Sunday, February 01, 2009

Happy as a Clam

In another lifetime I had another family. And in that family I had a wonderful father-in-law. We were quite close, close enough that I think my then-wife was sometimes jealous of us. He taught me a lot in life. How to hunt, how to dress a deer, how to butcher a deer. He taught me the joys of casinos and nightly card games. He taught me cribbage and bad jokes. He introduced me to Korbel and Coke and many, many cheap beers. And most of all he taught me the joy of a close family.

Rocky had a clam dip that he would make, it seemed like every time I visited, and when I lived in Madison, that was quite often. I can't imagine the pounds of this stuff I have eaten over the the years. He took great joy in making and serving it. I can still see him hunched over the bowl with the special bent fork he had just for making this and the crooked smile he'd have on his face.

Sadly Rocky had a massive heart attack in 1999. And shortly after that I found myself divorced. But I still have fond memories of him and I still make his clam dip, though I now use my food processor and a bit more onion than he ever did. Of course, you have to like clams and onions to enjoy this dip. Not a problem for me.

I have everything I need here at the house except for the Pringles so we'll be making a run to the grocery this afternoon so that I'll have my clam dip ready by the Super Bowl. I know the Steelers look good on paper but something unseen is forcing me to pick the Cardinals. Maybe it is from growing up in Ohio and hating Pittsburgh my whole life. Some things you just can't shake.

Rocky's Clam Dip

3 comments:

Brook said...

Dude I am totally going for Cardinals! I am rocking some cardinal red hair and shirt-I have always liked the Cardinals though I don't know why. And Big Daddy D is from Pittsburgh and going for the Steelers. Things could get exciting here watching the big game! Oh, and I just this past year discovered that I do indeed like clams!

Brook said...

BTW-do you think grated onions would work? Partially frozen first?

Huff Daddy said...

You know I never thought of that and have never tried that, but yes I think it would work, the finer the grater the better. The goal is really to juice the onion, to get what is like a pulp out of it. Using minced onion would not be correct at all. I like the idea of grating. I'll have to try that, though today is not the day for me to experiment.