How to Throw a Crawfish Boil
Jun 7th, 2008 by Nola
Crawfish boils are a common thing during summers in New Orleans. I threw my first boil a couple of years ago and was amazed at the amount of work that goes into one. Here’s a quick to-do list:
- Order the crawfish in advance.
- Buy groceries—veggies galore (this year, potatoes, onion, garlic—the typical trio—along with celery, lemons, broccoli, brussel sprouts, corn, artichokes, and mushrooms), sausage to throw in too, along with spices, salt, booze, napkins (and wet wipes), ice (day of), cokes (we in the South, or at least my family, call all sodas “cokes”), water, and garbage bags.
- Cut the grass.
- Board the dogs.
- Sweep the porch.
- Borrow and set up folding tables and chairs on newly cleaned porch to accommodate 30 people.
- Put several fans (not less than three) on the porch.
- Borrow second pot, burner, basket and cover. Boiling goes quicker if you can do two pots at a time.
- Fill propane tanks.
- Be sure you have a tub for the crawfish to soak in pre-boil.
- Pick up crawfish.
- Prepare side dishes.
- Set up pop-up tarp for the men-folk/boilers so they don’t fry in the sun.
- Clean the house.
- Bring ice chests down from attic.
- Get koozies/huggies out of pantry.
- Cut/prep veggies.
- Purge the crawfish (sorry, fellas).
- Boil the crawfish and the veggies.
- Eat and enjoy!
Yes, they are a lot of work. Almost as much work as will go into the crawfish bisque we will be making with the leftover crawfish.
Today was such a good day. My sister and her husband and son arrived early, as did my aunt and uncle, to assist with getting things ready. The women dressed Sun and prepared side dishes while I drove to the Marigny to get the birthday cake from NOLA Cafe and Bakery. The men started boiling the seafood so it’d be ready when the guests arrived.
My husband also finally installed a swing on the porch for Sun. She LOVED her swing. How much? She fell asleep in it! Ok, that may have been because she still had fever and no nap, but it was darn cute.
I could write many other details of the wonderfulness of today—seeing friends and family that I see regularly and some not so often, drinking Pimms Cups, eating watermelon, enjoying my new teak furniture, laughing, relaxing, watching the rain—but what made today special was something less concrete than any one of these things, or even all of them combined.
Recovering from surgery still, I was FORCED to take things slow and not push to the extreme. It caused me to be even more organized than I usually am for a party. But as it got nearer and nearer to 1pm and I could see not every detail I wanted attended to was going to get attention, I didn’t resist or balk or scramble. I just allowed it to be good enough. I was confident that overall we were ready.
And those things that did not get attention, I promise you, no one noticed. I was at peace all day. As Sun ached with fever, we took turns holding her and caressing her and swinging her. And she’d feel better or not or nap or not or laugh or cry. But through it all, she was a delight. My baby is turning into a little girl. A gentle, wee bit shy, sweet little girl. And mamma was mighty proud of her today, and mighty proud of her home, herself, her very life.
To realise that you are enough, what you do is enough, is a fine point come home to. People laugh, but I really think that some people’s motto’s should be “lower your standards”. Not in a slopping or disinterested way, but in a way that makes you enjoy your day endlessly, more intensely, when you don’t have these crazy expectations of what you are and how you have to do things. Your day sounds as if it was a delight.
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Glad to hear you had a great day with family. Those are the best kind of days. There’s a saying: don’t pet the sweaty stuff. I mean, don’t sweat the small stuff:) Both are good sayings though!
It was a fun day. Cake was excellent and Sun cute; until the end of the day I couldn’t tell that she was feeling bad at all. Although it was raining when I arrived (10% chance of rain–right!) everything was o.k. due to pop-up tent and new-covered porch. Thanks for a great berl!
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Oh it sounds like a wonderful day! I am afraid of having a boil cuz well, I don’t think I would remember everything!!
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[...] It was a busy day. I started out on a quest to find a combination recuperation/baby’s first birthday gift for Nola & CS–a bottle of Kübler absinthe. Alright, it really wasn’t much of a first birthday gift for Sun; I promise to make it up to her next year. First stop, Martin Wine Cellar in Mandeville. Didn’t have it. I knew Acquistapace’s Covington Supermarket carried it, so that’s where I headed next. I couldn’t locate it their either, but luckily I ran into Adam Acquistapace, who fetched me a bottle. Armed with gift, I headed to Nola’s crawfish boil. [...]
Sounds like a nice “family day”!
I’ll be in NOLA in three weeks–I am counting the days until I can get some “real food!”. ha.
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I’m glad you were “forced” to slow down and therefore enjoy your day. I think in general we live so fast we don’t really enjoy everything like we could. You’re a great role model! The day sounds just lovely.
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Happy Birthday, Sun! And congrats to you and CS, you made it to her first birthday without doing anything harmful – see, I knew you would make good parents.
I have my copy of “What to Expect in the Toddler Years” to send you. Good info on random ilnesses and injuries that do not require an ER visit. Very handy to have around…
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Happy birthday to Sun! It sounds like such a perfect New Orleans summer get-together. Just reading your piece made my mouth water for boiled crawfish and all the fixin’s — a platonic dish.
Sun is a real sweety. By next year she’ll be ready to tear into all that wrapping paper and will begin to realize The Importance of Birthday Parties!
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Happy Birthday, Sun! Sounds like a fabulous party.
But…
um….
How does one ‘purge’ a crawfish?
That sounds like the most wonderful birthday party ever. Sun is so lucky!
How do you make your crawfish bisque? I made mine with my daddy’s recipe and it was fantastic (still have some frozen, in fact) but I’m always curious about other recipes.
Regarding the all sodas are coke issue: no kidding! Here is a typical conversation in my house:
Q: Do you want a coke?
A: Sure!
Q: What kind?
A: Sprite.
Happens every time. It’s definitely a Southern thing but I’m not sure why this is. I should know this, considering my field of study and all, but I don’t. Any takers?
This was the first year I had vegetarians at my crawfish boil. I invited them, not knowing (or caring) that they were vegetarians and then when they looked at me like I was a heathen and explained their diet, I said “Well you can still come and hang out, you know.”
When I was inside making pasta salad, one of the boiling menfolk asked me what I was doing. “Making pasta salad for our vegetarian guests.” To which he replied: “We have 100 pounds of crawfish! What are you doing inviting vegetarians?”
I thought I was being friendly…
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P.S. Glad to hear you’re recovering. Hope you’re feeling 100 percent soon.
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Its a lots of work dear. It will take entire day to boil the crawfish. It can be done on a holiday or when you have decided that you are not going to see your Boss’s face, that means when you take a leave from your office.
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