Clams

Time out!  Am I the only one who didn't know that when you buy clams at the grocery store that they are still alive?  Somehow I missed this memo and was quite disturbed when I dumped mine in water for cleaning and they started making bubbles as they proceeded to slip into their shells before closing shut.  Again, I'm okay that they were once alive, but I don't want to be the one who has to kill them.  In my kitchen!

After racing to the computer and googling, "why are the clams I bought still alive," I discovered that clams are sold alive and if they are dead when you buy them you should throw them out.  The suggested way to determine this is to poke at them to see if they move.  Umm...no thanks.  It turns out you can also put them in water and throw out any that float.  Those clams sat in my fridge for two days (alive!) and I was none the wiser.  Learn something new everyday I guess.  At least a tasty pasta meal was the end result.