Last week I bought a package of frozen Clams Casino.
Unfroze three.
Ate.
Hmm? . . . Not like I remember.
Oh, but look, they are stuffed in real shells.
I save them.
In three days I microwave three more.
Still not like I remember—like the one’s
I ordered on my first trip to NYC.
I Googled clams casino and copied off a recipe.
Today I have let the last four thaw out,
have added fresh thyme, a bit more garlic
and a teaspoon of butter.
Now I’m re-stuffing them!
The story behind the Clams Casino
I’d dreamed of going to NYC my entire life.
That first evening, my friend Virginia and I
walked from 29th Street to the Plaza at 59th Street.
"What should I get?" I asked when I saw
the Oak Room menu.
"Clams Casino," she said.
We had whiskey sours and Clams Casino
at the Oak Room.
After we finished we walked a few blocks,
as I gazed at all the Broadway lights,
just in Heaven.
A young man approached us with tickets
to the Joffrey Ballet. $15 each.
We sat in the balcony and had a
fabulous night to remember.
And while these new re-stuffed clams
were broiling in the toaster oven,
I created a song on the keyboard.
Recorded it in One Take.
Not a great song,
but, hey! carpé diem
Seize the nostalgic moment with a saxophone,
choose the “‘70s glamour piano ballad style”
add a little trumpet, too.
Just play whatever comes . . . about
the sad/happy
remembrance of a time past.
I guess the lesson here is that
you can re-stuff packaged clams
and re-mix the past and present
on a keyboard and create something new
to listen to while you savor the delicious
new clam hors d’oeuvres and remember the
Oak Room in the Plaza Hotel
on a Sunday night
in November of 1984.
~~~
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