Christmas Cove on Christmas Day

It doesn't quite feel like Christmas when the weather is 85 and sunny, so husband and I usually celebrate island style. Go to the beach, take a swim, work on our tans. Shortly before Christmas this year, we added another boat to our "fleet". In addition to the sailboat that we live on, and the dinghy, we bought a 24-foot run-around power boat. This is mainly for T's spearfishing charters, but we've been having fun visiting neighboring islands a lot faster than on the sailboat!

One of these islands is Great St. James, with a cove named Christmas Cove. Supposedly Columbus stopped here on Christmas day while discovering the Virgin Islands. Is there a better place to christen the boat than at Christmas Cove on Christmas Day? We packed a light brunch, bread and cheese and fruit, and headed out early.


Dog must wear her lifejacket! Yes, she is mostly lab, but she's also 11 and not the most confident swimmer.

We had a pleasant ride out and found a nice place to anchor. Time to christen the boat! A little champagne for her...



and a little champagne for me!




We spent a very nice morning just relaxing and enjoying the scenery...then something hit our boat- hard! Turned out to be a someone...a snorkeler from another boat was so engrossed with the underwater view that he ran head first smack into our boat! Luckily he wasn't injured, but it sure was funny!

We decided to spend the whole day by ourselves, so we begged off the various invitations from friends and neighbors for lunch and dinner. What did I cook for Christmas dinner? T's favorite, blueberry pancakes!

We did pretty well on the budget for the week, $16 under, and this is what we ate:
Sunday I made a turkey breast in the slow cooker with sweet potatoes and stuffing
Monday we had homemade mushroom calzones
Tuesday was turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes and carrots
Wednesday was leftovers
Thursday we had dinner with friends, I brought an appetizer tray- crab dip, cheeses, olives, and homemade focaccia bread
Friday was the pancakes, and
Saturday was stuffed squash

I hope everyone had as nice of a Christmas as we did, and see you in the New Year!

Christmas Tree on a Boat

When you live on a boat like we do, there is not enough room for a Christmas tree...and you certainly don't want it tipping over when the boat rocks! So instead of a tree we decorate the part of our mast that comes into the boat. Doesn't take up any space at all!


My siblings and I have a tradition of exchanging Christmas ornaments every year...we get a lot of mermaid and diver ornaments!


We did pretty well on the budget this week- $105 for food and drink, breakfast and dinner- we were able to put $26 into vacation fund. I was so inspired by my homemade pita breads last week (see last post) that I tried hamburger buns this week. I used the Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns recipe from AR. It makes a ton of buns!


Actually, it makes 12, but I have never had luck with scaling bread recipes, so I made all twelve and gave some to the neighbors. They turned out really well, though a bit biscuit-tasting. I did the same thing I did to the pitas, after they came out of the oven I put them between damp paper towels, then between 2 paper plates, and the whole stack sealed in a plastic bag. This is to keep them soft- I ate the last one this morning, and it was still soft after 4 days!


So the menu for the week was: Sunday- Veggie Burgers with potato salad; Monday- Felafel on pitas with cucumber salad; Tuesday- Pasta with peas, goat cheese, and chicken; Wednesday- Fried egg and vegetable sandwiches ; Thursday we had dinner at a friend's house and I brought crackers and a garlic potato dip for an appetizer; Friday- Veggie burgers with french fries; Saturday- Pizza.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Magic Pita Bread

I love to bake fresh bread, but one type I have never tried is pita bread. I had a taste for felafel for dinner the other night, but the flatbreads from the grocery all tend to have a freezer burn taste, so I figured I'd give pita bread a try! Husband took the laptop to work, so my only recipe available was from an actual cookbook (I'm so addicted to All Recipes, it's been a while!), the Moosewood Cookbook.

It was a pretty standard bread recipe, rise for an hour or so, then divide into 6 equal portions:



(I know there are only 5 portions here, the 6th is on the board!) They are rolled out very thin, the recipe says no more than an eighth of an inch. By this time I am making quite a mess, flour flying everywhere, including on the dog who is watching me attentively. Since we have VERY little counter space here on the boat, this is my least favorite part about baking. Elbows bumping into things as I am rolling out the dough.


They go into a 500 degree oven for 6-8 minutes, but my oven is not big enough to do more than one at a time, so it was about 45 minutes with the oven that hot...and it's 88 degrees outside! They got puffy and light brown, just like the recipe said! To keep them soft, you are supposed to put them between a damp tea towel and into a paper bag. I have neither, so they went between a damp paper towel, sandwiched between 2 paper plates, and the whole thing into a plastic bag.
Look how pretty!


To go into the pita, I made felafel, cucumber salad, tahini lemon sauce, and garlic dip, all from the Moosewood Coookbook. We had the neighbors over for dinner, and finally the moment of truth had come...would the pitas actualy have a pocket? I sliced the first one in half, and yes, it opened into two beautiful pockets! Everyone wanted to know how I got the pocket inside?! I honestly said I really don't know...just the magic of pita bread.

My Favorite Beach

Yesterday we took the day off and headed to my favorite beach on St. Thomas, known as Lindqvist. The sand is soft and white, the water is warm, and it has a great view of of neighboring island, St. John. It's also one of the few beaches on our side of the island that doesn't have a resort or condo built on it. All beaches in the Virgin Islands are public though, so it's perfectly acceptable to go to the Ritz-Carlton and hang out on their beach. But we like Lindqvist better!

We packed a cooler full of ice, mixed up a jug of gin and tonics, and husband T whipped up a batch of guacamole and chips. The avocados were $2.49 a pound, but perfectly ripe and worth every penny! We met a few friends, including our boat neighbor L, who is back here for the winter. They live in Winconsin most of the year where temps are 22 below right now! We are sure glad they are back on island.

Every day on the beach is a good day, and yesterday was no exception. Came home a little tired and a little toasty, so T made an early dinner of cheese ravioli with a roasted butternut squash sauce (addded some great Wisconsin swiss cheese that the neighbors brought down), and some cheesy breadsticks. Yum.

We came in slightly under budget for the week (we try to do $105 for food and drink), and had $7 left to put into vacation fund. We don't have a freezer on the boat, but recently the dive shop where T works has made a little room in their freezer for us, so we were able to buy a few things for the next couple of weeks. What a difference a freezer makes! We bought a whole sleeve of veggie burgers from the big box store for $7, instead of paying $7 for a box of four at the regular grocery.

Our menu this week was: Sunday- Pork Gyros, Monday- Veggie Burgers, Tuesday- Whole Chicken in the slow cooker with carrots and potatoes, Wednesday- Pizza and salad, Thursday- Chicken Enchiladas with leftover chicken from Tuesday, Friday- Pizza (we could eat pizza every day!), and Saturday was the Pasta.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Squash Pasta Sauce

Wow! High Season has hit the Virgin Islands...I have been so busy the last few weeks that I haven't had time to write my blog! I have been keeping track of my meals, though, and I think we have come in under budget every week. (Our goal is to spend $15/day on food and drink).

I wanted to take a quick moment to share a GREAT pasta sauce that husband made last night (yes we are still sharing the cooking!). We found this funny little squash at the market, I don't remember the name, but it was smaller than an acorn squash and orange and white striped. He cooked it in the microwave, scooped the seeds, and pureed it with a quarter cup of cream cheese, salt, pepper, and a splash of milk. (Enough to make it the consistency of pasta sauce). He heated it gently and served over cheese ravioli, with a side of grilled vegetables. Really good! I've never had a pasta sauce like this, and couldn't find a recipe here either, so I hope some of you will give it a try. I think it would have been good with a little sage or cinnamon, but we had neither. I forgot to take a photo, so here are some from our latest Sunset Happy Hour dinghy ride, and I apologize to those in the cold climates!




Have a great week everyone!

Food Fight

In the 6 years that my husband and I have been together, the ONLY fight we have EVER had has been about food. I can remember our first fight as if it were yesterday. T was upset because I didn't dice the tomatoes, but left them in wedges for the salad. Apparently it makes a BIG difference in the taste and I was supposed to have already known this. (I never listen...) Did I mention this fight was probably after an extra long happy hour?

T and I have very different cooking styles. If he has a chicken, carrots, and potatoes, he will make chicken with a side of carrots and potatoes. I will make chicken pot pie. If we have beans he'll serve a side of beans. I will turn them into veggie burgers. He has told me many many times that all he ever wants for dinner is meat and a vegetable. (I never listen...) OK, I do listen but that is so boring!

I love to put every possible combination into the ingredient search! The more unusual the better! I see my cooking style as creative, T thinks I am experimenting on him. Well, last week was one "experiment" too many. Among my menu for the week was a Thai Coconut Curry (ok I know he really doesn't like tofu but I couldn't help myself), Veggie Burgers made with pinto beans from Vegetarian Times magazine, and Pasta Fagioli. For the record, I don't find any of these particularly exotic!

This last one, I thought I was being so nice...he'd been sick for a week and I thought a nice soup would be good, especially one with super veggies like tomatoes and spinach! We have not had this dish before, and guess what? He HATES hot spinach, which is something I should have known if I ever listen to him!!

I will spare you the actual fight, but in the end we agreed to disagree as to which of us was responsible for it, and I handed over all dinner duties to him. He is now planning, shopping, and cooking. This week he did great, came in a little under budget ($105 for the week), and made some great meals, and they were NOT all "meat and a vegetable"!

His meals this week were turkey breast with mashed carrots and stuffing; sausage and peppers; veggie lasagne; sausage pizza; veggie burgers (store bought); fish tacos. And there's actually a lot of ingredients left for meals next week.

I tell you I did miss planning and cooking this week! I do admit I like to take over in the kitchen, but from here on out we are going to try to share a little more. I like what T cooks, and he really is an amazing husband. As I like to remind him, if FOOD is all we have to fight about, we sure are lucky!!

Anyway- we are back living on the boat, and it is good to be home! Here is sunrise from the cockpit...

I think my wind chimes wake us more frequently than the alarm...I have eleven up right now!

Look at this gorgeous basil a friend just gave us!


Among other reasons, it's great to live in the Virgin Islands because today is November 1st, it's 84 degrees, and basil is always in season!
Have a great week everyone!

Head Rehab

As many of you know, my husband and I live on a sailboat. The last 3 months, though, we have been house sitting at one place and dog sitting at another...it's about time to get back to the boat! While we've been on land we've used the opportunity to rehab our bathroom, also known as the Aft Head. (As opposed to the Forward Head- we actually do have 2 bathrooms on the boat!)

I am an artist and I work in glass, so we thought it would be appropriate to do a glass mosaic on the countertop. It took a LONG time to fit all the right pieces together...not to mention adhering and grouting...


The walls were kind of a band-aid color, and I really wanted to them paint cobalt to match the glass. T was hesitant..."don't darker colors make a space look smaller?" Well, the space is literally 3 feet by 4 feet, so we really aren't fooling anyone! Yes, our bathroom is 3 feet by 4 feet.

T has a little bit of wood work to finish up still, and a second coat of a neutral color in the bottom half, but so far a great improvement! Here's the before, bathroom totally stripped:


And after, almost finished!

Anyway, we went over budget this week for the first time in weeks! We spent $120.30, but the budget is $105/week, or $15/day. Monday was ravioli and ginger soup, Tuesday we had a pizza, Wednesday was soup and salad, Thursday was fish tacos (T caught a huge permit!), Friday some friends too us out to dinner to thank us for dog sitting. I had lamb lolipops, which were wrapped in a puff pastry and really delicious. Saturday, T made a deconstructed stuffed cabbage dish, and Sunday I made a Moroccan vegetable stew. The new budget week started yesterday, and I made a shepherd's pie with a side of beets and only spent $5, so the week starts out well!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Octopus Brains

Well...that's one more thing that I don't need to try twice! Husband and I went out for happy hour a few days ago to our favorite restaurant, Craig and Sally's. They have great wines and a menu that changes everyday, but we like to sit at the bar and order tapas (which also change everyday). We ordered a couple different plates: chicken/pork pate with dijon mustard on a baguette, brie on crostini with honey and guava jelly, meatloaf sliders, and octopus salad.

Oh, the octopus salad. The bartender warned that it might be a little...intimidating...but we were game. I think I was expecting some sore of salad with rings of octopus legs, sort of like a calamari. What we got was a mound of bright red mini octopus. I sliced the legs off one for my first taste...as T put it, "rubber bands covered in hoisin sauce"...I thought the taste and texture was ok, but I couldn't get over what it looked like. Whole, two to three inch long, octopuses! My next bite was the round, grape-shape, which even though T reminded me is the body and not the head, I couldn't get "brain" out of my brain. I bit into it and the braininess squished around my tongue and that was it for me!

On a less adventurous note, we did great on the budget this week, mostly because I bought a whole chicken and we had that twice for dinner and twice for lunches. Buying the chicken whole costs about $6.50, and if I buy just a boneless breast it is about $5. On the boat, our fridge is not big enough to hold a whole chicken, but we are still house sitting this week. I spent $56.86 this week, so $48.14 into vacation fund!

Menu this week: Monday was a big salad and baked potatoes, Tuesday was steak with a salad and stuffed mushroooms, Wednesday was falafel with tomato soup, Thursday was Brick Chicken, a recipe from Bon Appetite that has become my new favorite. You remove the backbone so that it lays flat,

then cook it 45-60 at about 400 with a weight on it. You are supposed to use a brick wrapped in foil. Last time I used rocks, and this time I used a very heavy glass pan with a cast iron pan inside of it.
It is falling-off-the-bone tender when finished! It's cooked with a rub of grapeseed oil, lemon, and rosemary, but anything you used would be good.

Anyway, Friday was the octopus night (T paid so this does not come off my budget), Saturday was chicken wraps with tomato soup, and Sunday was stuffed squash with soup and salad.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Mahi Mahi Mahi

Yep! We had one BIG fish three times this week! Husband caught a gorgeous Mahi Mahi earlier in the week and we were able to get two dinners and a brunch out of it. We were also given an avocado from a neighbor's tree that was gigantic...we had avocado with almost every meal!

Quick note about the fish- I do not eat a lot of fish as I got fish poisoning a couple times in the last few years. I don't think I had the very severe ciguatera, which can be fatal...but it was bad enough. I have also heard that if you are poisoned by one type, say snapper, you can eat snapper again and your body thinks it's poisoned even if it's not! So, very hesitant on the fish eating. But since T caught this himself out in very deep water (reef fish tend to be more dangerous), I decided to brave it. And it was really good fish.

Monday was avocado tacos with black beans and rice, T added fish to his. Tuesday was avocado salad and sashimi mahi (raw sushi style), but I admit I couldn't get past the texture and spit mine out over the balcony. Wednesday was spinach salad with turkey bacon, tons of veggies, and avocado, of course! Thursday I made my very favorite Tofu Parmigiana from AR. Friday was mixed vegetable quesadillas, and Saturday was fish again. T grilled it with a black bean garlic sauce and we had steamed broccoli and peanut satay. Sunday brunch was one of T's favorites, fish and eggs. We had run out of stove propane so the fish was grilled and I made microwave scrambled eggs.

If you've never tried eggs in the microwave, they are very fluffy and very easy. Scramble up your eggs in a microwave safe bowl, add a splash of water and a pat of butter. Microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring the cooked edges in to the middle. I did 5 eggs and it took about 4 minutes total.

Sunday night I made turkey burgers sans buns, along with a broccoili pasta salad. Overall, a pretty healthy week and I only spent $69, so $36 into vacation fund!

Hope everyone has a great week!

New York City

The beach bums are back from our mini vacation, a weekend in New York City for a friend's wedding! We traded in shorts and t shirts for dresses and suits (when is the last time I saw T in one of those?!)

My grungy flip flops suddenly
became killer heels!
(My feet still are not happy!)

We didn't have enough time to do too many touristy things, but we did have time to EAT! Our first night, Thursday, we went to a Russian restaurant -the Firebird- in the theater district that was recommended by some friends. We started with cold beet soup (I make borscht frequently, but this was different), a selection of cheeses with candied plums, and a plate of pickled herring and eggs. A passionfruit sorbet followed, then the entrees: T had venison with raspberry sauce, and I had a tea smoked duck breast. The duck was the best I've ever had, and I really enjoyed the venison, too. Never had it before, and assumed it was gamey, but not at all! Dessert was port wine and chocolate truffles, then off to check out Times Square!

This was my first time in NYC, and Times Square was a bit overwhelming. You could actually feel all the heat coming off the many, many lights!

Friday, I had to try some New York Pizza, so we headed to Famous Ray's in the Village. Pretty tasty, a close second to my favorite Chicago style pizza. Later we had hot dogs from Papaya Dogs...when was the last time I ate anything out that only cost $1.50?!

Friday evening we headed to Brooklyn to catch up with other wedding guests, but first we had dinner at the Black Mountain Wine House- I had caught a review on the Travel Channel and it looked really good. It was fantastic. The menu is all small plates, and each cost $10. We tried a plate of salamis with olives and apples, a warm beet/potato/goat cheese tart, a selection of cheeses, and a macaroni and cheese dish made with Gruyere, mushrooms, and truffle oil. Wow. Spent a few hours enjoying the cozy atmosphere, good food and good wine. Highly recommended!

Saturday lunch was burgers and fries from Five Brothers -greasy heaven-, and the wedding was in the evening. The chicken served for dinner was suspiciously -but deliciously- moist. I would love to know how it was prepared.

Sunday morning we were on our way back to the island! It was a great weekend, and a nice sampling of sit down food and street food. Of course, vacation fund is now empty, but it did get a nice boost beforehand by sticking to our budget ($15/day) for the last few months. If I go under budget I put the remainder in vacation fund. Time to start over! So, back to island food for dinner, tonight is avocado tacos with black beans and rice ($5.63). Hope everyone has a great week!

Birth Week

Earlier this week was my husband's birthday (37), and our tradition is to celebrate Birth Week: for a week before the birthday you get to be ridiculously pampered, then on the actual birthday you have to celebrate by doing something you've never done before.

During Birth Week you don't have to walk the dog, or run any errands, you get to have whatever you want for dinner (but not cook it), and the other has to oblige with a smile.

Me: (All the way in the other room) "T, can you look in the freezer and tell me how long I'll have to cook those french fries?"
Him: (Standing by the freezer) "But it's my Birth Week!"
Me: Oh, yes dear, sorry! Let me look!

On the birthday, the "thing you've never done before doesn't have to be anything extraordinary, just something you've never done before! My first year on island I celebrated the day by bar hopping in bare feet, another year we went horseback riding on the beach. For T's birthday, he wanted to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant and have one of every taco on the menu: shrim taco, fish taco, pork taco, chicken taco, ground beef taco, shredded beef taco, and oh yes, veggie taco. I think he doubled up on some...don't know where he puts it all!

Because of Birth Week, I went WAY over budget, which is $105 for the week. Normally if we eat out, he pays, but not on Birth Week! I spent a little over $200 this week. In addition to Taco Night, we had pizza out twice, and I made some of his favorites at home: Veggie burgers in the style of a Big Mac (which if we had real ones would cost about $10, but to get everything to make them at home cost $25. Not right!), Veggie Lasagne, Split Pea Soup, and the absolute favorite- Pierogis!

Since we live on a boat with a very small galley, there is not enough room to stretch out and make these, so I only do when we are house sitting or dog sitting like we are right now. I am 100% Polish, and have made pierogis a million times, but this time I tried Josephine aka Spitfire's recipe for the dough. Everyone at the dinner party agreed they were fabulous! Thank you thank you Josephine!! I made three fillings, potato and onion, sauerkraut, and sweet cheese. It took about 5 hours to make them all, which is another reason I don't do it often!

At the end of the week, T thanked me for an excellent Birth Week, and I agreed he doesn't look a day over 25.

Yes Dear.

Tropical Storms

We are a couple days into our 2 weeks of dog sitting, and this was a good week to not be on the boat...Tropical Storm Erika passed over us and we got a lot of rain- we get a few leaks on the boat when it rains hard and continuously. Of course, the tourists hate it, but those who live here actually love the rain. Since we are surrounded by salt water, all of our usable water comes from the sky. Rain is collected on every rooftop and stored in a cistern, usually under the building, then filtered as it comes out of the faucets. Everyone is very careful not to waste water- we turn the tap off while lathering in the shower, washing our hands, brushing our teeth, doing the dishes, etc. If you do run out of water you can buy it from the water truck, but it's very expensive.
Here's the view of a whole lotta rain!
One of my meals this week was Grape Stuffed Meatballs on Flat Bread with a warm broccoli salad, feta cheese, and Greek dressing. Husband tasted it and fell in love!
Quote: "If I died and could come back as a sandwich, this would be it!!"
I don't know. It was pretty good, but if I could come back as a sandwich it would probably be a Monte Cristo.

I also made a White Gazpacho this week (green grapes, cucumbers, garlic, onions, almonds, and cilantro). I keep running across recipes for it, so I thought I'd give it a try. Really good, perfect for a hot day.
Other meals this week were veggie lasagne ($0), broccoli quiche with lamb chops ($21), pesto pasta ($0) with wine ($12), carrot soup with cheese quesadillas ($13), and steak and baked potato ($0). We also went to a dinner party and brought a dip and beer ($15). So the total for the week was $61...that means $44 into vacation fund! I do admit we got lucky because the friends left a lot of food in the fridge.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Crab Dinner!

Two gigantic crabs that will become dinner!


The claws were so big that we had to use a hammer and a rolling pin to open them...and they were delicious!
The dog agrees!
We ate lots of delicious meals this week, though we went slightly over budget ($105) for the week. Somehow we ended up with three dinner parties, and the wine/beer portion always breaks the budget. In addition to the crab dinner, which was served with a pork tenderloin that friends brought over, we had vegetable coconut curry one night, spinach salad with home made focaccia bread the next. I also made fried chicken with mashed potatoes, ch

Brick Chicken

This week I stepped out on All Recipes and tried two new dishes from the recent issue of Bon Appetit magazine. The first was Chicken al Mattone, which is a whole chicken roasted under a foil wrapped brick. The trick is that you have to remove the backbone so it lays flat. I have never cut up a raw chicken before. It was gross! I didn't have a brick, so I used a cast iron pan filled with foil wrapped rocks for added weight.

We ran out of propane sometime during the roasting process- which I didn't realize until the cooking time was up! We hooked up a new tank and I had to guess at the rest of the cooking time, with the help of a meat thermometer. It was the best roasted chicken I have ever had!

The second recipe from the magazine was Schnitzel-wiches, which was really easy- a pork schnitzel on a bun with lettuce and tomato- plus it's really fun to say a bunch of times!

Other meals this week were Mexican Ravioli and Edamame Won Tons with mexican-asian stir fried vegetables on the side. (Thanks to all of the suggestions on the recipe exchange!!) I also made French Onion soup, Borscht, and finished with pizza night. T has been begging me to make a coconut cream pie, so we had that for dessert last night. I couldn't believe that it cost almmost $10 to make it home made! The grocery had frozen ones for about $8, but I think making it fresh was worth it! I spent a total of $72 this week, so $33 into vacation fund!!

I don't have meal phots this week, so I'm sharing the view again from the villa we are house sitting. This week Hurricane Bill passed about 400 miles from us, so we got some storm bands coming through.

Have a great week everyone!

Off the Boat and House Sitting

What a relaxing week I have had! Husband T took over the menu challenge this week ($15/day, breakfast and dinner, food and drink), and planned, shopped , and cooked every day. We had some great meals- Sunday was pot roast and vegetables in the slow cooker, Monday spinach salad, Tuesday veggie lasagne (with an extra pan for the freezer!), Wednesday bbq beef sandwiches from the leftover roast with carmelized carrots, and Thursday was samosas made from the leftover slow cooker veggies- apples, sweet potatoes, onions, peppers, and peas. He bought crescent rolls on sale and stuffed them with the veggies, adding cumin and curry. He deep fried the first couple...SO GOOD. The dough was literally melting in our mouths. It was too decadent. He baked the remainder in the oven...so good, but being a grease freak I preferred the deep fried! He served the dueling samosas with a sauce made of sour cream, avocado, hummus,and hot peppers, along with seamed broccoli and jasmine rice.

Wow! T can take over the menu anytime! At this point he is about $20 under budget. We are having dinner out tonight, and he's bought some pork chops for dinner Saturday. He also bought some random items on sale that will set me up nicely for my menu next week...evn if I can beat his $$, nothing beats hubby in the kitchen for a week!

Assembling the veggie lasagne


Deep Fried Samosas (center) versus baked...I vote for fried!