we interrupt this quilting blog for a little holiday fun in the sun!
Hubby and I (and our brother-in-law and nephew) went clam digging on the 4th, just had to show off our haul! We got SIX geoduck!
Well, between all 4 of us, we actually got TWELVE! (The limit is 3 each, so we got our limits!) Our brother in law and nephew also got their limits in horse clams, but we just came for the geoduck!
If you've never dug for geoduck before - these clams are DEEP in the sand - around 4 feet deep. Horse clams are shallower (shorter necks), but are still around a foot or so down. There is a trick to digging geoduck - you almost have to use barrels with no bottom (keeps your hole from caving in on itself). First, you have to locate the geoduck (and a lot of time, they don't show themselves until the tide is starting to come back IN), then sink the barrel into the sand around their siphon hole - then dig the sand out of the barrel. Most of the time, a second (slightly smaller) barrel is necessary to get even deeper. They aren't easy to get, but they are so worth it! Here is a pic that shows our brother-in-law and nephew's haul. Happy campers! It also shows their barrel setup. These are stainless steel (and heavy!). Our barrels are plastic (much lighter, but also harder to sink into the sand because the sides aren't as straight/smooth). They need a cart to bring along their barrels, we just carry ours. The rope handles are for getting them OUT of the sand after they are sunk.

Looking at the pics makes me want to go again!!!
My favorite way to make geoduck is like clam strips (pound the meat out to tenderize, cut into thin strips, dredge in flour seasoned with Old Bay, then egg/milk wash, then in panko/Italian bread crumb mixture - and deep fry, mmmm. Even my picky 18 year old loves fried geoduck! The bigger ones were probably around 3.5# each - and the local seafood stand sells them *in the shell* for $28/lb. So, those bigger geoduck are worth close to $100 each! (Too bad I couldn't sell a few!).
I cleaned them, cut the siphon (neck meat) into several sections and left the belly meat whole - then individually packaged each piece in the freezer so we can take out just what we need for a meal depending on how many people I'm cooking for. I saved some of the siphon meat out (in the fridge) to grind today - I am going to try canning some for making chowder later. I would make chowder now, but chowder is so much nicer when it's cold out or when someone is feeling icky. It's going to be in the high 70's and into the 80's here this week, so don't think I'll be making chowder :)
Now, I think we're gonna go sockeye fishing (or maybe crabbing?) tomorrow! Can't wait for some more fresh seafood!