True clambakes -- pits filled with steaming rocks and seaweed on the beach -- are major productions. You can fake it indoors though -- it's a one-pot meal. Make sure to use a very big pot. Seaweed not required.

Newsday offers the how-to in pictures here as developed by Polly Talbott, owner of A la Carte Cooking School in Lynbrook, N.Y. Here's the recipe, since you'll need it to buy the ingredients.

Indoor Clambake
Serves: 8-10 people / Preparation time:1 hour, 30 minutes / Total time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

3/4 cup olive oil
5 large onions, cut into wedges about 1-inch thick
6 large carrots, cleaned, quartered lengthwise and cut into 3-inch lengths
6 stalks celery
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large sprigs each fresh Italian parsley, thyme and marjoram or oregano
4 bay leaves
2 cups dry white wine
6 to 8 ears of corn, husked and broken into 3-inch pieces (reserve husks)
3 pounds small new potatoes (if any larger than 1 1/2 inches, cut in half)
1 pound linguica, kielbasa or chorizo sausage, sliced 1-inch thick
2 dozen littleneck clams
2 pounds mussels
24 large shrimp
2 to 3 (1 1/2-pound) live lobsters

Drawn butter (recipe below)

Put oil, onions, carrots and celery along with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper in the pot and sweat them over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and just starting to color, 12 to 15 minutes.

Add herbs and wine to the pot, then cover everything with a double layer of corn husks to separate the aromatics from the rest of the ingredients. On top of the husks, layer -- in this order -- the corn, potatoes, sausage, clams and mussels, sprinkling each new layer with a little salt and pepper. Top with the shrimp and nestle in the lobsters.

Cover the pot; make sure the lid is tight, weighing it down with some bricks or cans. (Or you can seal the pot with heavy-duty aluminum foil, and place the lid on top of that.) Cook over high heat until the steam just becomes lively and begins to escape from the lid, about 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and cook another 15 minutes.

Open the pot and check to see that the lobsters are bright red, the clams and mussels are open and the potatoes are done -- a fork or cake tester should slide in easily. Remove lobsters, and then the rest of the ingredients, discarding any clams or mussels that didn't open.

When you get down to the layer of husks, fish out the vegetables and discard everything except the carrots, which are delicious and can be served as a side dish. Pour the remaining broth through a colander, pressing out all liquid, and keep warm.

To serve, just dump everything out onto a table covered with brown paper, or arrange the ingredients prettily on one or two platters. Serve with warm broth, drawn butter and plenty of paper towels.

DRAWN BUTTER: Place 3 sticks of butter in a microwavable vessel (i.e., a large Pyrex measuring cup) and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave until butter is fully melted and white "milk solids" have risen to the top and fallen to the bottom. Peel off plastic wrap carefully -- there will be a blast of steam -- and skim off the "top" milk solids with a spoon. Pour the butter into another bowl, taking care to leave the bottom milk solids in the first vessel. Makes 1 1/2 cups.