I'm Craving Clam Chowder!

I love making chowders especially New England Clam Chowder! I got the craving this weekend and went to the supermarket to pick up some of the ingredients I'd need.

The price for the little package of salt pork was ridiculous! But what they were asking for a quart of fat free Half n Half made the salt pork look reasonably priced!

So I switched gears and decided to pick up the fixings for making Manhattan Clam Chowder. After the supermarket my wife and I headed to Point Lookout to the The Doxsee Sea Clam Co . Doxsee has been at its present location since 1933!

Here is a photo of my wife Diane standing in front of the Doxsee "building".

It is a one room operation consisting of a freezer and some canned goods.

Their products and prices are posted on the wall.

You help yourself to the freezer full of clam products. This trip we got a bag of surf clams and large can of clam juice for the chowder. I couldn't pass up grabbing a bag of the breaded clam strips. And since I wouldn't be making my chowder till midweek Diane suggested I get a container of the Doxsee N.E. Clam Chowder to hold me over. Good thinking!

After you bag your food you stuff your money into the cash box mounted on the wall.

Afterwards we decided to take a walk around Point Lookout. When we got to the inlet there were quite a few ducks near the sandbar.

It was windy which was causing the inlet to kick up. I climbed out on the rocks to try and get a few shots of the waves as they were breaking.

Snow, snow and more snow

No sooner had the recent rains washed away the last traces of snow around our neck of the woods then Mother Nature decided we needed a fresh covering of the white stuff.

I get antsy couped up inside so I decided I'd head out to the store to buy some fixings for making a pot of clam chowder. Surprisingly my wife decided to come along. Usually she likes to weather the storm indoors in her pajamas.

We walked along the beach so I could check out the higher than usual surf the weather bureau predicted we'd have.The dunes looked gorgeous in the dusting of snow.

As we were leaving the beach we had to cross a mid thigh deep drift of snow. I told my wife to follow me and walk in my boot tracks. She pooh poohed that idea and insisted on taking the lead. A few steps later she was mired down in the snow and promptly fell over! I hauled her out stifling a laugh and two steps later got bogged down myself. Luckily the beach was empty and no one saw our predicament.

When we got back home with the groceries we decided to make a snowman. It was fun but he didn't come out very well. I think I'll stick to working in clay!

The chowder I made came out pretty good. Usually I follow a recipe I have from a pamphlet titled: "Old Fishing Village Recipes". It is good but the salt pork and heavy cream can't be good for the old arteries. I found this recipe and doctored it up to suit my taste buds: Clam Chowder, New England Style - Recipe File - Cooking For Engineers I prefer using Yukon Gold potatoes and I substituted Fat Free Half n Half for the milk. I don't have a set amount of flour I use. I make a roux and add a bit at a time as I'm stirring the chowder till it is as thick as I like it. After lunch I headed to work in my studio. What do you folks do to pass a snowy day?