legs

Annual Seafood Boil!

We have been hosting our annual boil for the last 3 years and it’s become a ‘framily’ staple. Seafood has been a huge part of the Hall’s life and they introduced it to Bobby and I when we first started vacationing together. David LOVES all crustaceans, so what better way to celebrate him becoming a dad!

We are no pro’s at cooking seafood but I will say, I think we nailed this one perfectly. Here are some pics of how we hosted our friends for the perfect backyard boil.

The cooker was given to David by his late grandfather, which was such a sentimental token for the event. We had it set up right in the back yard, which was a cool focal point for the party.

David's Cooker

It was so special to be cooking on it for the first time especially on Father’s Day. Memories like these are exactly what make our friendship so strong, we can’t wait to pass these down to our kiddos soon!

mandy cooking

With this being such a “messy” party, we wanted to have dining and cooking outside. I know you may be thinking we are crazy to host outside in June, but we prepared! We set up fans and had the whole yard prepped to keep our guest comfortable. We also had seating inside for anyone that just didn’t want to be outdoors.

Table Setting

The table setting is our favorite part of any party. It’s all in the creativity! Let the party theme spill all over the table, without getting too tacky. We used colanders for the discarded shells, and lined the table with craft paper/newspaper kept is easy at clean up.

pie tins

We used pie tins with liner as plates and also had each set with a bib rolled and tied with twine. Always take the little details one step further.

place setting

The backyard was perfect for such a casual party setting. Kids and puppies could run around with the parents relaxing nearby.

backyard set up

Now lets talk about food and drinks! Obviously we had the rosé flowing, but our friend Kevin had to grace the dad’s with a specialty cocktail!

Pisco Sour

2.5 oz. Pisco Peruvian Brandy

.5 oz. Simple Syrup

.25 oz. Lemon Juice

.5 oz Lime Juice

1 Egg White (woah)

Furiously (to feel like a true mixologist) shaken over ice, strained into a glass served neat.

Two dashes of Angostura bitters to garnish.

You can tell they were a huge hit with all the guys, these boys are just so fancy! Thanks Kevin for the share!!

Davids drink!

David’s mom made some marinated “Bloody Mary Veggies” which were soaked in vodka and tomato juice served in mason jars.

Marinated Veggies

The tanginess of the veggies paired great with our sweet fruit platter, which was all focused on fruits that were red. We saw this on Pinterest, which usually becomes a fail but this was a WIN!! Mandy perfected the layering and textures all with summer based fruits.

Fruit Platter

How pretty right?!!? Would be the perfect RED platter for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Pinterest Fruit

All the crab legs came from the Buford Highway Farmers Market. We also served corn, potatoes, sausage and shrimp which were all cooked together in the same batch as the legs.

We served everything hot with drawn butter and some cheesy baked rolls. Today was definitely a cheat day… but it was worth it! Mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Boiling water was seasoned with Old Bay, and Zataryans. Each batch was dropped in and when done, was dumped into a large cooler set up right next to the dining table.

lemons

Everyone could help themselves, buffet style, and it kept the food hot without the chef having to keep making batches when needed. Brilliant idea!!

legs are in

Last year we had individual wet wipes, this time we took it one step further! We chilled towels which were lightly soaked in lemon water to help clean those hard working hands. It’s all about the right concentration of water and lemon to get rid of the seafood smell without getting your hands too sticky!

towels

Summertime never looked so pretty! We had so much fun planning this year’s boil and it just gave us so many more ideas for next year!

mandy

Finally our last course….DESSERT…. yes this is a eating holiday! Our trifle fruit cake was a recipe from our all time favorite blogger, Living with Landyn. It took 15 minutes to put together and was completely devoured by the group!

dessert

She posted a lot about this dessert last year, and it’s so fitting for the summer holidays. My favorite part is it’s light, which is good after such a large dinner.

family

The food and party turned out perfectly, but the best part of it all was how filled our hearts were to be with family and friends! If you want to find out any specifics about where we got any of our decor or recipes from the night, comment below and we will be happy to share all our secrets!

Happy Hosting! 

mandy and nisha

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