"The Watergate Cookbook" - CREEP Stew (CREEP was the Committee to Re-Elect the President - Richard Nixon) - Made for the 45th anniversary of the Watergate break-in

Date I made this recipe:  June 27, 2017 – 45^th anniversary of the Watergate Break In

The Watergate Cookbook (Or, Who's in the Soup?) by The Committee to Write the Cookbook

Published by The New Lone Star Press

© 1973

Purchased at St. Croix Booksellers, Stillwater, MN

Recipe:  CREEP Stew – p. 37

Let's start out with some definitions that will be important for you to know as you move forward through this cookbook blog post:

• CREEP [stew]:  Committee to Re-Elect the President, not to be confused with the authors who formed the Committee to Write the Cookbook.
•  The President in Question:  Richard Milhous Nixon, aka "Tricky Dick."
•  Watergate: Wikipedia's definition of Watergate is "a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970's, following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex on June 17, 1972, and President Nixon's administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement."  Personally, I think saying "major" scandal is and understatement was Watergate was a monumental event that changed this country.

 In the interest of fair warning, prepare to be schooled on all things Watergate.  In fact, think of this as an episode of Jeopardy where every category is named "Watergate" or and episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire where every question that comes up is Watergate-related.  Feel free to phone a friend! (By the way, one of my favorite episodes of Cheers was when Cliff Clavin appeared on Jeopardy and every category was that postman's dream.)

There were many memorable (and sometimes sad) events of my youth:  JFK's assassination, MLK's assassination, Bobby Kennedy's assassination, Woodstock, Kent State, the Vietnam War and Watergate.  The Senate Watergate Committee hearings, held after evidence showed that Nixon's administration was heavily involved in the above-referenced break-in, were compelling such that I spent hours and hours in front of the TV set with my mother, watching and learning about all that had taken place.

My mom was a housewife, or if you'd rather, a "stay-at-home-mom," who did her ironing in the afternoon, usually watching several soap operas while she did so. Yes, I said "ironing."  I know it's a foreign term for some of you but my mom ironed everything from my dad's undershirts and handkerchiefs because that was what women back then did.  They ironed and sometimes starched the hell out of everything because it was important to them that we all looked good. These days, I break out my iron once, maybe twice a year just to keep the cobwebs off.

Now then, my mom was not exactly a soap opera fan but it helped break up the monotony of ironing so why not? And then all three networks (only three back then) began interrupting our regularly-scheduled programming to broadcast the hearings and well, those hearings were better than the soaps and so it was a win-win for all.

And so there we were, glued to the set which is something considering it was summer and therefore nice out.  Neither one of us had a particular interest in government affairs before this,  but watching almost all of Nixon's administration testify to wrong-doings and cover-ups were just too much to pass up.  To this day, I can still see my mom gasping with incredulity over what she was hearing: "Oh Ann Mar-ieee, can you believe this?"  Nope, couldn't.

And now, let's talk about what happened and what brought us to the interruption of our regularly-scheduled soaps.  I've tried to be as brief as possible as the event timeline was pretty long and pretty involved with lots and lots of players.  You should know that Nixon's presidency and the Vietnam War coincided as that will play out in our story, starting with the item that kicked everything off:  the Pentagon Papers.

In 1971, psychiatrist Daniel Ellsberg, a former defense analyst who came to oppose the war, leaked what became known as the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.  These papers contained information about the DOD's (Department of Defense) secret activities in the Vietnam War.  Months later, White House operatives broke into Ellsberg's office to "plug the leaks," [of classified information] earning them the nickname, "White House Plumbers." 

A year later, several individuals were arrested for trying to electronically bug the offices of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) located in the Watergate Hotel. Nixon planned to use that information to take down the Democratic party in the next election (1972). These individuals were tied to CREEP, The Committee to Re-Elect the President and today's stew is named for them!  Nixon was re-elected in November of 1972 but this proved to be the beginning of the end for him, especially after the Senate formed the Senate Watergate Committee and then broadcast their investigative hearings.

Eventually, most of Nixon's aides were arrested and charged with all kinds of illegal activity connected with the President's quest for re-election.  In fact, if you were alive back then, you might know this song - "The CREEP" also known as "Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, and Dean" and I shall talk about all these men in a moment but first, let me tell you that I bought that 45 when it came out and wish I still had it as it would be a collector's item.  As my dad would always say "Story of my life, a day late and a dollar short."

Now then, here's what you need to know about Haldeman, Ehlichman, Mitchell and Dean (And by the way, the song is really catchy—listen to it!).

• H.R. Haldeman – Nixon's Chief of Staff – served 18 months for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury.

• John Ehrlichman – counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs – also spent 18 months in prison for the same crimes as Haldeman.

• John Mitchell – Nixon's Attorney General.  His wife, Martha, was probably more well-known than he was as she was quite the colorful character who spoke out about a lot of things including the state of affairs in the Beltway.  John served 19 months for various crimes.

• John Dean – This man captured my attention and the nation's as he was essentially the man who brought Nixon down.  Dean was Nixon's White House Counsel who became the key witness for the prosecution in the hearings.  I must confess that most of my time was spent watching him testify as he was just a golden boy – young and handsome with his beautiful wife, Maureen (Mo), by his side.  His testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee was compelling.

So these were the key players in this saga but I would be remiss in my duty as a blogger if I did not mention Rose Mary Wood's, Nixon's secretary, not because she was involved in this per se, but because of the way she accidentally/on purpose erased five minutes of an 18.5 minute gap in a Nixon recording.  Her excuse was rather preposterous, earning the act a press nickname, the "Rose Mary Stretch."  Please Google this so you can see what I am talking about as it was hilarious and quite unbelievable, even to a teenager.

So everybody testified and after the Senate was done with hearings, the evidence was passed on to the House Judiciary Committee who then passed the first of three articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice.  Nixon resigned before the full House voted on impeachment, the first president ever to do so, and Vice President Gerald R. Ford became president.  Ford then pardoned Nixon and that set off another firestorm as many felt cheated out of full resolution of this issue.  After watching the hearings for weeks, I can say honestly that  now I know how a jury feels after a plea deal is announced after weeks of listening to testimony.

