Lobster Bisque and the Recipe!

Joan was given a lobster tail to take to Betty. She said she doesn't like lobster. So Joan took it home and made lobster bisque....2 bowls full....one fore John, one for Joan. MMMmmmm.

Recipe is below the picture.


Here is the recipe I used, but I had to cut it in half. It was great! I love how the paprika gives the bisque it's pinkish color


lobster bisque

6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
4 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 cups cooked lobster meat, shredded
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup light cream
DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and celery salt until well blended. Gradually stir in the milk so that no lumps form, and then stir in the chicken stock. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the soup begins to thicken. Add the onion and lobster; season with paprika. Cook and stir for 10 more minutes. Stir in the cream, heat through and serve.

Caramels for Sale

OK..Here's the story. We were in Upland, buying garments at Beehive Clothing and this
man came in and started to talk to one of the clerks. "Have you tried the caramels they sell at the bookstore? They are incredible." So I, Joan, had to go on over there real quick..it was just 2 doors down...and buy just one to try out. It was 50 cents...for one!!!!!!!
It was quite small. Delicious, yes! You could taste the real butter...but 50 cents a piece kind of shocked me.

Bake Potatoes in your Slow Cooker!

It's true! I never knew this before. Megan told me about this and she got ti from the cookbook Fix It and Forget It.

Just scrub your potatoes, pierce with a knife and wrap in foil. Place in slow cooker for 4 hours. Amazing!

Our Favorite Pizza

John and I sat at this table (too bad photo is so small-it is from the site, not my camera). So you feel like you are right there in Times Square...they have this big photo mural....love it!

..is from New York Pizza Company in Upland...on Foothill. They have the best thin crust pizza.

The day we went they had a special: 12 " pizza for 5 bucks. $1 for each extra topping. John's extra topping was BBQ chicken, and mine was bacon. We watched the cook stretch the twirl the pizza dough. The oven was 600 degres (I asked!) and I saw how they maintained the lovely ridge on the pizza...half way through the baking process, the pull the pizza out for a second and run the pizza cutter lightly around the area between the crusty rim and the edge of the pan.
Close up of my bacon pizza...
See the golden brown rim of the crust?
Close up of the thin crust.

Carrot Know How

Did you know that the carrots you bring home are alive? And they will continue to "grow" green leafy fronds on the top...and as this happens, the carrot gets a bit rubbery and loses some nutrition. But if you cut off the tops as you see in the picture, when you bring them home from the store, your carrots will stay fresher much longer!

Sunday Lunch

MMMmmm...we each had a baked sweet potato, a half of a butternut squash, and half of an acorn squash. (We also had a beef sandwich). This was at noon. Boy! We weren't hungry the rest of the day!
Cracked pepper and real butter is all you need to add. Some folks don't even need that...this food is so rich!

John's Favorite Breakfast

John sliced open a perfect avocado the other day. Then he put it on this 9" plate and took this picture and said...Let's have my favorite breakfast.

Which is Huevos Rancheros.


So I whipped it up for us...I like my eggs easy over, with a runny yoke. John likes his with the yoke cooked hard. To make the guacamole, I basically just chop the nice soft avocado with a knife and mash some of it down a bit with a fork, and that is it. We like it chunky, not smooth. I sometimes will put in a fine diced garden ripened tomato, and a tiny bit of fine diced onion, but I am a purist and just love the pure taste of the avocado. We drizzle Tapatio on it and the eggs and beans. John also puts ketchup (yuck) on top of the Tapatio.
So here is John's plate.We love Tapatio because it doesn't have vinegar in it lie a lot of sauces do.

Chicken on Sale

I love to buy whole chicken when it is on sale. This one was 69 cents/lb. and over 5 lbs.


I baked it in the oven with carrots, onions, celery inside the cavity. Then I cooked the carcass after I took the meat off the bone....with water in my crockpot on low for 8 hours. Got the best broth!!

I got 6 one cup bags of chicken for the freezer ( I nibbled on some so actually the yield was higher than 6 cups)...to use when whipping up a quick meal such as chicken curry...or chicken and gravy and mashed potatoes...or to put in stuffing, or to make BBQ chicken sandwiches (just thaw in microwave and add some BBQ sauce and pile in toasted buns. Anyway..here are the baggies before I put them in the freezer (In another heavier plastic bag of course.)

Clever Megan

So, I made pancakes one morning while we were in Gilbert: my favorite buttermilk pancake recipe...and what do you know? Clever Megan whipped out her pizza cutter to cut the kids' pancakes nice and cleanly! Wow! If only I had used this device when the kids were growing up and I made pancakes several times a week...for nearly 2 decades.

Favorite Lentil Soup

This nice glass bowl is actually holding quite a bit of soup.

Once, when John and I were making one of our many trips to Wisconsin

and had been eating quick fast food or road food for a while (we had been in Missouri visiting Molly and family and had so many things to do -places to go- that Molly didn't have time to make any gourmet meals like she is wont to do. We even had a meal at Sonic. We had frozen custard at Drew's. Then on the long drive from St. Louis up to Wisconsin, we had Burger King, etc. ) When we got closer to Wisconsin, I called Jane, my dear friend in Point, and asked her for a favor.

I said:"I NEED some Lentil Soup! Can we come visit you and can you, will you please, make some for us and we can talk while we eat. We want to come to your house before we even go to 509 First Street. " She agreed to and we drove along happily, in anticipation (at least I was happily anticipating the soup, John could take it or leave it.)

When we got to her house, she did not have the soup even started. She had had a very busy day that included riding her bike a long way to one of her doctor appointments. She had other things going on, too. Nevertheless, she assembled the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly, like it is written here. I don't grate the carrots, but fine dice.

So we talked while she made the soup and while we ate it. Fully recharged with this wonderful nutrition, and our visit, we then got into our rental car and proceeded to my folk's house.

Note...you can subsitute a bottle of spaghetti sauce for the diced tomtaoes.

My Favorite Lentil Soup from (from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book- a bit tweeked)

2 T. oil

2 large or 3 medium onions, chopped (2 cups)

3 carrots, coarsely grated (Joan prefers tiny diced)

¾ t. marjoram, crumbled

¾ t. thyme leaves, crumbled (or just use 1 1/2 teasp. Italian seasonings if you do not have the marjoram and thyme )1 28-oz. can tomatoes with their juice, coarsely chopped (I buy S&W’s diced in juice)

4 cups broth (I use salt free broth made with boullion)

4 cups water

1½ cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over

¼ to ½ t. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 T. dried parsley flakes

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1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and sauté the onions, carrots, marjoram and thyme, stirring

the vegetables, for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, broth, and lentils. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the soup for about 1 hour or until the lentils are tender.

3. Add the salt, pepper, and parsley, and simmer the soup for a few minutes.