It was another gorgeous day here in the Pacific Northwest, so we took advantage of another chance to get outside. My husband recently bought an Oregon clamming licence for $9 and a clamming gun for less than 20 bucks. We took the kids clamm
ing this past Saturday and got our limit of 15 clams in about a half an hour. We learned how to clean out the clams before I made some Panko breaded razor clams that disappeared almost as fast as I could fry them up. Today, the tides weren’t as favorable but the weather was! It took us a lot longer to collect our limit today, but we were determined to get enough clams to make the calm chowder Andma wanted before she flew back to Massachusetts tomorrow. We didn’t mind being out in the sunshine and walking on the beach today, it was a nice change to the rainy winter. Baby really seemed to enjoy running in the waves, getting a piggy back ride down the beach, and playing in eating the sand.
After getting home, I took Baby upstairs to bath her while my husband cleaned the clams. After getting everyone 
and everything cleaned up, I got to work on our dinner of Razor clam chowder and rosemary focaccia. I’m not a big seafood fan but my family LOVES it, especially my son. Bowls of the creamy razor clam chowder were lapped up almost faster than I could snap a picture! The rosemary focaccia made a great accompaniment and the kids enjoyed dipping it in the chowder. Andma was on cloud nine from getting fresh clam chowder and getting to spend the day at the beach reminiscing of growing up on the south shore of England.
Here is the recipe for the razor clam chowder…
Razor Clam Chowder
Ingredients:
1 lb of bacon, diced (easiest to do when frozen)
1 large onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
2 bay leaves
6 cups peeled and diced potatoes
chicken stock (about 3 cups, or enough to cover veg/bacon mixture)
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
razor clams, cleaned and diced ( we used all 15, but you can add as many as you like)
3 Tbs butter
6 Tbs flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cups cream
salt and pepper to taste
green onions for garnish
Instructions:
1. Fry bacon is large soup pot until nearly crisp. Add in diced onion and celery and cook until vegetables are translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add in bay leaves, potatoes, and chicken stock. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Make a roux but melting butter in a small pan and then adding in flour to make a paste. Cook flour for 1 minute, then pour in 1/2 cup of cream to thin out, mixing well.
3. Add clams 
into soup pot along with 2 cups of cream and 1 cup of milk. Add in roux mixture and bring to slow simmer to thicken the chowder. Add salt and pepper to season to your taste.
4. Serve with sliced green tops of scallions on top of
bowls of chowder for garnish. Goes great with oyster crackers or freshly baked bread.
Enjoy! -Mussgo Momma