Come along with Scott & Ally on their boating journey in Florida!
Tag: boating recipes
Boating Recipes
Boating recipes are shared amongst boaters. Galleys are small on boats usually and we are always looking for easy recipes to prep while boating. I collect different recipes that I can make and share for other boaters.
Boaters love to share quick and easy recipes that are simple to prepare. In our boating life, we can simply go to the grocery store on our way to the boat. We usually pick up ingredients that are easy to prep. Cruising boats may have very limited resources for food, especially trying to find fresh meat and vegetables. If cruises are in isolated destinations, fresh food is often limited. Because of that, many boating cooks love to share their favorite recipes and tips on storing their pantry items on a boat.
In this blog I plan on doing both, as I love to cook and I don’t want a small galley to interfere with prepping my favorite recipes on a boat. I love the challenge of preparing elegant dinners in a small galley.
Scott and I checked out the infamous Yellow Green Farmer’s Market in Hollywood, FL last month and it was amazing!
This market was packed with food vendors, fruit & vegetable stands and local crafts & clothing vendors. If you are looking for fresh fruit and veggies, this is the place. There are vendors, both indoor and outdoor. Be prepared however, that the indoor space is not air conditioned, so it can be toasty.
Exotic Fruits
Scott and I want to do a YouTube episode trying different fruits (so stay tuned). The Yellow Green Farmer’s Market had so many different fruits and we had never heard of half of them.
If you’re not from Florida, you might not know about “green avocados”. These are HUGE avocados that make fantastic guacamole. However, we’ve been told they are not very good by themselves.
Unique Finds
I couldn’t resist this fella, who was relaxing while his owner was spinning wool. (Wool in Florida? I guess it gets chilly sometime.)
As we came around another isle, we stumbled up the Trattoria Di Vakis booth (#126-128). They only serve food at the market and outside catering. Check out these handmade pastas!
They also make these amazing donuts with an injector of filling! I was amazed that Scott resisted.
The Yellow Green Farmer’s Market is only open on Saturdays and Sundays. You do have to pay for parking and it’s a bit tricky getting into the parking lot. We ended up going around the block to get in. Originally it started out as a flea market and then became home to local producers and artisans in the community. They also feature a variety of events including live music, art & dance lessons and yoga.
My photos of our visit, really don’t do it justice! You can check out our YouTube episode for a full tour, but the best tour is in person.
As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and to our YouTube channel (link below). You can also follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. Next week we’ll take you to the Bahamas, as Ally made her first gulf stream crossing to Bimini! Cheers, Scott and Ally
A few weekends ago, Scott and I spent some time at Camp Grande on Camano Island. Our friends, Ben and Maria had invited us up for a fun weekend of crabbing, playing games and campfires at their cabin.
As many of you know, my family has a home on the southeast end of Camano Island. Camp Grande is located on the northwest end of the island facing Whidbey Island and the Saratoga Passage.
What is Camp Grande?
In 1956, two families bought a 9 acre camp that featured a boat house, 24 cabins and 28 boats. They ran the camp until 1970 and then put it up for sale. It remained vacant until 1976 when a group of friends pooled their money to purchase the property. The original group of 40 shareholders, Pilchuck Association, was excited to look at Camp Grande as a possible investment. It was offered for sale at $213,000 and though it seemed like a lot of money forty+ years ago, it has proven to be a great decision. Unfortunately, the camp had fallen prey to vandalism and destruction while vacant. As a result they had a lot of work to do in order to get it back to a functional camp. Check out the full history of Camp Grande on two blogs: Beaches of Camano Island:Camp Grande and SunnyshoreStudio.
Fast forward to today. Ben’s mom and dad were original investors in the camp and that then allowed them to transfer “shares” to their children. So Ben and Maria are partners with two other families in cabin 17. They were in a different cabin originally and have since moved. Think of this as sort of a time share.
The view from their cabin is absolutely gorgeous!
Time to go crabbing!
Ben has a 12′ Smoker Craft fishing boat that he can easily trailer and use for crabbing.
We needed to check on the crab pots before low tide, so we quickly headed over to the Maple Grove boat launch about 5 minutes away. There’s no dock, so boaters simply “beach” their boats after they launch.
Scott and Ben hopped in the boat and navigated over to Camp Grande to check on the pots. After they got their haul, Ben simply tied the boat to the tall dock (where it would hopefully stay afloat during low tide).
So many crabs, clams and mussels!
Since we were having a huge seafood dinner the next day, we were thrilled that we caught our limit of ten crabs! Maria was far braver than me – she had no issue picking them up! If you recall from my other crabbing blog, there are two ways to cook/kill crab. Some people put them in the boiling water alive and then clean them; others stab them in half, clean them and then boil them. That’s how Maria prefers to do it.
After a fabulous lunch (thanks to Maria), we headed back down to the beach to get some clams and mussels for our seafood dinner. The tide was really low, so we had plenty of beach to work with. Note that you do need a license to harvest clams and mussels as well.
Beautiful sunset
Since we are accustomed to being on the east side of the island, we never get to enjoy the sunset, so this trip offered a real treat. After dinner, we built a fire and got ready for some serious star gazing! The view was stunning and magical. We had no idea what the following night would have in store for us!
A day at camp
The next day, Scott and Ben headed out to check the crab pots once again and caught three. Afterwards, we had a fantastic lunch, played some lawn games and soaked up some much needed sun. They also gave me an early birthday present – love it!!
There were so many bald eagles everywhere too! They seemed to visit us about every half hour.