This concludes a not-so-brief history of Watergate.  In 1976, the movie All The President's Men came out starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and it took us through the investigation of the cover-up of the Watergate break in, the introduction of Deep Throat (an informant) whose identify was only made public about a decade ago, and who gave Woodward and Bernstein the valuable advice to "follow the money," (the garage scene still creeps me out), and the ultimate fall of the House of Nixon.  It remains one of my favorite movies.

This very tongue-in-cheek cookbook was written by a group of friends who formed the Committee to Write the Cookbook in response to the Watergate scandal.  Many of the recipes are named for key players in the Watergate scandal, mostly from Nixon's "side" but with a few other's thrown in for good measure.  Once again, I had my trusty phone by my side as I was perusing this book so I could look up all the names listed (and there were several), and although it took a while, I considered it a good historical refresher after 45 years!

Since the Table of Contents is vast, and my "who's who" explanations go long, I'm going to talk about the recipe now and then if you are interested, you can read up on all the players at the end of the blog. I recommend it because I love history, plus it makes for great cocktail party conversation, but if you don't wish to, that's okay. 

Despite some pretty hilariously-named recipes, I kept it simple and went with CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President) Stew.  It was a great stew although I wish I would have seen at the beginning the tiny little note that said all recipes serve 5-7 people as I would have cut the recipe in half.  Good thing we like leftovers.

Although I don't normally change up too much with a recipe, I did in this case.  First, instead of buying and dealing with small, white onions, I bought one whole white onion and diced it up instead.   I also eliminated the mushrooms as the Cub [grocery store] I was at is a smaller store and didn't sell mushrooms by the each and I didn't want an entire packet.

Also gone was the meat glaze because Cub didn't have what I was looking for and besides, only a tiny amount was required, and I ditched the small amount of tomato puree required in favor of a small amount of tomato paste that I "cut" with some beef broth.

As to the directive to "flame" the brandy, I was using a deep stew pot and didn't want to risk burning myself again with that directive so I skipped it and let the mixture simmer in the brandy the entire time.  Talk about delicious!

So here you go, one recipe for CREEP Stew and a whole education about the 45^th anniversary of the Watergate Break-In.  My, how time has flown!  Once again, let me remind you Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire fans as well as history and politics buffs, that drinks and details are being served on the lido deck.  Kidding.  Once again, let me remind you all that recipe [name]samples from the Table of Contents and commentary can be found at the end of the recipe recap.

CREEP Stew – serves 5-7

4 large white mushrooms

3 T. butter

3 T. oil

1 ½ lbs top sirloin

¼ cup brandy

12 white onions

6 carrots, sliced

6 small parsnips

1 celery heart quartered

1 zucchini sliced

½ tsp tomato puree

1 tsp meat glaze

3 T. flour

1 ½ cup stock

¼ cup red wine

1 bay leaf

Cut the meat up into stew pieces. Brown the meat in butter and oil and pour in the brandy, then flame.  Remove the meat. Add onions, carrots, parsnips, celery to the oil and brown slightly.  Remove vegetables, set aside.  Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook 3 t0 5 minutes, remove and set aside.  Put the meat back in the pot and add the tomato puree, glaze and flour, stock, red wine and bay leaf.  Cook additional 20 to 30 minutes.  Add mushrooms and zucchini just before serving.  Season to taste.

And now for our Table of Contents

• Soups includes:
• "Nixon's Perfectly Clear Consommé" (Nixon was known for saying "Let me be perfectly clear" when he was not, in fact, clear. Nixon also said "I am not a crook" and well sure, it was a defense, but not a winning one.)
• "Liddy's Clam-Up Chowder" (G. Gordon Liddy was a Nixon "henchman" as dubbed by the press.)
• Green and Leafy includes:
• "Haldeman's Cold Crew Cut Platter" (H. R. Haldeman was known for his military-style crew cut.  He was one of Nixon's key "henchmen.")
• Margruder's Dandy Ly-in Salad (Jeb Magruder was another "henchman.")
• Waterfriends includes:
• "Rebozo's Key West Red Snapper" (Bebe Rebozo was Nixon friend and confidant who lived in Key Biscane, Florida.  I recall a lot of discussion about "Bebe Rebozo's yacht" and I thought at the time that it might be nice to have a yacht but probably not the greatest thing to be Bebe Rebozo!)
• "C-aught I-n the A-ct" (subtitled "something smells fishy') fish fillets; the CIA was also involved in pre-Watergate shenanigans.
• As For the Birds includes:
• "[John] Mitchell's Cooked Goose with Stuffing" – ha! (Mitchell was the Attorney General of the United States.)
• "Muskie's Pigeon Pie" (Edmund Muskie from Maine was a U.S. Senator and later, Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter.  Muskie was a Democratic front-runner in the 1972 election primaries until the release of The Canuk Letter disparaging Muskie by CREEP.  Need I tell you the election did not go well for him?)
• Cover-Up Dishes includes:
• "Cox's In-Peach Chicken" (Archibald Cox was a Special Prosecutor who was fired during the Watergate scandal by Richard Nixon.)
• "CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President) Stew," today's featured dish.)
• Double Entrees includes"
• "Martha's [Mitchell's] Sweet and Sour Tongue" (ha!)
• "Baker's Shake and Bake" (Tennessee Republican, Senator Howard Baker, was Vice Chair of the Senate Watergate Committee. He is best known for asking "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"  By the way, when looking up Howard Baker, I was reminded that Fred Thompson, who most of you know from Law & Order, was also on the committee as the second senator from Tennessee.)
• Accomplicements includes:
• "Richardson's Boston Baked Beans" (Elliot Richardson served several positions in Nixon's cabinet.  When he served as the U.S. Attorney General, he resigned rather than obey Nixon's order to fire Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox.)
• "Hunt's Stewed Tomatoes"  (E. Howard Hunt served in the CIA and was one of the "plumbers" during the Watergate break-in and yikes, we share the same birthday month and year!)
• Rolling in the Dough includes:
• "Nixon's Hot Crossed Wire Buns with Tapping (icing)" (This is self-explanatory.)
• "Vesco's Off-Shore Sour Dough Bread" (Robert Vesco was investigated for, and charged with embezzlement, after some money he helped himself to ended up in Nixon's CREEP funds.  After fleeing the country, Vesco resisted extradition back to the U.S. and even got Costa Rica to pass a law – Vesco's law – preventing extradition.  He was also a drug smuggler.  What a guy!)
• Heavies includes:
• "Segretti Spaghetti" (Donald Segretti was a political operative for CREEP – Committee to Re-Elect the President.)
• "Hunt's Hush Puppies"  (As stated above, E. Howard Hunt was the worst kind of plumber!)
• Just Desserts includes:
• "Odle's Strudel" (Robert Odle was the former Director of CREEP and was the first to testify to the committee's organizational structure.)
• "Ziegler's Zabaione" (Ron Ziegler was Nixon's White House Press Secretary.)
• Hearty Sandwiches includes:
• "Russo's Pentagon Pizzas" (Anthony Russo was a reporter who reported on the CIA's systematic torture of enemy combatants during the Vietnam War.)
• "Baldwin's Hoo-Joe Franks in Bacon" (Alfred Baldwin was a former FBI agent who monitored the electronic bugs planted in DNC headquarters.)
• Wake-Er Uppers includes:
• "Reisner's Rice Pudding" (Robert Reisner was Jeb Magruder's assistant. I chuckled when I read that he "successfully hid from the FBI investigators" and so his testimony could not be included in a Justice Department report. Not that this is funny, you understand, and yet it is.)
• "Strachan's Breakfast for Champions" (Gordon C. Strachan was H.R. Haldeman's assistant; Haldeman was Chief of Staff.)
• Tidbits to Wet Your Appetite includes:
• "Kleindienst Curry Dip" (Richard Kleindienst was Nixon's Attorney General for less than a year.  He also pled guilty to a crime in a peripheral scandal.)
• "Montoya's Refried Beans" (Joseph Montoya was a Democrat from New Mexico who served on the Senate Watergate Committee.)
• In the Drink includes:
• "Inouye's Hawaiian Punch" (Daniel Inouye (D) from Hawaii also served on the Senate Watergate Committee.)
• "Sloans' Fifths" (Hugh Sloan, Jr. was CREEPS's treasurer. After learning about the "plumbers," Sloan resigned and became a trusted source for Woodward and Bernstein's Washington Post articles.")

