Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook Part 5

10 and oz. can condensed tomato soup (I used Camp-

bell's)

11 and oz. can condensed green pea soup (I used

Campbell's)

3 cups whole milk (or light cream, if you want it richer)

2-pound package salad shrimp, roughly chopped

cup sherry (optional)

Hannah's 2nd Note: Trudi revised her original recipe. You CAN use split pea soup. If it has bits of ham in it, make sure you process it in a blender or food processor to smooth it out.

Mix the tomato soup and the green pea soup together. The green pea soup is lumpy, so use a blender if you have one.

Add the milk or light cream.

Heat the soups and the milk in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, while you thaw and chop the shrimp. When the mixture is warm, add the chopped shrimp and stir it in.

When the soup is heated thoroughly, add the sherry and serve.

Yield: Makes approximately six servings.

Lisa said this bisque is even better than the bisque she had at the very fancy, very expensive restaurant in Minneapolis where Herb took her last year on Valentine's Day. Herb agreed, and not just because it's a whole lot cheaper.

*LOBSTER BISQUE WITH SOUR CREAM AND RED CAVIAR.

This soup is a variation of Trudi's Shrimp Bisque and it's just as easy to make. Everyone who's ever tried it has been very impressed.

10 and oz. can condensed tomato soup (I used Campbell's)

11 and oz. can condensed green pea soup (I used

Campbell's)

3 cups whole milk (or light cream, if you want it richer)

2-pound package of frozen lobster meat, roughly chopped

cup sherry (optional)

8 ounces of sour cream

small jar of red caviar (or a sprinkling of paprika)

Mix the tomato soup and the green pea soup together. (I just found out that you CAN use split pea soup if you process it in a blender or a food processor until it's smooth.) Add the milk or light cream. (You can even use heavy cream if you want to be decadent.) Heat the soups and the milk in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, while you thaw and chop the lobster. When the mixture is warm, add the chopped lobster and stir it in.

When the soup is heated thoroughly, you can "hold" it in a crockpot set on LOW for several hours if necessary.

Add the sherry right before you're ready to serve your Lobster Bisque.

Dish up your soup and decorate each bowlful with a dollop of sour cream.

Sprinkle the sour cream with a bit of red caviar or sprinkle it with paprika and serve.

Yield: Makes approximately six servings.

"That was a lovely soup, Hannah," Delores said as Hannah approached to remove her soup bowl.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Will mine be like that?" she asked in a lower voice.

"Yes. The only difference is that you'll be using shrimp and this is lobster."

"Oh, good! Can I garnish mine the way you garnished yours?"

"Of course. The garnish is a matter of personal taste. Since I don't like caviar, I usually garnish mine with sour cream and several ripe olive rings."

"Isn't this Marguerite and Clara Hollenbeck's recipe for Mexican Hotdish?" Grandma Knudson asked, paging through the Quick and/or Easy Meals section of the thick binder that Hannah had given to each of her mother's guests.

"That's right."

"It's a wonderful recipe. Clara brought it to my Bible Study group and everyone enjoyed it. And that reminds me... she called me this morning. You met her niece Gladys the last time she was in town, didn't you?"

"I think so," Hannah said, trying to remember. "Isn't she the niece that lives up in Duluth?"

"That's Gladys. How about the rest of you? Does anyone know Gladys Hollenbeck?"

Almost everyone around the table nodded. Gladys had driven down to Lake Eden several times to visit her aunts.

"Didn't she drive to California to a friend's wedding last month?" Florence asked.

"Yes. All by herself. Gladys didn't even have one of those lifesize male dolls that some women prop up in the pa.s.senger seat to fool everyone into thinking they're not alone."

"Marguerite told me she hoped that Gladys would meet a nice man in California and decide to stay there. The poor girl really hates the winters up in Duluth."

"That's exactly what happened," Grandma Knudson informed them, and Hannah noticed that her eyes were twinkling the way they always did whenever she had a good story to tell.

"Is she going to marry him?" Bertie asked, clasping her hands.

"Yes."

Edna Ferguson looked pleased. "I lived in Duluth for three years, and the cold wind blowing off Lake Superior never seemed to stop. This is wonderful for Gladys! Now she'll be able to live in sunny California."

"It's wonderful, but she won't be living in California."

"She won't?" Bertie looked puzzled.

"No, they'll be moving. Gladys told Marguerite that he seemed to be really interested in hearing about her life here. It's one of the reasons she fell in love with him. And now it turns out he was sincerely interested, but there was another reason he wanted to know more about Minnesota. He'd just accepted a job at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and they'll be living up there!"

Quick and/or Easy Meals

AUNT KITTY'S COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES (POOR MAN'S BLINTZES) 2 cups cottage cheese

4 eggs

teaspoon salt

cup flour

Mix cottage cheese, eggs, salt and flour together in a small bowl. Let the mixture "rest" in the refrigerator for an hour (overnight is fine, too.) Heat a nonstick griddle to 350 degrees F., or use a frying pan that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (The frying pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles and "dances" across the surface.) Spoon pancake batter in pan or on griddle and fry until the bubbles on the surface of the pancake remain open. (You can check to see if the bottom side is done by lifting the edge with a spatula.) When the bottom side is a nice golden color, flip the pancake over and cook until the bottom color matches the top.