I love to host parties and this summer seafood boil was one of my favorites! There is nothing better than a good ole outdoor summer party. What makes my love of hosting parties even better is having someone that loves it too, Matt (my fiancé). Since moving back to Michigan, 3 years ago, we have hosting parties down to a science.
This was our first seafood boil, ever! We had this planned for a couple weeks but the day of the party it was raining all day long (surprise, surprise!). We called off the seafood boil earlier in the morning (rescheduled for the next day) because the weather forecast wasn’t looking promising. Three hours before the party, we called it back on because the weather changed, again! We were running errands at the time, not even close to being ready. We dropped what we were doing and headed straight to the grocery store for all of our food and supplies. Thank goodness for our friends who brought some of the ingredients we forgot in our panicked rush.
Since we didn’t have to prep the food, it saved a ton of time. The set-up for the food was rather easy with just a large pot, burner and a propane tank.
Here are the steps to hosting a summer seafood boil:
Step 1:
Matt & I always split up our duties. Teamwork makes the dreamwork! He is in charge of food and I’m in charge of setting up everything, the “fluffing” part. But first things first, food!
Equipment:
- 60 quart pot with basket (for a smaller party, you can use the 30 quart)
- Burner with stand & regulator (this requires propane)
- Food skimmer (inches depend on pot size)
The Pot (for 10 people, which we had a ton):
- 5 pounds crawfish
- 4 pounds mussels
- 3 pounds little neck clams
- 4 lbs shrimp
- 3 lbs redskin potatoes
- 12 ears of corn, cut into thirds
- 3 bags of Zatarains crab boil
- 3/4 cup of Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 cup Sriracha
- 6 lemons (cut in half)
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 whole garlic gloves (cut in half)
Step 2:
The table. We set up the table by the lake, away from the house. It was dreamy! We’ve never before set up a table away from the house before so I felt like I experienced our home in a different way. I highly recommend switching up your usual dining space. The seafood, corn and potatoes were the centerpieces of the table so it made it super easy.
Table:
- (2) 6′ foot long tables
- Table clothes (I like white linens because I can bleach them)
- Paper bags to put underneath the newspaper. This was a must so everything wasn’t wet, it worked out perfect
- Newspapers placed over the paper bags
- Spread seafood, corn, potatoes and lemons evenly across the table
The summer seafood boil was one of the easiest parties to put together. Super casual and laid back! We just opened bottles of wine and scattered them down the table. Don’t forget the bread, water and extra bowls to put shells in.
Parties that are “unplanned” turn out to be the best parties, don’t they?!
Do you have a summer party planned?
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