by u235craig | February 19th, 2009
In 1968 and 1969 I attended Western Washington State College, living in an apartment that had been the kitchen and dining room of a mansion at 1200 Garden Street in Bellingham.
At the end of spring quarter my roommates, Pat and Dave, wanted to do something to celebrate the end of our first year in college.
Pat had been going to a beach on Chuckanut Drive and loading up on steamer clams. We decided against a toga party and went with a clam feed. We got friends to chip in for kegs of beer. Lucky Lager kegs were only $20. Dave’s girlfriend Nan helped organized the girls to bring salads and garlic bread. Mike from the Milk Barn doughnut shop got snacks from his dad at the cash and carry.
It turned out to be one of the highlights of my college life. Lots of people, tons of food, and five kegs of beer. Pat had to run his orange Austin Healy Sprite out for a second load of clams. We left so many clamshells on the lawn that our landlord didn’t want to give us back our deposit. We tried to explain the shells would be really good for the soil.
I still like making steamers. Steaming the clams on a bed of vegetables in a rich broth accompanied by some crusty Italian bread makes for a good meal. With this meal Italian white wines are my favorites.