Ambassadors of Louisiana

Dave and I consider ourselves unofficial ambassadors of the South. Every once in awhile we have the opportunity to cook up Southern fare and take it to a friend's home or we entertain with Southern flair at our home. We aren't certain yet if we scare Minnesotans away with our spicy entrees or if they are intrigued. Of course, Minnesotans are too nice to let you know if they don't like something. You betcha, they are.

This summer, shrimp boils have been our pet project. We want to support Gulf seafood and the Gulf economy.

Not really. We just love shrimp and enjoy the roll your sleeves up and dig in mentality.

We hosted a shrimp boil for a few friends and it came out wonderfully. Jason and Lisa are avid gardeners, and they supplied fresh corn, potatoes, and green beans out of their garden. We tried crawfish, but it didn't turn out nearly as good as fresh crawfish from down South.

I made homemade cocktail sauce which was yummy. Once you have the homemade stuff, the bottled kind just isn't good enough.

I would like to someday try adding artichokes and blue crabs like Emeril does.

Of course to wash this down, we made a few hurricanes that fit in well with the food and the hot, humid day were were having. Lately, it's felt too much like the South up here. We'll take the food. You can keep the weather!