🦐 Mark and Arlene Make a 4th of July Seafood Boil! 🇺🇸

Hey, hello and welcome to our 4th of July picnic. We’re so glad you’re here. I got Mark here with me. Got my hub with me over here, Paul. And best of all, you joined us, too. We’re so glad that you’re a part of this celebration. You know, we live in the most wonderful country in all the world. There’s no place on earth like the good old USA. And we celebrate it today. We celebrate with our family, our friends, and mostly we celebrate it with food. Right, Mark?

Absolutely.

Now, what are we going to do today?

We’re going to do a seafood boil.

A seafood boil?

Seafood boil with shrimp. You could use crayfish, crab, whatever. But we’re going to use shrimp. And all the fixings and —

Oh, my goodness. You know what —

It’s the first time, so.

I’ve been wanting to do this for so long.

We’ve been talking about it.

We’ve been, yeah. So, we’re bringing it to you. Get your paper and pencil. You’re really going to want to take some notes on this. And then, we’re going to do a lot of side dishes, right? We’ve got coleslaw over there. We’ve got a wonderful dessert over here And you got to have something with this seafood.

Hushpuppies.

Hushpuppies. Homemade hushpuppies. This is a 4th of July celebration. Gather all your loved ones around, family, friends. Get the big, big turkey fryer cooking. And I’ll tell you what, you’re going to see some food you’re going to want to make. We’ll be back in just a minute to get started. But first, here’s today’s At Home Hint. Here’s today’s At Home Hint. Salmon is a favorite for grilling because it doesn’t dry out. Start by grilling the salmon skin side up. This allows the natural fat under the skin to be drawn into the filet keeping it rich and moist. If you’ve got a helpful hint, we want to hear from you. Send your hint to At Home Hints, Cornerstone Television, Wall, Pennsylvania 15148-1499.

Hi. Here we are on location, Uncle Paul and I. We’re going to show you how to do this seafood boil — shrimp boil. We got our turkey fryer going here. Your standard turkey fryer with a basket. You need the basket in order to pull everything else nice. I got a few potatoes in here going right now. But what we’re going to start off with, with some Louisiana Cajun boil spice. We’re going to add one cup right into the boiling water. Add to that — and it’s a very simple recipe. You got the spice. We’re going to squeeze some lemons. Three fresh lemons should be good enough. Paul, you want to help me cut these? And I’ll squeeze them in. Just like that. There you go. And I do — I just squeeze and drop the whole thing in, seeds and all. It’s a boil. There’s nothing fancy about it. Everything goes in there.

Hey, Mark, that’s looking good already just with those lemons in there.

Oh, you should smell it.

I can imagine. Is that a Cajun seasoning?

Absolutely.

Ah-huh.

It’s a Louisiana Cajun seasoning.

All right.

They have the boils in the — in the pouches, you can just throw that in.

Right.

Everybody likes Old Bay seasoning.

Absolutely.

Put a couple cans of that in to start with.

Cool.

So, we’re going to start off with some red skinned potatoes that we’ve cleaned and kind of pealed around just the edges to make them look nice, look different.

That’s a couple pounds, right?

Yeah.

Just a couple pounds.

Couple pounds of potatoes.

Okay, we’re dropping those in. Wow.

We have some going already.

And you start off with what’s going to cook the longest. So, we got the potatoes in there. Got the seasoning. We got the lemons. And we’re going to add the onions. And this is all going to be the flavor —

Oh, that flavor —

Coming through the boil.

Is going to be on everything you put in that pot, isn’t it?

Absolutely.

Wow.

Absolutely. You just put that all right in there.

So, it’s a couple of onions. What else is with the onions? Anything else?

Yeah, we got the onions. We got the potatoes. We got the lemons.

Okay.

We got the seasoning. And we’re going to let that go for about 10 to 12 minutes.

Oh, all right.

