What fun! 

I've just joined a new little cooking club called the Secret Recipe Club, and today is my first "reveal" day.

This club is a little different from the norm, in that you are secretly assigned a different club members blog each month and you are to re-create one of their recipes ready to be revealed all at once on the same day.

I was a little apprehensive at first - What if I didn't like any of the recipes on their blog?  What if I didn't like their style of food?  During this process I've discovered I'm a little bit precious!  I soon got over myself.

So for my very first contribution to the club I was assigned Morsels of Life, and for my very first recipe, I chose....drum roll please.....

New England Clam Chowder

(see original recipe here) 

For some strange reason, I find the word chowder very appealing.  I want to lick the bowl clean type of appealing.  As soon as I see the word I'm transported back to my very first trip to the USA, a long long time ago, eating seafood chowder down at the San Francisco Pier.  It also brings back wonderful memories of my holiday to New Zealand where I made a big batch of corn chowder, and then proceeded to sit for hours eating it in front of the huge window which overlooked the stunningly beautiful Lake Tekapo.

This New England version from Morsels of Life did not disappoint, from the simplicity of making it to the satisfaction of eating it.

"Satisfaction".  The perfect word for this recipe....in every sense of the word.

I only changed 3 things from Morsels of Life's original recipe, purely for my own taste buds, including using  pancetta instead of bacon and cooking it with the vegetables at the beginning.  Using a mix of butter and olive oil instead of all butter, and finally, I used fresh clams in the shells instead of clam meat.

Ohh...I did also add a little parsley just for some freshness.