The Oyster Roast

{Kiawah Island Oyster Roast; photo from Lord Tierney}

Nothing welcomes fall in the South more than an old fashioned oyster roast! A crisp fall night, old friends, a bonfire, bluejeans and cowboy boots ~ these are a few of my favorite things!

Growing up, one of my neighbors hosted an oyster roast in his backyard. Just about the time of the first frost when the air was crisp and darkness settled in just after 5:00, he would host an oyster roast for all the neighbors. He would drive to the coast to get seafood fresh off the docks and dig a huge pit in the yard to roast the oysters. All the neighborhood kids would stand in line at the grill as he would pop hot clams in our mouths as they opened from the heat. He would roast corn on the grill as well. That was really before Ina Garten and Martha Stewart taught the world about the richness of flavors brought out in vegetables from roasting.

{Image via Coastal Living}

Of course in those early days, I would only watch other people eat the oysters. My first experience with a raw oyster came the summer of my sophomore year in college. I lived at the beach {Hilton Head Island, South Carolina} with several of my college besties. By day we soaked up the sun and by night we all worked at the oyster bar and restaurant ~ hostess, waiter, waitress, bartender ~ me and the college ya-ya's did it all.  A particularly good looking, strappy, down-to-earth, kind of guy shucked oysters. One night he loaded one up on a saltine cracker and topped it with a dab of cocktail sauce and a squirt of lemon. That's all it took!

{photograph from Garden & Gun, The Oyster Roast, October 2008}

Where did I get the inspiration for this post ~ The Oyster Roast?

The most common question I get from friends about blogging is "Where do you come up with the ideas for your posts?" That's an interesting question given that I never have a problem with {ideas}! I think that is why I enjoy blogging so much ~ it gives me an opportunity to share my ideas and release some of the creative energy that is constantly swimming around in my head. Does that make any sense to anyone?

Anyhoo, the inspiration for this post actually came from a quirky thing I purchased last Spring at Metrolina. I mentioned in an earlier post that I would share the details about my quirky Spring found object. I only wish you could have seen my poor husband's face when he opened the door for me after a long day at work and saw me carrying this!

I am intrigued by the latest industrial trend and find the interesting, repurposed old things at South of Market inspiring so when I saw this galvanized steel, New England steamer at the flea market, it was destined to come home with me! The dealer explained to me that the steamer goes directly on top of the fire and that the four stackable interior trays are for different varieties of seafood. Since the oysters need the most heat they would go in the bottom tray. You would fill the other trays with clams, shrimp, other seafood and even corn and stack them in order of cooking time. Of course, that might take a little more culinary expertise than I possess. At the end of the cooking process, all the juices flow through the holes of the steamer down to this bottom tray. You can then drain the juices from this little spout and use them as the base for bouillabaisse or clam chowder. Yum!

I bought the steamer because I thought these trays were so cool!

I didn't actually buy the steamer with the intention of hosting an oyster roast although now I am thinking that would be an exceptionally good use for such a clever flea market find.

{Thanksgiving Centerpiece inspiration from Country Home}

I think one of the steamer trays would be very chic as a centerpiece with stacked pumpkins and bittersweet vine styled like the centerpiece above.

Can you imagine one of my steamer trays stocked with a variety of liquors and bar essentials in a dark manly room on an old library table? I can!

Here is one of my steamer trays styled as a serving tray on my kitchen buffet. I am planting one tomorrow with ferns and paperwhite bulbs as a centerpiece for my kitchen table at Christmas time. You'll have to wait and see how it turns out. To be continued.....

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