Little Neck Clams

Here’s a recipe I tried for the first time — simple, and it tasted great:

 VONGOLI SICILIANA

• 2 dozen little neck clams-cleaned, and scrubbed
• 2 tbls. of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbls. of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of water
• pepper

1. heat oil in a large pot
2. add garlic, and parsley, and heat a few minutes
3. add water, pepper, and clams
4. cover pot and steam clams open
5. place clams in a deep dish, and pour broth over them

I found that the clams were salty enough without adding any more salt to the recipe. See the original clam recipe.

Bunker Tea

For  summer flavaz with the VSOP:

2 parts Southern Comfort

4 parts cognac (VSOP, baby!)

1 part lemon juice

Lots of ice

Shake it up. Serve chilled…

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (Paperback) traces the history of the first English colonies in New England, starting with the arrival of the Mayflower and the founding of Plymouth. Since most of the action occurs in my home turf, it’s fascinating to see how deep the roots of some of the towns in the area reach into American history.

Even if you aren’t a New Englander, you’ll appreciate how the seeds of what made American history such a unique mix of European and Native American culture first sprouted here in the tenuous first encounters between two groups of people who couldn’t have more different backgrounds, yet shared so many common interests. Perhaps that’s why they ended up fighting one of the most destructive wars in written American history, King Philip’s War.

This book is a very specific and focused follow up to the period of American history covered in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (Paperback), by Charles C. Mann, describes the history of the Americas before the European’s arrival dramatically altered the population and environment. This book explores in detail how the Americas were not virgin wilderness, untrammeled by all but a handful of nomadic primitive tribes, but a teeming land filled with advanced civilizations that had imposed significant alterations on the ecosystem to support their sophisticated societies

Essex River Fishing

Greg, Todd and I got an early start this morning and fished at the mouth of the Essex River and then behind Crane’s Beach. Although we picked up fish on the sonar, only Todd was able to pull one out of the water, a small striped bass that was too small to keep, though. See photos of the trip on Flickr.