The Boat Galley: A Cookbook Givaway!

****This giveaway has closed***

Have you ever been to The Boat Galley?  If not - you should.  Carolyn Shearlock has been a long time "virtual friend" of mine and her blog is excellent.  Unlike me and many of the other general cruising bloggers out there, she really IS an expert in her field (cooking while cruising) and I have learned a ton about cooking, provisioning, storing and outfitting from her site.  When she emailed me to tell me that a) she had a book coming out and b) would I like a copy to review? it was a no-brainer.  Yes please!

Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that I am absolutely hopeless in the galley.  I don't enjoy cooking, I'm not good at cooking and figuring out what to eat for dinner every night is a daily battle I despise waging.  I will happily eat the same thing for days on end and my creativity ends when a kitchen of any sort begins.  I need help and lots of it.  Historically, I have turned to Carolyn's website for ideas, tips and tricks, but now I can turn to her book!

Carolyn along with her writing partner Jan Irons have created a cooking volume that I truly believe will set the bar for cruising cookbooks.  The Boat Galley Cookbook boasts "800 everyday recipes and essential tips for cooking aboard" and it is just that.  They cover everything from galley safety tips to gear selection, from space optimization to energy efficiency - all the while offering excellent, relevant advice and practical pointers that will make you shake you're head and proclaim "why didn't I think of that?!".  The recipes offer options for every palette and are (most important!) super easy to navigate.  Looking for a one pot meal?  There's a chapter on those.  What about a meal for a cold night?  Yep, they've got that too.  Need a quick appetizer for a sundowner party?  The've got you covered.  I could go on and on, but you get the gist.  What's best is that all the recipes have been created with the cruiser in mind using as few ingredients possible and/or items which are easily found in most grocery stores around the world.  It's fantastic.  I still don't love cooking, but if I could ever love a cookbook, it'd be this one.

And now I get to give a copy to one of you fine readers!

If you'd like to enter to win The Boat Galley Cookbook - please do the following:

1. Hit the "Like" button at the bottom of this post THEN
2. Write a comment below so I know you shared and include your email address (so I know how to find you if/when you win!) 

I will chose one winner at random next Monday and announce him/her on our Facebook Page and on Twitter so keep you're eyes peeled!

Happy Cooking!

*Editor update 2/15/2013: I have now been using this cookbook aboard for two weeks and LOVE it.  The recipes are simple and delicious.  This is, hands down, the best cookbook for cruisers out there today.  I love it and I love the food that I'm making because of it!

Soursop Shmoursop

I have mentioned before that some tropical fruits and veggies are...well...a little intimidating to someone who didn't eat her first avocado until college and who's idea of an "exotic" fruit as a child was a red grape.  But none have been so foreign and scary as (drum roll please) the Sour Sop.

I probably would never have even tried this "Sour Sop" if not for the smoothie place in town that I frequent.  I went there one day and couldn't decide what to try and asked the smoothie man himself what he thought was the best.  Without hesitation he said, "Sour Sop", and I have been hooked on the sour sop smoothie ever since.

About the size of a football and covered with dull prickles, the sour sop looks really weird.  The taste is like nothing I've ever had before.  Distinctively sweet, it has been described before as pineapple mixed with strawberry and there is a thickness to it when blended that is reminiscent of yogurt.  What makes the sour sop really unusual, is the consistency. It is ready to be eaten when it's so mushy that if you were to drop it, it would burst (which is so counter-intuitive when picking produce) and the flesh inside is stringy and creamy. Suffice it to say, this fruit is just plain weird.  Delicious, but weird.

I was at the grocery store when I saw one on an otherwise empty shelf.  Like a lone puppy in a pet store, I felt compelled to buy it.  I picked it up gently with two hands (this one weighed about 4 pounds), and felt it's gelatinous insides slop around a bit.  This baby was ripe and needed to be eaten today.  Then and there I decided I would make my very own sour sop smoothie for lunch.

