Fish Fry

We were invited the other evening to a fish fry at a neighbor's house down by the lake. As it turned out it was actually a graduation party for the mother who had graduated with her teaching degree.

I was fascinated by the outdoor fry vats. It was set up on the back porch and powered by propane. It looked just like a fast food restaurant.

They were all big fishermen with dozens of fishing poles. The fish they usually catch at the lake is called "crappie", but how they said it sounded more like croppy. It's a tasty white fish similar to catfish.

Later we got a tour of their game birds. Again, fascinating.

There were three sections for frying.

Each basket was for a different thing.

Once the fish floats to the top, it's done.

The temperature would drop slightly when new fish was added.

Six gallons of vegetable oil was used. Six GALLONS!

The fish was coated with corn meal.

Creole seasoning was added to the corn meal - in a secret recipe proportion.

As the fish was cooked, it was put in metal trays with lids.

There were several pans of fish, fries and hush puppies.

Here's my plate.

This was only a few of their fishing poles.

There was a decorated cake with fondant icing. Yummy.

Each cockerel was in a separate cage with a hen.

Another game bird with baby chicks.

The chicks roamed freely in and out of the cages.

I thought this was the prettiest cockerel.

These are called Turkens - a weird looking breed of turkey chickens.