My daughter's biology course for the year is at the point of dissecting all sorts of critters. It is disgusting. I never took biology in high school (don't ask me how I whizzed through without it, but I did) so I never dissected anything. There is something queasily uncomfortable about killing a living thing and ripping its guts apart so you can answer a few questions in your lessons. Ick. But it had to be done, so we got the family involved.

I purchased a few littleneck clams from Walmart and kept them in the refrigerator for a few days. When the Big Day came, we washed them and prepared our tools: a knife, a washcloth, tongs, and a pot of boiling water. We said our goodbyes and prepared for their demise. They were strangely peaceful, as if they knew their end was near.

Problem #1: How do you open the blasted things?

Their... uh.. mouths (?) were slightly open and they make a barely audible squeeshing sound (don't know how to explain it-- it was like slurping a straw backwards). But as soon as we picked one up, it clamped shut. Hmm. Have to be a little faster. With a butter knife in one hand, I deftly scooped up the clam and rammed the knife in. I got it in, but the clam made a louder squeeshing sound and clamped shut on the knife. It was stuck to the knife! This was not going to be easy.


We had no idea how to open the things.

I'd read that the clams open up when they are steamed or boiled. Maybe if we (*sob*) boiled them briefly (*sob*) they'd open their mouths and we could get this ordeal over with.


They opened right up. The junior scientist went right to work.