I got back to the boat and, unsure of what to do, cut the beastly fruit in half.  The flesh is full of round, black seeds that are allegedly indigestible so, figuring I shouldn't eat them, I began to try and delicately maneuver them out with a knife.  That didn't work well at all (very slimy) and before I knew it, I went "Apocalypse Now" on the thing and just began digging at the pulp with my bare hands and squeezing out the seeds before I threw it in a blender with some water.  To say I made a mess would be a very large understatement.  Sour sop pulp was everywhere.

Anyway - I blended up the pulpy, creamy fruit with some water and made my first boat smoothie.  I had to play with the water to sour sop ratio a bit because the first batch was way too thick, but eventually I got it right and it was delicious.  Ice probably would have made it killer.  I should also note, however, that one person could not possibly eat an entire sour sop so I ended up wasting quite a bit of it which is no surprise considering it's about the size of a premie.

This is after I went "Apocalypse Now" on it.  Clearly. 

Ready to blend.  This blender, by the way, is amazing for a boat.

Thick and creamy perfection!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Lessons Learned Baking Christmas Cookies (on a boat)

Peanut butter blossoms!  They don't look right, but they taste right!

As many of you who follow us on Facebook know, I entered the world of Christmas cookie baking a few days ago...

To be honest, I actually don't think I've ever baked Christmas cookies before (my best friend will tell you I have the worst memory though, which is why I started writing in the first place so maybe I just blocked it out?) and now I know why.

I learned many, many things during this foray into Christmas-cookieness, but the three biggest lessons I learned were the following:

1)  I now understand why people throw parties to make these things.
2)  I also know why I have not been invited to said parties.
3)  As much as I love Christmas, I do not really enjoy Christmas cookie making.

HOWEVER...

Christmas spirit beat out my lack of enthusiasm for baking, and I decided that I was going to surprise Scott and the passengers and crew of Diamant when they returned to port with a bounty of holiday delectables. Yay, me!  Eight hours later (that's right, eight) I had the following: 24 Mexican wedding cookies, 36 peanut butter blossoms, 36 chocolate-oatmeal-coconut cookies, a burned tongue, three small burns on my hands, one discarded pile of burned/melted chocolatey-marshmallow poo, a very sore back, a chocolate stain on the carpet, chocolate in my hair, flour in places there should not be flour and three beautiful gift tins of cookies to give away! It should also be noted that I used an entire roll of paper towel in the process.  Don't ask me how that's possible, but I did it.

Mexican wedding cookies are YUMMY.  These also don't look right, but they taste right.

This is what the boat looked like during the mayhem.

Other lessons I learned:

1. Shopping for christmas cookie supplies before you know what you are going to make does not make a whole lot of sense.
2. You can actually make your own powdered sugar by putting sugar in a food processor (this was the highlight of my day, btw)!
3. "One batch" in a normal oven is equal to two or three batches in a boat oven, which is only slightly larger than the Easy Bake oven you used when you were six.
4. The time to make "one batch" is actually doubled or tripled due to the above.
5. A boat gets really hot really, really fast when an oven is on for hours at a time.
6. It helps a lot to know for sure if your oven temperature is measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit (I still do not know, experimentation will continue).
7. You can't melt chocolate over an open flame.  Apparently it needs to be in something called a "water bath", whatever the hell that is.
8. Adding vegetable oil to melting chocolate while trying to heat it over an open flam does not make it more "melty".
9. Adding marshmallows to the clumpy, grainy, non-melty chocolate won't turn it into something edible after all.
10. Chocolate that has been heated over an open flame is as hot as molten lava and you should not "taste" it.  It will burn your tongue and make you scream expletives.
11. Chocolate that has been improperly melted and then dries is like cement and a major pain in the ass to clean from your cooking utensils.
12. A mellon-baller (why or how we have one I have no idea) makes a great cookie scooping/shaping mechanism.
13. Peanut Butter blossoms are really messy to make and cleaning peanut butter and shortening from your cooking utensils is about as easy as rinsing vaseline out of your hair with a trickle of water.
14. Hershey's kisses do not hold up to the tropical heat and the minute you try to "press" them into the cookie, they melt like Frosty on a black tarmac road in the middle of summer.  Chocolate will get everywhere.
15. Cooking three different types of cookies (plus one failed attempt at chocolate-dipped marshmallows) will take about eight hours if you are as incompetent as I am in a kitchen.
16. You people with things like "counters", "pantries", "electric mixers" and "human-sized sinks" really have it made in the shade.  I mean, honestly.
17. It's best to use two oven mits when handling scalding hot trays of cookies (we only have one, the other we accidentally donated to Poseidon).  
18. When you touch scalding hot trays of cookies, you will burn and it will hurt.
19. Despite all the follies, foibles and frustration - cookies made on a boat (with love, of course) actually taste really, really good!!