There!  Don't you feel too cool for school?  I do.  Although I knew several of the people listed above, I still looked up all names listed and as you can see, it is vast.  I only wish the cookbook authors would have compiled such a list for the back of the book as that would have saved my big, long, and involved trip down memory lane.

On a related note, I mentioned much earlier that the Vietnam War was part of my childhood, and just like Watergate, I was glued to the set every night waiting for updates.  The U.S. pulled out all troops in 1975 and I watched the airlift of American personnel and Vietnamese refugees unfold on TV.  At any rate, someone on Facebook today posted a Vietnam War Quiz that only 2% of the population gets right, and also a quiz to see if you could distinguish facts and events from WWI and WWII.  I did really well in the W's quiz and I'll have you know that I got 87% right on my Vietnam War quiz ("You scored 87% You are a General!")!  I minored in History in college and also grew up with the Vietnam War so there you go.

 

 

"The New American Sampler Cookbook" - Beef Stew and Apple Crisp from two former members of Congress - Election Day 2016

Date I made these recipes – November 8, 2016 – Election Day, USA!

The NEW American Sampler Cookbook, edited by Linda Bauer (recipes submitted by members of Congress)

Published by The Kent State University Press

ISBN: 0-87338-435-0; © 1991

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona (Big Island) Hawaii – May 2016

Recipes:  Beef Stew submitted by Representative Beryl Anthony (D), Arkansas – p. 59 ; and Apple Crisp submitted by actor-turned-Representative Fred Grandy (R), Iowa – p. 248.  Fred played "Gopher" in the popular TV series, The Love Boat.

So tonight, after months and months and well, years really, of political ads and primaries and debates and whatnot, We, The People, will have voted for the 45^th President of the United States (POTUS).  I know I am not alone in wanting this whole thing to be over.  O.V.E.R., over.

But I'm not here to talk politics per se because this isn't a political blog, it's a cookbook blog.  And of course I have a cookbook that fits the bill – The New (what happened to the "old?") American Sampler Cookbook.

This book, published in 1991, provides a bipartisan sample of recipes from then members of Congress as well as then President and Vice President of the United States, George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle.  Even Guam, a U.S. territory, joined in.  All proceeds went to a charity that fights worldwide hunger.

This is one of those cookbooks that is just a straight-up book of recipes - no chit chat, no stories or anecdotes, just lots and lots of good things to eat.  The usual suspects in the Table of Contents are, of course, "Appetizers," "Salads," "Soups," "Stews," etc. all the way down to "Potpourri (Snacks, Sauces, Drinks)."  And heck, just for something completely different, there is a recipe for "Moose Swiss Steak" on page 125.  Take a guess at which state submitted that recipe?

So in terms of cookbooks, this one is pretty complete save for one thing that I desired that perhaps you don't:  party affiliations.  And the reason I wanted this was because I wanted to be fair and make a dish from each major party—Republican and Democrat (though there were a few Independents listed here as well).

Thank goodness for smart phones.  And so over the course of two evenings there I sat, watching TV shows and surfing the internet (multitasking!), looking up all the contributors to this cookbook to see who they were and what party they were with so I could cull the herd down to two.  This was no easy task but I'm no quitter!

To make my life easier though, I must confess that I defaced my own cookbook*.  Yup.  For the first time ever, I sat there with a pencil, noting a "D," "R," or "I," next to all the names listed in the back of the book.   And honestly, I think I can make a case that this is helpful information because if I didn't know a good portion of these names (25 years after publication), then it's likely the next cook book owner won't either.

I am nothing but fair.  And you are all more than welcome!

The most important thing to me about this cookbook though, is that it's a rare glimpse back in time when parties on both sides of the aisle worked together to achieve a common good.  "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end..." (They did.)

I must say, in looking through all the recipes, some members of Congress outdid themselves by submitting not one, not two, but several recipes for our dining enjoyment.  Although it's still early in our voting day (!), I'm going to go out on a limb and declare a winner:  [former] Senator Christopher Bond, Republican, Missouri, gave up 30 recipes and that is outstanding.  I didn't cook any of them, but that is an outstanding effort, especially for a charitable endeavor.

