Watching the Sunset on the Beach w/Retro Clam Dip Part 1

Retro Clam Dip

**Watching the Sunset on the Beach w/Smoked Salmon Pizza Part 2...Linked...**

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com/2011/07/watching-sunset-on-beach-wsmoked-salmon.html

I wanted to thank everybody for all the nice comments from my last post regarding my poor treatment on Chowhound.  You all really made me feel so much better!!  I knew that my blogger friends would be there and be supportive about this for me...love you guys :o)

Hubby gets recommendations about food from a site called Zite.  When he finds one that sounds interesting to either me or him, he forwards it to me.  This time he sent me a Clam Dip recipe...lol  When's the last time that you actually had Clam Dip?  In the '70's?  I don't even think I've actually had Clam Dip before. Hubby said he used to buy the pre-made ones from the grocery store...ugh...  It never interested me and I just had an image of bad food at parties way back when.  But now, I love retro food!!  It's been a while since I made fondue, but I just love stuff like that!  I was very intrigued by this recipe and when I saw the photo that was on the website it clinched it for me...lol  It looks like the photo was from Sunset Magazine or Betty Crocker;o) 

I mentioned before that we are very fortunate because Hubby's parents have a place on the beach in Carpinteria, CA, it's about 20 mins south of Santa Barbara.  Even luckier for us is that noone in his family lives nearby, so we get access to it the most of the time.  My favorite time on the beach is watching the sunset.  Our ritual is to have cocktails and some sort of appetizer when we are out there.  Our first toast is always to Mom & Dad :o)  Hubby thought that the Clam Dip would be perfect for our sunset cocktail hour and it was!

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2011/06/15/clam-dip/

I followed most of the recipe, but of course changed up some of it.  I added:  Smoked Clams, Onion, Garlic, Cream Cheese & Hot Sauce.  I also am not that green, so I used store bought mayo unlike the recipe says and did not use everything organic;o)

Fresh Just Picked from the Farm Garlic from Bakersfield, CA

One downside to the beach place is that there are often renters there.  For the most part, they are nice, but we've run across some doozys!  This time we were very fortunate to meet some farmers.  They gave me fresh garlic that they had just pulled that morning!  Can you get any fresher than that!!  Am I the only one that gets giddy and excited about stuff like this:o)  I had planned to make the Clam Dip early on and getting this garlic was perfect timing!

See how beautiful and white the garlic  is...

Peeled...

I may be the only one that appreciates pictures of beautiful garlic;o)

Sauteing Garlic & Onions w/salt & pepper

Can't you just smell the aroma of the garlic ;o)

Smoked Clams

I chopped up some and added it to the dip.  I didn't put too much in it because I didn't want the smokiness to over power the dip.  I also garnished the dip with a few whole ones.

Canned Clams, Bacon, Sauted Onion & Garlic, & Green Onions

I wanted to use fresh clams, but the ones at the grocery store didn't look that great.  Also, if I had used fresh ones this would have turned into a mighty expensive dip;o)  I also saved the drained clam juice and froze it for later use.  I used a little of the clam juice to loosen up the cream cheese and to add more claminess to the dip.

Yum...served it w/just Potato Chips

I think it would go well with crudites too or just about anything that you use Onion Dip for... I really liked this recipe and would make it again!

Caipirinhas & Smoked Salmon Pizza

Who doesn't like sunset time on the beach, right?  Hubby made us Caipirinhas, a cocktail from Brazil.  I think we need to work on the recipe a little more, it's such a simple one too!  It's just Cachaca, Lime & Sugar all muddled together, I think key is to get the right proportions and the right amount of sugar in it.  I also made Wolfgang Puck Style Pizza that I will write about in my next post :o)