I realize most of these things are nothing new, but they are all lessons I learned.

A tray of holiday delectables!

In the end, I got three wonderful trays of cookies to give away as gifts.  One went to Scott and the crew over on the boat, one will go to the wonderful staff at the marina and the other...well, I might just keep it.  

Christophene Salad

There are lots of mysterious fruits and vegetables here in the Caribbean...

The oranges are green, the limes are yellow and there is something called a sugar apple that looks and tastes nothing like an apple at all (but is delicious).  They have unusual names like jack fruit, shadow benny, star fruit, paw paw, callaloo, soursop, carambola, breadfruit and - my latest fave - christophene.

I have been ever so slowly dipping my toe into these Caribbean staples.  Believe me, it's not easy for someone like me.  Some of this produce looks even funnier than it sounds.  I had seen christophene a hundred times since we got here, I'd even picked it up and examined it at the market a few times...but each time I would put it back wondering "what the heck would I do with that?"  Sure, I could have asked a market lady how to prepare it (as I have many times before) but something about the look and the name was just too intimidating, so I always walked away.

The other week my friend Sharon mentioned a delicious, easy, lettuce-free, salad she had eaten.  Knowing that I love salad and live on a boat with no refrigeration, she told me about it.  "It would be perfect for you!" she began, "It's full of cucumbers, tomatoes and you know what else?  Christophene!  It was delicious".  That was all I needed to break my fear.  I was going to make a christophene and cucumber salad!

The Christopene has the delectable consistency of a crispy green apple without the tart flavor and is actually pretty bland, but makes for an excellent salad addition because it picks up the flavor of whatever  you dress it with.  It also keeps very well and is about as sturdy as a squash, which makes it perfect for boaters like us who live in the dark ages without refrigeration.  Here's what I did - it was wonderful, crispy and fresh!

Caribbean Christophene Salad
Ingredients:

• 1 Christophene, sliced very thin and halved
• 1 large cucumber, sliced very thin and halved
• 10 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin and halved

Dressing:

• 3/4 cup of white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon of garlic salt
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.  Chill before serving (if you have that luxury, which we do not).  I think adding feta cheese, hearts of palm or artichoke hearts (I had none of these things) would be heavenly as well.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Caribbean Plantain Bread

This past Sunday we were out of bread, bagels and scones for breakfast and the grocery stores were closed (everything pretty much closes on Sunday's down here).  "What do eat?", I wondered.  I didn't have much in the way of breakfast food, but I did have four over-ripe plantains.  While plantains and bananas are different, they are still similar so I thought, why not make banana bread and swap out the banana's for plantains?  It worked beautifully.  Here's the recipe I followed (obviously using plantains instead of bananas) if you feel like doing some baking this morning.  I have heard that plantains are "drier" than bananas so some people add pineapple to this recipe, but my bread was not dry at all so I'll leave it up to you.  I also had a friend suggest adding rum and next time I make this - I will definitely add a splash of our very best dark rum to kick it up a notch!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Pumpkin Soup...From Scratch

One thing I love to eat is soup...

I know it seems counter intuitive living in a tropical climate and all, but there are just so many lovely, organic vegetables here from squash to callaloo to pumpkin - all perfect for soups - but we were missing one key ingredient: a way to blend them.

No more!  When I returned from my short visit home I brought with me a little Magic Bullet blender/food processor that will open up a world of recipes for us.  We had heard about this little guy before from many of our friends, and at just under $50, the price was right.  Now we can make smoothies, salsas, shakes and soups to our heart's content.  It's a great little gadget and, so far, I am so happy we got it.

My first soup (sans recipe!) was an absolute success; it was also super easy (requires a few simple ingredients all of which require zero refrigeration - bonus!), healthy and delicious, here it is:

Ingredients:

• 2 table spoons of olive oil
• 1/4 pumpkin, cubed
• 2 medium white potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cups of full cream milk (I have this in cans)
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped ginger (optional)*

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pan, saute onions for about 5 minutes or until clear.
2. Add garlic, pumpkin and potatoes.  Sautee for another 5 minutes or so.
3. Add vegetable broth and milk.  Allow to reach a boil then simmer, stirring regularly.
4. Add garlic salt (and pepper if you wish).  Cook until pumpkin and potatoes are soft and pierced easily with a fork.
5. Transfer (in portions) to the Magic Bullett blender (or if you have a hand blender or something else, even better) and blend thoroughly.  Have a separate pot ready to put the blended soup in.
6. Salt/pepper to taste and ENJOY!

* I had bought what I thought was ginger to add to my soup, but turned out to be saffron.  Whoops!  So our soup was sans ginger, but I think it would add a nice flavor to it.

Caribbean Coconut Bread

For someone who doesn't like to cook, I sure am whipping up a lot of goodies these days, aren't I?

Truth is, I had some to-die-for coconut bread from a Rasta street vendor a few days ago and despite making forays into town every day since to find him again, I have not.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands.  It doesn't hurt that it's pretty easy* to make and coconut anything is Scott's favorite thing in the world and I wanted to make him a little treat for when he came home.  Plus, coconut bread is quintessentially Caribbean and I'm on a roll with this Caribbean cooking thing...

Here's the recipe if you want a taste of the Caribbean in your home!  This particular recipe yields a dense, DELICIOUS bread.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 6 Tbsps. soft margarine, melted
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 small coconut, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven at 350°F/180°C
2. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Combine sugar, beaten egg, coconut milk, melted margarine, vanilla, and grated coconut.
4. Scrape mixture into a greased loaf pan and shape as best you can with a spatula.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until done (when you can prick it with a toothpick and it comes out clean).

Thanks to the Caribbean Choice website for this recipe which I altered a bit to suit our tastes!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

* Except grating the coconut!!  That is NOT easy and takes a lot of time.  You will break a sweat and may or may not lose a finger in the process.  Fresh is best, but I'm sure you can buy pre-shaved coconut if time is an issue or you just don't feel up to the chore.

Caribbean Burritos

So cooking isn't really my thing...

...there are just SO many other things I'd rather do with my time, but we gotta eat, right?  Every now and then I make a little something that surprises me and I feel compelled to share for all you other poor souls who feel lost in the galley.  If you're paying close attention you will realize I pretty much use the same few ingredients in every dish I make.  What can I say? Progress is slow around here.

Fancy making Caribbean burritos? Read on!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of black beans
• 1 white onion
• 1 large tomato 
• 1 large ripe (yellow) plantain (Substitute: 1 ripe banana)
• 1 small bunch of shadow benny (Substitute: cilantro)
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon of butter (to fry plantains)
• 1 tablespoon of oil (to fry onions, tomatos)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of hot sauce of your choice
• 2 roti skins (we can buy them pre-made here which is wonderful)

Directions:

1. Dice onions, tomatos, and cut plantains in slices that are 1/2 inch thick.
2. Heat oil in skillet, fry onions and tomatos (together) on high for about 8 minutes.
3. Add black beans, stirring frequently.  Add spices.  Stir.
4. Chop up a generous amount of shadow benny and add half to the bean mixture, stir.
5. Heat butter in another skillet, add the sliced plantains.  Fry on either side on med/high heat until browned on both sides (about 4-5 minutes per side, but watch closely).
6. Heat up the roti skins, and fill with beans, topping with fried plantains and sprinkle with diced shadow benny and a dash of hot sauce.

Bon appetite! Both sweet and savory (and healthy to boot!), Caribbean burritos are DELISH!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Indian Fare: A meal fit for Popeye

 I'm strong to the finish, 'cause I eats me spinach. -Popeye

Today I made a good meal.  A really good meal.  With canned spinach as the main course.  I know, I know - most of you wouldn't touch canned spinach to save your lives - but for those of us who live on a boat without refrigeration, eating canned food is just a fact of life.  

I searched the internet for how to cook canned spinach, as I had no idea, and I found an Indian recipe that I bastardized* and made my own.  I think it's some sort of palak or paneer or something like that.  Either way, it worked. It was actually really, really good and really, really easy.  For you brave souls who want to try it, or for those of you who are living off canned food in a bomb shelter somewhere - here you go!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of butter (two for sautéing, one for later)
• 1 can spinach (drain only half the water)
• 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 1 medium white onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon of ginger powder or fresh minced ginger root
• 2 heaping teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in pan over med/high heat.
2. Sauté onions until transparent.
3. Add garlic, sauté a minute or two.
4. Add spinach and sauté for a few minutes before lowering heat slightly.
5. Add spices, tomato paste and sugar - allow to cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and chickpeas, simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add salt, fresh pepper to taste.
8. Serve over white rice and enjoy! 

Love,

Brittany & Scott

* To my wonderful Indian friends, I apologize.  This is probably VERY sub-par to your tastes!

Callaloo Soup

While Turkish cuisine will ALWAYS own the #1 spot in my heart for ethnic food, Caribbean is rising quickly on the list...

There are so many spices, so much produce, so many flavors that come alive in Caribbean cooking.  Those of you who follow our Facebook page have seen that I have been spreading my wings in the kitchen and experimenting with cooking Carib-style, and this particular foray was just so dang good I had to share it with you.  Seriously.  Yum.

Here is my (bastardized) recipe for Vegetarian Callaloo Soup.  If I have learned anything about Caribbean cooking, it's that it is very forgiving and if you want to make substitutions, go right ahead!  Play with the spices and just keep taste-testing as you go!

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 large chopped red onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons dried (powdered) ginger (can use fresh!)
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground dried thyme
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 1 large diced peeled sweet potato
• 3 cups chopped callaloo (can use kale or spinach)
• 4 chopped green bananas (can sub 1 large regular potato)
• 1.5 cups lite coconut milk (can use regular if you wish)
• 1/2 can diced tomato (can use 1 cup fresh)
• 1 cup canned black-eye peas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the ginger, turmeric, coriander, and thyme; cook 1 minute longer.
2. Pour in the vegetable stock, green bananas and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add the callaloo; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, tomato, black-eye peas, and lime juice. Simmer about 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Bon Appetite!

Brittany & Scott

Oil Down

When we got the opportunity to experience a traditional "oil down" on a remote black sand beach this past weekend, we lept at the chance...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do - right? Experiencing local food is not only a great way to learn about a culture, but it is incredibly cost effective as well. What do you think is cheaper down here: a veggie burrito or a heaping plate of 'oil down'? The heaping plate will win, every time. But I am getting ahead of myself...

What the heck is "Oil Down" anyway?

Oil Down is the national dish of Grenada and has absolutely nothing to do with a lavender infused massage (thought that does sound nice).  It's what people in the South might refer to as "comfort" food and is a hearty combination of vegetables, dumplings, fish, pork (sometimes snouts and tails), beef, callaloo, spices and coconut milk all cooked together in a big pot over an open flame.  The namesake comes from the fact that the coconut milk - as it simmers - releases a fragrant oil that rises to the top and, once it reaches the bottom of the pot (get it?  oil down), it is ready to serve.

The meal is nothing short of a feast - a tour de flavor if you will - and your belly will sing you praise (especially if you did a pretty rugged hour long hike to get to the oil down!).  Oh - and another bonus?  It's all cooked in one pot.  We love one pot meals over here!

Want to make your own oil down and get a little taste of the Caribbean?  I have copied a recipe below.  And remember - feel free to add or omit ingredients (we'll skip the meat when we make it) - the beauty of the oil down is that just about anything tastes good in it.  Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and more.  Get creative.  But remember - a true oil down must have in it callaloo (substitutions:  swiss chard, spinach or collard greens), coconut milk and saffron (substitution: turmeric).  There are about a million different variations of oil down and it seems everyone has their own special version, but I found this one to be most comprable to what we had...