Hot on his heels was Senator Charles Grassley, Republican from Iowa with 15 recipes, the late Senator Spark Matsunaga, Democrat from Hawaii with 10, former Senator Steve Symms from Idaho with 7, and  former Representative Beverly Byron, Democrat from Maryland with 6.

Did you notice how even-handed I was with the runners up?  Two from each side!  Again, I am so fair!

But still folks, the challenge was to try to pair one dish from each party so that the flavors didn't clash, but as with politics and life, some did and thus were eliminated from the race. It took me a while, but I think that I hit the jackpot with these two dishes:  "Beef Stew," from Representative Beryl Anthony, D, Arkansas and "Apple Crisp," from Representative Fred Grandy, R, Iowa.

Now unless you live in Arkansas (and even then...), you may not know who Beryl Albert is but I know – I. Know. – that bells will ring for many of you when you see the name Fred Grandy because in addition to serving in the House of Representatives from 1993-1995, Fred played the beloved character "Gopher" on ABC's hit TV series, The Love Boat, which aired from 1977-1987.

Yes folks, just like actor/governor/President Ronald Reagan, our "Gopher" went to Washington.

I think we need to take a moment to talk about this, don't you?

First, let's talk about the TV show. When The Love Boat premiered (1977), I was a sophomore in college and had no time to watch TV, and yet, now that I have watched a number of reruns on cable, I'm amazed at how many seem familiar.  Perhaps I caught them in reruns even back then?  Highly possible.

Today's college students will likely be surprised to learn that back in the 70's, you'd be hard pressed to find a dorm room with a TV.  Monster stereos, sure, TV's no.  TV's were expensive.  And those who had one (black and white only, and absolutely no cable) were revered, such that many of us gathered (around the campfire, after leaving our covered wagons and horses....) around the TV set in said owner's dorm room to watch our favorite shows or at least try to.

And that's because, sad to say, reception in most dorm rooms was horrible causing us to the do the following (you would call them "hacks") in order to get a picture:  1) putting tin foil on the antennas (yes, antennas—look it up) to pick up a decent picture; 2) creating rabbit ears antennas out of bent clothing hangers to do the same, or 3) creating complicated furniture set-ups resembling cat trees so we could put the TV as close as possible to the window to get a better feed.  Nothing worked though, and if it worked, we more often got sound than we got a picture.  And sure, you can "listen" to something like the movie Gone with the Wind without a picture if need be, but did you want to?  No.  (This happened to us, I kid you not!)

Sound ridiculous?  You young'uns have no idea...

At any rate, here's the basic premise of The Love Boat:  a cruise ship, dubbed The Love Boat, sets sail ("set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance" = big hint) each week, usually to Mexico, and is manned by Captain Merrill Stubbing (played by The Mary Tyler Moore Show alum, Gavin MacLeod) and his crew.  His crew – and I know you know this – consisted of Doc, the ship's doctor; Julie McCoy, your cruise director; Isaac, the bartender; (eventually) Captain Stubbing's daughter, Vicki, and of course, the Ship's Purser, Berle "Gopher" Smith, played by Fred Grandy of the "Apple Crisp Recipe" Grandys.  As I hope you can imagine by the title, love on the ship was in the air, all day, every day, for passengers and crew alike.  Let's just say Doc took a special interest in the female human body.  Ew.  Even as I write that, it seems creepy but I didn't create the character – a total ladies' man - I just report about it. 

According to Wikipedia, "Gopher's" job, that of a ship's purser, is to handle the ship's finances or, if you will "purse" strings.  Get it?!  And he (or she) does other administrative stuff as well.  But if you ask me – and you didn't – I think "Gopher" (and the rest of the crew) spent more time on misadventures on and off the ship than on handling the money, honey.  Every single week without fail, the crew of The Love Boat got themselves into situations only rivaled by the crew of the S. S. Minnow from the TV show, Gilligan's Island, and yet people loved it.  The plots (of both shows) were ridiculous but The Love Boat lasted 10 seasons and Gilligan's Island, three so they had staying power.

As an aside, were you like me, yelling suggestions at the TV about how to get off Gilligan's Island?  Thought so.

At any rate, according to Wikipedia, Fred had an interest in politics that preceded his time as an actor so it was perhaps a natural path for him once he took a break from acting.  He has since returned to TV, appearing on The Mindy Project.

And now that we got all that out of the way – the history of TV, life in college, The Love Boat, ridiculous plots, and actor, representative, and recipe contributor, Fred Grandy – we can turn our attention to the other side of the aisle – the Democrats and the "Beef Stew" recipe submitted by Representative Beryl Anthony of Arkansas.  Sadly, this recap does not involve a look through the TV years but I will try to make this as interesting as possible.

First though, let me point out the irony of featuring a dish from someone from Arkansas given that Hillary Clinton, a former resident and First Lady of Arkansas (and The White House) is now running for President. I did not plan this.

So, a brief history of Representative Beryl Anthony:  Beryl Anthony was born and raised in – I love this – El Dorado, Arkansas, before going on to get an undergraduate and graduate (law) degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  Just after law school, he was Arkansas' Assistant Attorney General, then a local prosecuting attorney, and then went into private practice before running for Congress in 1979.  He served from 1979-1993 and thereafter, returned to private practice in Washington, D.C.  While in Congress though – and how ironic is this – he was a member of the Ways and Means Committee which deals with money in the form of taxation and revenue-raising measures. In other words, he was just like our purser friend, "Gopher!"

Coincidence?  I think not.

Now I would not be doing my due diligence here if I didn't warn you that while Fred's recipe for "Apple Crisp" takes a mere hour to make, you had best plan ahead (vote early and often!) when you make this beef stew as it requires 5 hours of cooking time in a slow oven (250F).  Happily, I made another recipe (fruitcake), which I will post about next month, that required the same cooking time and temp.  I am nothing if not good at multitasking!  And as soon as the stew and fruitcake were done, I popped in the apple crisp and we had ourselves a hearty election night dinner. The stew was delicious but warning – it produced mass quantities and I only made half a recipe.  The apple crisp is perhaps now one of my new favorites because the "crisp" ingredients are only used as toppings and not crust and toppings. Why, it's practically diet food!

This now concludes Election Night 2016.  Hilariously, and prophetically perhaps, we switched between election coverage and several episodes of Food Network's Chopped.

Only in America....

