Clam Chowder

This is a favorite, and very easy! Aaron made it for me on our first date! And you can always omit or substitute ingredients that you don’t have or use. It also keeps well in a slow cooker, but you have to complete the whole recipe first.

Ingredients:
6 ½ cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 tsp. salt
2 cans (6.5 oz. ea.) minced clams, undrained
¾ cup margarine
¾ cup flour
1 quart half and half (or 4 cups milk)
1 tsp sugar
1½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Directions: Combine vegetables in pan. Drain clam juice over vegetables. Add enough water to barely cover them. Cook with 1 tsp. salt covered until tender (15 minutes). Add clams. In another pan melt butter; stir in flour. Remove from heat. Stir in cream or milk. Put on heat and cook and stir with wire whip until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and sugar. Pour into pan with vegetables and stir. Heat through and serve.

This is easy to half and you can leave out the clams if you don’t like them. We usually make bread bowls by using a white bread recipe and putting the dough in miniature loaf pans. Cut off the tops and hollow out the middle, save the bread to dip! This time I had bought a day old sourdough loaf and it was delicious! Or you can always dip some bread you already have.