Oyster Stew

2 doz. shucked raw oysters with liquid

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

1 teaspoon celery salt

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 quart milk

Carefully pick over oysters to remove bits of shell. In deep skillet or kettle, heat butter until sizzling. Add oysters with liquid, Worcestershire, celery salt, pepper, paprika. Heat until edges of oysters curl slightly; add milk. Heat quickly, but do not boil.

Serve in bowls, topped with paprika and lumps of butter. Pass oyster crackers if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Notes: (Rick) This is from the 1970 edition of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I would swear that Mom made it from her Good Housekeeping Cookbook, which was a 1955 edition. I certainly don’t remember cooking the oysters first in butter and then adding the milk, but it certainly seems the safer way to do it (and I never was in the kitchen much on Christmas Eve that I can recall).