Lucky Us---Another Clambake Saturday

7:55

Well, it's almost 7:00, still pitch black outside, a light rain, and I have been up for an hour.  I am listening to a podcast from Pop Culture Happy Hour, which is discussing the movies of Tom Hanks and his most recent, Bridge of Spies, which they all feel is old fashioned, like something made back in the 1960's.  I have yet to see it but would like to.  And I had a moment of panic early, as I could not find coffee filters, even though I ripped apart a closet looking for them.  I had to brew a make shift cup of coffee, with a tea bag of coffee, dropped in hot water and it was terrible. This dire need for caffeine each morning is the definition of addiction.

Yesterday was a blah sort of day, weatherwise, gray skies, a choppy lake, threatening clouds, occasional rain but all was well by late afternoon when we went over to our neighbor's home, the Kinney's for the annual Fox Clambake.  Before that, we had our typical morning and early afternoon, with Evie putting together some appetizers for the clambake.  One, Buffalo cauliflower, was quick and easy but was nowhere near the time consuming effort of making homemade potato chips, a neighborhood favorite.  Besides cutting, washing, soaking the potatoes in ice water and a second soak of a water/vinegar solution and drying the potatoes a couple of times, it took her a good hour of sitting out on our porch deep frying the potatoes.  Meanwhile, I did little of any import other than a visit to the Transfer Station, with lots of junk from my garage's attic, another attempt to purge.

The Bake Masters, Chris and Jim Fox

Evie and The Fox Gals

My Neighbor, Joe Bergen

The main event, the clambake, took place two houses down from us, with the bake set in the back yard, under a canopy in case it rained...it didn't so we were able to gather around the boiler and drink beer, eat appetizers, and catch up with all the neighbors, relatives, and friends.  Fortunately, the Kinneys have a huge, deep two car garage, so it was filled with tables, so we could eat inside.  We sat around for a couple of hours, enjoying the late afternoon chill, warming each other by the bake or in the garage, until the clam broth, always a highlight, was ready.  We then pulled the chickens out and put them on the grill, to give them a quick basting before we ate.  Around 7:00, we sat down to a feast, about 25 of us, in the garage, with plates of clams, chicken, sweet potatoes, corn and coleslaw, a feast.  Everyone had a least a dozen clams and there were enough for seconds for anyone who wanted them.

Debi, Joe, Arlo, And Evie

Ethan Kinney And Friend, Jen

Alex Kinney And Son, Arlo

The clambake was great fun, a happening, and nothing reminds me so much of a fall day as standing around a huge boil of clams and chickens, drinking beer, and talking, on a chilly fall afternoon.  The only downside...it often signals the beginning of the end of autumn, the coming of cold weather.

We stayed until about 9:00,  the younger crowd stayed on, no doubt, till late.  We then watched some TV, read, and were in bed by 11:00.