Monsters vs. Mudbugs

For the last several years, we've been lucky enough to garner an invitation to a crawfish boil hosted by friends Cindy and Andy. This year was their 15th Annual rematch between the humans and the crustaceans known in the South as crawfish.

I don't think I'd ever eaten crawfish until I moved to Texas. My first recollection of eating them is maybe 13 years ago, when I was served a pile of rich, buttery crawfish tail goodness over rice made by my good friend Sarah, who grew up in New Orleans and knows a thing or two about preparing crawfish. I'd never learned the fine art of eating the whole critters until I started attending Cindy & Andy's annual boils. It is an activity not for the squeamish; you pull the tails off with your fingers, de-shell the tail and eat the bite of meat, your hands invariably becoming covered in crawfish drippings. If you're a real Southerner, you also suck the juice out of the heads. Mmmm, spicy crawfish brains.

Cindy, showing us how it's done.


This year's Bug Battle was attended by some 200 people. The mudbugs didn't stand a chance.



The pre-boil holding tank.


The kids were far more interested in playing with the live crawdads than eating the cooked ones.





Meanwhile, the adults drank beer, nibbled on side dishes, and mentally prepared for Mudbug Battle.





The newest member of Cindy and Andy's family, Jude, presided over the festivities.




The Mudbugs arrive!


Chef Andy, doling out the goods.










I didn't get any photos of the battle itself, as I was too busy sucking heads.



Humans 15, Mudbugs 0

Looks like the humans took yet another round. Till next year, Bottom Dwellers!