Smithy

Back in my sailboat racing days I was rarely put in charge of the food, and it was interesting to see how the skipper dealt with the issue. Lake Superior is cold, year-round, and there's little as discouraging as spending 4 days choosing between cold sandwiches and instant ramen or soup in a styrofoam cup. (There may have been fruit also; I've put that particular Trans Superior Race more or less out of mind.) Other skippers I raced with were more interested in crew comfort, and over the years there have been frozen lasagna, heated in the (yes, gimbaled and yes, gimbals locked) oven as well as restaurant-quality boil-in-bag soups or dinners. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, in some cases, or hot or cold cereal. Sandwiches for lunch. On one much shorter race, when I was a novice cook but more interested in cooking than the other crew members, I cooked scrambled eggs with chunks of Jimmy Dean sausage mixed in. The skipper thought I was a gourmet cook! Times and my cookery have changed since then. Cruises are a different story than races, and probably more like the deliveries being discussed here. Last summer my husband, sister-in-law and I rented a 33' sloop for 4 days, and they let me take care of the food. We intended to spend every night docked somewhere on Lake Superior, but allowed for the possibility of its being too stormy or cold to want to use the barbeque grill latched to the stern rail. I purchased more food than we needed, due to that allowance, but we had plenty of choices and were never in danger of starving. As I recall the meals ran along these lines: Caprese salad with good fresh warm bread on the first night, with some of summer's finest tomatoes; pesto-stuffed boneless chicken thighs on the grill, with a fresh green salad and more bread on the second night; grilled kebabs that had by then thawed, over rice, for our final dinner. SIL and I preferred yogurt and fruit for breakfast; DH chose his usual cereal. I think we had scrambled eggs with cheese one day. Lunch tended to be sandwiches for DH and me and granola bars for SIL, which helps explain why she's much slimmer than I. We had fruit and pre-cut vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery sticks, etc.) for snacks. Convenience foods that I brought along in case it was too miserable to cook were a selection of the aforementioned instant soups and ramens, and prepackaged ready-to-heat Indian foods: curries, saag paneer, precooked rice. That last was a surprise; Uncle Ben's actually offers some decent precooked, simply reheat, rice. Most of that stuff came home with us, and with the exception of the soups and ramens (which went to a food shelf) we've been enjoying them as quick dinners. I think stir fries make a lot of sense, but didn't plan for them on that trip and certainly didn't expect a wok. I packed my own knives but trusted the charter company otherwise, and if I'd brought a wok I don't know where we'd have put it in that particular boat. The storage was pretty limited. Here's a shot of the cooler, loaded for the trip: For the short time we were cruising the eggs couldn't have gone off anyway, but I'm glad to read @JohnT's and @Auspicious' advice to store them in cardboard rather than styrofoam, and to rotate them every day or so. That's good to know for the longer haul.

I figured someone would post about this! 😂 I'm especially amused at the idea of Dr. Feynman and his buddy having a floor littered with bits of spaghetti while they tried to get a perfect break, as told in the Washington Post's version of the story here. They'd have been fun dinner companions.

My mother, having been born in the 1920's, was also discouraged from using her left (dominant) hand, and was essentially ambidextrous: she wrote and used scissors with her right hand, for instance. Nonetheless when left to her own devices, she'd do things left-handed. We didn't realize there was a right- or left-handed way to set up the dish drainer in our farm kitchen until a visitor commented on it: we set the dish drainer to the left of the sink, and that was apparently unusual. A few years ago we remodeled our kitchen. After I'd settled on the double sink that I wanted (size ratio of the basins, and so on) I had to specify which side would have the smaller basin. I didn't think it had to do with handedness, but one of FauxPas' links suggests that it does. It's nice to have choices.

What a marvelous way to celebrate the variety of peaches you have out there! I love the different colors. Have you tried nectarines? If so, what differences did you notice, if any?

That's exactly what happened to me, many years ago. Niece and nephew were coming to visit for the first time, with their 5 - and 8-year-old children. I made macaroni and cheese in advance for their arrival, knowing they'd be hungry. I'd never made mac and cheese before, so I was careful to use a reliable cookbook, and I used cheddar. My niece had assured me that the kids "would eat anything" but they especially liked mac and cheese. They arrived, hungry and blown-out from a late departure and heavy traffic. 8-year-old great-niece looked at the lovely, perfectly-normal-to-my-eyes macaroni and cheese casserole, asked what it was. When I said it was macaroni and cheese her face crumpled. "I don't LIKE it!" she wailed, before it was even on her plate. Parents were mortified - first because of her behavior, but also because it became clear that Mama only cooked from boxes. They got her to try some. She still didn't like it, and she still wailed. The great-nephew was quieter but just as disapproving. I think the kids ate buttered noodles that night. Without ketchup, because I didn't have any. More wailing. But that's another story. (Incidentally, the children have grown up to be lovely, interesting people despite what might have seemed an inauspicious beginning.)

