An Authentic Cajun Crawfish Boil at the Lake

For Memorial Day we attended the 3rd annual east Tennessee/North Carolina blogger get-together at Almost Heaven South’s dock on Tellico Lake. Each year this get-together is hosted by Larry of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings on his dock at his house at Almost Heaven South, Chris of Nibble Me This, and Katherine of Smoky Mountain Café.

This is probably the longest post I've ever done, so grab your hats and buckle your seat belts. But don't worry, it's mostly pictures and it's not nearly as long as it seems - you'll see.

The theme this year was an authentic Cajun seafood boil and the chefs were A. J. & Katherine of Smoky Mountain Café.

A. J. & Katherine are the real thing – New Orleans natives, and who better to introduce the group to an authentic Cajun Louisiana crawfish & Gulf of Mexico shrimp boil than these New Orleans natives. Please click over to Katherine's blog to see steps 1 and steps 2 on how to do an authentic crawfish boil including great step by step pictures.

Here’s a close-up of a live Louisiana crawfish. I think we’ll call him "Mud Bug Billy" Boudreaux. After he got cooked in the spicy crawfish boil, he was a tasty fellow, but getting the meat out of him takes a bit of skill.

A. J. with a tray piled high with boiled Gulf of Mexico shrimp to be added to the cooked crawfish already spread out on the tables.

Our host Larry of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings and his lovely wife Beverly enjoying a morsel of crawfish.

Chris, another host and author of Nibble Me This, grabbing a shot of the seafood boil, and his wife Alexis and me chatting before the festivities.

Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen visiting with Larry of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings. We were thrilled Penny & her husband David could join us this year.

Dave of My Year on the Grill & E-Recipe Cards, his wife Jackie, who traveled all the way from Kansas (a very long way), & in the blue shirt Dave of Big Daddy Dave and his wife Laurie, who live nearby on the lake, and Meakin, my lovely photographer, in the background with is camera around his neck.

Courtesy of Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Penny’s husband David and my brother-in-law Stuart & his wife Sandy.

Group shot of a table of guests picking crawfish and peeling shrimp Louisiana style. Tables were covered with butcher paper to make life easier.

We were not able to get a shot of all of the pictures of the food people brought, but here are a couple of samples. Penny's delicious and refreshing dessert of watermelon & pineapple cream cheese stuffed celery.

I made a Bahamian pigeon pea and rice salad. It's cool flavors were a perfect foil for the spicy seafood boil.

Photo courtesy of Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Larry makes the best margaritas on the planet and did a demonstration on how to make them including the secret ingredients. Penny got great pictures of the entire thing and check out Katherine's step by step "how to" make Larry's famous margaritas. My photographer was out on a boat ride with Jim, who offered a ride around the lake in his boat after the seafood boil and some of the younger guests water-skied.

As you can tell by the photos, everyone had a fabulous time. Thank you Larry, Chris, and Katherine for hosting this fabulous get-together. Larry & Bev's Almost Heaven South once again lived up to its reputation. Dock parties don’t get any better than this.

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This post will be linked to Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Foodie Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Stone Gable’s On the Menu Monday.