Ben and Jerry Stew...

I'm not sure about everyone else's parents, but when mine come over to our house, they always bring food.  The 'rents come over quite often, as my Dad is a contractor and he's currently working on my neighbor's house.  The food they bring sometimes make me think I'm charging a cover fee to get into our house.  They bring anything from a premade dish to a bunch (just ONE bunch) of green onions.  And earlier this week, they brought these:

My mom cleaned these for me and they sat in my fridge, ready for me to cook them up after work.  They've been in my fridge for a couple of days and I was starting to get attached, so I forced myself to not name them (I would have named them Ben and Jerry because I craved ice cream right after work) and had to figure out a way to cook them somehow.  I'm not a huge fan of crab because they're a PAIN to eat.  I hate cracking the shells, getting my hands crab-juice-dirty, just so I can get a tiny morsel of stringy meat...so not satisfying.  That's why Chris breaks the shells for me and gather all the meat in a small little plate:

Lovely...eh?  

So...what do I do with all this buttery crab meat?

Well I had some canned tomatoes in my pantry...

I diced up some onions I already had in my fridge....

Peeled and diced up some potatoes....gotta love my starch!

Add water and other spices (Johnny Seasoning, oregano, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, red wine, red pepper flakes, clam juice is ideal but since I didn't have any..I used fish sauce) and let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

I cut up some salmon (Costco...hollah!!) into bite sized cubes...and set aside

What do I do while I wait for the stewing red pot?

I practiced shooting in low lighting but I had no subject, so I decided to shoot my little terra cotta soldier friend we got from our vacation trip to China.

Hmm...didn't do my soldier friend justice here.  I didn't focus right and his face was a little blurry.

Maybe an hour is too long to stew tonight.  I was bored...and this is what I do when I have nothing to shoot.  Right after this, I dropped the cubed salmon into the stew mixture and let simmer for five more minutes.  And then.....

VOILA!!! 

Ahhh...it was definitely worth the wait.  I gathered some crab meat (mooches to the hubby that shelled them) and piled it onto the top of my bowl.  And YUM!!  Salmon and Crab stew!  We have lots left over and it'll be much better tomorrow when the flavors finish marinating together in that pot.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone!