Family Resources Kid's Resources
Family Support
The Parlor Join us on our message boards for conversation, introductions, support, encouragement and chit chat. Stop by and introduce yourself Here!
Recipes
Tea
Crafts
Garden
Forums
Chowders for Winter Meals
By Mary Emma Allen
For warming meals during the snowy days of winter, chowders and soups
are just the dishes to serve our families.
The name "chowder" originated from the French "chaudiere," meaning
kettle or cauldron. It brings to mind the hearty stews made by combining
clams, fish, or seafood with potatoes, onions, milk, and seasonings.
But the word "chowder" can be applied, too, to vegetable or meat
mixtures made with milk and eaten with crackers like any filling stew.
Many are the variations of fish, clam, corn, or ham chowders that have
been handed down from generation to generation of country folks.
Variations of Clam Chowder
Many, too, are the variations of clam chowder found around the country:
*New Englanders claim clam chowder is best when it includes salt pork
for flavor along with diced potatoes, perhaps some onion, rich milk, and
plenty of clams.
*Manhattan dwellers claim clam chowder is best when made with tomatoes
for added flavor.
*Yorktown clam chowder, famous in colonial days, called for a dash of
beer or ale for flavoring.
*Pennsylvania Dutch recipes often called for the chowder to be thickened
with flour.
*On the West Coast, bacon, fried crisp and brown, might be added to clam
chowder for flavor.
*While in Southern states, some recipes for clam chowder call for the
addition of celery, green peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and fatback,
possibly adding a touch of Creole to the recipe.
Recipes Handed Down Through Generations
In their many variations, fish and clam chowder recipes were handed down
from generation to generation of fisherfolk along the Atlantic coast.
Gradually these bubbling brews made their way inland as pioneers left the
seacoast for forest and farming areas, until today, chowders are known
and savored countrywide.
Now modern refrigeration and freezing techniques make it possible for a
homemaker to secure fish for this one-dish meal whether she's one mile or
one hundred from the ocean's edge.
QUICK MANHATTAN CLAM CHOWDER is concocted by sauteeing in 2
tablespoons salad oil, 1 chopped medium onion, 1 chopped green pepper,
1/4 pints drained chopped fresh clams or two 7-oz. cans drained minced
clams.
Add water to reserved clam liquor to make 1 cup liquid. Combine this
and 2 cups sieved canned tomatoes with other ingredients. Add salt and
pepper to taste and tomato juice or water if thinner soup is desired.
Simmer 10 minutes, until clams are cooked and chowder hot, but not
boiling. Serve hot with soda crackers.
HAM AND VEGETABLE CHOWDER is a filling dish. Boil 2 cups diced
potatoes, 1 cup chopped cabbage, 1 large chopped onion, 1 medium chopped
green pepper in 2 cups ham liquid or water until tender.
Then add 1 pint milk and 1 cup chopped cooked ham. When heated, season
to taste with salt and pepper.
SeptemberLady "Born and have lived in Southern MD most of my life. My husband and I just finished building a new home on the family farm, where I hope to retire in the near future.
My interests: Doll collecting, cookbook collector (especially old ones), antiques, family/friend get-togethers, cooking/baking, flower and vegetable gardening, bird-watching."
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling Memorial Day signals the start of barbecue season. Everyone wants to light that fire and charcoal that first meal. A few tips might pre- vent your entree from becoming a "Burnt Offering."
Read these tips for plenty of grilling ideas, make this year's barbecue perfect!
Growing and Using Garlic Chives Garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, is a hardy perennial (Zones 3-9) that will grow to about 12 inches high. The stems are skinnier and flat, instead of hollow as are regular chives, with greenish white blooms that are about an inch wide and not as rounded. They bloom in the summer rather than spring. The bloom stalks grow much taller than the leaves, sometimes up to 30 inches.
The stems and blooms are both edible and have a mild garlic onion taste. I've noticed many writers will list this as primarily as an Asian herb, as they are also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leeks, ku chai (China) or Nira (Japan), but it has many other uses as well!
The Perfect Porch Swing Perhaps it is the soothing rhythm or the reassuring creak of the porch swing that attracts us. Perhaps it is the companionable silence or quiet conversation. Or maybe swings simply remind us of more genteel times.
Although porch swings can be purchased in a wide range of materials, the most common are wicker and wood. You can also make your own porch swing from one of the myriad of woodworking patterns available at garden centers, hardware stores, or on the Internet.
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling
Growing and Using Garlic Chives
The Perfect Porch Swing