Galley Talk

If it has not already been painfully obvious, I am a girl..well a woman..sometimes even a lady. Being a little "old fashioned" in our roles, my husband fixes everything ( firstly because he is, well, frugal and secondly because he can... if you have not done so already you can check out the 2 yr re-fit he did to our boat here www.benger.blogspot.com) and I cook, bake, clean etc. I love to cook and try new recipes. They do not always work out but that does not make it any less fun. One of the things I am looking forward to most about living by anchor is having more time to cook, bake and try new foods and spices.
     A few years ago when planning started for the moving aboard a boat process I discovered and read a book called The Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof.
Kindle Book Link  It was a wonderful storytelling of their liveaboard adventures injected with recipes made of ingredients they found along their travels. I fell in love with this idea. She subsequently has written another entitled The Spice Necklace which is equally intriguing.

     As space is always a premium while living in a boat we parted ways with many of our beloved paper books and use Kindle ebooks instead. There were a few exceptions .... my husband made space for like his diesel mechanics and World Cruising Routes and I made space for cookbooks. I love my cookbooks and have read them cover to cover like novels. The excitement of being able to try all the different things has me looking forward to that almost as much as eating cookies ! Don't trust someone that will not eat cookies !
     One of my new favourites is written by a couple ladies blogs', Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons, that  I follow
www.theboatgalley.com and http://www.commutercruiser.com/ . It is called the Boat Galley Cookbook and is available on Amazon in hardcopy or kindle editions. Highly recommended !Buy Book Here

The "nerd" in me also loves the food science books by Alton Brown, famed for a Food Network Show called Good Eats. We are actually going to see his live tour in February in Syracuse, NY. And at that time we will stop in Rochester and check on our boat. Maybe even get an autograph.see his books here  

     While reading The Boat Galley's entries I came across a very interesting one about solar cooking. I had never really thought about or considered anything of the sort before. But I have also read that obtaining propane in the South Pacific can be difficult and expensive. I took some time out to read her thoughts on solar cooking and then research other websites for more information.
     After some discussions with my husband about the using, making, buying a solar oven, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy one. See Solar Ovens Here The one I chose is a Sport Solar Oven http://www.solarovens.org/ . It is light weight, durable and comes with pots, recipes etc. Oh boy more recipe options ! I figure the $200 I spent should pay for itself in the savings of propane costs. I love my Crockpot at home and this seems to have the same basic principles.  I can put food in, go diving, swimming, hiking or whatever all afternoon and come back to the boat with dinner being ready !

So while I sit and wait for the Solar Oven to arrive, along with the sun. I blissfully dream of endless summers..instead of this

Only 152 more days....do you think I will make it ???