Countdown to Triathlon – 165 Days, 23.57 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 69 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

CLAM CHOWDER

I promised a reader from Canada that I would post my clam chowder recipe.  It came from my Uncle Robbie who used to gather clams in Baja (Mexico) and cook the chowder right on the beach.  We have done the same from Tomales Bay on the northern California coast.  Often, after skiing at Lake Tahoe, we would come back to the cabin and I'd fix a pot of delicious clam chowder.  It is quick to make and very filling - a real comfort food.  I'd serve it with sourdough bread or French bread and we'd all go to bed warm and toasty and quite satisfied. You can also serve it with a Caesar Salad or green salad of your choice, but we just eat it with bread. It's really good in a hollowed out individual bread bowl but we usually just eat it the regular way, a bowl and spoon.  It proably serves 4-5 people depending on what else you serve with it.  I used to triple the recipe for our family of six when the kids brought friends to Lake Tahoe skiing. They ate every last spoonful and there were never leftovers.  Here is the recipe:

1/4 # bacon, diced
3-4 stalks celery, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced.
1 small onion, diced

Put the above in a dutch oven or deep pot and cook until the bacon is thoroughly cooked and the vegetables are limp.

Add 3-4 large potatoes, diced and enough water to cover everything in the pot.  Cover and cook until the potatoes are done.

Add 1-2 cans minced clams (depends on your taste - start with 1 can)  and heat 5 minutes at medium temperature.  Cooking clams at too high a temperature or for too long will make them tough.

Add 1 can (15 oz.) of evaporated milk.  Be sure it is evapored milk and not Eagle Brand Condensed Milk whch is sweet and you don't want that.  Heat until chowder is hot. Salt and pepper to your taste. If you don't want to use black pepper you can use white pepper and you won't have the black spots in your chowder.  I don't usually care - we just want to eat it.

Here's the secret to thikening the chowder:   Add about 1 cup of instant potatoes.  It takes a few minutes after you stir them in to begin to thicken. You may have to add more - just wait a few minutes to see how thick it gets.   If you don't finish it at one sitting, remember, after the soup is refrigerated and eaten the next day or so, it will be even thincker so you'll have to add more evapored milk or even whole milk.  We never have any left over so it's never a problem.

You can also add a can of drained corn and/or red bell pepper instead of the green.  Some of the chefs in Mendocino had added shrimp and mussels out of their shells and Sherry.  The sky's the limit.  But my family loves it just plain, the way I describe it above.   .

     Just typing the above recipe is making me hungry for clam chowder.  Unfortunately, we can no longer eat it because Bob has a heart condition and cannot eat cholesterol rich foods.  I could however, use the Smart Bacon (soy product) and use soy milk.  We won't be quite the same, but as close as we can get it.  The rest would be fine for him.  I'd have to use a little olive oil because without the bacon grease, the veggies won't cook quite the same.  But where there is a will - there is a way.  I only just thought of doing this as I was typing.  Good idea!  I think I'll try it tonight.

The Journey - Installment Sixty-Nine

Recently I wrote about the Cattle on a Thousand Hills. I am trying to figure out how to insert the mp3 of Rick singing the song of the Cattle on a Thousand Hills into blogspot. If anyone can help me, please comment below.  I googled "how to add an mp3 to blogspot".  I downloaded Open Drive but am stuck on the next step.  I have the mp3 copied into the Open Drive file but don't understand how to go from there.  HELP SOMEONE!    I'll post that tomorrow or whenever I find out how.  PEA - DO YOU KNOW HOW?