hey Lauren,
Yes, I also enjoyed our chat very much. It's nice to have conversations that are a bit more meaningful then just the occasional "hi, how are you".

And the way we mix skype online chats with real emails, is very refreshing. I guess email has now almost replaced the hand-written letter, but if you give me your birth date I'll send you a REAL hand-written card through snailmail

Follow up:

I hope Lisa's husband is doing fine and he the stitches heal quickly. My dad lost his thumb in a sawing accident, i can imagine how distressed your friend must have been.

Mhhh, the water runs in my mouth when i read about this clamshowder recipe. Actually, we don't call it clamshowder but Clam Chowder. The recipe I use (but i'm not the best cook) is the one from my mother.

it goes something like this :

Ingredients
1 quart chopped, shucked hard-shell clams, undrained (2 1/4 pounds)
1/2 pound salt pork, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (3 pounds)
6 cups water
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil
Whipping cream

Preparation
Drain clams, reserving liquid; set clams aside.
Cook salt pork in a Dutch oven over medium heat 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove salt pork, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in pan. Set salt pork aside. Add onion, and saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add clam liquid, potatoes, and 6 cups water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 12 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender. Add tomatoes and clams; simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper.

Heat milk and butter until almost boiling; stir mixture into chowder. Stir in basil. Spoon 1 tablespoon whipping cream into each bowl; ladle chowder over whipping cream. Sprinkle with reserved salt pork. Serve with crackers.

maybe one day we can have a clam chowder competition
ok, i have to go now, i have a conference call with some guys at Microsoft. Talk to you later online.

nick