Noodles of Meat

This week I tried out a few new recipes from a cookbook called "Tapas" that I got for Christmas. Husband and I have been to Barcelona twice and we LOVE the way they eat, especially the small plates. Tapas can be made entree sized too, intended to serve many people. I tried a Pork in Almond Sauce and Fried Garlic Mushrooms. The sauce for the pork was kind of labor intensive...blanch the almonds, fry them, puree them along with bread cubes, tomatoes, and onions, and garlic that have all been pan-fried. The sauce went into the crockpot (ok this was not in the recipe but I had stuff to do!) along with the pork tenderloin and I left it for about 8 hours. Perfect. Falling off the bone tender (if there was a bone!) Husband set to "shredding" it and remarked, "Now this is how I love my meat. Like ribbons. Like noodles. Noodles of meat." Well, that doesn't sound too appealing to me, but it was true. It didn't shred like pork normally does, it really looked like noodles of meat. Anyway, we served it on a bed of wilted spinach with the fried garlic mushrooms on the side. (Super easy...pan fry the mushrooms, then simmer them with a bunch of garlic in white wine.) Can't wait to try more recipes from this book!

We came in about $10 under budget for the week- we try to do $105 for the week, breakfast and lunch, food and drink- and this is what we ate:

Sunday was meatball and ricotta pizza

Monday was curried lentil soup with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches

Tuesday was the Almond Pork

Wednesday we snacked on olives and toasted almonds and had soup and sandwiches again

Thursday we had Chinese take out, our New Years Eve tradition

Friday we had dinner at a friends, they made smoked ribs and asian slaw, and we brought shrimp cocktail

Saturday I made a lamb stew and fresh bread. I got a couple bread pans for Christmas (I have always just made flat bread) so it was very exciting to make a loaf of bread. It was beautiful and delicious and quite photogenic! Unfortunately my laptop with photos is on the fritz...so this is my first post ever without photos!

Hope everyone has a great week!

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!