Frogmore Stew

The Teren Family Reunion: We had 15 people. We were made up of 4 separate family units. We were from 4 different states. We were there for 7 days. We had 21 meals. We went on about 150 grocery runs. And we had 7 dinners.

Gram and Pop took the reins on nights #1 and #2, the Osborns had night #3, the Tennessee Terens night #4, New York Terens night #5, and from that point on I wasn't there, people slowly started to thin out, and quite frankly without my presence dinner just wasn't the same so it doesn't matter what went on those final 2 nights.

When cooking for 15 people, you have to think on a grander scale, yet you have to think simple. Gram and Pop did burgers and dogs one night, they served pasta another, and Tina did chicken for her meal. But Mom and I were going for the big WOW with our feast. We wanted to make something different, something fun, and something memorable. We chose Frogmore.

The first time I had Frogmore Stew--which is graced with a name that I think sounds like something amphibious, slightly smelly, and thick n' heavy--was last summer in Charleston, South Carolina.

Now, Charleston is a hot place in the summer; temperatures are almost always in the 90s or above, the air is humid, your body is sticky, and the last thing I would ever dream of eating is some sort of stew. To me stew is a wintery meal; something that cooks for a long period of time either on the stove top or in the oven at a low heat, slowly simmering and cooking the meat so that it's incredibly tender, and melding together the flavors of every spice, vegetable, and protein that constitutes this heavy mixture. Frogmore Stew, however, is no stew of this kind.

This summer stew consists of just a few ingredients: old bay seasoning (and perhaps other spices, however I didn't do that part so I can't be sure), new potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, and kielbasa. Then all there is to actually cooking this stew is boiling some water, throwing all the ingredients in a pot, draining them out, and dumping them onto a table covered in newspaper! No real chopping, no day-long process, no oven, no heavy food.

Although Gram was nervous about the table, at least four of the kids were scared of the shrimp, and we made waaaay to much salad to accompany the stew, Mom's and my meal was a huge success. We had fun getting a little dirty pealing the shrimp, getting corn stuck in our teeth, and getting to throw potatoes at each other across the table--just kidding. Clean-up was a sinch, as we just rolled up all the newspaper and threw it in the garbage, then wiped the newsprint off the table, but best of all there were plenty of leftovers for me to scarf down the next day for lunch: add a little corn to some left over salad, and peel a few shrimp to eat on the side? I was in Frogmore Heaven.