Seafood Chowder for a crowd
Simple Measure is back! Thanks for waiting so patiently while we took a long vacation back home to Maine. We got our fill of family, mini golf, swimming and yes, our favorite foods.
When we tell people we’re from Maine, they always assume: “Oh, you grew up on the coast?” No, we lived in that OTHER part of Maine. The middle. Lots of pine trees, but no ocean in sight.
Yet just about once a year we do make a visit to the coast. Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Arlo live down east, minutes from the picturesque town of Eastport. As the name suggests, it’s about as far east as you can go before hitting Canada.
It’s a family tradition to meet up there for a weekend-long party every summer. We get all excited about it weeks and weeks before we even step foot on the plane home.
When you walk into Aunt Bonnie’s kitchen, you’re greeted by a dozen hugs and the aroma of fresh seafood chowder warming up on the stove.
What’s the secret to making people line up for three servings of this chowder year after year? The freshest seafood possible. And it doesn’t get any fresher than living minutes from Passamaquoddy Bay, where you can drive down to the docks and load up on seafood caught just that morning.
The morning of the party, Aunt Bonnie combines pounds and pounds of lobster, scallops and white haddock to make the gallons of chowder needed to feed all the fans of this recipe. And we thank her for it!
Aunt Bonnie’s Seafood Chowder for a Crowd
Serves 20. No fooling. Go back for seconds, there’ll be plenty for two days.
6 lbs Haddock
8 lbs Lobster fresh from Passamaquoddy Bay
1/2 gallon Scallops
10 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
3 large White Onions
1/2 gallon Half & Half
S+P to taste
What a great description of my chowder. This is my 15 minutes of fame!! I have to admit, I left out a stick of real butter. Half the fun of the party is preparing the food. On Thurday evening Uncle Arlo and I and any friends who pop in take care of boiling the lobsters and shelling out the meat. The coffee pot is on and sometimes people sit and visit while others “help” with the lobster. It wouldn’t be as fun without you, we’ve been so lucky for the last 7 years that everyone has been able to attend. I love your web site and I love you.
— Aunt BonnieAunt Bonnie
Thanks so much for inspiring this post — we all had such a great time this year. Now you and Uncle Arlo have to come out to Chicago so we can return the favor. Love you too!
— ErinI actually teared up a little reading this… I don’t care for seafood, but I miss Maine! My favorite part of being able to get lobsters fresh from the docks was when my dad would set up lobster races across the kitchen floor. Good times.
— Ari