I have been missing from many of my usual places due to a fall and vertebral fracture, with complications that have made me grateful others were doing the cooking! Part of my treatment is being encased in a bulky cast/brace, no bending, twisting, or lifting. So my contributions to meals have been limited. I have missed Kitchen Keepers posting, so as I return, I would like to sort through my collection of cookbooks, clippings, and family favorites from years past, picking a few to share. Going through old recipes is something I enjoy and rarely have time to indulge in, so this will be fun. I hope you will see one or two you want to try. Almost all of these will have a story!
In 1986, our family made a big change. That was the year that Sean graduated from Plano Senior High School in Plano, TX. It was also the year Joe took a position with ARCO International with headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. He began working in LA soon after the first of the year while the boys and I stayed in Plano for Sean’s senior year finish and to get our house on the market. While Joe looked for a new home for us in California and I readied our family and household for the move. Sean would come with us for the summer, but return to Texas to enter North Texas State University in the fall. We did not know it at the time, but our move to Thousand Oaks, CA would be for just over a year. By Fall the following year, Joe, Jeremy, Ben, and I were headed to our next home in Jakarta, Indonesia!
During the year that we lived at 347 Bethany Street in Thousand Oaks, we were glad to have Don and Brenda Mann and their daughter, Donna, as neighbors. They and their friend Myrna invited us to begin a supper club, one evening a month where we ate at each others’ homes. It was called Gourmet Dinner. The host for the evening prepared most of the food; others brought an appetizer and dessert. Myrna Bates kindly printed the recipes from March 26, 1987 at our home. I made Shrimp Toulouse, an item then on the menu at Court of Two Sisters restaurant in New Orleans, LA. I also served Baked Rice and Artichokes, Green Beans Rotel, and a cold asparagus salad. One of the guests brought a hot clam dip and Myrna provided dessert – Eclairs with Praline Sauce.
Shrimp Toulouse
1/4 lb. butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup diced pimientos
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Draw butter, add green peppers, shallots, celery, pimiento, mushrooms, and shrimp. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add wine, salt, and pepper and simmer additional 5 minutes. Add parsley and serve over toast or in patty shells. Serves 6.