I had never before heard of Billy Connolly. I'm glad now I have...and as a quick payoff, my vocabulary has expanded by one abbreviation. I look forward to being able to use "TFD" 😂

@Kim Shook, if I knew that something like those Ghirardelli brownies could be had, I too would turn my nose up at lesser options. Fig Newtons and graham crackers, indeed. Humph.

I don't have much to add to what's been said. Thank you very much for the virtual visits and inspiring cookery. May they continue in some new form. Safe travels!

It looks like a brooch to me. Attach a pin to the back, and (except for the pin) you'd have beautiful, edible jewelry.

Welcome, Auspicious! There are a number of boating people in the group, and we've occasionally posted in passing about boat cookery, without a dedicated topic. If you were to start one, I'm sure folks would jump in. I have to laugh at your "small boat" definition of 40' - 80'; I've raced and cruised on sailboats ranging from 24' - 44' so anything bigger sounds like a luxury liner to me. How is it that the skipper is also the cook, by the way? If you have any questions about how the forums work, or where to post something, feel free to ask a host (I am one) by PM. And don't worry, you don't have to restrict your participation to boat food.

The tostada looks great, though. Poblanos always surprise me. They aren't known for their heat - at least, not in the books that I've read - but those that I buy often have a sneaky heat that builds into a pretty good strength. I know to be careful with jalapeños. I'm still trying to remember to be careful with poblanos.

Sheesh. Toliver, you are hard on my bank account!

I froze the corn kernels, then vacpacked. Have you tried that sequence?

Thanks for that insight from a professional chef. I heard that story in Pascagoula, Mississippi a couple of years ago, from someone who claimed to be the only person selling true scallops. (The competition was supposedly selling skate wing cutouts.) It seemed implausible to me because of the musculature question, but I never pursued it further.

Kerry, every time you show another version of the "Cosmos" (or whatever galactic term was used) design, I'm impressed anew. The lighting doesn't seem to matter; each photo shows multiple depths in each chocolate. I don't know whether I'd dare eat one, lest I destroy its cosmic beauty. ... ...well, unless it was chased by a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Then, all bets would be off.

Do you have a link for that recipe? It looks like something I'd like to try with my equipment on hand.

She sounds like an interesting and formidable person. I'll have to look into some of her books.

I would like to have seen that. The photos are beautiful. That article linked to another one showing a wonderful Jonathan Gold mural, just painted by the artist Never.

That certainly does look like a nice cooking unit. I agree with you about the price being prohibitive, but you got yours at what sounds like a great rate. Please keep us informed as you continue to test and work with it.

@CanadianHomeChef, unless you need an especially heavy lid for the particular cook, another option is to get a silicone lid that fits the Dutch oven in question. Here's a rectangular "banana leaf" lid by Charles Viancin; the company makes a variety of shapes and sizes. They stand up well to the heat, although I've seen some discoloration in mine.

Thanks for that question and discussion, @SLB. I must admit that I'd forgotten all about marinated eggplant and that discussion from 2 years ago! That probably says something about my attention span. We loved it at the time. Maybe it's time to make more. For those who wish to read the original discussion, it's summarized here (with links) and @ElainaA's detailed response about the risk of botulism is the post immediately following. The conversation continues with @Shelby chiming in again in subsequent posts. For those who simply want to see the recipe, here it is: Marinated Eggplant in Epicurious (originally in Gourmet Magazine), a recipe passed down to the auther by her Italian relatives. SLB, please note that they aren't canning this, as such. It's a refrigerated preserve. I think you are correct that it's safe because the vinegar preservation step happens first. Others may disagree.

If they didn't accommodate you, would that be the end of their locum tenens opportunity? It seems that losing the opportunity to get the heck away would be a pretty good incentive...and the goodies you bring would be an extra incentive to ensure that it is you!

It looks a bit as though the circular "stamp" in the corner of some is made by a circle with teeth. (Not being a confectioner, I think of either a certain type of frosting nozzle or a very coarse hole saw.) It also looks as though it lifted the enrobing chocolate away from the material underneath. Is it supposed to look like that? Were you happy with the results? I think the chocolates with the red "seal" on top are very attractive. I thought the same about other posters' photos of the same assignment. What sort of stamp was needed to make those impressions? I've long since given away my sealing wax sets, but those wax stamps come to mind here.

This may sound like a foolish question, but does the pig help keep the humidity down, or simply make it easier to chisel the blocks? I hadn't thought about that particular aspect of a salt pig. Is this an effort to make another sous vide convert?

Wow! They make 'em big in Texas. That looks delicious, @robirdstx.