Winter is finally here in Texas and I’m in the mood for some clam chowder.

Back in the fall I went on a girls trip with my twin sister and two other friends. We went to Newport, RI and had such a great time touring the mansions, shopping, and eating a lot of wonderful seafood.

I knew that I was going to have a lot of seafood while on this trip and I did.  I had crab cakes, clam chowder (twice), shrimp, and steak/shrimp. By the time we left the temperature had dropped to 39° and I was wanting more of the clam chowder and couldn’t wait for some cool or even colder weather here in Texas so I could make a pot of this Clam Chowder. I’ve said before that here in Texas you can’t wait for cold weather to have soup, you just have to make it when you’re in the mood.

My sister and I have been making this quick and easy chowder for years. Supposedly it is a recipe from a restaurant up in St. Louis that we went to back in the 70’s that looked like Noah’s Arc.

The recipe calls for a lot of canned soups but we have tweaked it and use “fat-free” or “healthy request” soups for any of the ones we can find, added some extra clams and some bottled clam juice.

I love to garnish this with fresh snipped chives and some oyster crackers.

You can have all these ingredients on hand for a last minute dinner.

Just open everything up and start mixing. In no time you will have a delicious bowl of chowder.

Quick and Easy Clam Chowder

1 can Campbell’s Cream of celery soup, fat-free if possible
1 can Campbell’s New England Clam Chowder, fat-free if possible
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Onion soup, fat free if possible
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Potato soup, fat-free if possible
2 cans clams, drained and rinsed (any size)
1 bottle clam juice
1 stick butter
1-2 cans milk, to thin soup to desired consistency
Chives, for garnish

Sprinkling of paprika or cayenne pepper

Mix all the soups together. Add the butter, the clam juice and the rinsed clams. Heat. Thin to desired consistency with more milk. Ladle into bowls, garnish with chives and enjoy.