Last summer we had our friends Louise and Tim over for dinner and suddenly we started talking about classic food from the 80s that just disappeared from the restaurant menus – Clams Casino was on the list. Anyway, I made them a couple of times and for no particular reason, I just forgot about them. The other times I had the chance to savor this appetizer was when I was travelling to the US – I don’t recall having Clams Casino here in Canada. I don’t remember what else I ate during that trip except this lovely appetizer. That is when we all discovered the classic Clams Casino! It was so good, we all ordered a second one. We had a great time exploring the city, shopping a little and going out to great restaurants. Besides that issue, the trip was a lot of fun. For an inexperienced driver, it was quite a challenge to drive in the big apple! I think that if it wasn’t the fact the three of us were so cute, we would probably have received more profanity from the taxi drivers. That same year, with two of my girlfriends, we went to New York City during Canadian Thanksgiving.

Because I was living in Montréal, going down the American East Coast was the right choice although my true dream was to drive along the West Coast which I finally did a little over 20 years later… When I put the key in the ignition, I felt like there were no borders and no limitations on how far I could go – what stopped me was my disposable income… Nonetheless I planned many road trips with my friends. It gave me the freedom that my adventurous side was craving. Who doesn’t remember their first car? I sure do! Mine was a 1981 Dodge Colt that I purchased in 86.

Classic clams casino recipe