Beef Stew – makes 6 servings (Ann's Note:  requires 5 hours cooking time at 250.)

Ann's Note:  When I saw how much a half recipe made, I envisioned us eating this stew until the next election cycle but I am happy to report that we have just enough for two hearty (and I mean "hearty) servings as leftovers.

3-4 pounds lean stew meat (chuck roast is great) (Ann's Note:  I used chuck roast country ribs – no bone – and cut them into small pieces.  Delicious!)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 to 3 ribs of celery, cut in 1-inch lengths

5 carrots, cut in 1-inch lengths

2 or 3 onions, diced

5 potatoes, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons minute tapioca

2 bay leaves

3 cups tomato juice

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup red wine

2 cups frozen green peas

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 250.  Sauté meat lightly in olive oil.  Place all ingredients in pot except frozen peas and mushrooms.  Seal pot with foil and put lid on.  Bake for 4 ½ hours at 250F.  Add peas and mushrooms and cook 30 minutes longer.

Apple Crisp – fills a 9-inch cake pan

4 cups apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup water

1 cup sugar

¾ cup flour

½ cup margarine; softened (Ann's Note:  I used butter)

Peel and slice apples.  Coat a square, 9-inch cake pan with spray shortening.  Place apple slices in it and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add lemon juice and water.  Mix sugar, flour, and margarine/butter until the combination crumbles.  Spread this over the fruit.  Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

"The Mountain Biker's Cookbook by Jill Smith-Gould" - Sausage-Beef Stew

Date I made this recipe:  April 10, 2016

The Mountain Biker's Cookbook written and compiled by Jill Smith-Gould

Published by:  Velo Press

ISBN:  1-884737-23-4; © 1997

Purchased at Bloomington Crime Prevention Association's annual sale

Recipe:  Sausage-Beef Stew – p. 48 by Chrissy Reden, Milton, Ontario (profile p. 92)

"Wind is an artificial hill and yesterday, it was a mountain."

Thus saith my husband, Andy Martin, after an absolutely grueling bike ride with some friends around Ames, Iowa this past Saturday.

Andy is a member of the Minnesota Randonneurs, a group of long-distance bicycling enthusiasts who take great pleasure and pride in participating in day-long rides.  This past Saturday, the Iowa Randonneurs group kicked off the spring season with a 125-mile bike ride around Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State University.

And so it came to pass that Friday night, we motored our way down I35W to Mason City where we spent an overnight with friends, Doug and Emily.  Although both of them ride bikes, Doug and Andy like to do the long-hauls and since the ride started at 8 a.m. in Ames, requiring them to leave by 6 a.m. to get there on time, we gladly let them.  We are such accommodating spouses, I cannot tell you.

The weather in Minneapolis when we left was probably a sign of the apocalypse to come as it was windy as all get out with periodic snow showers to boot.  Seriously—one minute, it was clear and the next minute, it looked like someone split open a bean bag chair and threw the contents in the air.

When we arrived at Doug and Emily's, the wind velocity was nearly (Dorothy) Gale-force (I reference the Wizard of Oz) and we felt the need to batten down the hatches even if we weren't in Kansas or Oklahoma where the "wind comes sweeping down the plain."

And it continued to sweep down the plain, or at least the cornfields of Iowa, into the next morning and throughout the entire day.  And by the time the ride was done, in most cases a couple hours later than anticipated, the guys and gals who participated were all done in.  Most felt like they biked standing up which is what you'd feel if you were pushing against a major headwind from the north all day.

Although I suppose one could do these randonneur rides on a mountain bike, it is usual and customary to use a "regular" bike which is to say a "touring" bike, as opposed to a racing bike.  And Andy has a mountain bike but who would of thought that he would need it in Iowa which is pretty much hill-less?  Answer:  nobody.  (PS—I must have show-tunes on the brain because as soon as I re-read "hill-less," I thought of Professor Harold Hill's character from The Music Man.  The Music Man's writer, Meredith Wilson, is from Mason City, Iowa which is where we spent an overnight.  Anyway, now I have a hankering to listen to that soundtrack Which. I. Love.  "Oh-o the Wells Fargo Wagon is a comin' down the street, oh please let it be for meeeee.....")

So as Andy said after the fact, wind creates an artificial hill and by Saturday morning, it created a monster mountain.  By mile 50, all participants (about 20 in all) were spent and every mile thereafter was sheer torture.  When Doug called Emily in early afternoon, he stated that this ride was worse than another one he and Andy completed in Wisconsin a few years back called, appropriately and hilariously, Arcadia's Brute. During that ride, they climbed hill after hill after hill in Wisconsin (who knew it Wisconsin was hilly) and swore never to do that ride again.  But there they were, on a worse ride than that, all because of the wind.  ("They call the wind Maria – pronounced 'Mariah.'"  Yes, folks, another show tune – Paint Your Wagon.)

But when Emily inquired as to whether or not we should hit the road in our car to pick them up, Doug said "WE ARE FINISHING THIS RACE!!!!"  leaving us in no uncertain terms that the elements would not have the best of them that day – or any day bwahahahahaha.... 

Meanwhile, Andy's ride was no picnic and he probably could have finished had not his knee started aching somewhere around mile 50.  By the time he got to mile 100, he was screaming in pain and so when he got to one of the checkpoints – a bar called the Flat Tire Lounge (ha!)- he propped up his knee, ordered a beer, and called for reinforcements.  Poor guy.  But if he bailed out on the ride, at least he did so in a bar where he could ask for, and was granted, a bag of ice for his knee.

So that concludes the story of the guy's wild "What the hell, Mother Nature?" randonneur ride, the first ride of (ahem) spring.

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Emily and I had a leisurely day.  After getting coffee at a local coffee shop, we hit the road in a car (what are we nuts) for Ames.  Unfortunately, the wind was again whipping across I-35W making it seem at times like we were stuck in place.  And even though Emily filled up the tank before we left, the wind sucked out any decent gas mileage, that bastard!

When we got to Ames, we took a leisurely tour of ISU's campus, a place last visited by me circa 1985 (some friends are alums) and strolled into some of the buildings, partly to get out of the wind, and partly just to see the sights.  As is the case in the Midwest, when spring (or something akin to spring) makes its presence known, building facility management has a hard time keeping up with the usual and customary yo-yo temperatures (freezing one day, balmy the next) and the buildings we were in were saunas.  And so we spent the afternoon taking off jackets, putting them on, rinse and repeat.  Still, this was better than being on the open road, amiright?

