Weekend Cooking: Crab Bisque - Absolutely Divine!

I wholeheartedly admit I am a southern gal through and through. I grew up learning how to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch (easy peasy!), preparing fried chicken that has just the right crunchiness and juiciness and baking cakes and pies with so much sugar your teeth could fall out.  So of course I have also been a huge fan of Paula Deen's recipes & her Lady & Sons Restaurant in Savannah, Georgia.

When Paula Deen recently announced she has been struggling with adult-onset diabetes, my heart went out to her. I can't imagine having to give up all of the delicious desserts and heavenly southern dishes she makes. I have been saddened by the uproar about her diagnosis and show on southern cooking. Her health is her business - not mine. And honestly I feel really bad for her. Giving up a lifetime of food choices has got to be so darn hard that it's not even funny. And if she waited to share her diagnosis with the world - well, that's her choice. Heck, I don't know if I would ever share all of my personal business if I were in her shoes.

So, because I still love Paula Deen and forever will, I would like to share one of my absolute favorite recipes from her Lady and Sons Too! cookbook.  And as a side note, my middle child was the first to ever gift me a Paula Deen cookbook, and that first one has been used more than any other cookbook on my shelves.  I love you sweet baby girl!





Crab Bisque (otherwise known as the most delicious soup you will ever have!)

Ingredients
1   10 3/4-ounce can cream of asparagus soup
1   10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 lb crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/4 cup dry sherry

Directions
Using a heavy saucepan, combine all of the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with oyster crackers or saltines.

Enjoy!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by the lovely Beth Fish Reads.  It is all about sharing recipes, cookbook reviews and anything remotely food related.  For more info or to participate, jump on over to Beth Fish Reads.

What Are You Reading?!?

This is my first time participating in Sheila's Monday reading meme at Book Journey.  I'm always curious to see what my fellow bloggers and friends are reading and usually add to my already extensive To Be Read lists and piles! So I thought I would join in sharing my reading week.

This past week was kind of slow for me in the reading department.  I finished the following books (click on title to read the review)

Getting Dumped by Tawna Fenske

Dead Letter Office by Kira Snyder

Burn Out by Traci Hohenstein

I'm still listening to Eve by Iris Johansen every chance I get. . .I'm dying to find out what in the world happened to her murdered child Bonnie. This story has been going on for over a decade! Tell me already!

This week I will continue reading A People's History of the United States as part of the Readalong hosted by Jill at Fizzy Thoughts and Jenners at Life...With Books;.  Only a chapter a week of this classic tome!

 This week's reading list~

So far Trigger Point has been an intellectual thriller that I need a Wall Street expert to explain the finer points to me. . .it's good, but extremely intellectual ~ I have to pay close attention to every word or I'm lost in a NY minute!

When a book starts off with When my mother was angry with me, which was often, she said, 'The Devil led us to the wrong crib.' then you know you are in for a heck of a ride!  Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal is a memoir unlike any other.

Just received The Rebel Wife in the mail and  can't wait to get started! Brimming with atmosphere, and edgy suspense, The Rebel Wife presents a young widow trying to survive in the violent world of reconstruction Alabama, where the old gentility masks a continuing war fueled by hatred, treachery, and still-powerful secrets.

I am so ready for a fun, Southern, sassy read and Diary of a Mad Fat Girl sounds like it will fit the bill!  And is the cover simply not too much! Graciela "Ace" Jones is a sassy high school teacher, known in her small town of Bugtussie, Mississippi, for an outsize presence and a mouth to match. But this time that big mouth might get her into big trouble. . .

What are you planning on reading this week? 
Any bookish events you plan on attending?

Happy Reading!

Inspirational Sunday: Over the Edge - INSPY shortlist

For 2011 I was fortunate enough to be a participating judge in the INSPYs for Christian Mysteries/Suspense.  We had a superb shortlist of books to choose from.  The winner in the Mystery/Suspense category was The Bishop by Steven James ~ review posted here.

Another fantastic suspense from the INSPY shortlist was Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins.  For a scary, intense read Over the Edge will definitely take you to the edge and back again.

Do you know anyone who has contracted Lyme disease?

This particular disease is terrifying in scope. I have a relative who became a different person (and not in a good way) after a tick bite, and over two years later is still suffering from the ramifications.

In Over the Edge we see Janessa McNeil's life completely unravel from a tick bite.  Her husband is the famous Dr. Brock McNeil, researcher and professor at Stanford University Department of Medicine.  Because he asserts that chronic Lyme disease does not exist, his family is targeted in a vendetta to force Dr. McNeil to change his widely-publicized opinion.  Because of his opinion, general practitioners and insurance companies will not help those suffering from the effects of this condition.  It's all in the patient's head. . .

Now, if you have ever experienced difficulty in obtaining health coverage for a condition or had a doctor tell you that "it's all in your head;" you will know how incredibly frustrating the situation can become - "incredibly frustrating" is in actuality, a complete understatement.  Now imagine being the wife of a Lyme disease researcher and becoming the target of a madman bent on destroying the man who believes ultimately killed his family. There you have the makings of a terrific thriller.

I was impressed by the sheer research that must have gone into Over the Edge, Lyme disease and health coverage (does anyone really have a handle on where we are as a society when it comes to health coverage?)  Over the Edge has a spiritual message, and it is ultimately what sees Janessa through the process of her life falling apart.

Over the Edge on Goodreads

Authoress Brandilyn Collins

Lyme Disease on Center for Disease Control

Brandilyn Collins has suffered from Lyme disease twice.  Her miraculous story can be found here.  She is also the author of the Seatbelt Suspense series and Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors.  When she's not writing, Brandilyn can be found teaching the craft of fiction at writers' conferences. She and her family divide their time between homes in the California Bay Area and northern Idaho.

 Many thanks to the publisher for the complimentary review copy.

Blessings!

Take a Ride With Getting Dumped!

I have not read a purely entertaining romance novel in quite some time, but Getting Dumped certainly remedied that problem.

J.J. is a marketing pr guru with the City Government until her job is "repositioned" and the only offer close to her current salary and benefits is running heavy machinery at the local dump.  For JJ, who operated heavy machinery as a teenager and loved it, the job is perfect.  For her accounting on-again/off-again boyfriend, the job is an embarrassment.  Then enter the heart-throb male secretary and hottie environmental specialist and that adds up to not 1, not 2 - but 3 sexy men in JJ's life!

With this active fiction novel, available exclusively for Kindle users, there was only one time I was able to choose what happened next.  I would have preferred to be able to make more plot choices in this novel as I was able to with Dead Letter Office, but it was fun nonetheless.

I did want JJ to just choose already and quit flirting outrageously with all three hotties, but then how was she to know who the bad guy was? Ah, decisions, decisions!  My other major complaint with Getting Dumped is I. do. not. like. cliffhangers. And this one left one helluva cliffhanger!

Getting Dumped is a quick read, entertaining at best and refreshing to see a female protagonist in an unusual job.

Authoress Tawna Fenske on creating active fiction:

Coliloquy's publishing format is so fun and flexible - kind of like being able to pur your ankles behind your head, but without the annoying thigh cramps. I adored choose-your-own-adventure stories as a kid, and it's a thrill to be able to create adult versions with plenty of titillating mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and the occasional steamy smooch.

Getting Dumped is available exclusively for Kindle users and can be found in the Amazon Kindle Store.

I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon in which I receive a small percentage from purchases made through this link at no cost to you. 

Any revenue from my affiliation is cycled back into this blog for postage and giveaways.

Sharing the Love of Reading!