Not everyone loves big fat Atlantic surf clams. Salty, chewy, and briny in the extreme, there is nothing better eaten raw, though very few are sold for that purpose in the part of the country where I live, Minnesota. I like to take fresh large cherrystone clams about 2 inches high and about 3 inches across and shuck them, serving them on the half shell with buttered toast and a sturdy cocktail sauce, a big pile of sliced lemons at my elbow. I use smaller clams for pasta (the smaller size are called littlenecks) and every once in a while I crave a good stuffie. Stuffies are what New Englanders call these fabulous baked clams that are the end result of the recipe below. Heaven.