Christmas Day Oyster Stew Recipe

After reading about Ma making oyster stew for Christmas dinner in the book "On the Banks of Plum Creek", and how wonderful Laura thought it was, the kids were rearin' to try it. I looked it up in the "Little House Cookbook" and like most things in that book, it looked really plain. Therefore I thought I'd do a spin off of  their recipe by adding a few more ingredients we modern day people are lucky enough to have at our fingertips. I wanted to make it heartier and more appealing to my family. We tried it while camping and it was a hit with every, except Hailey, who doesn't really like any soup in the first place. Hers is the bowl on the right where the soup is hidden by all the oyster crackers ;)

From On The Banks of Plum Creek:
 "First, there was oyster soup. In all her life Laura had never tasted anything so good as that savory, fragrant, sea-tasting hot milk, with golden dots of melted cream and black specks of pepper on its top, and the little dark canned oysters at its bottom. She sipped slowly, slowly from her spoon, to keep that taste going over her tongue as long as she could.
  And with this soup, there were little round oyster crackers. The little oyster crackers were like doll-crackers, and they tasted better because they were so light and small."

Christmas Day Oyster Stew Recipe (Jackie's version):
Two 8 oz cans of oysters
Bag of oyster crackers (Crush crackers until you have approximately one cup)
2 Tbl butter
1 onion, diced
2 - 3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 large potato, cubed
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

In bottom of kettle, saute onion until just tender, then add garlic, saute one minute. Add rest of the veggies and stir. Drain liquid from the canned oysters and add it to bottom of the kettle along with enough water to cover the veggies. Simmer with the lid on until veggies are tender. Add crushed crackers and immediately stir until it starts to thicken a bit. Add milk, cream, spices and oysters and heat until nice and hot, but not boiling. Serve in bowls with whole oyster crackers on top.

Can't wait to make this again. It is different from your usual fare, but a welcome change. I can see why Laura thought it was such a treat.

God Bless,
Jackie