Let that boil. The water will come back up to a boil. I like to keep it covered. Keep stuff out of there. It’s a little windy today. We’ll just add a little bit weight to keep that lid on. Then the next item to go in will be the corn.

Okay, and are you talking about whole ears of corn or —

Well —

Do you break them up or what?

We’ll cut them in half.

Oh okay.

And this is probably six ears, six, seven ears cut in half.

Okay.

We only got so much room in that pot. You don’t want a whole ear. You want to keep everything nice that when we have it out on the table, you can — you know, little pieces at a time.

Oh, absolutely. And you know, if you get it too full with the vegetables and there’s not enough broth cooking, it’s not going to have that flavor that’s so important.

Absolutely.

Because that’s going to permeate —

It just absorbs that flavor.

Every vegetable that’s in that pot.

Uh-huh.

I can’t wait.

Yeah. So, you know, like I said, we’ll let this go for 10, 12 minutes. Get them potatoes going good. And the next thing to go in would be the corn.

Okay. And you don’t season that or anything, you just drop it in, right?

That’s it. That’s all there is to it.

No salt, no pepper because it’s all in that —

No.

Seasoning mix, I guess.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And even though it’s not hot oil, this water is pretty hot, so.

Sure.

You got to —

Well, boiling it’s going to cook it.

You got to have some good glove.

Absolutely. That’s terrific. Oh, you know, I can just imagine the smell.

Yeah.

Too bad you can’t do that in the house. But, boy, I’ll tell you, that smell —

Yeah.

Has got to be awesome out there.

Oh, it’s great on the holidays.

Uh-huh.

I like to pick the basket up, let that — keep it mixed up a little bit.

And, of course, anything that you’re doing like that, Mark, safety is the number one priority, right?

Absolutely.

We want to keep the kids away from that. We want to make sure that everything you’re putting in is not splashed into the pot so that nobody gets hurt. Keep kids and people, adults, everybody, and put it in a place that’s safe that people aren’t going to be walking around —

Yeah.

Catching their foot on it and dumping it.

Absolutely. Like —

That would be horrible.

Especially this line going to the tank.

Right.

You don’t want people tripping over that. Nobody wants to go to the hospital on a holiday.

That’s absolutely right.

Trust me.

Not me, that’s for sure [Laughing]. And you’re just adding the corn now. Oh man.

Yeah, we’re going to add this corn. It looks like some nice bread and butter corn.

Yeah.

Cut in half, some in thirds.

Wow.

And like I said, you start off with what’s going to cook — take — cook the longest.

Takes the longest, sure. But, you know, if you cut — if you have big red potatoes, you can’t get the small ones, cut them in quarters —

Yeah.

And they will cook up quickly, too, so.

Cut them in half. Cut them in quarters. That’ll be perfect.

And you know, the best way, if you’re wondering is it ready to go yet, test it with a fork. Get a nice, long-handled fork, or bring one up and test it.

Yeah.

That’s the best.

Absolutely. You could pull the basket up.

Sure.

In fact, I’ll do that. Let’s see how the potatoes are going.

Okay. Very good. We only have a couple minutes here. We’re going to take a break because we got to make some side stuff to go with —

Yeah.

What Mark is doing out there in that boil. And you can’t just have that. You got to have like a slaw. Today, we’re going to make a really wonderful coleslaw that will go with that. And, of course, the hushpuppies. And I’m going to have the guys come in to help me out with that, because then I’m going to make a really incredible dessert. Something not too heavy, not too fluffy, because this is a sit down and everybody together and pull it apart and nibble and munch kind of a meal. So, we don’t want anything fancy for dessert, but it’s going to be a good dessert. So, we’re going to go back out and see what the guys are doing. And then, we’re going to take our break.

Are we taking break?

Yeah. Go ahead and dump those in. Good, Mark.

Okay. These are the mushrooms we left whole.

Okay.

And they’re going to float on top.

Yeah, they would.

You know. So, we’re going to just add them in with the kielbasa or sausage or —

Kielbasa, too. Oh man.