And after our leisurely tour of all that was Iowa State (we also saw Ames' high school prom get underway at the Union - awwww), we shopped and strolled in downtown Ames.  And what a cute downtown it was!  Unfortunately, most stores closed at 5 so we didn't get much of a chance to peek in, but we managed to stop at three of note:    Ali Cakes for a "tide-us-over" snack of cookies and cupcakes; Random Goods, a store selling used and vintage apparel and knick knacks (I found a fabulous wooden tray and coasters from Puerto Rico, circa 1970?) and Chocolaterie Stam where, inexplicably, an adorable older man in his 80's was playing a grand piano of "pop standards" (songs sung by Sinatra, Ella, Bing, etc.) while shoppers perused then purchased their chocolate.  He even let me select a song from his song list and then played it beautifully, his fingers dancing across the keys.  The last time I was near a piano, my fingers danced because I was dusting. ;) 

And so this concludes the guy's biking (and cursing) portion of our program and Emily and my takin'-life-easy moment in Ames.  Guess who had the better time?

And with that, we hit the road, and as we were driving back to Minneapolis, I recalled that I had a mountain bike cookbook in my collection and since we now know that wind creates artificial hills and mountains decided to find it and cook from it for Sunday dinner.

As these things go, sometimes it takes me forever to settle on a book, never mind a recipe, for this blog but this time it took me mere seconds to settle on a "winning" recipe – Sausage-Beef Stew.  I ran it by Andy who said it sounded good (and it was) and so while off to do a few (low-impact) errands, we stopped and shopped for groceries and I came home and put this together.  Of course, this type of meal is best made before the ride to prime the muscles and carbo load but we didn't have time and frankly, I think it was a tasty reward for a job well done (past tense).

As to this cookbook, author Jill Smith-Gould, pictured on the cover seated at an elegantly appointed table in her muddied and dirty mountain biker gear, is a professional mountain biker who apparently also enjoys cooking.  I can get behind that.  Some of the recipes in this book are hers while others were submitted by mountain biker brethren.  As you might imagine, these are fairly nutritious recipes, perfect for an amateur or professional athlete both pre- and post-event and speak to vegetarians as well as meat eaters. Recipes range from "Veggies and Main Courses;" "Pasta and Pizzas;" "Baked Goods;" and Miscellaneous that includes soups, salads, breakfast items, sauces and dips and "Quickies" i.e. food made in a hurry (so as best to get back on the race course).

So hmm, what to choose, what to choose?  Many of these sounded great such as "Awesome Veggie Enchiladas" (p. 33), "One-Dish Chicken Pilaf," "Ratatouille Bake" (p. 44), or even "Sweet & Sour Chicken" (p. 49).  Several pasta and pizza dishes also sounded good and the Baked Good section was mighty tempting!  Still, I tend to like to make a main dish, especially on a Sunday night, and so went with the stew.

Also included in this cookbook were profiles and photos of mountain bike racers, the recipes they submitted, and an section about nutritious eating. 

Not included in this cookbook?  Serving sizes!  I looked and looked and looked but there's either some secret handshake section that I missed or we're supposed to guess.  And if you read my blog, you know how I feel about guessing!

But guess I did and seeing that the recipe called for six Italian sausages and 1 pound of stew meat, I decided to halve the recipe as that sounded like a lot of meat for two people, never mind the rest of the ingredients.  As it turned out, we had a decent amount of leftovers so half this dish could probably serve four unless you are a mountain biker in which case...I have no idea!

Still, even though I decided to halve the meat, I was at a loss for what to do with the two green peppers included in the recipe ingredient list.  The recipe instructions said "...add green pepper" and I was pretty sure they did not intend for me to just throw a whole green pepper into the pot so I diced it into medium-sized dices.  You should do the same with the potatoes and (if used) turnip or sweet potatoes as you won't find direction beyond "peel and cut."  I ask you:  how is that helpful?

My version of this dish then, was composed of three Italian sausages, one-half pound of stew meat, 2 regular potatoes, 1 sweet potato (I skipped the turnip) and half of everything else.  This bakes in the oven for a little over an hour and it was great and oddly rejuvenating but then it would be given that our get-out-of-Iowa Saturday dinner consisted of a sandwich on the run from Jimmy John's (subway/sandwich take-out)! Andy took the recipe-submitter and mountain bike racer, Chrissy Redden's serving suggestion to pair this with crusty bread and beer to heart (we skipped the salad) and was a fairly happy, if not sore, camper come Sunday night. 

With all that, you'd think the man would wait a while before hoping on a bike again, right?  Oh no, in addition to riding to work this week, he's back in the saddle for another group ride on Saturday, April 16^th.  Here we go again.  I keep trying to remind my man  that Nature is NOT your friend (my life motto) but he's not having any of it.

This then concludes our post-bike (mountain or wind-created mountain) bike repast or, as I posted on Facebook "Yesterday In Iowa."

Sausage-Beef Stew – serving size not given but estimates are serves 4 if you make the  full recipe below and 2 if you halve it (still with leftovers)

6 sweet Italian sausages

1 lb stewing beef, cut in 1" cubes

1 large onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 medium green peppers (Ann's Note:  diced)

4 potatoes, peeled and cut (Ann's Note: cut into a large dice)

Turnip or sweet potato (optional) (Ann's Note:  cut into a large dice)

2 cans red kidney beans

1 tsp basil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 beef bouillon cubes in 1 cup boiling water

Beer (optional)

Brown sausages well.  Cut each link into thirds and place in 3-quart casserole dish.

Brown beef cubes in same frying pan or skillet.  (Ann's Note:  the next instruction is to cook the onion and garlic but it didn't say if I should leave the beef in the pan or not.  I decided "Not.")

Cook onion and garlic until tender, add green pepper and cook one minute longer.

Turn into casserole dish.  Add potatoes, drained kidney beans, and, if desired, turnip/sweet potatoes.  Sprinkle with seasonings and mix lightly.  Add bouillon mixture.

Cover and bake at 350F for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until beef and potatoes are tender.

Add beer for an interesting flavor!  (Ann's Note:   Andy said he'd rather drink a beer than include it in the recipe so we made is sans that "interesting" flavor.)

Ann's Note:  I had some celery that I wanted to use up so I sautéed it with the onion, garlic and green pepper.  You could probably do that with other vegetables if you wanted.

"Mosh Potatoes - Recipes, Anecdotes, and Mayhem from the Heavyweights of Heavy Metal" - Rock Ragout, recipe from Markus Grosskopt from the band, Helloween

Date I made this recipe:  October 31, 2015 – Happy Halloween!  

Mosh Potatoes – Recipes, Anecdotes and Mayhem from the Heavyweights of Heavy Metal by Steve Seabury

Published by:  Simon and Schuster

ISBN:  978-1-4391-8132-4

Recipe:  Rock Ragout from Markus Grosskop,[from the band], Helloween – p. 72-73

It's not often I buy a brand-new cookbook given that used books are so prevalent and so inexpensive, but the minute I spotted this book – Mosh Potatoes - I had to have it.  And then color me giddy, but as soon as I spotted this recipe from Markus Grosskopt of the band, Helloween, I knew I had to make this dish on Halloween night.  And so I am.

I cannot say that I am "into" heavy metal but that doesn't mean I don't recognize a number of bands or artists in this book, including:

• Lita Ford
• David Lee Roth
• Queensryche
• Guns N' Roses
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Alice Cooper
• and Judas Priest, just to name a few

Actually, Alice Cooper was a favorite of mine, especially the [unofficial school anthem] "School's Out."  Did we not all tear out of class singing this every summer?  We did.

As to recipes, they vary from the expected – spaghetti and meatballs, Thai curry, and even a roasted turkey dinner, to the unexpected  - "Reindeer Sausage and Pasta" (Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists).  I passed on the reindeer sausage given that reindeer are probably hard to find in North America, plus there's that whole Rudolph thing so...

In addition to making this dish from a band member of Helloween, several other recipes also fit a Halloween theme such as "Deviled Chicken" (Jeremy "Jerms" Genske of Dirge Within) or "Chuck's Evil Chili" (Chuck Schuldiner of Death), or "Satanic Burrito" (Joel Grind, Toxic Holocaust).  And one made me tear up: "Linguine and Clams Castellamare" from Frankie Banali, Quiet Riot/W.A.S.P.  My grandparents hailed from that Sicilian fishing village and it sounds like Frankie's father was either from there or knew someone who was because he said the recipe "was a favorite of my father and handed down by example."  So - we're practically related!

An added bonus to this cookbook are the photographs of all these heavy-metal chefs and their recipes.  Love that:  head-bangers by day, chefs at night.

The meat from this dish is meant to be marinated in beer for 1-2 days so plan ahead!  I shopped for the beer on Friday, October 30 by heading to Total Wine in nearby Roseville and asking for assistance in the "lager" department (as called for in the recipe).  My selection was a local favorite (from Wisconsin) – Leinenkugel.  I'm not a beer drinker but rumor has it you can't miss with this one.

Rock Ragout – "Serves 4 hungry fellas like us" (Ann's Note:  Marinate overnight)

3 pounds boneless beef, lamb, or pork shoulder or round

2 onions

Salt and pepper

Paprika

Mustard powder

Lager beer (as many as you like)

¼ pound bacon (chopped)

½ pound red potatoes peeled (and chopped)

½ pound carrots, peeled (and chopped)

½ pound green beans, trimmed (and chopped)

½ pound mushrooms, cleaned (and chopped)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups heavy cream

2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste

Chop the meat into bite-size pieces.  Chop 1 of the onions.  Mix the meat and onion in a large bowl with salt and pepper, paprika, and mustard to taste.  Now pour beer over it until thoroughly covered.  Leave marinating in the fridge for 1 or 2 days.

Chop the remaining onion into bite-size pieces and set aside.  Chop the bacon and set aside separately.  Chop the potatoes, carrots, beans, and mushrooms and set each aside separately as well.

After marinating for at least 24 hours, drain the meat (and onions) and set aside on paper towels.  Keep the beer marinade in a separate bowl for later use.  Pour the olive oil in a stockpot and begin cooking the remaining (unmarinated) chopped onion.  After half a minute, add the bacon.  When bacon turns a nice golden color, add the meat mixture.  Stir until browned all over.

Pour almost half of the beer marinade in the pot.  Reduce the temperature so the whole dish is gently simmering for approximately an hour (depends on the kind of meat you are cooking).  Add more beer marinade as it reduces.

After nearly an hour, add the green beans to the pot.  After a couple of minutes, add the carrots and potatoes.  Allow another 5 minutes and add the mushrooms.

Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Gradually stir in the cream and tomato paste and simmer for another 2 minutes.  Add some salt, pepper, and paprika to taste, and enjoy a great dish.  Cheers.

 

"Colorful Louisiana Cuisine in Black and White" - Shortnin' Bread and Turkey Gumbo - for MLK, Jr. Day

Date I made this recipe:  January 19, 2015

Colorful Louisiana Cuisine in Black and White by Bibby Tate and Ethel Dixon

Published by:  Pelican Publishing Company

© 1988; Third printing  July 1990

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks, NYC

Recipes:  Shortnin' Bread (B) – p. 19 and Turkey Gumbo (W) – p. 37

This is one of my more unique cookbooks and entirely fitting for Martin Luther King Day as it combines recipes of two women, one black and one white.  Bibby Tate (whose recipes are denoted with a "W" for white), was a descendent of a Louisiana plantation family who owned slaves.  Ethel Dixon (whose recipes are denoted with a "B" for black), descended from slaves.  Together, they published this book, filled with tons of recipes that will make you hungry.  Really hungry.

The timing for me using this book could not be better as one of the big films of the year – and an Oscar contender for Best Picture – is "Selma," that tells the story of how Martin Luther King, Jr. organized a march from Montgomery, AL to Selma, AL, 50 years ago this year, in an attempt to secure voting rights for all blacks in the state of Louisiana and beyond.  And although the vast majority of marchers were black, many from the white community risked life and limb to join in the fight for equality. 

Normally, I limit myself to one recipe per cookbook but seeing as how people of all color joined the march, I thought I would make two dishes, one of Ethel's and one of Bibby's.  Although a few recipes in this book gave me pause ("Smothered Sqirrel???"), there are 338 pages of glorious recipes sure to please.

