Tasty Tuesday She-crab Soup!

Since we're visiting here in the lowcountry of South Carolina, I thought I'd post a recipe for she-crab soup. Never having made it myself, I hunted up one of Emeril Lagasse's recipes. I'm sure he kicked it up a bit, so it's bound to be good!
Emeril's She-crab Soup

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 small onions, grated
• 6 ribs of celery, grated
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon mace
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup cream
• 1 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 pounds crab meat, picked over for cartilage
• 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sherry
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions

In the top of a double-boiler, melt the butter and flour together. Cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes for a blond roux. Stir in the onions, celery, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and mace. Cook the vegetables for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Stir in the crab meat and continue simmering for 10-15 minutes. Reseason if necessary. Sprinkle the chopped eggs in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the soup into each bowl. Drizzle the soup with the sherry. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
And now for today's travelogue episode!
It was a clear day in Myrtle Beach on Monday. Not too hot--at least, not at first!













We hung around the room (Mike went back to bed after breakfast) and finally got to Broadway at the Beach around eleven-thirty. We did a bit of shopping, and then had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, which is always fun, though Budley and Mike don't seem terribly enthused.












After lunch, we fed the fish in the lake, which is one of Sam's favorite things. He had been saving his quarters for a year, and the fish were very happy to see him!












Sam and I went to Ripley's Aquarium after that, and I had fun playing with our new camera, seeing what settings worked best in a dark place where your subjects won't hold still for you. I finally determined that the "food" setting worked okay as long as the fish held still, like this eel,













or this little bugger, who was sitting in exactly the same position when I came back to see the jellyfish again.












But for everything else, taking videos seemed to work best. First we have my favorite Leafy Sea Dragons,

and the jellyfish,

and these camera-shy fellows who were in with the sea urchins. I found the sea urchins particularly interesting in light of the fact that some of the characters in Virgin have hair that looks like this.

There's something mesmerizing and stress-reducing about the way schools of fish swim together.



But the rays are the most serene of all.



Bud and Sam took a helicopter ride after we got back to the hotel while I blogged and Mike fiddled around on the computer. They got a picture taken with the helicopter, but it was a print, and I didn't think to pack my flat-bed scanner!

After dinner at the Texas Roadhouse Grill, we went to see Shrek 4 in 3D which was a hoot!

One of the things I've been wanting to do lately is to stay up late enough to watch Craig Ferguson on the Late, Late Show. I love listening to him talk (sort of the way you like Gerry, Donna!) and I think he's hysterical, but I only catch little bits of his show when one of my patients happens to be watching it. I sort of envy them being able to lie in bed and watch the show, and since I don't have a TV in my bedroom at home, I thought it was something I could do while on vacation. Unfortunately, so far, I've been too tired to hang on much past midnight.

Something tells me that tonight won't be the night, either. . .