Celebrate!

This past week marked a new milestone in our life. Ryan has accepted a job offer with Darden restaurants. I feel so blessed and lucky in this economy that he was able to come across such a great opportunity! He is set to start Jan 4th and shouldn't be between jobs for long, if any time. So now that all the waiting, nervousness, traveling, and interviewing is done, I wanted to celebrate!!!
Darden is a big restaurant chain which I am sure everyone has had some experience with. They own Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Smokey Bones, and...........one of my fave restaurants THE CAPITAL GRILLE!!!! Ryan and I used to frequent the one in Kansas City and thank goodness they also have one here in Dallas too. So when all of his 8 interviews were going on, I told Ryan that if he got the job we were going to celebrate with a dinner at the Capital Grille and he agreed.

We had a great time last night and the food was delish as always. One of my favorite things to eat when I go to splurge at nice restaurants is lobster bisque. I absolutely love it and the Capital Grille has one of the best recipes. They even bring a side of sherry to your table in case you need to cut down on the richness, YUMMO!!!!! I am now having withdrawals today :)

Here's a pic of us from after dinner:


And since I can't have fancy dinners out all the time, I have found a lobster bisque recipe to make at home that is really good and of course I will share it with you all now!

1 medium onion chopped fine
1/2 c butter
3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 (11 oz) can frozen lobster meat (or fresh lobster meat can also be used.* I like to use a little more since I like a lot of lobster in my bisque.)
3/4 c sherry (do not use cooking sherry)
3 cups light cream
2 Tablespoons tomato paste for color

1. Saute onions in butter until onions are clear, 2-3 minutes
2. Stir in flour with a whisk and stil well until smooth. Add chicken broth and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add lobster meat and cook 20 minutes, or until done, on medium-low heat.
4. Blend in sherry, cream and tomato paste.

*If using fresh lobster, reduce cook time to about 5 minutes or until done.

Hmmmmm, now I am craving it all over again!