OK, so the summer’s about over. Early fall is a terrific time to have friends over for an outdoor cookout. Sure, you could entertain your weekend guests the usual way with BBQ burgers, chicken, or steaks. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. We can smell that smoke right now.

Or…

You could knock it out of the park, wowing your guests with a Southern-Style Crab Boil they may never forget. You talk about a feast! This IS one.

Everything but the kitchen sink goes into one big kettle—including crab legs, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, artichokes, bratwursts, asparagus, onions and more. We recommend you cook it all outdoors, filling a turkey fryer with water or using a Louisiana Rig. Or you could heat your kettle with a propane gas burner as we do at our Rivercliff Retreat.

You’ll find the Crab Boil recipe right here.

This is a totally casual eat-with-your-hands kind of dinner. Everyone will have fun cracking open the crab legs, peeling the shrimp, and digging into the corn on the cob, potatoes, bratwursts, and all. It’s a meal that’s best enjoyed in the great outdoors.

Serve with melted butter, cocktail sauce, ice tea and lemonade (try our recipe for Blueberry Lemonade with Fresh Mint). Cold beer goes down really well with this mildly spicy flavor fest. You’ll want to have plenty of iced down beverages on hand.

What about dessert? We’ve got you covered there, too. Our Country Apple Tart will cap the evening nicely, for those who have saved room for it.

You’ll say so long to summer in style with this Southern-Style Crab Boil and your guests will thank you for it.

View our “Behind the Crab Boil” music video