Four Ways To Enjoy Apples In The Fall By Due South

by Laura Beth Peters
From Due South
https://duesouth.media/four-ways-to-enjoy-apples-in-the-fall/

“Like most southerners, when I think of autumn, I think of cooler temperatures, leaves changing colors… and apples. As in picking apples at the local apple orchard, drinking sweet and spicy cider and delighting in thick slices of apple pie. It’s an exciting season of fall foods, so I’m sharing four of my favorite ways to enjoy a delicious seasonal fruit – the humble apple.

Apples that do well in the south are those that remain crisp in the summer, will fight off diseases and that will make it through to fall and can be used for eating or cooking. There’s a long growing season for apples in the south, all the way from June to late October. A personal favorite of mine is Honey Crisp. This variety of apples were actually first developed in Minnesota but they do well in the south and you are sure to find them included at your grocer this fall.”

From Sarah,
I originally saw this post on ”My Meals Are On Wheels Blog”
https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/2019/11/23/four-ways-to-enjoy-apples-in-the-fall-due-south/

Planning Your Oyster Roast

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Before your party gets underway, you’ll need a few items for cooking and shucking the oysters. For planning, figure a bushel (about 50 pounds) for every 5 people. For the actual roast you’ll also need a large piece of sheet metal (we prefer one that’s about 3 1⁄2 feet square and 1⁄8 to ¼ inch thick), four standard-sized masonry blocks, and a burlap sack or beach towel. You’ll also need oyster knives (thick paring knives will do), some heavy gloves (thick, cotton-lined rubber gloves are best), and a trash can lined with a heavy-duty plastic trash bag. Once you have these items you’ll be all set!”

First : You Need A Bag Of Oysters

2.
Oyster-Inspired Dockside Party
By Daily South

November 14, 2016 | By Monica Lavin
http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2016/11/14/oyster-inspired-dockside-party/

“In the south, most everyone looks forward to fall–not only for the cooler temps and college football, but also for oyster season! So today I’m offering five things to consider when hosting an oyster-inspired party. As a Southern lifestyle blogger, my goal was to create an over-the-top tablescape inspired by the lowcountry views of the Golden Isles.

Location, Location, Location.
We took advantage of the Black Banks River views and set up a farmhouse table with white-washed bamboo chairs on our friend’s dock on Sea Island, Georgia. The paper table runner, which was a maritime map of the Golden Isles, perfectly highlighted the marsh landscape surrounding us. It was inspired by Gunners Daughter‘s luxe leather handbags which use the Golden Isles map as a silk liner. ”

3. A Southern-Style Oyster Roast
The Daily Meal
20 Easy Holiday Party Ideas Slideshow
Slide 14
A Southern-Style Oyster Roast
http://www.thedailymeal.com/entertain/20-easy-holiday-party-ideas-slideshow/slide-14

A month with an “r” in it means it’s oyster season. And down South, there is no better way to celebrate the holidays than with an oyster roast. Think about it — hanging around with friends, a beer or hot bourbon cocktail in hand, shucking warm oysters, and plunging them into an array of dipping sauces. It’s a lot more fun, relaxing, and hands-on than a traditional holiday meal.

For a roast, you’ll need a fire pit, plenty of wood (oak is best), a grill or sheet metal top for cooking, and if you can entertain outside, perhaps some lanterns and twinkle lights. Toast with champagne while the oysters roast — it’s thought to be oysters’ best friend, after all. Set out sauces like melted butter, hot sauce, and cocktail sauce in small bowls for dipping. Have the makings for s’mores on hand for later if you still have room.

4. How To Throw An Oyster Roast
Charleston Magazine

http://charlestonmag.com/features/how_to_throw_an_oyster_roast

Charleston entertaining style editor Mitchell Crosby—owner of event planning biz JMC Charleston—knows how to throw just about any party. But as a Lowcountry native, he’s particularly adept at pulling off a true-blue Carolina oyster roast. Here he shares his top tips:

❶ Local oysters come as clusters and selects, the latter having more shell knocked off and having one, two, or three oysters on a cluster. A local bushel can be purchased in a 40-pound bag or box.

❷ Don’t ice your oysters. These bivalves are alive and will die with ice on them. Pick them up from your retailer (he recommends his family’s business Crosby’s) as close to your cooking time as possible, then keep them in a cool, dry place.

❸ Oysters are not for everyone and unless your guests are “Been Yas”, they would not count on eating enough to suffice as dinner. Think of them as an appetizer and have something hearty as your entrée. Crosby suggests a big pot of chicken bog, Brunswick stew, fish stew, gumbo, or pilau.

❹ Instead of an old piece of plywood for your oyster table, rent wood-trimmed, stainless steel-topped tables. Place each table on two saw horses, and it’ll be just the right height.

❺ When you set your oyster table, you must have a glove or a clean towel at each place along with an oyster knife. He suggests asking people to bring their own knives—it is part of locals’ DNA to have their own.

❼ Make your own your cocktail sauce. Then, buy small jars and label them to send home with guests. I like tons of Texas Pete, fresh horseradish, fresh lemon, ketchup, a tiny bit of celery salt, fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire.

❽ Décor is everything. For a sporty centerpiece, cut a football lengthwise and poke holes in it, then place flowers in the holes.

❾ Recycle your shells. The Department of Natural Resources can use old local shells to the environment replenish the oysterbeds so contact them before your roast.

5. Host an Oyster Roast Any Night of the Week: No Need for a Fire Pit
The Kitchn

http://www.thekitchn.com/host-oyster-roast-any-night-of-the-week-187734

A shellfish feast is always a crowd pleaser and so easy to prepare. Other than transferring the mollusks from the pan to a communal plate, all I have to do is put out necessities: oyster knives, seafood forks, hot sauce, cocktail sauce, paper towels, sliced lemons and saltine crackers. Melted butter is optional (just kidding) and mignonette is extra credit. It’s an easy way to entertain a few adult friends, too. Just add bubbly!

An oyster roast is an event. Hosting a small version in the kitchen makes even a school night feel special. Besides, I’d rather our sons learn to wield an oyster knife in a brightly lit room than on a dark beach, where they might, you know, slice off part of a finger as they tried to find a space for the knife. With more experience, they’ll shuck ’em by the fire with ease.

Once the party gets going, the kids are more willing to practice the Electric Slide (or the Cupid Shuffle, or the Wobble) and I know I’ve done my job as a parent.

What foods create a party atmosphere in your home?

6. Oyster season is here and we’ve got your guide to doing roasts right

The Charleston City Paper

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/oyster-season-is-here-and-weve-got-your-guide-to-doing-roasts-right/Content?oid=4772417

We’re now well into the “R” months, and that means that, in the Lowcountry, at least, it’s time for oyster roasts. Prime time — those three or four weeks on either side of Christmas — is still a little way off, but we’re definitely in the pre-season, and now is the perfect time to polish up on some of the finer points of oyster roast etiquette. Don’t throw garbage in that hole in the middle of the table.

This is an easy one to slip up on, especially when you finish a beer and need a place to toss the empty. But, inviting as it looks, please don’t throw that can (and, it better be a can, as we’ll soon address) into that round hole in the middle of the impromptu wooden tabletop laid over sawhorses. That bin inside is for oyster shells only, and they’re destined to end up getting recycled back into nearby waters to seed beds for the next generation of bivalves. Baby oysters love latching onto old oyster shells; onto Budweiser cans: not so much.

If you do slip up (as one is bound to do, especially later in the afternoon), don’t panic. Apologize gently, then lean over and extract your offending trash. No one will care because, heck, we’ve all been there.

Bring beer. In cans.

The larger, better-organized oyster roasts will have beer trucks dispensing thin, watery brew in plastic cups, and if that’s the case then roll with it. But, if it’s a bring-your-own affair, convention dictates that you bring your beer in cans. Why? I have no idea. It’s just the convention.

From Sarah :
My kind Of Oyster Party
Simple

You can’t have enough lemons.

Or enough Ice Tea……I don’t need a straw.

Enjoy Sarah