Saturday Night Fish Fry

 

I wish blogs were scratch and sniff! Nothing smells as good as fried fish. And if this post had a theme song, it would be "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. (Go look it up. Such a fun song!)

It was rockin', it was rockin'

You never seen such scufflin' and shufflin'

till the break of dawn!

We've had a couple of successful fishing trips in my parents' pond lately, and our freezer was full! We decided to have a fun fish fry and concert. More on that later in the post!

This isn't a plug for Pepsi, but if you look in the background, you can see where we had moved our deck table under the trees in the front yard and set up the fish fryers. It was hot that day (although it's hotter this week!), so we waited until after 5:00 pm to set it all up and start cooking.

We had fourteen people that night, so I placed two 6 foot tables end to end. I used full length white tablecloths and then a couple of red checkered cloths on the diagonal to cover more real estate. If you've ever attended a low country boil, you know tables are covered with newspapers and then they pour the shrimp, potatoes, corn, and sausage down the middle. Then everyone just tucks in! I took my cue from that and put newspapers down the middle, but we used them to throw our bones on. We kept all our food in the kitchen to avoid bugs. We fixed our plates inside and went outside to eat.

I picked up a bouquet of yellow and white daisies from Walmart and split them between several mason jars. We also put out lots of tealights since we planned on being out after dark. Plus - candles make everything more festive! 

We used plastic plates and utensils to keep it easy. Three families were involved and everyone brought something. I boiled potatoes and corn like I would a shrimp boil - seasoning and everything. Cool, creamy coleslaw was a must. It came from The Chicken Shack in Luverne, and it was the best I've ever had! Another friend brought dessert. I made my homemade hushpuppies. Ain't nothing like fried fish, y'all. (I even love them cold the next day.) This was bream from my daddy's pond. It was really good! 

Last summer, I happened to be behind an older couple at Walmart who was buying a couple of these aqua chairs. They were $4! I quietly paid for my groceries, put them in my car, and went back and bought the 15 that they had left! These stack beautifully and take up little room in my garage. We entertain outside so much, and seating is often an issue. For fancy outdoor teas, I've been know to take my dining room and kitchen chairs out there. But these are perfect for a picnic or firepit night. Jewell went back and pulled out some of my aqua tealight holders to tie the chairs in to the rest of the table.

After dinner, I took a trash bag out to the table and threw away all the used plates, as well as the newspaper with bones. Clean up was so easy! We were ready for dessert! 

Once the sun went down, we had a private concert by two of the dads and two of the boys. So much fun! We heard everything from Don Williams to Nirvana with some original stuff thrown in. Of course "Sweet Home Alabama" was played before it was over. The crowd cried for "Freebird" and waved their cell phone flashlights, but alas, one band member had to preach the next day, and the other lead singing. We broke up about 9:00! But a fun time was had by all!

Best friends are such a blessing, especially when that friendship is shared by the whole family. This was such a fun night! Hoping for an encore soon!