New England Clambake- Right at Home

Happy Fourth of July (weekend)! Hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable weekend :) So far, we've had time with friends, both of our families, multiple barbecues, and the beach! And so, we're taking it a bit easy today. How was your weekend? Any celebrations?

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H and I started the weekend off with a bang and had a couple friends coming over for a barbeque Friday. I was dying to try something different; I didn't want to do the usual hamburgers/hot dogs/chicken, and the last time they came over we had seared ahi tuna steaks on the grill (yum), so I didn't want to do that again either. So after a bit of searching, I found a recipe for a backyard clambake from Rachael Ray. Hm, now we're talking!

Her recipes tend to be pretty hit or miss with me, but I was hoping this one would work out! It looked surprisingly easy, and I figured it would taste great on our charcoal grill. I didn't make many changes- except that I used all the same type of clams (just littleneck instead of littleneck and steamers), dried thyme instead of fresh, and well, didn't really measure too much. I just used what we had/seasoned to what looked good. It turned out really well! Everyone was satisfied, and it really tasted great on the grill.

I was also inspired by another Rachael Ray recipe, Blackberry Ginger Sour Highballs, for our drinks. I didn't make this exact one, because, well, it sounded too difficult. That and I was nervous the blackberry syrup at the bottom being too, ah... chunky. Nothing ruins a good drink for me faster than pulp or seeds. Strawberry smoothies? Gross. Pulpy orange juice? Gag me with a spoon. Anyway... I decided to make a mix of three quarters lemonade and one quarter club soda, and then mix that with the gin. I froze black berries to use as ice cubes, so it was kind of a blackberry gin lemonade.

Throw in a salad, and some deliciously, perfectly sweet summer watermelon and you have yourself a summer feast!