By John Owen

You say you are planning an authentic Thanksgiving feast on the 26th? Well, just be sure you get all the sand out of the clams.

Obviously, an authentic Edmonds Thanksgiving dinner must be built around little neck clams.

How many turkeys do you think were strutting up and down the beach the day George Brackett sought refuge from winds which threatened to overturn his canoe during a timber-scouting expedition in 1890? Zero would be a good guess.

But it's doubtful if the pioneer logger took two steps on what is now known as Brackett's Landing, without experiencing the thrill induced by a spurt of icewater up one pants leg.

Yup, there were lots and lots of clams on these beaches. In fact I was still digging clams at nearby Picnic Point before the developers moved in less than a decade ago.

And I'll bet the settlers who followed Brackett to what is now known as Edmonds assembled their holiday feasts on the beaches and tidewaters hiding fish, clams and Dungeness crabs.

The pioneer wives at least could celebrate a free meal and for a day forget their hard-scrabble lives. You know, at that time of the year it was likely raining a lot on their tents or leaky cabins. TV reception was probably lousy. Bus service to Alderwood Mall was unpredictable.

But on Thanksgiving, or any blustery fall or winter evening, there is nothing like a sea stew or steaming bowl of cioppino to light the old internal boiler. To find an appropriate recipe just call up Google on your computerand type in "sea stew with clams."

In this area the most consistent sources for live clams out of a tank are Ranch 99 in Edmonds and Central Market in Shoreline.

Happy Holiday. Or as George Brackett and Ivar Haglund used to say, "Keep Clam."