Good. Oh yeah, absolutely. It’s amazing how much this will flavor that boil.

Wow. Wow.

And then we’re going to add the mushrooms in.

Geez.

Like I said, they’re just cleaned, left whole.

Yeah.

Even though it’s coming up out of the water, it’s all going to be steamed and boiled —

Sure.

And good and —

And flavored well, I’m sure.

Absolutely. We’ll mix it up here a little bit.

Yeah. Now, what is that? Is that a sausage? Is that a cured sausage? What are you putting in there? Kielbasa? What is —

That’s a kielbasa. It’s a kielbasa, yes.

Kielbasa, okay. A good smoked sausage is —

Smoked sausage are the best —

Just as good.

For that. Some already cooked, right?

Just as good. Absolutely.

Oh my. My —

We’re just going to pick this up and give her a dunk. Mix her up a little bit. Make sure it’s down in there.

Yeah. Wonderful.

We’re just going to let that go.

Boy, it looks good.

I’m telling you, it looks good, Paul.

Let this go.

You know it looks good.

What we’ll do is leave this go for another 10 minutes.

Well, you know what, while that’s cooking 10 minutes, why don’t you guys come in and help me make the sides.

All right, sounds good.

All right. And while they’re doing that, we’re going to take a break. When we come back, we’re going to be making the sides here in the kitchen. Stay with us. We’ll be right back.

What about Paul?

I was going to give the weather report but [Laughing].

Hey, who was that big guy from down in Louisiana? You know, that big, old like [Mumbling]. You could take his place [Laughing].

Do you want to like keep going or do you want to stop?

I tell you what, that segment, that is great. I loved it. I can’t wait. I was drooling in here while you were telling us about what was going in there. I was like how — now how much longer is —

It’ll be done pretty soon. Pretty soon.

Yeah, but —

Like I said, another 10, 15 minutes, let it go.

Mark, this is a seafood boil.

Oh.

Where is the seafood? Oh, you forgot that part.

Dog gonnit. I’ll be back. Wait.

Okay.

Actually, no, right after this is done, after the time, then we add the seafood and shut it off.

Oh.

Just turn the flame off, leave it go there. Leave it sit for about 20 minutes.

Because that’s the shrimp you’re doing, right?

It absorbs all that spices. It’ll cool down so it’s not burning when you’re —

Incredible.

And it —

Perfect.

Will be very good. Can’t wait.

Okay, all right.

Can’t wait.

You’re doing the hushpuppies. You want to talk us through what you’re doing here?

Yeah, I’ll tell you what, I don’t have a hushpuppy — love hushpuppies.

Right, me too.

But I — without the instant ones, I don’t know how to make them.

Forget it, okay.

So —

Watch, that burner is on. Why don’t you turn that number two burner clear off.

This one.

Yeah. Okay, Larry got it. Good.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

There’s your bowl.

This, we’re starting with two large eggs.

Yeah.

Half a cup of white sugar.

Okay.

What else we got? Oh, large cup of diced onions.

Diced onions.

Got to have onions.

Oh, that’s what makes them. Definitely does.

And self-rising one cup.

One cup self-rising flour and —

Do I whisk this in —

Yeah, go ahead.

As we’re going? Okay.

Sure. I mix that then do the flour.

Because you don’t want to dump the flour right in, right?

Right. That’s right. That’s right. You want to mix those up so that you can get —

Just a little at a time.

Yeah. Okay, while you’re adding that slowly, Paul’s going to make some coleslaw over here, Paul. We have — we have quite an arrangement here. Because here we have five cups of just regular green cabbage. And then we four cups of purple cabbage, which you really like. You do.

Paul does. He really does.

I know. Okay, in that bowl, honey, you want to take this bowl —

Okay.

And you’re just going to add all these things. And I’m going to tell them what they are and you just dump them in.

Just dump them in.

Dump them in, yeah. Let me get my glasses. How we doing over there, Mark? Pretty good?

