Above: Photos by Megan & Mike Gilger. I was so busy hostess-ing that I didn't snap a single shot all day!
Yesterday, Micah and I threw a low country boil for about 12 of our friends. We bought 3-4 pounds each of shrimp, crawfish, crab legs, andouille and kielbasa sausage, red potatoes, and corn, boiled it in a shit-ton of Old Bay, and dumped it out on our dining table for everyone to dig into. Thankfully, everyone was totally game for the primal-yet-satisfying mess that comes with shelling a ton of seafood and eating everything with your hands. For never having made any sort of seafood boil, and being a bit apprehensive about quantities and process, we were pleasantly surprised by how easily it came together, and how impressive it looked and tasted.
Afterwards, I served a honeysuckle sorbet (made from Micah's foraged honeysuckle simple syrup) with lemon zest to cleanse the collective palette – it just seemed like the perfect Southern dessert to serve with this perfectly Southern boil. I'll be posting about that later this week - it was my first sorbet, and I'm instantly hooked.
We actually had no idea that it was Memorial weekend when we originally set the date; we were simply working around one friend's visit to North Carolina, and another friend's departure to thruhike the Appalachian Trial (so inspiring). But it ended up being such a fitting way to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer!