comida

lisa:

greetings from the galley. it hasn't been easy and there have been a few mishaps. we spoke about them a little bit in our last audio post but i thought i'd expound on the subject a little. leaving ventura it was smooth sailing and cooking was easy. in the ensenada marina, easy peasy. when we left ensenada the weather was rough, the waves were huge and frankly, i was terrified. we had ramen that night. the next meal was spaghetti with shrimp, peas and leeks. i unlocked the stove so it would remain level while the boat rocked back and forth. well, for those of you who have never seen this (and this was my first time) it's super scary. it was swaying at approx 45 degree angle with pots full of boiling water. i screamed a lot and made some one stay with me. not rational, i know, but i didn't trust that wobbly thing- we're friends now. also during this time in my learning process i was placing things on the counters, diving back and forth between the stove and the counter as things slid around. not everything survived. one morning i was making bagels. i put 5 bagels in the oven, caught the hummus as it tried to make a break for it. stopped the jam from crashing off the counter. i buttered and jammed half, hummused & avo'd the other half. i put them on a plate and started the ascent to the cockpit starving and ready to eat. as i stepped out of the galley, the door to the electrical panel flies open and knocks all the bagels off the plate. every one lands gooey side down. i, of course, begin screaming and throwing a tantrum. scooping and screaming i prepare to throw the treacherous bagels overboard. both don and andy scream, in unison, "no! we'll eat them!" dinner the next night was a veggie korma with jasmine rice. i had prepared this meal ahead of time so i only had to reheat  and serve. i plated the rice and then turned my attention to the korma. while i had my back turned a bowl of rice went sliding across the counter and took a header straight onto the floor. there was less screaming this time, but not by much. around this time i realized i needed to line the counter so i could stop all this sliding. now i put down a few hot pads and kitchen towels and it's been successful so far. i've been making bread as well. banana walnut and honey oat. and since my oven doesn't have a temperature setting, just a big flame and a little flame on the knob, this is no small feat. let's just say i purchased an oven thermometer and stand there adjusting it for about an hour. you get used to it.

provisioning has been a lot of fun. everything in mexico has sugar in it. i learned very quickly how to translate high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. but the produce has been gorgeous and mostly pretty cheap. a papaya for less than $2 makes me pretty happy. avo's are about $4-5/ kilo- so a little pricey and apples are insane. great prices for tomatoes and when you can find good looking herbs they are about .40 a bunch. 

lelsie and i went to the farmers' market in la cruz the other morning and did pretty well. we found some tahini, which i had given up on. beautiful basil, cherry tomatoes and green beans. we also bought scallops ,which i think were old because they were very chewy and i barely cooked them a minute, but they had a nice flavor. we had a pasta with all those goodies and i made a white wine lemon sauce to go with it and we sopped it all up with a baguette, also purchased at the market. the whole thing cost me about $15 and it made 2 meals for 5 people. i also have tons of basil left over, so savory muffins are on this afternoons agenda. i think that's about all for me. adios!

State of the art cooling

snapping snappers

loverly veg