Morris, our chef, working his magic

Ingredients

• 2 Onions, chopped
• 4 Spring onions, chopped
• sprig Thyme, leaves picked
• 4 cm Ginger, grated
• 3 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 8 Chicken thighs, skin on (optional)
• 1 small seasoning Pepper, or mild green chili, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground Saffron/Turmeric, or 1 tsp fresh turmeric, finely grated
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 225 g callaloo leaves
• 450g salt beef, pre-boiled until tender to remove excess salt, cut into 3cm slices (optional)
• 225g Pumpkins, or butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 small fresh breadfruit, peeled, core removed and cut into 4cm cubes (or substitute 2 large potatoes, cubed)
• 500ml coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 Spring onions, chopped

Preparation

1. Combine the onions, spring onions, thyme, ginger and half the garlic to make a marinade. Mix with the chicken and leave overnight in the fridge, if possible, or for a couple of hours.

2. Add the remaining garlic to the chicken along with the seasoning pepper and turmeric. Stir well.

3. Heat a splash of oil in a large pan. Add the marinated chicken pieces and fry for a few minutes to brown.

4. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the callaloo and pare off the outer layer. Roughly chop the prepared stems and shred the leaves.

5. Add the callaloo and the salted beef to the pan and stir well. Add the pumpkin and breadfruit and stir again. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes.

6. Pour in 400ml of the coconut milk and season with black pepper. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes without stirring. Top up the pan with the remaining coconut milk during cooking, as needed.

7. Scatter with spring onions before serving.

Note:  Our version also had lovely Caribbean-style dumplings in it - I would highly recommend adding these, especially if you make the vegetarian version!

Bon Appetite!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

P.S.  If you would like to see our entire photo album of this incredible day, check out this link.

Sproutin'

"To see things in the seed, that is genius."

- Lao Tzu

Before we left on this journey, one of my very best friends, Lina, gave me a sprouting kit (yes, I realize that was about a year ago - these things take time!).  Knowing that we didn't have a refrigerator or a way to keep greens and veggies fresh for extended periods of time, she figured sprouting my very own produce would be the next best thing.  Sprouts, in fact, are considered a superfood.   Packed with tons of vitamins and all the essential amino acids (among a litany of other things) - these little babies pack a punch and are a great addition to any diet.  Aside from the health benefits, the fixings to begin sprouting are dirt cheap, they require very little attention and are rumored to be easy to grow.  Seen as how I a) am not a cook and b) lack the illustrious green thumb we'll see how "easy" these are.  But I am determined and have my first batch soaking right now.

Interested in sproutin' with me?  Here's a link on how to sprout your own goodies if you feel so inclined.  Supplies needed:  A mason jar (or as many jars as you want to fill), sprouting seeds (like mung, lentil or alfalfa), cheese cloth and water.  It's that simple.

Now let's get germinating!  Stay tuned...

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Sticky Fingers Scones!

You don't get over hating to cook, any more than you get over having big feet.

- A woman after my own heart, Peg Bracken

A lot of you wonder what we eat day to day (especially since we have no refrigeration).  I have been pretty transparent about the fact that I really don't like to cook and my "repertoire" of recipes is actually quite laughable.  In fact, there *might* have been times when I convinced Scott that popcorn is a great dinner (high in fiber!) or that eating a can of green beans with some balsamic vinegar and oil is "filling".  The poor boy is so brainwashed by my "cooking" that he gets really excited when I change things up and sprinkle coconut on his daily half bagel with peanut butter for breakfast.  I know.  This has got to change.

However - I have managed to find a few items to kick up our menu a notch.  Sticky Fingers Scones are one such item.  Before you get too excited and start calling me Julia Child*, you should know this mix is of the "just add water" variety (my favorite kind!) and super easy.  Add 3/4 cups of water, cook for 15 minutes and voila!  Fresh scones that taste heavenly accompanied with some butter and a cup of tea. I make these in muffin tins for simplicity's sake and they are a favorite aboard Rasmus and make the boat smell delicious to boot!

Mmmmhhhhmmmmm...can you smell them?

They're not gourmet, but they are easy and good.  And I like easy and good!

* I just learned that Julia started cooking at 32...perhaps there is hope for me yet?

Spicey!

