Shimp Chowder Quesadillas

Remember that recipe contest that I mentioned I entered?

I created a total of five recipes and forced Papa Bear, Drama Queen, Little Lawyer, and our fantastic friends Steven, Kristina and Vinka to taste test them and rate them so I could decide which one out of the five was the one I should submit.  I submitted Butternut Soup Muffins (so please go vote for me - the deadline is 11:59 pm tonight!)

This recipe was rated number two out of five. It was a very close race between these quesadillas and the muffins! These were a huge hit...and I will be making these puppies again very soon!

Get yourself some nice plump shrimp.

Chop the shrimp up a little. Put them all in a ziploc.

Open up a can of WP's Tortilla soup.

Pour soup into ziploc with those tasty shrimp and marinate iin the ice box.

Chop up an onion...

A red and green pepper (or any color you happen to have!)...

Toss the onion and peppers in a hot pan with some olive oil.

Saute until they start to brown.

Remove veggies to a plate.

To the same hot pan, add the shrimp and soup and cook until shrimp are just done.

Remove just the shrimp to the veggie plate.

Reduce the soup down to half.

Pour soup over plated shrimp and veggies.

Stir all that beautiful goodness together.

In a clean skillet, heat a flour tortilla.

Top tortilla with shrimp and veggies.

Then add lots of cheese...don't be shy!

Add another tortilla, flip, and cook until oozy and melty! Slice and devour!

Shrimp Chowder Quesadillas

4 flour tortillas
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can Wolfgang Puck Tortilla Soup
1 whole large onion
1 whole red bell pepper
1 whole green bell pepper
4 cups cheese, grated (Monterey Jack or Mexi-Blend)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Salsa
Sour cream

Pour soup over shrimp. Set aside; marinate for 1 hour or more.

Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Cook vegetables over high heat until they start to get brown/black. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Return skillet to high heat, then dump in the shrimp with the soup. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until shrimp is opaque. Remove shrimp and chop (if large) into bite-sized pieces. Cook soup down until little liquid remains. Remove from skillet.

In a separate (clean) skillet, heat butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, then layer on ingredients: cheese, vegetables, and shrimp. Top with a little more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook on both sides, adding butter before flipping to the other side so the tortilla won't dry out. Remove from skillet and slice into wedges.

Serve with rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole—whatever you’d like!

Norwegian Epic - Food, Fantasy and Frustration - Day Six

Day six of our adventure on the Norwegian Epic was another day at sea. By this time, we had already explored all of the ship and knew our way around pretty well.  Today would just be a day of hanging out and chillin'.  We did have some things planned in advance because we knew we would be at sea all day again.

Drama Queen and I had some quiet time together at the Atrium Bar with an iced mocha for her and an espresso for me. You'll understand the need for 'quiet time' in just a moment...

Yesterday, while in St. Thomas, we happened across a music store.  There were several ukuleles in the window. Drama Queen had received a guitar for Christmas last year and loved to sit and strum away, learning how to play little by little.  She then developed a fascination for the tiny ukulele and a month or two prior to our trip and told me she wanted one.  I had replied with the condition that she learn to play guitar basics before I would entertain the idea of getting her a ukulele.  She got so excited when she saw them in the store window that I couldn't resist taking a look when we passed by them again on the way back to the ship.  Because they were way less expensive than I had imagined ($40 bucks!) and because she's so damned cute when she's excited about something, I caved and got her one. Yeah, I'm a pushover... She has been plucking away it since it landed in her hands non-stop...hence the need for 'Quiet Time'.

My life is now a Don Ho soundtrack...

Our lunch today was at noon in the Spiegel Tent for a murder mystery lunch called 'Presumed Murdered' performed by the Second City Troop. Again, no photography was allowed, but I did manage to snap a few before the show and just of the salad part of lunch.  It was a simple fixed menu with salad, chicken and dessert. The show was pretty good too. I like audience participation shows like this, just as long as I am not picked as one of the participants!!

Everyone got to do their own thing after lunch until dinner. The girls played games on my laptop and  got some ice cream at the buffet, Granma headed for the casino, Crazy Artist was doing her thing on her laptop, and Papa Bear and I headed for our favorite bar to get a drink and went around to the other parts of the ship we wanted to get more pictures of.

Espresso Martini

We all had dinner at Taste and got to sit directly under the chandelier. Dinner was really tasty tonight!

Yeah...this chandelier.

I love the panorama feature on my camera...

Wild Mushroom Quesadilla

Kids Pepperoni Pizza

Miso Glazed Tilapia, Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushrooms and Singapore Noodles

Chicken and Shrimp Curry, Basmati Rice and Mango Chutney

Linguine and Sun Dried Tomatoes with Basil Cream

Braised Lamb Shank, Garlic Leek Mashed Potatoes, Five Bean Stew

After stuffing ourselves beyond capacity, we headed to Headliners to see the Second City comedy show. It was great, too!  Little Lawyer even got to suggest something during one of the improv sketches.

Our foray into the Ice Bar was reserved for 10:30pm that night. This was one of the things I was really looking forward to doing.  The cover charge was $20 a head and for that they provided gloves and parkas for you to wear and two drinks to have during your 45 minute stay in the bar.

The parkas were one-size-fits-all (and I still have yet to meet this person called ALL...) and very itchy. But I could survive that with 45 glorious minutes of icy cold comfort! I am a cold temperature lover. But I live in Florida...and (personally) I hate it. Cold weather makes me feel great, alive and almost like I was twenty-something. My bones don't ache, my sinuses are clear and I love it. This would be 45 minutes of sheer joy for me...

There were about 15 or 20 of us in the bar at the beginning, and it quickly (like within 15 minutes) was whittled down to about 10. When the drinks were gone, so were half the people apparently! Wimps!!! Before I knew it, the six of us were the only people left! As the minutes ticked by, I'm sure you can guess who was the last one to leave the bar...I couldn't find anyone available to ask if I could sleep in there for the duration of the cruise, so I used the time to take more pictures.

The benches and end tables were solid ice

The bar was made of ice bricks

The glasses were constructed of a solid ice "cone" insert inside a plastic cup

The top of the bar was smooth, solid ice

The were 2 big ice sculptures (a bear and Indian)

The Ice Bar was great! I could have seriously stayed longer. The funny thing was how cold the kids kept saying they were while we were in the bar, and then wanted to go get ice cream when they got out...

Day six ended with a trip up to the buffet for ice cream and goofiness...