It is so nice to be back to blogging today! I hadn’t intended for things to be so quiet over here the past few days, but Hurricane Irene had other plans.
Sunday morning I woke up fairly early, about 6:30, and went downstairs to survey the damage and start getting breakfast ready. The storm’s effects had begun to be felt overnight and we have two fairly large trees in our yard that we knew might be in trouble if Irene’s winds were as strong as the forecasts were predicting they might be. At that point, damage was minimal – just some downed branches, but nothing major. I got to work on making pancakes (more on those later this week) but mid-way through my efforts, we lost power. Fortunately, we have a gas stove, so I was able to finish cooking breakfast, though I did have to break out a flashlight as there wasn’t much natural light to work with.
I hunkered down with my pancakes and eventually, when I got bored of sitting in the dark alone, went to wake up Shane. When he came down we again surveyed the damage, and that’s when we noticed that the tree in front of our house had developed a large crack in one of its trunks, and was swaying dangerously in the wind. Fortunately, it didn’t appear that it would fall on our house if it did go down, but still, not good. We went outside to check it out, and within no time, many of our neighbors had come over to help us figure out what to do. Irene’s worst was still to come, and this particular tree’s branches weave in and out of our power lines, so we really didn’t want it to take them out if/when it fell.
In the end, the guys worked to secure the cracked trunk with a chain, using another trunk for support while I snapped pictures with my iPhone 🙂 It was pouring, and we were all drenched, but thanks to the help from our neighbors, the task was accomplished! The quick fix seemed to be working!
Shane and I spent a large part of the day staring out the window watching the trees that surround the house bend at completely unnatural angles, just waiting for something to happen. The one in front of our house continued to sway (there was a bit of slack in the chain) but I’m happy to say it held! The only major incident in our neighborhood was a tree that fell on a house, but luckily it didn’t seem to do much damage.
Our power was out for the rest of Sunday, and Monday morning we awoke and discovered we were still without power. We were hearing reports that it could be days or even the end of the week before it was restored. Water was starting to drip from our freezer, so we went out in search of ice last night (we visited 6 or 7 stores, but no luck at any of them). As we were heading home, we began to notice lights on in the houses near ours and we were beyond excited when we pulled into the driveway and saw a light on in our house too!! Power was back after about 36 hours – yay! We know we’re lucky, many of our friends and family are still without electricity, and a lot of people sustained far worse damage than we did.
So, now that we’re all caught up, let me finally tell you about the food. I’m sharing this linguine with clam sauce today because it is the meal that made our dark Sunday night a whole lot brighter. I’d first made the dish earlier last week and we both loved it. It’s a super simple weeknight meal, but packs a lot of flavor for so little effort. Yes, it is made with canned clams, but they’re very tender in this dish and, bonus – they’re cheap. When we were trying to decide what our dinner options were without power on Sunday, I realized this linguine with clam sauce was made entirely on the stove top, and since I was an expert at lighting the stove with a match by this point, dinner came together in no time. As we ate by candlelight in our dark kitchen, it almost seemed like a romantic date night and it sure beat eating Ramen or baked beans 🙂
Linguine with Clam Sauce
from Big Bowl of Love by Cristina Ferrare
1 lb linguine
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups flat leaf parsley, loosely packed and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (6 1/2 oz) cans minced clams in clam juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
Cook the linguine in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente according to the package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds. Add the oil and heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, just until the garlic is fragrant and golden, about 30 seconds. Don’t walk away, the garlic can burn quickly and if it does, it will be very bitter. Stir in the clams and their juice and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and cover. Set aside while the pasta finishes cooking.
Drain the pasta then add it back to the pot you cooked it in. Pour the sauce over the pasta and add the lemon juice. Toss to coat, then serve garnished with lemon wedges.
I’m glad you made it through the storm okay, and that your power has returned! And kudos to you for cooking sans electricity. 🙂
I know exactly what you mean about watching the tree branches bend at unnatural angles. That’s how I spent Sunday afternoon, too. I still can’t believe we had no branches down, since it seemed impossible that they could have survived what the wind was making them do. Glad to see you got your power back – hopefully you didn’t lose too much food!
I echo the comment that it’s a huge relief that you and your neighborhood made it through safely. It’s great you have neighbors that look out for each other.
I’d love to try the recipe, but I want to make sure about the amount of parsley. Is it really 2 cups? That seems like a lot.
Thanks,
Diane
Thanks for the kind words guys!
@Diane – Yes, it is 2 cups of parsley. You want to pack it loosely in the measuring cup, though, so it won’t end up being quite as much as it seems (I’ll revise the wording in the recipe to indicate that). To be honest, I didn’t measure mine, I just eyeballed it.
So glad you got through okay. I was thinking about you this weekend and hoping it wouldn’t hit your area too hard. Ingenius fix of the tree.
I’m thinking this recipe might call for my husband to eat buttered noodles one night while I enjoy the noodles with clam sauce. He’s not a fan of clams, but I love them and this looks perfect to me.
So glad you made it through the storm without too much damage. Can’t imagine being without power for longer than a half hour! This linguine looks delectable.
This was a great dinner, I’m all for having it much more frequently!
So happy you made it through the storm safely! I’ve been thinking of all the New England bloggers out there. Before the storm hit, I was brainstorming things I could make on our gas stove. The linguine would have been perfect by candlelight…
See if you can find some “chowder” clams at you fish monger. You have to cook them for about 8 minutes but they have a nice bite and flavor to them.
Glad to hear that you are OK after the storm! This dish looks just perfect… Very impressive hurricane food!
So nice that your neighbors pitched in to help. Glad all is well. I make a similar dish that my kids love. Thanks for the reminder. It’s been a while.
Sorry to hear about your troubles during the hurricane. Glad to hear that you fared pretty well :o)
Your linguine and clams looks so simple to make and tasty too! Love the photo of the dish, it’s beautiful!!
So glad you made it through okay! I was worried about you and Shane! And the pasta looks great. 🙂 – mary
So very glad you didn’t have a bad time with Irene. Could have been awful for you.
The clam/pasta looks delicious. I have a can in the pantry just calling out to be mixed with some pasta.
I’m so glad you made it through the storm relatively unscathed!
I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to cook this week, but nothing really made my taste buds go “oh yeah!” But your linguine and clam sauce – did! Now I know what I’m going to make for dinner tomorrow!
I’m glad that you and the tree made it through the storm! How awesome that you made a lovely dinner even without power!
Glad to hear you are back in business and your house didn’t get smashed by a tree! I’m impressed with how your hubby and neighbors shored up your tree.
This recipe looks great. I love the simple ingredients. Hubs would definitely like this one! Maybe if he’s lucky, I’ll make it for him. 😉
So glad you’re OK, and didn’t have any major damage from Irene. You’re the only east coast blog I follow, and I was worried ’bout you guys. Great dinner idea to do by candlelight!! I’ve never had clams from a can. Sounds good, but I think I’ll have to do some arm twisting w/ the hubby:)
Glad that nothing too serious happened, and that things are starting to get back to normal. I don’t like clams (or any other seafood), but this recipe looks so easy that I might have to make it for J. I bet he would love it!
Wow, that tree really took a beating. We experienced high winds in Toronto, but nothing like that. Hope your tree survives. The linguini looks great, btw.
Glad you guys made it through the storm safe and sound. And thanks for sharing this pasta. Looks so simple but super delicious.
good way to use canned clams, my (working) mom used to do these al the time. thanks for reminding me of this easy feel-good pasta dish.