By the Water

We spent yesterday afternoon at a friend's house.  He has a nearly-five-year-old daughter, and she and Julia played so well together that I didn't even get pictures of them - they were always somewhere else, busy with little girl things.

The house is near the water, and as soon as we arrived, Bill went out to dig some clams.

We'd brought the fixings for clamcakes with us, including a pot of oil, and once Bill had enough, I steamed them open, chopped them up, and made the clamcakes.  We'd also brought along a radish salad (I'll be posting that recipe later), and our friend cooked up turkey burgers, grilled chicken thighs, corn on the cob, and a garden salad. 

There's something so relaxing about a house near water, be it salt or fresh.  I'm not sure what it is, but to me, anyway, it's incredibly soothing. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures yesterday, but here are the few I did shoot.  That's Bill out there digging in the distance, and, as I said, no pictures of Julia, but Alex is certainly in evidence.

 








 
  
 
  

Comments

[Karla]

I always enjoy your pictures, and you wonderful commentary. But you need to explain something to this midwestern girl. I thought you dug clams in the sand at the edge of the water. It looks like Bill is thigh deep. How do you find the clams? Can you explain the process to this high-and-dry prairie girl? Thanks.

[Jayne]

Hi Karla!

Sorry about any confusion! There are two types of clams we dig for around here...hard shell and soft shell. Hard shell clams, quahogs, can be eaten raw, especially when theyre small(little necks),the mid-sized onessteamed and served over pasta (cherry stones), and the larger ones ground or chopped and used in clamcakes, chowder, or stuffies - stuffed quahogs. Those are the ones Bill is digging for in the picture. They can be below the sand along the shore, but more commonly theyre out in deeper water. The soft shell clams, or steamers, are the ones we dig in the sand closer to shore. We dig those as the tide is going out, and then we can work our way from inland sand outward, with the outgoing tide.

Hope that helps!

[Karla]

Thanks for the explanation. I think I will put "dig for clams" on my bucket list. Some day....