And so there I was, all of 19 pages in, when I found my first recipe:  Shortnin' Bread.  Many of you who are my age might remember singing that song, Shortnin' Bread as kids, but the real reason I had to make this recipe – just had to – was all because of one woman and one woman only:  "Ethel Mae Potter (We Never Forgot Her)."

Ethel Mae Potter was TV character Ethel Mertz's maiden name on the show, I Love Lucy.  Actually, Ethel was given a couple of different middle names and maiden names over the course of the show but this one was most memorable.

In season four, Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel motored to LA so that Ricky could be in a movie.  Along the way, they stopped in Albuquerque, NM, so that Ethel could visit her hometown.  This episode remains one of my favorites.  Turns out Ethel told a teeny lie to her dad and hometown neighbors, alluding to the fact that she, not Ricky, was the big star.  And as it also turns out, the entire town always thought that she was destined for greatness as well.  As Ethel's father, Will, explained in a hilarious moment, the local theater marquee now reads "Ethel Mae Potter, We Never Forgot Her."   When daddy explained "Ethel Mae's very big in Albuquerque," Ethel's husband Fred, always the fast one with the quip said "She's big everywhere!"  Love me that Fred Mertz.

So of course, with Ethel Mae now back home (in triumph), she was asked to perform as the headliner for a variety show.  And one of the two numbers she sang is – wait for it – "Shortnin' Bread." 

And this is how I came to select one of today's recipes.  Thank you, Ethel Mae!

I don't know as I've ever had shortnin' bread so I wasn't sure what to expect when I made this recipe but what you get is a rather dense cake that doesn't rise much (and it wouldn't since it doesn't contain baking powder) and is not very sweet.  It reminded me of cornbread which, unless you add sugar to it, is pretty bland (in my northern opinion).  Not in a bad way "bland," just bland!

Since there are only two of us, I decided to make just half a recipe which was fine and I somehow knew that the baking time needed to be adjusted from 60 minutes to about 30.  But I lost track of time and so the bread ended up being a little bit more golden than I would have liked.  Still good, but very golden.  The instructions say to serve with jam or jelly but I used honey instead to combat the aforementioned "blandness."  (It's the word of the day.)

Turning our attention to turkey...for the first time ever, I happened to have a turkey breast carcass in the refrigerator, left over from my New Year's Eve dinner.  So last week, I made up the gumbo base, sans the shrimp, and put it in my freezer.  I can promise you that this combination of "recipe calling for turkey carcass" + my having a carcass on hand = not likely to be seen again until asteroids pound the earth, destroying civilization.  Well, maybe.

But lo, though I had the main ingredient, once again the making of this gumbo was fraught with peril.  As you will see, this recipe doesn't give ingredient amounts, leaving me to guess at the right combinations.  There are several other gumbo recipes in this book but each one is so different, using different ingredients, and that made it hard for me to determine whether or not I could "borrow" ingredient amounts and instructions.  Further, a bona fide roux usually involves fat, flour and liquid but this instruction said to use flour and liquid only.  Soooo...fat, no fat?  I decided to use the flour and liquid as directed and hope for the best.

As to the spices, I started with ¼ teaspoon of each, then tasted, then added another ¼ teaspoon more.  And I added the entire can of Rotel tomatoes without draining them  - in other words, I was living life on the edge!

All in all, this recipe turned out okay and the flavors were good and yet, this recipe also tasted a little bland.  You can adjust that by just adding a bit of salt and pepper to taste before serving.

The bigger problem though, was that I thought this was a bit watery and the only way to solve that – I think – was to either add more okra (which is often used as a thickener), which I did not have on hand, or to add more roux.  But since I didn't know what to do with my roux in the first place, I'm not sure adding more would have made a difference.  Hopefully, some great southern cook is reading this and will let me know just where this thing went south, pun intended.  It was a tasty dish but I felt it was missing a little je ne sais quoi.

As suggested, I added shrimp and the shrimp was okay (actually, some of it was freezer-burned even though I had just purchased it the day before) but I think it would have been even better with pieces of leftover turkey.  Next time.

Turkey Gumbo – Serving size not given - *You'll need a leftover turkey carcass for this!

1 turkey carcass

Flour (Ann's Note:  about 1 tablespoon)

1 chopped bell pepper

1 can Rotel [tomatoes – traditional mixture]

Basil (Ann's Note:  about ½ teaspoon or more)

Thyme (Ann's Note:  about ½ teaspoon or more)

Rosemary (Ann's Note:  about ½ teaspoon or more)

Okra (Ann's Note:  amount not given, instructions not given so I used 4 small diced okra)

Salt and pepper to taste

Ann's Note:  As I explained in my narrative above, exact amounts were not given so season this mixture to taste.  As to the Rotel, all the recipe said was "Rotel" and like many things, there are several varieties of these canned tomatoes.  Use the "traditional" mix.  I also added the can without draining it and have no idea if that is correct or not!

This bears repeating:  Unclear instructions annoy me!

Put whole carcass in big stewing pot and boil in water with chopped onion until meat falls off bones.  (Ann's Note:  I almost boiled away my broth so keep an eye on this pot.  I think I reduced my stock to about half and that actually seemed about right but again, who knows?)

Remove the bones and make a roux by taking some of your seasoned water and mixing with flour, or use one of the prepared roux like "Iron Pot."  (Ann's Notes:  Okay, folks, traditional roux is fat + flour + liquid but do you see a mention of fat here?  No, you do not.) So I followed the directions and mixed flour and liquid until I felt the mixture looked like a roux; not that I know what a roux looks like. 

Return mixture to the pot and add chopped bell pepper, a can of Rotel, chopped basil, thyme, okra, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Cover and let simmer at least an hour.  Add crab meat, fresh or frozen, and shrimp that has not been cooked before.  You may also add gumbo, crabs, and oysters.  Cook till shrimp are done and serve over rice.

Shortnin' Bread – makes a 9 x 12 loaf pan

2 cups flour

2 ½ tsps baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 stick butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sweet milk

Cream eggs and butter.  Add remaining ingredients.  Oil and flour a 9 x 12 loaf pan.  Pour batter in pan.  Bake in 350 oven for about 1 hour.  Let cook.  Cut and serve with jam or jelly.