DadToCherubs and I have been walking down memory lane this holiday season, and sharing memories of our "Northern" childhoods with our children. (I was raised in Maryland, and DadToCherubs was raised in Connecticut.) Right now we are really missing "real" winter, if you can believe it !! We miss the smell of snow in the air, the chilly days, the snowman construction, the evergreens, the deep colors of fall, the well-defined seasons .... it is highly suspected by our children that DadToCherubs and I are HOMESICK for the North and for New England after 10 1/2 years in Tennessee. Hummm .... it might be time for a road trip to the North at the very least.With all of the memories and conversations, it seemed a great idea to make some "traditional" New England (or Northern) seafood (not deep fried southern style seafood) for our New Year's Eve dinner. After some serious hunting we were finally able to find FRESH shrimp and clams, and some good pre-picked REAL crabmeat.OLD BAY (Maryland) CRAB CAKES
(the official crabcake recipe from Old Bay)
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon OLD BAY SEASONING
1 pound crab meat
Break bread into small pieces and moisten with milk. Add remaining ingredients; shape into cakes.
Broil on low until golden brown.
Clams Casino Recipe
• 2 dozen cherrystone clams OR mussels or oysters
• rock salt
• 6 strips bacon
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup shallots or green onions-- finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh herbs* -- chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper -- finely chopped
• few drops Tabasco sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• fresh ground black pepper
Open the clams (or oysters or mussels) and set aside the best 2 dozen shells. Spread a layer of rock salt in pie pans, and nestle the selected shells in the salt. Fry the bacon gently until it has rendered all its fat, then drain on paper towels. Mix the butter with the shallots, parsley and herbs, green pepper, Tabasco, lemon juice, and Worcestershire. Put a clam in each shell and top with a dollop of the butter mixture. Grind a little pepper over each. Break up the bacon into 24 pieces, and set a piece on top of each shell.
Broil under a hot broiler for 6 - 8 minutes, until the herb butter is sizzling and the bacon is crisp.
*Use three-quarters parsley, one-quarter fresh dill, tarragon, or chervil.
OLD BAY (Maryland) Steamed Shrimp
My Mother's Version
1 can of beer (or 1/2 cup vinegar) -- do not use both.
2 TBSP Old Bay® Seasoning
1 pound shrimp
Combine first 3 ingredients in bottom of steamer pot. Bring to a boil.
Add shrimp in layers, sprinkling generously with Old Bay on top of each layer.
Cover; steam until tender and pink, about 10+ minutes.
Drain, remove shells and devein.
The 3 youngest Cherubs (Cherub 4, Cherub 5, and Cherub 6) received beautiful Soprano recorders along with Book 1 and Book 2 of the LET'S PLAY RECORDER. They are very excited about learning to play the recorder and about learning to read music.
Cherub 3 has always admired my old recorder - I played for a short while in the Orchestra when I was in late Elementary and early Middle school. So I cleaned up this treasured old friend, and bought a new case along with reeds, wax, and other essentials. On Christmas morning he received this beautiful instrument along with the PLAY CLARINET TODAY instructional program. So far Cherub 3 has worked with the Clarinet quite a lot, trying to get his body mechanics to feel a bit more "natural", and to make the beautiful woodwind sound rather than S-Q-U-EEEEE-A-K. (it takes quite a lot of practice to master this part - HA !)