Good. Just going to add the —

You’re going to add the —

You’re going to add the cornmeal.

One cup of cornmeal.

Good. Good. All right, here we go. We need sour cream, mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, salt, cayenne pepper, the cabbages, some celery, and some carrots. Mix it all together and just add it all in there and then pour that on there. Mix it all together, put it in the fridge. It needs to get really well chilled. It’s important that gets good and cold, okay? Let me see what we’re doing over there. You’re looking good. It’s getting thick, huh?

Uh-huh.

It has to be thick, though, that’s good.

Yeah, it’s looking good.

Okay, so, while you’re doing that and you’re doing that, I’m making us a star in honor of our 4th of July celebration. This is a pizza pan that I’ve taken one roll of sugar cookies and just put the dough out. We baked it for 15, 20 minutes. Brought it out, you have to let it completely cool. This has to be cool, all right? And then we took one package, eight-ounce package of cream cheese. We added about a fourth, a little bit more, of powdered sugar, cup of powdered sugar, and two teaspoons of fresh grated lemon peel, lemon zest. O boy. And all we’re doing with this is we’re going to spread this on our cookie just like that. And you’re going to have raspberries and blueberries. You ready to roll with that, Mark?

Almost.

You think it is?

A little bit more here.

Yeah. Good.

It looks good.

Oh, it smells good. Everything smells good when you’re doing this stuff, man. I’m telling you. Everything. I like these kind of sides because they’re easy to do. And you got — you got everything else you need for your whole picnic out there in that pan.

And how easy is this?

I’m telling you. Not hard at all.

I wish I had this a long time ago [Laughing]. Okay, so we’re just going to take a scoop.

And you got your — how much, you got two inches of —

Yeah.

Oil over there.

Two. Two.

About two inches, yeah. Is it boiling?

Coming up to a boil.

There’s some bubbles there.

Okay, then you’re alright.

We’ll try one, see how it looks.

Go for it. It will be good.

And we’re just going to —

And you just drop those by teaspoonfuls. That’s all.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

You got it? Oh yeah.

Yeah, we’re boiling good. See, it’ll start to float.

Yeah, that’s what you want. That oil has to be deep enough so that you can really get the oil underneath it to cook the underside, too, you know, because if we don’t it’ll be raw.

I don’t think you want to make these too big so they cook all the way through.

No, about a tea — yeah, about a teaspoon. That’s all. That’s what they’re saying, just about a teaspoon. How we over here, baby?

We’re doing good.

Are you? Looking good. Now, honey, you know you got to clean that up.

I know that. I need a spatula.

Sorry, I’ve trained him well. But somebody’s bite. Your grandmother used to say that’ll be somebody’s bite in there. You don’t want to throw that away. And we don’t because it all tastes so good. And, okay, I have mine iced all over the top of my cookie, okay? My cream cheese is all over THE top of my cookie. Now, here’s where you might need help. I did. You got to cut out a star like this. This is not easy, folks. Now, I like to think I’m relatively intelligent. I had a hard time. I was working on this at midnight last night. But you take your star, and it has to be so that it will fit on a 12 inch, or as big as your — as your area is for your cookie. And you let it — you know, tap it down. Then you’re going to take blueberries and you’re going to outline the star all the way around with blueberries. And these need to be washed and thoroughly dried. No water, please, because this will make your cookie so mushy it will be horrible. Not enjoyable at all, okay? Oh, they’re looking good over there, man.

Yeah, look at this stuff.

Yes.

Flip them over.

Look how fast they cook, huh.

Look at that.

