Galley Notes: Saucy Mocha Secrets

Our meals for the past few months have been pretty simple; rice, a salad or a few veggies sautéed quickly with some garlic and ginger, a bit of roast chicken, maybe an egg that I boiled in it’s shell along with the rice, or a few slices of tofu fried until golden. A splash of…

Solar Cooking: Testing the Go Sun Stove and the Sun Flair Solar Oven for BWS

Think that solar cooking means one pot meals and reheating frozen meals? This is my Squid Stuffed with Saffron Rice in a Spicy Tomato Sauce. It was cooked in a solar oven. Think that solar cooking requires you to live in the tropics? Wondering if solar cooking is a pracitical cooking method? Curious about different…

Provisioning, Passages and the Peanut Butter Princess

We are preparing for our next passage to the Philippines, which means we’ve been doing lots of schlepping of provisions. It’s not that I am worried about finding good provisions in PI, it’s just that I know there are somethings I may not be able to find. For me part of the excitement of sailing…

Galley Notes: Pressure Cooker “Baked” Pinto Bean Brownies

I have been kind of obsessed with Pinto Bean Brownies for the last month or so and no doubt if you try them you will be too. It all started while researching an article about pressure cooking. Like most yachties I own a PC, they are very handy pots, especially while on passage. Just the…

Galley Notes; How to Dress a Squid

So, you’ve managed to convince some cephalopods that your lure looked tasty and now you’ve got a bucket full o’ squid. Visions of calamari are dancing in your head, but just how to you get from whole animal to delicious, deep fried morsels? “Dressing” a squid does not involve turtle necks or tutus, it is…

Galley Notes: Confessions of a Fungi-phobe

Shopping for fruit and veg in the Solomon Islands couldn’t be easier; most days I don’t even have to leave the cockpit. Outside urban centres like Honiara and Gizo (where there are stores and fresh markets and people have jobs that pay money) we almost never go ashore for fresh goods. Guaranteed sometime during the…

Galley Notes; Saffron Yogurt and Stove-Top Baked Yogurt Herb Bread

When Steve returns from a stint away working he always brings me a few special things. This time it was some fancy hand cream, a couple chocolate bars from duty-free (chocolate is expensive in this part of the world), a can of ready-to-eat hummus, a small bottle of perfume and a bottle of hazelnut butter. An…

Galley Notes: Fermenting on a Small Sailboat

Steve has been away for almost 7 weeks and, as per usual, while he’s been gone I have been experimenting in the galley. This time I have been making sauerkraut, and some variations, using the process of natural fermentation. I am a big fan of sauerkraut, always have been. Growing up in Nova Scotia it…

Galley Notes: I really like your pawpaw, can I shake your tree?

Last month I finally received a new supply of mason jars. The dozen that I carefully carried back from Australia last year quickly got filled in the last round of preserving I did. My enthusiasm for canning was bolstered by my success so another yachtie and I decided to combine our order and split the…

Broken Engines & Breadfruit Gnocchi

Equipment fails and things break but life doesn’t stop. There are still dental appointments and piles of stinky laundry and a sink full of dirty dishes. Amidst the chaos and frustration we still have to eat. The easy way out in times like these would be to have a hot shower and treat ourselves to…