Spicy Seafood and Sausage Gumbo

pull this recipe on line;
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/spicy-seafood-and-sausage-gumbo.html

this is what I used, embellished a little. Read the entire set of directions before you start. Then your meson place before you begin roux.

I used canola/olive oil blend to saute the okra. same blend for the roux as well.  The directions say "4 minutes" for the roux to turn dark brown. NO, more like 20 min. on medium heat.  Add the onions and bell peppers and let it darken even more.

follow the directions to add the ingredients.  one note on the stock. You can buy seafood stock, however if you eat lobster at home, make the stock. 
couple of lobsters
2 Tbsp oil
3 shallots
2 garlic cloves sliced
1 carrot
1 small celery
1/4 cup brandy or madeira
5 cups of water
salt and pepper
bay leaf
saute in oil the chopped carrot and celery for about 7 min.  add the lobster shells, body and all stir for about a minute or two. 
add Shallots, garlic stir and scrape the pan...
 and the brandy, cook for about 3 min
add the water, toss in the bay leaf.
sometimes i add tarragon, parsley and thyme.
cook and reduce to about 4 cups. takes two hours or so.  strain.  freeze if you are not using right away.

and Creole seasoning?  forgot to buy some, so again, made my own... 
since I already started cooking, I did not have time to play around, so I just grabbed it from Allrecipes.com.

2Tbsp Onion powder
2Tbsp garlic powder
2Tbsp dried oregano
2Tbsp dried basil
1Tbsp dried thyme
1Tbsp black pepper
1Tbsp white pepper
1Tbsp cayenne pepper
5Tbsp paprika
3Tbsp salt
thank goodness I had all the ingr on hand~  recipe asks for 2.5 Tbsp of creole seasoning, I used 4!

simmer, stirring occasionaly. taste it, does it have the taste you are looking for?  embellish;
with any combo or all of the following (which is what I had to do to make it to my liking)
2 tsp sugar
1 cup chicken broth
1Tbsp worchesterchire
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp celery seeds
10 dashes of hot sauce

after 30-40 min. turn off heat if you are not eating right away.  About 15-20 minutes before eating,
-saute your sausage til browned.
-heat up the gumbo, add your seafood and sausage. Discard bay leaf. serve over white rice!  yummy!!