Oh, beautiful, golden brown. You don’t want these to get like really, really, really dark brown. But, Mark, you know, you can test one of those, pull it out, and pull it apart and just see if it’s cooked in the middle. Then you would know if that’s enough. Again, you’re going outline, outline, outline. And I’m showing you this. Then, after you get the whole thing outlined and this is all filled in, then you’re going to take raspberries and you’re going to fill in. You’re going to pull this up off of the cookie. It’ll come right up. And then the star part, you’re going to fill in with the raspberries like that. Well, let me just show you what I mean. I have one here. Okay, we’re running out of space today. Here’s what it looks like. Pretty nice, huh? I love it. I think it’s a beauty. Now, you want to press — and you keep this cold. Keep it in the fridge. You want to press down on this and make sure that they stick to that cream cheese. It’s important. Mark, they’re —

They’re looking good.

Looking so good. Wow.

Maybe you could try one. I know. Like I can’t wait. And you can put those — drain those on a paper towel and then you keep them hot if you’re making a big batch. You can throw them in your — excuse me, get me a spoon out of out of here, throw them in the 200 degrees oven. Now, all I have in this pan, I have just taken some apple jelly, not preserves, this is real clear, and you melt it down. And all you do with that is spoon that over the berries because this gives it a glaze and gives it a shine, and also helps to hold the berries on. So, you’re going to want to do that. Look at that. That star is shining so bright. How’s the coleslaw coming, honey? You’re really cooking over there, man. Everybody is doing something. That’s why I love holidays because everybody pitches in and helps out. Right, Mark?

That’s right. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

The best part is to come, right?

The best part is to come when we all sit down and really start chowing. Now, that’s the really best.

It smells so good.

It does. Everything about this just smells good today.

The only thing we got to do with the seafood is —

What do we have to do?

Add the shrimp.

So, that’s all we’re going to do?

And shut her off.

Okay, so, you got that going. Do you want to go out and take care of that?

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, he’s going to take —

I think it’s time.

Off out and he’s going to drop the shrimp because it has to sit for a few minutes. I’m going to finish. I’ll help you with those. I’ll take over for those because this is — I’m done with this. This is just going in the fridge. And, you know what, we’re all going to be back in just a minute because time is gone and we can’t wait. So, stay with us. We’ll be back in just a minute. And here’s how you can get all of today’s recipes. Oh, you’re going to want to. Well, here are out here on location. Mark, this looks awesome.

Don’t it, though.

I’m telling you, you know what, and Mark’s mom, my sister-in-law, Pat, is here with us. And, you know, when you have something like this, you want everybody to join. So, we’re glad you’re with us today, too. Mark, you have to dump —

Yeah.

He made two batches. This is the first bath he made. But he’s ready to dump because we wanted to show you what it looks like when it comes out of the boil. And again, very, very careful. Gets the hook and you want to shake all that juice off. That’s a great broth, but you don’t want that running on anybody’s legs. Cover your table.

It’s still very, very hot.

Absolutely. And cover your table with a lot of paper, newspaper is good, and then cover it with a nice plastic cloth if you can. And I would suggest you put it in cookie sheets that has sides so that if there is any residual juice coming out, it’s not going to run anybody’s legs, okay?

Okay.

There it is, Mark. Look at this. You ready for this, folks? There is your seafood — oh, my goodness.

Oh my.

Wow, look at that bad boy.

Oh my.

I tell you what, you can’t even imagine what it smells like. You cannot imagine. There’s our coleslaw. The hushpuppies are awesome. We have our lemons. We have some cocktail sauce. We made a garlic butter sauce. We made our — here’s our dessert over here, our big, beautiful star. And we’re going to cut that up. What more could you want except a whole bunch of people that you love and that we love? I tell you what, this is the greatest country in the world. I hope you celebrate. Celebrate the freedom that we have to worship God, the freedom that we have with — we can elect people that we want to be in office and not. Most of all, this country is founded under Godly principles. Happy 4th of July, family.

Happy 4th of July.

Happy 4th of July, family. And be sure to join us the next time. It wouldn’t be the same without you. I’ll see you then. Hey, happy, happy, happy.

Furnishings provided by Levin Furniture, featuring Lane’s County Living collection. Food provided by Jordan Banana Company, wholesalers of fresh fruit and vegetables in Dravosburg, Pennsylvania.

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