Mmmm....gumbo.

Start with a big and heavy dutch oven heated until really hot and make a rich, dark roux. Add a ton of onion, celery and bell pepper, cook until just softened, then add a ton of garlic (12 cloves!), some cayenne and some fresh herbs. Add fish stock, two big links of sliced browned andouille, a pound of sliced okra, salt & pepper and simmer for about 45 minutes. Taste often and groan with pleasure. When the okra is cooked add a pound or so of raw large shrimp, a pound of crawfish tail meat along with the juices and fat, and a few whole crawfish just for fun. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Serve with rice, home made cornbread and a big green salad. Groan with pleasure (again). Add a warm summer evening and four good friends. (Try to add a brother-in-law and girlfriend to join in the festivities, but turns out they're in another country today.) Add lots of Munich Helles, Munich Dunkel, and even a little rauchbier, all on tap at our house (Mr Cicerone's homebrew). More groaning, lots of stories and lots of laughter. Sit around the fire until the mozzies drive us inside.

And dessert? Home made ginger ice cream with Dragonmead's Armageddon Grand Cru, a Belgian style quad. A great match, the spiciness of the beer blending in with the spicy ginger in the ice cream.

What a good life we lead.