right back at ya!

Well, here I am....a few days early.
To add to Shannon's post, we ARE the country mouse, city mouse.

I received my "food lady" title from a good old, long gone, never to be forgotten dog. 12 pounds of black and white dog named Lucky. Lucky was a stray and was starved when he came to belong to me.
All I ever wanted to do was feed that dog. Whatever his heart desired. Cheeseburgers? check. Biscuits and Gravy? check. Soft taco's? check. The dog ate everything and never got fat...and he loved me more than any creature could. I was HIS food lady.
And so it goes, he is gone, but the name lives on....

Mrs. Gravy and I have been fast friends for better than a few years.....(a girl never reveals her true age) but we can safely say that we were somehow switched at birth and should have been in the same family...hers or mine, doesn't matter. We think alike, we love alike, we laugh and cry alike. We are two peas in a pod.
Ask us some questions because we CAN and eventually WILL tell you some stories...whew...
However, Mrs Gravy is right. We don't always eat alike, which will give all of this some variety....
A few days ago, I made the following:

Oyster Soup ala Kelli

one half pound bacon
1 white onion chopped
garlic, in a jar, minced..a good spoonful
3 cups of milk
white pepper
salt
cayenne pepper
one container of fresh raw oysters
one stick of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
2 green onions sliced
fresh thyme however much you feel like dealing with, stems removed
1/2 cup heavy cream
chopped parsley

OK....so what you do is this:
Brown the bacon in small chunks until crispy in a 2 or 3 qt sauce pan.
Drain most of the bacon grease, but not all, leave about 2 tablespoons in the pan.
Melt the stick of butter in the bacon grease, add the onion and saute about 5 minutes or until onion is soft, add the garlic and saute for another 5 minutes or so.

Sprinkle the flour into the butter stirring to make a good paste.
Let this brown a bit, about 5 minutes.
At this time you could add about a half cup of dry white wine if you want and let that cook for about another 10 minutes.
Add the juice from the container of oysters and bring back up to temperature, wisking to keep smooth.
Slowly add the milk, again whisking so that there are not lumps.
Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. (this is pretty bland so don't be afraid of the cayenne)
Simmer, stirring frequently for about 15 to 20 minutes.
When you are almost ready to sit down and eat:
Add the heavy cream and the oysters.
Allow to cook until the oysters have ruffled edges, about 10 minutes on a medium to medium low heat. You don't want soup to scald or boil.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with green onion and parsley.
Serve with oyster soup crackers. A good white wine doesn't hurt to have along with this. We like either a good, sweet Riesling or a clean crisp white like a fume' blanc.

YUM!
This soup was also good as a reheated leftover.

Trust me kids, what we really want to know from Mrs. Gravy is her Sangria recipe.