charge of getting all the fixin's (corn, potatoes and sausage) and spices. But, what crawfish boil would be complete without a crawfish table?!? So... my Daniel managed to talk our friend Milam in to helping him build a crawfish boil table! Though, if you ask his wife Becca, I imagine she will attest that Milam didn't require much talking in to (this man can build some stuff!! You name it, he can do it!) 

So, the crawfish and all the fixin's had been bought and the perfect crawfish boil table made. All that was needed- the good times with good friends!! These did not disappoint!  Unfortunately I did not take many pictures from the night. I had really good intentions, and started off on the right track. Well, once I set the camera down, it stayed there. So, the few pictures I have were all from the same 3 minute time frame. So, I apologize that I did not get a picture of everyone that was there, I really wish I had! But, hopefully you can get the idea from the few snapshots I did get. 

Let me start with this picture. So I explained about the time and energy put in to making the perfect crawfish boil table. Well, it was almost for nothing as the entire table just about went in to flames! In the picture below you can see the aftermath. We had covered the table with newspapers in preparation for all the goodies, but they kept blowing away with the wind. So, we had the brilliant idea of using one of my new citronella candles that my mom had gotten me as a "paper weight". I'm sure you can see where this is going... Nicki and I were in the kitchen getting a couple of things together when we heard Daniel screaming my name from the backyard. We run out the back door to see flames at least 2-3 feet high, with a group of about 6-7 guys standing around trying to figure out what to do! We successfully took care of the fire that was about to engulf the table, which would in turn engulf the new deck Daniel had built, which would have in turn engulfed the carport, and so on and so on. (Ok, I may be exaggerating, but, hey, it could have happened! Praise the Lord it didn't though!) While the Daniels may have envisioned and planned a wonderful party, it would have ended before it had even started had it not been for Nicki and me figuring out that water was needed to put out the fire. :) Ok, I may be stretching it by trying to figure out a way that the wives contributed to the wonderful party. But, the truth is, this was a man's party, and it was wonderful!!  

A few of the good friends I was referring to enjoying the very first batch of delicious crawfish and fixin's.

Some of the guys enjoying each other's company as they wait for the next batch.

Another picture of a few of the good friends that came to the great party! 

(note the guy on the left side of the table with the backwards hat, that's Milam- the master craftsman himself! Thanks Milam for helping make the crawfish boil a success!)

In this picture you can see the Daniels concocting their plan to make their next batch even better.  My Daniel is in the short sleeved brown shirt and Nicki's Daniel is in the green t-shirt- quite a pair I might add! Also, please note the pretty pink princess pool filled with live crawfish. Poor guys didn't know what was coming. And, yes, in case you were wondering the Daniels did pick this pool out all by themselves! Nicki and I are so proud :)

More friends enjoying visiting with each other! 

And don't worry, there were a couple of options for people that did not like crawfish, or just to snack on in between batches. Nicki made a delicious 7-layer (actually only 6-no beans) dip and my mom gave us a block of Mississippi State cheese and crackers. In case you've never had Mississippi State cheese, let me just tell you! You should try it! You will be hooked! It's even better than Velveeta-and we all know I love my Velveeta cheese :)  Evidently everyone else agreed as well because we ate almost the entire 2 pound block of cheese!! Thanks Mom and Nicki for your contributions to the party! At least someone is helping to cook things that make this cooking blog a success, haha. I promise I will begin actually cooking again soon! Hopefully!

Well 90 lbs of crawfish, 2 10 pound bags of potatoes, 9 links of sausage, 2 huge freezer bags of corn later and lots of good times with good friends, we called it a night! If I don't say so myself, the Daniels' Crawfish Boil was a huge success!! Way to go boys!!

Happy Cooking!