.......clams in particular. Littlenecks, Cherrystones, Topnecks, etc..... One of the simple summer pleasures of living on the East Coast is enjoying freshly caught clams.

Bring 'em home and give 'em a good scrub to remove the sand, stick 'em on the grill till they pop open, then add hot sauce, cocktail sauce, or drawn garlic butter. I got 100 Cherries from my local fishery this morning for about $20. Two big coolers full of cold beer are out on the deck. The weather is perfect. Mrs. MILS and the MIL's boys are working this weekend, so I've got the house to myself. . The guys are on the way to my house as I write this. It's gonna' be a great afternoon!

Any other East Coaster's/New Englanders doing the same thing?

I'm not far from the Chesapeake bay, but I never see deals like that. Just overpriced crabs & small oysters.
Label me jealous.

The wife had eaten shrimp and crabs for the first time at a Benz car show in Alabama. And the next morning, she looked like the people in this video.

You Are So Beautiful in the Eye of the Beholder - YouTube

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Being in Louisiana we have great food, however I do love those clams and mussels you guys have on the east coast. My favorite is steamed in white wine and garlic with a little pasta.

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The town I live in has an annual resident shellfish permit it allows one peck(10 quarts) per week of each hard shell clams, soft shell clams, and oysters. So we eat them regularly and can share them with visitors as a bonus. There isn't much that is more relaxing that wandering around at low tide getting one's "hunter gatherer" on!

A little trick if you get you clams and throw them into a cooler full of cold seawater and then sprinkle in about half a pound of fine ground corn meal, the shellfish will start to filter and will ingest the corn meal and pump the sand out of their guts. Hard shell clams have a smaller gut so it doesn't matter so much but soft shell clams have a larger gut and can be kind of off-putting if you get one with a lot of sand in it.

Does one really "catch" a clam? Seems more like harvesting.

I got crabs at a Benz show.

Ever try them fried in BP oil w/garlic sauce?

Depends on the clam!

Try digging Razor Clams on the Ore. or Wa. coast. You do indeed catch them. They can go from having their necks an inch above the sand when you approach them to armpit deep in the mud when you're lucky enough to catch them. They make these "clam guns" that look like giant 3 foot long bulb planters that making getting them easier but it's still not guaranteed.

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So what are you doing about all the radioactive flotsam exported from Japan?

I'm not up to par on all the specific types but I do enjoy them and most seafood. We vacation every year at VA Beach and I look forward to eating fresh stuff when I go down.

My absolute favorite is an Oyster Fritter from Captain Zack's in Chincoteague, VA.

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Hells to the the yeah! If it's seafood, I eat it.

The great (and one of few ) part about living in southern New England is the proximity to so many great fishing grounds. Steamers, mussels, the aforementioned topnecks and littlenecks (steamed or raw). RI Quahogs for making chowder (broth or cream, no tomatoes!) and stuffed clams. Lobster. Obviously seafood is flown all over the country now, but it's hard to beat the off-the-dock flavor. Being a raw oyster fan, I can get any of these within an 1.5 hr. drive: Whale Rocks (CT), Long Island Sound Blue Points (NY & CT), Oysterponds (CT & NY), Widow's Holes (CT & NY), Island Creeks (MA), Cuttyhunks (MA), Wellfleets (MA), Martha's Vineyards (MA), Watch Hills (RI), Wiannos (MA).

Our camp in Maine is about 1.5 hrs. from the coast. Lobster off the dock right now is $3.89/lb. (Culls -one claw lobsters- are $3.39/lb.). Good for us, not so much for the lobstermen. While I certainly enjoy the CT/NY/RI/MA caught lobsters, there's a definitely a difference with the ME caught ones. Colder water, they've got a harder shell (unless you get them not long after molting-usually right around now) but they are sweeter. Plus Glidden Point and Pemaquid oysters.

We usually do a couple New England Clambakes (although usually without the linguica/sausage) a year, one down here and one up there. We used to use the traditional firepit + racks + seaweed method, but have gotten lazy and usually just use a couple propane fired burners and steamer pots.

The 4th of July is usually when we all get togethers to do one up in ME, but with the holiday falling in the middle of the week my family is split in a few different directions. I'm heading up the end of this week but my brother's family, my sister and father aren't going to make it up until the week after next. Might just have to do a smaller scale for me and mine to keep the tradition going.

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