Wander. Cook. Eat.

Step 1. Soak the clams in cold water for at least an hour before you cook them. While the clams soak, they spit out the sand. You want as much sand as possible out before you cook them. (Who wants to eat sand?!) Change the water at least once while they soak. (Note: Some people say you should soak steamers in salt water, but my uncle’s family has always soaked them in tap water, so we went with his method.)

Step 2. Set the table. Each place setting will need a lobster cracker, a bib (cracking open lobsters is messy business), and two small bowls- one for clam broth and one for melted butter. Also provide 1 or 2 large bowls on the table for people to discard their clam and lobster shells.

Step 3. Put water in the bottom section of the the steamer pot. Be sure to fill the water over the spout to make sure you can get the clam broth out easily. However, don’t fill it up all the way or it will boil over once you start cooking things. Turn on the heat. While the water comes to a boil, shuck the corn.

Course 1. Steamers

Step 4. Once the water is boiling, add the clams to the top section of the steamer and cover. Steam until the clams pop open – about 8-10 min. While the clams steam, melt a stick of butter and prepare your salad.

Step 5. When the steamers are ready, divide them evenly among 4 bowls and serve. If any clams did not open during the steaming, throw them out. (If they didn’t open it means the clam was dead before you steamed it and it is bad.) Use the spout at the bottom of the steamer to pour some clam broth into a small dish for each person. Pour melted butter into individual dishes as well.  Put these at each person’s place at the table.   When eating the steamers use the clam broth to rinse the clams to get rid of any remaining sand, then dip the clam in the melted butter and eat. Put the shells in the discard bowl.

Course 2. Salad

Step 6. Finish making and serve the salad. Pictured here is a salad with spinach, baby kale, tomatoes, avocado and BQ’s Roquefort Dressing.

Course 3.: Lobster & corn on the cob

Step 7. Bring the water in the steamer back to a boil. Add the lobsters first, then the corn on top. Cover and steam for about 10 min. When the lobsters are bright red, they are done. While they steam, make sure everyone has enough melted butter in their dish. If not, melt more and refill everyone’s butter dish. Note: Save at least 1/2 stick of butter to put on the table for people to use to butter their corn.

Step 8. Serve the lobster & corn. In case you need it, here is a video on how to crack open a lobster.  Since everyone has their own melted butter dish double dipping is encouraged.

Mash together crumbled blue cheese in vinegar with a fork. There shouldn’t be any big chunks, but small chunks are fine. The original recipe called for Roquefort, but you can use any blue cheese. Using pre-crumbled saves a little time.

In a separate bowl or jar, mix together oil, salt, pepper, & Worcestershire sauce.  A 2-cup (1 pint) glass jar just fits.
Note: I use table salt for this dressing. If you use kosher salt, you may need to adjust the amount.

Combine blue cheese mixture in with oil mixture. Mix well – either whisk them together in a bowl or put them in a jar and shake it vigorously.

Store in refrigerator. Shake well or re-whisk before serving. The blue cheese tends to sink to the bottom of the jar, so sometimes I use a spoon or small gravy ladle to make sure I get the good stuff from the bottom of the jar.

All week I’ve been dreaming of taking another trip to Croatia. It all started because I’m trying to recreate this amazing fish that we ate on that trip, so I started looking back through the pictures. The usual suspects and I went to Croatia a few years ago to celebrate Neal & Wendi’s anniversary. If Croatia isn’t on your list of places to visit once the pandemic travel restrictions are lifted, it should be.

Croatia is a wonderful country. The people were nice, the food was good and the old city in Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is just breath taking. But what really blew me away was the water. The Adriatic Sea was so clear, so blue, and so refreshing.

We rented a house in Zaton a short drive (or boat ride) from Dubrovnik. It is a cute little beach village and our house was walking distance down to the beach, boats & restaurants. It was a great home base since it had easy access to Dubrovnik but also provided a jumping off point to explore the Pelješac peninsula.

I hope to go back soon. Next time I want to hop on a boat and sail from one end of Croatia to the other. If you are planning a trip to Croatia, below are some of my favorite activities from our trip. I hope they inspire you to go!
 

Boat trip to explore the coast & islands I love a day on the water, but this was one of my favorite boat trips of all times. Our crew took us to an island to explore and have some beach time while they cooked us the most amazing fish for lunch. Then they took us to another little cove for more swimming, jet skiing, and exploring the shallows along the coast. Maybe it was the Pegasus float, but it was just a magical day.

Have a drink & a swim at Buza II, Dubrovnik. This bar is in the old city in Dubrovnik. It is a great place to cool off after you walk the city walls. It actually hangs on the cliff outside the walls. There is a small sign that says ‘Cold drinks with the most beautiful view’ that points you toward the door. If aren’t paying attention, you will walk right past it. In addition to an amazing view it has cold drinks and large rocks to jump off of into the Adriatic Sea.

Go to the top of Mt Srđ. Visit the top Mount Srđ for some of the best views of Dubrovnik. In a cab ride from Dubrovnik one night our driver told us about the role Mount Srđ and the fortress there played in defending Dubrovnik during the war in the 1990s. (It was mind-boggling to think of such a beautiful place being at war.)

Walk the Wall at Ston. If you like to hike, walking the wall at Ston is an adventure. It is like a mini-Great Wall, but with gorgeous views of the water. it is on the Pelješac peninsula about an hour from Dubrovnik. We walked the whole wall from Ston to Mali Ston. After the hour+ hike we had a lovely lunch at a cafe in Mali Ston. (We were starving after the long trek!) Be warned – as with the city walls in Dubrovnik, this wall is hot and there is no shade, so go early in the day and take plenty of water.

Every time my mom comes to visit, we have to get ice cream from Butter & Cream. It is a local ice cream shop in Decatur, GA that makes small batch ice cream that is SO yummy. They recently opened a second location on the Atlanta Beltline, too.

That being said, don’t let the ice cream focus fool you. The people at Butter & Cream are also top notch bakers. Yes, you can buy cakes and cookies.  And, yes, they put their baked goods in some of their ice cream (like Butterscotch Brownie).  But, for me, nirvana is when they combine ice cream and cookies in their amazing ice cream sandwiches. The Salted Caramel ice cream + Brown Sugar Almond Cookie ice cream sandwich is what always keeps me coming back. One year for my birthday I got dozen of their ice cream sandwiches (assorted flavors) and stacked them up like a cake. Best. Birthday. Cake. Ever.

We are in the midst of a pandemic people. There will be days that you just need some ice cream. When this happens, if you are in Atlanta or Decatur, turn to Butter & Cream.

Two locations:

Butter & Cream – Decatur
416 Church Street
Decatur, GA
(404) 378-7272

Butter & Cream – Beltline:
661 Auburn Ave, Suite 130
Atlanta, GA 30312
(404) 709-2173