Clam Bake
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to “Joni and Friends”.
The other week my husband Ken went fishing and my friend Kara came from northern California to stay with me. We had so much fun planning unusual recipes—I mean, you know, things Ken normally wouldn’t enjoy eating like tofu in a Thai curry, you know, that sort of thing. Anyway, one afternoon when we were at the market, standing in front of the fish counter. I was deciding among salmon and tilapia filets, maybe halibut steaks, maybe shrimp, maybe lobster tails. But way in the corner, nestled down in the ice, I spotted a pile of cherrystone clams. Immediately, I turned to Kara, and shared a story of when I was a kid and went beach camping with my mom and Aunt Rosie and my cousin, Paula, just us girls.
One afternoon we went clamming along the inlet and dug up a whole bunch of nice, fat clams. That night around our campfire, we girls cooked cans of beans down in the coals, and placed rows of clams, real neat and nice, along several of the logs whose undersides were hot and red. We poured the piping hot baked beans on slices of white Weber bread, and when the clams started sizzling and they popped open, we gingerly plucked them off their logs, sprinkled them with salt, poured on butter. And after they cooled a bit, we chowed them down. Never had I experienced, oh my goodness, succulent, tasty clams! Well, all this time as I’m telling this story, the guy behind the counter (you know, the fish monger) he was listening. So I turned to him and excitedly said, “Sir, do you think I could do the same thing with these clams? I mean, you know, not on a fire, but on a grill?” He looked at me and politely said, “No, probably not.” Both Kara and I chimed in our response, “Aww, what a party pooper! And just for that, we will take a dozen clams to prove you wrong!”
So, that night on our backyard barbecue, Kara and I grilled fresh shrimp, sliced vegetables and, yes, two rows of clams. I said to Kara, “Now we’ve got to have the butter, and we’ve got to have the salt if they are to taste like the ones my mom did.” True, we did not have the baked beans and bread, but oh my goodness, those clams were the best. Two days later when we were back at the market, we happened to walk by the fish counter where the same guy was helping someone else. He recognized us and we smiled, shook our fingers and said, “Those clams were delicious, so be sure to tell others that the grill works!” He laughed and gave us a thumbs-up.
You know, Colossians Chapter 3 tells us to set our minds on things above. And that’s what Kara and I did all week. I talked about the many earthly things God uses to put our minds on heaven. Like, oh my goodness, if good-tasting food is just a hint of something far more wonderfully fulfilling in heaven, wow, think of what is in store for us all. Most of all, I talked about seeing my mother in heaven. How thankful I am that because she knew Christ, those wonderful times beach camping together are only glorious whispers, sneak previews, of even more wonderful things to come.
Hey, I would like to share one of my mother memories with you today, no, not her recipe for clams (that’s pretty easy, you can figure that out), but how about her recipe for Maryland crab cakes? I have offered it before, and so many of you wrote to tell me how good that recipe is. So visit joniandfriends.org/radio today and either download the recipe, or ask for it and we’ll mail it off right away. For sure, it is a summertime favorite! Oh and if you feel really brave or courageous, get a dozen clams at the fish counter. Put them on the grill and see for yourself. They can taste pretty good and that’s a hint of heaven.
© Joni and Friends