“Our minds are like our stomachs; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetites.”          

- John Quinton

 

Don't know what spices to buy?  How about a spice necklace?  They smell wonderful!

One of the very best things about living and traveling abroad are the local markets.  I think open-air markets are one of the quickest ways to transport yourself to another culture.  Whether it be a Farmer's Market in Wisconsin, a Bazaar in Egypt, a Flea Market in Turkey or a Produce Market in Africa - it is a guaranteed cheap and easy way to spend an exciting afternoon while taking in the sites, sounds and smells of a place.  I seek out a local market wherever I go.

Here in Grenada, the most famous market is the Spice Market (I mean, this place is not called "Spice Island" for nothing).  As soon as you walk in the battle for your attention begins; "Hey sexy!! Come look here!" "Girly - delicious spices for you!" "Beautiful woman, it takes nothing to look - please come!" - these folks have (obviously) learned that flattery can get you far!  Your senses are attacked as you wind in and out of the aisles: vendors hawk their colorful goods in your face, your ears ring with the elevated buzz of buying and selling, and the smells - oh the smells - nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, curry and more fill the air - it's impossible not to feel a little hunger pang.

Nutmeg (Grenada's most famous spice) - in the raw - laced by the Mace spice

Now if only I knew what to do with all these spices...hmmmm...

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Life Aboard Rasmus

A lot of people wonder what our day to day life is like on our boat.  It's pretty simple really. So here's, more or less, how our days go by at anchor:

We (well, Scott more than I) wake up almost every day at 6:30am to listen to Caribbean weather guru Chris Parker who gives cruisers a pretty detailed weather report every day on the SSB.  From there, we usually pool over our chart and guide books to plan for days activities.  While we're doing that, I throw on the kettle for tea (the French press for coffee was a HUGE pain to clean, so we are straight-up tea drinkers now) and make a breakfast.  Typically we have a half of a bagel with peanut butter - but I have been known to whip up scones or muffins on occasion to change it up.  I water our plants and put them out in the sun.

After breakfast, we usually switch on our radio to 78A - the channel that has become a phone for our little flotilla.  We make jokes - some clean, some dirty - talk smack, and make our plans for the day.  Sometimes it involves a snorkel or lounging on the beach, sometimes spearfishing or a hike and pretty much always involves a group meal at the end of the day.  Those are some of the best times.

After our excursion of choice, we retire back to our boats.  Scott and I will take quick aft-deck showers* with Joy dish soap (yes, I bathe in dish soap now) and have a siesta of sorts.  Sometimes this is time for boat projects (there is always, and I mean always something to maintain or fix), sometimes a nap and often time for reading.  If there is Internet, I will crank out a blog or two - if not, I'll just write.  In the middle of all this we do boat tidying.  A place for everything, and everything in it's place. We run a tight ship over here!

All the while we are monitoring 78A to hear from our friends.  Around 4pm we usually all get on to chat and plan for dinner.  This almost always occurs on Rasmus because we have the bigger boat of the fleet and our little enclosed cock-pit with the Christmas lights has become the group living room.  Everyone brings a dish and their own dinnerware (plates, silverware, drinks - makes clean-up MUCH easier).  Sometimes, if I'm feeling dangerous I whip up a killer sangria** which pretty much means we all miss Chris Parker the next morning.  We all retire between 9pm and 11pm (unless I make multiple batches of sangria) and we do our dishes, hang out the dish towels, batten down the hatches and rock to sleep like babies with the sound of waves gently lapping against the hull.

Then, we wake up and do it all again.

It's a good life, for sure.  One that I do not think we will ever tire of.  I've never felt more at home.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

*The aft-deck fresh-water shower we installed is one of the best systems on our boat.  We love it.  Being able to rinse our gear and ourselves before we get into our boat makes life much, much more comfortable and a lot less salty.

** My sangria recipe was given to me by Brian and Lara, and then I made it 'killer'.  Here it is:

• 1 bottle of wine
• Very hefty pour of flavored rum (so far we have used mango, coconut and pineapple)
• Generous scoop of country-time lemonade and some water
• 1 can of mixed fruit cocktail in lite syrup.

Beware, this drink packs a punch!