Chilled Cucumber Soup | Mah Jongg and Me

This was a good lunch and very easy to prepare, especially since so much of it could be made the day before. I made the base for the Chilled Cucumber Soup with Shrimp and the raspberry mixture for the Eton Mess dessert all the day before the lunch. Then all I really had to do on Mah Jongg Wednesday was to finish off the soup, put together the crab salad, and whip the cream for the dessert. I even got a big jump on everything by setting the table the night before. I love menus like this that allow things to be made in advance. And I understand that Ina Garten‘s new cookbook, Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and due out at the end of this month, is about this very subject – can’t wait to receive it!

In between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur there is still time for Mah Jongg…and yesterday was my turn to host the OMs at our Wednesday game. We started out with a summery lunch – even though it is now October – since the weather has been warm and sticky. First we had Chilled Cucumber Soup with Shrimp followed by Pic’s Fresh Crab Salad with Lime Juice and three yummy cheeses – D’Affinois, Piave, and Humboldt Fog (as always, recipes will follow tomorrow – all are easy and delicious and from recipes by Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa).