Clam Bake!

Terry and I had a great time out in West Wareham, MA.

Reconnecting with our Alaska trek friends Sue and Bruce and their family was really sweet. So many remembered us from last year we almost felt like part of the clan. Then there were new folks who didn't make it last time round!

We, of course, did our share of the labor involved in prepping for an affair with nearly 70 participants. Terry helped around the kitchen on Friday while Bruce took me out clamming with his sister, brother and nephew. That was a blast! We went over to Little Harbor as the tide was going out and were able to wade nearly 3/4 of a mile out to an area where few folks bother to go. I caught on pretty quickly and Bruce and I soon had a full basket of quahogs. I then started dumping my finds into the others baskets. (There were five of us and only four permits that allow residents one basket a week.) Within two hours we had our quota and had to wade the 3/4s of a mile back to the beach. Luckily, Neal, Bruce's younger brother, had brought a kayak onto which three of the baskets could be loaded and floated back. Bruce and I hefted the other on our rake handles and toted it in.

Back at the beach and loading the clams into the back of the pickup trucks, we each sampled our catch and, man!, were they sweet! Saturday, the larger quahogs would be ground up for chowder and half the smaller ones would either be eaten raw or grilled with a little EVO and white pepper and served up to those who stopped by to help set up tables and tents. (The other half would see that fate on Sunday during the clam bake when the rest of the clan would be in attendance.)

Saturday, as I said, was used to get the materials ready for the bake. Potatoes and onions were peeled, large quahogs were shucked and ground up for the chowder, tents, tables and chairs were set up.

Early Sunday Bruce went out to purchase 2 1/2 bushels of clams (Canadian, it turned out) and many pounds of fish fillets. One of his nephews, Tommy, went down to the pier to get sea water in huge amounts and then went out to get ice cubes on which everything would be placed until it was time to put it in the bake.

The Canadian clams got washed in the sea water with three changes of water to get as much grit and dirt out of them as possible. (That was my duty.) The ladies set up an assembly line for the meals. First they put a fish fillet on brown butcher's paper and placed a chunk of clam-and-cracker stuffing on top of it. They wrapped that up and put it on ice. As soon as the clams were clean, they really started to put things together. Into a mesh bag went: One of the fish packets, two paper wrapped sausages, an onion, a half a sweet potato, a white potato and a quart of clams. (That's about 18 small cherrystone clams if you're keeping track.)

Meanwhile Bruce's brother Teddy was making chowder: Four quarts chopped clams, six quarts clam juice (saved from when the clams were shucked), a gallon of whole milk, three cans of Carnation Evaporated Milk, and a pound of butter. [Terry reminded me that there was a pound of chopped salt pork rendered down with the fat saved to fry three large onions--finely chopped. The rendered salt pork and cooked onions went into the pot.] Stirred constantly, it kept Teddy quite busy--and easy to locate.

Another group sat and shucked ears of corn to go into the copper kettle.

Then the rack was set up for the bake. A heavy sheet metal construction that sits about a foot off the ground, crumbled up newspaper (none of that glossy stuff, ya heah!) was placed on the 4' x 4' square surface before two large backs of hardwood charcoal got dumped on top. Two quarts of lighter fluid sprinkled liberally over all and a quickly, carefully placed match set it all ablaze.

Over by the meal table, the plywood box was brought out. Measuring 4' x 3 1/2', with a 1/2" square hardware cloth bottom, the meals were stacked inside and a layer of plastic tarp and two layers of canvas put on top of them.

The coals having been burned down, they were raked into an even surface and a second thick sheet metal top put over them. Rock weed (Fucus) which we collected on Friday not far from where we went clamming, was spread on top of the metal sheet and the meal box hefted on 2" x 4" rails was carried over and placed on top. While that cooked, Teddy's chowder was served with some canned brown bread and oyster crackers. The corn pot was set to steam.

An hour or so after the bake was placed on the fire, steam was rising from the box and the rock weed was bubbling and hissing and it was time to haul the meal box off the fire.

The canvas was removed and everyone lined up to get their meal. One bag and one ear of corn. Linguisa and hot dogs were available for those who wanted to help themselves.

And it was good!

All the above was done with the beverage of your choosing. (And you had better well have brought your own! It was right on the invite: BYOB.)

Dinner finished, desserts came out for those who had room.

Then (most) everyone chipped in to stack the chairs and tables and strike the tents which were only to keep pine needles out of your food, anyway. There were still several hours of visiting to do and time enough for the kids to go into the swimming pool if their parents would let them.

As six o'clock rolled around folks started heading out. By seven, the only ones left were Bruce, Sue, Caroline (daughter) and her two kids, and Terry and me. We threw a couple logs on the embers from the bake fire and sat around talking for a bit before we too decided to call it a day.

Monday morning, Tommy and his girlfriend showed up around 8 AM to pick up some coolers and he helped move the rest down to the driveway. By 9 AM Terry and I bid our adieus, got a heap of garden fresh vegetables and a half dozen jars of homemade grape jelly, and hit the road to home. Some 400 mile and nearly 8 hours later we pulled into the driveway.

Some Aerie Doings and some quick traveling plans

After getting 0.23 inches of rain Sunday night and another 1.26 inches Monday night, neither Monday nor Tuesday were good days to be staining. Things had to dry out before I could pick up a brush again.

That's okay, I had the pink water in the cistern to concern myself with. That pink was caused bu too rapid refilling after I used the hose to wash the deck on Friday. It's caused by fine clay washing into the well from between the layers of shale the hillside is made from. We get a little of it every summer when we use too much water for things like the garden. (Note to self: Get some rain barrels!) The clay gets passed the in-line filter which is a 1 micron job and into the 500 gallon tank. Then into the house lines and discolors all the water in the laundry, sinks and toilets. We tend to notice it more in the toilets because that water sits for a while between uses and the clay settles out.

I used the sump pump to empty the the cistern and then changed the filter. Turned the circuit breaker back on and...nothing. I started to panic a little. I fiddled with the delay/kill switch for the well pump. (This switch will kill the pump if it starts to draw air, or when it has pumped for a preset period of time.) Still nothing. Now I was panicing a lot. What bothered me most is that we have had this problem before and have successfully handled the restart.

Terry suggested I call Don, the contractor with whom I worked and lived as we built the Aeire. Maybe he would know what to do.

I called. He came up ASAP.

We went down to the basement and I was describing what I had done and what the problem was. Don set his tool bag down and did a quick test on the circuit of the kill switch. That's when I noticed that the two valves that control water flow around the filter were turned to the closed position.

I reached over and turned them to the open position and water began flowing immediately. The pump was running but couldn't push the water into the system because I had blocked the flow to install a new filter and never unblocked it. It's a good thing the pump was sumberged or it could have overheated and burned out.

Anyway, problem solved. Don stayed for a brief visit and went home with a zucchini bread for his troubles.

Me? I learned a couple of lessons.

1) Check all the damn valves before you panic!

2) Don is still a really nice guy and valuable friend.

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All day Tuesday we had bright sunshine and a fair breeze blowing. The deck dried out nicely, but the sky was too clear Tuesday night and the temperatures (mid-50s) produced a very heavy dew on all horizontal surfaces. This morning I had to wait until that dew disappeared before I could take up the brush again and get some staining done.

It didn't reach 60 degrees until just after 10 AM. By then most of the dew was gone and I felt safe in getting to work on the stiles and rails which have many, many vertical surfaces.

I didn't lay down the brush until 6:30 when the first gallon of stain was gone. By then I was through with nearly all the stiles and rails with the exception of one side of the short steps down to the lawn and one bottom rail I overlooked.

I only took a couple of 10 minute breaks and 15 for a quick nosh around 1 PM.

The deck surface will be done next week when we get back from eastern Massachusetts and a claim bake with Sue and Bruce and their extended family. Sixty or seventy people in all will be in attendance. Friday we'll go quahog hunting off the coast. Saturday we're to collect seaweed. Sunday it will be time to par-tay!

Aerie Report, September 11, 2011

I spent the day in reflection...as many of you, no doubt.

And, yeah. I remember. And I'm still mad as hell.

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When not thinking about the changes that have happened since 9/11, I spent time doing the normal things in life: watching football, surfing the net, canning tomato sauce...that sort of thing.

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With all the stress on security at airports, one has to wonder why we still have a porous southern border and why ICE is kept on such a short leash with respect to illegal aliens.

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Today, we had a few showers but nothing terrible and that is a relief. Temperature was in the mid 70s this afternoon after starting out in the high 50s this morning. More of the same is forecast for Monday.

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I've got to get the grass cut again. IF it dries out and IF I can walk that much. I've also got to stack the firewood I split months ago. It needs to dry out.

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I got seven quarts of tomato sauce out of the box of tomatoes Terry and I picked up the other day. Since we got 14 quarts out of two boxes two weeks ago, that yield is exactly what I expected. There's just enough left over to make tomorrow's dinner: sausage and peppers.

Tomorrow I tackle the box of peaches. Slices in pint jars with 60% syrup to cover. I should get 14 to 16 pints out of the one box.

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My thoughts are with our friend Bruce up in Massachusetts. he's going under the knife tomorrow for prostate cancer. The doctors believe they caught it very early and that surgery to remove the bad boy C-cells should be about all that's needed.

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I'm looking forward to my surgery on Thursday. This calcified lump needs to be gone so I'll get back to normal muscle action in the right thigh. Once that's done, I'll be better able to analyze the sharp pains I'm getting just below the knee. The MRI may have shown no tears, but it sure feels like one.

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Knee problems (and lack of any photos of deer) may force my hand vis-a-vis the New York hunting season. I'm inclined to save my $300 bucks and shrug off this year up north. I still have to get up there to drain the water system, however. (Mark says that everything is A-OK. Irene and Lee have caused some erosion on the road beyond camp, but one of the folks up there has been spreading a couple of truck loads of crushed stone in the washouts.)

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Rutgers football got robbed when the replay officials apparently didn't look at the TWO goal line plays where the the Scarlet Knights scored but were ruled out of the end zone. Coach Schiano should have called for a review even if it cost a TO. And an on-field official missed a blatant pass interference at the end of the game that cost a chance at a field goal. (North Carolina won 24-22.)

The RU defense gave up two long touchdown plays of over 60 yards (one pass and one run), but had 5 takeaways.

The Giants just stunk up the place as they lost to the Redskins today.

The Jets aren't looking that great, either. (Currently 17-7 midway in the third quarter.)

The best laid plans...

We tried. We really, really tried.

We left he Aerie at 10:30 AM with the best of intentions of going to New Jersey. I consulted Penn DOT's 511 web site and Terry had been watching the news on TV. All said the roads were passable except for a stretch of I-80 near Bloomsburg but they were setting up detours around that spot. Heading east on Route 6 was out of the question as a large swath of that was closed. We didn't check Route 17 but that too is close to the Susquehanna and has no levees to protect it. South and east seemed our best bet.

[UPDATE: Terry just found (5:00 PM) that a section of Route 17 was closed near Waverly, NY and covered by water near Binghamton, NY.]

Before we left, I emptied the rain gauge. There were 3.1 inches of water in it since Wednesday at around 3 PM when I had dumped 6 inches out. Make it a little over 9 inches of rain since last Thursday.

Well... We went down Route 15 to I-180 at Williamsport. The rivers there were very, very high but not breaching the the levees...yet. A little further past Williamsport the town of Montoursville was under three or four feet of water but I-180 was okay. When we got to the interchange with I-80 though we were not allowed on the interstate. We tried heading northeast on the back roads only to find many of them were also closed. We attempted several routes only to find ourselves heading toward Wilkes Barre where, according to the radio, there were multiple closures. At that point we decided to head home. Even that was troublesome. There was a time when we weren't sure we'd even be able to get home.

In total we spent over 5 hours, traveled 210 miles and ended up seeing parts of Pennsylvania we hadn't seen before only to end up back at the Aerie. We are not pleased.

It would have been nice to attend Danielle and Alex's wedding, but...

The radio out of Bloomsburg was saying this flooding will be the worst in 40 years. In August of 1972 Hurricane Agnes came up the Chesapeake and stalled over the upper reaches of the Susquehanna watershed. The river crested at 30.2 feet in Bloomsburg. They expect the river to reach 30.8 feet sometime tomorrow. Flooding is already extensive in areas where levees were not constructed after Agnes.

Terry and I were married in New Jersey the weekend after Agnes (we still had strong winds on that Saturday) and relatives from the Wilkes Barre area couldn't make it. Now the situation is reversed: we are in PA and can't get to NJ for a wedding. C'est la vie. What goes around comes around.

More on the flooding here.

THE Clam Bake: Part 2

After the luncheon of fresh made clam chowder and Boston Brown Bread fresh from the can (B & B does a reasonable job on this traditional dark, brown bread) it was back to the reason for this gathering! The Clam Bake. (Okay, they had a 50-50 and a couple of gift baskets to raffle off first. Proceeds to help pay for the copious amount of food, porta-potties and dumpster. Terry won one basket with all sorts of barbeque goodies: rubs sauces, spices etc.)

Food prep continued apace. When it was all done, each food bag had two red potato, one half of a sweet potato, one small onion, one haddock filet topped with clam stuffing, one package of sausage links, and a quart of clams. (Depending on the size, that could be 18-24 clams!) In a separate kettle, corn on the cob was steamed over a propane burner.

Clam stuffing gets cut into squares.

Stuffing stacked on haddock filet and wrapped in paper.

Hardwood charcoal is piled on the tray...

...and lit using a propane torch.

It eventually catches after some prodding.
(Should have left the bags in the pile?)

Once the fire burned down to a nice bed of coals, a heavy metal tray cap was placed over the tray and covered with wet seaweed.

Seaweed goes first to provide the steam...and flavor.

The bake was prepared in a plywood box having a hardware cloth mesh bottom. Canvas soaked in seawater went down first, then the bags of food, followed by trays of hot dogs and linguisa (spicy Portuguese sausage) , then a covering of soaked canvas, plastic and canvas.

The bake goes on the hot seaweed.

Steam passes up through the whole thing to cook what's inside.

An hour or so later it's ready to be served.

Set on the side of the table, ready for dinner.

We moved in a buffet line picking up our sacks of food, corn on the cob and small tub of melted butter. Shuffled off to a seat under the tarps and enjoyed!

And then I forgot to take any more pictures as I was too busy eating! Sorry, you'll have to use your imagination.

After we enjoyed our meal--and sat around digesting it for a time--deserts came out. Home baked cookies, cheesecakes, and lots of other...stuff.

And after that, it was time to clean up. By nightfall, the tents were down, all the garbage was hauled off to the dumpster and the place was clean as ever. Only Bruce and Sue's immediate family and we four trekers (Nancy, Robert, Terry and I) remained to sit around the campfire.

It was great!

THE Clam Bake: Part 1

Bruce and Sue have nearly an acre and a half of land and while a third is dedicated to the house and small barn as well as a couple of huge vegetable gardens, the rest is an open pine grove ideal for picnicking and camping. The family is a large one (both Sue and Bruce have numerous siblings) and a gathering requires plenty of space and preparation. We were told that this was a small group compared to some years yet there were still approximately 75 folks there.

Saturday, a few family members showed up to begin prepping the potatoes and onions fro the chowder and food bags. Through it all there was a steady supply of raw and cooked oysters and clams on the half-shell for those wishing to partake.

Early Sunday things really started rolling. Bruce went out and picked up the two-and-a-half bushels of clams and we then went down to the water to get some seawater in which to wash them. After that things got both confusing and organized at the same time. Folks kept piling in and the gathering grew and grew. Every one pitched in to get things done.

Several large pavilions were set up to cover the tables
and offer protection from the elements.

Bruce seemed to be everywhere coordinating things.

Crumbled newspapers served as the base for the bake's charcoal fire.
Done in a tray as opposed to a pit, it made clean-up a snap.

All the foods were prepped to go into the individual meal bags for the bake.

Even more food for the bags.

The clams got bathed.

Clams got switched from one cooler to another
with new, cleaner seawater.

Meanwhile, a big kettle of clam chowder was prepared to 1) keep the natives from becoming restless ad 20 whet everyone's appetite.

Previously shucked clams and onions got ground for the chowder.

Chowder was the first order of business.

Teddy oversees the chowder.

Chowder is served.

Everybody wants some!

Back at the Aerie

Terry and I had a wonderful time in West Wareham, MA.

Bruce and Sue opened their trailer to serve as a guest house and we were made to feel right at home.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover we weren't the only couple from the Alaskan Adventure to be invited to the family clambake. Robert and Nancy from Tennessee pulled into the driveway with their camper in tow as we were unpacking our vehicle Friday afternoon.

Our Hosts: Sue and Bruce pose with their daughter
Caroline and her two kids Dougie and Morgan.

Our Alaska Gang: Rich, Terry, Sue, Bruce, Robert and Nancy

That evening we found that this would be one heck of a food weekend! It started with Cornish game hens on the grill with baked potatoes and baked onions with a rhubarb compote topped with vanilla ice cream for desert.

Bruce with the grilled Game Hens

Potatoes baking over an open fire.

After dinner we sat around the campfire with some adult beverages and caught up on the past year. Robert and Nancy had been down in Louisiana for the Mardi Gras gathering and Bruce and Sue had had a couple of folks drop by as they visited nearby Cape Cod.

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As soon as I finish editing the rest of my photos, I'll be posting more. Suffice to say that Saturday saw the arrival of some of Bruce and Sue's family and early preparation for Sunday's clambake. Saturday also ended with one huge pizza party under the pines in the back yard, accompanied by plenty of adult beverages and another campfire.

On The Road for the weekend

We're going on the road this weekend. We've been invited to an old fashioned clam bake in West Wareham, MA. We met our hosts--Bruce and Sue--on our Alaskan adventure last summer. This is an annual event for them and includes their extended family and friends. Bruce promises lots of seafood and fresh produce all we have to do is bring our own beverages. We will, however, also bring a quart and a half of refrigerator pickles and a loaf or two of zucchini bread.

I've got a case of beer (but probably will not drink it all) and Terry's set aside four bottles of Finger Lakes' wine so we're set. Should be a good time.

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Our travels will take us up I-88 toward Albany before we head east to the Mass Pike. Some of that area was pretty hard hit by Irene but I've heard nothing of road closures. As of mid-day yesterday (Wednesday), a lot of the National Grid power customers in that area of New York and east into Massachusetts were still without power. Bruce and Sue were on the east side of the strength of the the storm. Since Bruce hasn't said anything, I'm going to assume that they are and have been fine.

Immediately after the Storm

Yesterday I mentioned that the weather folks were saying that the rainfall around the Aerie would be only about 1/3 of an inch and that the bulk of Irene's fury would stay well east of I-81.

They were wrong. The rain started here around 9 PM on Saturday and didn't stop until approximately 2 this afternoon. As for the amount of rain: 1.5 inches in the rain gauge. We should get no more as I can see some blue sky out there in the west. The winds (more of a stiff breeze actually) were coming out of the east last night and the north for much of today. They are still coming out of the northwest at around 20-25 mph. As a result, we have had temperatures below 65 degrees all day. Thank you Canada!

Terry's Mom weathered the storm pretty well despite the eye of the hurricane passing almost directly overhead. (She's in Linden, NJ.) She's got some water coming into the basement through the walls but her sump pump is doing it's job and keeping the water outside where it belongs. Thank goodness she never lost power. She says there's hardly any street flooding in her area.

My sister, in Pequannock, NJ has also had some water in her basement. This is the first time since 1984 that she's had a problem. The ground around her home was pretty well saturated before Irene showed up so it's not completely surprising.

Terry's friend with property on Lake Parsippany and a second home on LBI says both have survived the high water. She does say she's never seen Lake Par as high as it is but it's a dammed lake so it's unlikely to go too high unless something blocks the spillway.

As for the folks in Virginia, we've heard nothing. Irene was still a Cat 2 when it went passed them and, although weakening, could have still done considerable damage. Hopefully they and their homes are okay.

Oh, his aching head!

My buddy Mark had a bad fall on some slippery ice a couple of weeks ago and suffered a concussion. He was off his feet for a couple of days and then, when the hive of bees in his head disappeared, was supposed to be taking it easy for three or four weeks. (This is his second major concussion in the past year. Damn guy is always knocking himself out!) Being told to take it easy is akin to a prison sentence to Mark. He really, really hates to be idle.

Well apparently he over did it the last two days and he has had a bit of a woozy spell.


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Here's hoping the room stops spinning sometime soon.