Taste Report: Seafood Boil Chronicles

Sadie Meeks
Sep 19, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Oct 3, 2025

There have been numerous invites to the cookout but I'm taking it up a notch. Next summer you are cordially invited to the biennial Meeks Family Reunion. Picture this: "Happy Feelin's" by Frankly Beverly & Maze is playing while Cousin Kim is getting ready to drop the blue crabs in a hot bubbling boil. They've just brought out the fresh cut seeded watermelon, our traditional hors d'oeuvre of choice. Bingo games, bake offs, volleyball and Meeks Family Olympics. You can feel the heat from the sun and the spades table. Our reunion T-shirts say “It’s A Family Affair” and that it is. The crabs have transitioned into their blazoned hue. It's time to dig. From lake dips to lemon butter dips. Don't you just love dipping your crabs like chips?

Back in February while most were imagining their spring palettes, I made a silent declaration: "cracked crab" would be my color for the summer. I started plotting as soon as I slipped into this ultra comfy cotton, spandex blend mini skort. It has this perfect fluorescent shade of orange-pink that mimics that exact moment when the crab meat peaks through a freshly cracked shell. After purchasing these red-orange pants and butter yellow athleisure top my spidey senses tingled. Crab tones, shrimp tones and butter yellow tones go together like crab and butter; like sun and sweat. I never would’ve thought that my outfit choices would be inspired by a family reunion tradition.

The pallet is a feast…

Cracked Crab: The electric orange-pink that hits somewhere between coral and neon

Crab Shell: A deeper red-orange tone

Shrimp: Soft pink with a whisper of coral

Lemon Butter: A warm, melt-in-your-mouth yellow that feels like comfort and sunshine

Butter Yellow: a slightly tinted pastel tone

How yummy! A color pallet that is both fun and fresh. We will not be leaving these hues in the summer. These colors can also seamlessly transition into fall and winter. We are looking forward to seeing plush crab and butter tone sweaters and scarves.

Dare to take a dip into these playful swatches all year long.

Now this is how I styled my "cracked crab" skirt and "crab shell" pants, featuring splashes of butter tones. Of course we are an advocate for looking stylish on a budget. Most of the pieces are under $30. .