After enjoying some sun, Ben and I headed out for the final trip to pull the crab pots. I tried doing the pulling, but it’s not that easy when you don’t have a pot puller. Plus Scott was making me laugh as he was filming me with the drone. Unfortunately, we only caught one crab this time. (again, we didn’t grab a photo, so this is a screenshot from the video.)
Just minutes after we got out of the boat, Ben spotted a spout in the water! A humpback whale was frolicking in the bay! Who would guess that we would get to see eagles and whales all in the same day!
The property was covered in Hydrangea plants and it was so beautiful to walk around.
A fantastic dinner with great friends and scenery!
With clams purging and Champagne ready, we were ready for an amazing feast!
One thing about Maria, is she is a fantastic cook! I pride myself on being an amazing chef, but she has me beat! We had a fine dining experience in epic surroundings. Maria made grilled lobster and shrimp skewers for our first course.
Maria also made a fantastic clam recipe. I’m not a huge clam eater – I like them very small and swimming in garlic. So when we were clamming and she kept digging for the big ones I was getting grossed out. Turns out, she guts each clam and then chops up the meat. From there she seasons them, and grills them in their shells with tomatoes and bacon. Let me tell you – they were delicious!
The irony of the dinner, was we had so many appetizers that we hardly touched the crab! Of course, I failed to get a photo of that too. We had so much left over crab, that Scott and I enjoyed a crab Louie the following night for dinner!
Sunset, stars and the moon
We finished the night with a campfire and s’mores., just as if we were at camp.
There’s something to be said about summer in the Pacific Northwest! The sunsets are pink and vibrant, the skies are filled with stars at night and the moon shines brightly.
Scott and I can’t thank Ben and Maria enough for such a fun and fabulous weekend. It’s during these trying times, that we realize how important friendships are to us. We know the four of us will have an amazing time in the BVI’s on our bareboat charter next February!
We captured some amazing video footage, including drone footage of our weekend. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and see the video below.
As always, thank you for following our story! Be sure to follow us on Facebook,Instagram, YouTube and Twitter @BoatingJourney and use the hashtag #boatingjourney. Thank you for subscribing to our blog and our YouTube Channel. We’ll see you on water soon!
The weather was great last week, so why not check out our dinghy issues and learn how to dock a yacht? Like everyone, we’re going stir crazy during this COVID-19 quarantine. It doesn’t help that the weather turned nice and this is when we should be out boating. On top of that, I (Ally) was temporarily laid off at the end of March and I’m not one to sit around the house.
After a week and half in the condo, we needed a change of scenery. So many of our fellow boaters are venturing out to secluded anchorages and we want to head out too. But first, we have a few projects to tackle, including getting the dinghy engine working.
Engine troubles
The last time we used the dinghy was last Fall, when we went out for a marina cruise and the engine died just five feet from the boat. You can see the footage of that scene in our Bloopers Video that we just posted. We assumed that the issue was our battery, as it hadn’t been charged.
After charging the battery for a few days, Scott climbed in to start the dinghy. Unfortunately, the engine wouldn’t turn over. After sharing our story on Instagram, a number of people recommended we check our fuel.
The following weekend, we drained all of the fuel and filled the tank with brand new fuel. It was great that you can drop off your hazardous materials at the marina office for disposal.
Unfortunately, swapping out the fuel didn’t work. Scott then changed the in-line fuel filter – turns out we do have another fuel filter attached to the engine. We didn’t change that one, because Scott doesn’t think it has anything to do with the issue. Still wouldn’t start.
Could it be spark plugs?
The next option was to change the spark plugs. While we were able to buy the spark plugs at West Marine, we couldn’t swap them out until we bought a special wrench for these specific spark plugs (18mm thin wall). Scott eventually found one on Ebay, so we had to wait for that to arrive.
The following weekend, he replaced all of the spark plugs AND sprayed Sea Foam (fuel cleaner) into the fuel tank. Once again, we waited with anticipation to see if it would start.
The good news is, it finally starts. The bad news is, it won’t stay running without the choke being engaged. We did talk to Monkey Fist Marine and a few other people, who all believe it’s the carburetor. This could be a very expensive job (at $150/hour to rebuild one) or to just buy one and have it installed. The catch? We have three carburetors on this dinghy engine. Ouch!
Our next plan of attack is to move the dinghy over to the dock and remove the manifold. From there, Scott can try cleaning out the jets, replace the gaskets and add a carburetor and choke cleaner. Fingers crossed.
Next project…..cleaning the lazarette
Ever since we bought the boat a year ago, I have been wanting to clean the lazarette. While it is used to store stuff, who wants to see a grimy storage unit every time it’s opened up? I figured this would be a fairly easy job and allow me to spend some time enjoying the sun. Boy was I wrong! This thing was filthy and had years of grime and green algae gunked on.
First, I attempted to sweep the gunk out. That didn’t work well, as I really needed a hand broom for the nooks and crannies.
Instead, I filled up a tub with Dawn liquid soap, grab a sponge and went to town. This was a back breaking project – I don’t know how boat mechanics do it. The spaces are tight and I was careful not to step on anything important (our water maker and diesel heater are down there). Eventually, the lazarette was spotless!
After finishing up our projects, we got ready for a cruise on the bay for the evening. While it was a short cruise, it was nice to be out on the water and enjoy the scenery.
Time to practice docking
The weather was nice and calm Saturday morning, so we decided to head over to N Dock so that I could practice docking the boat. I only docked our previous boat once and that was a twin screw stern drive engines.
They (whoever “they” are) say, never have your spouse try to teach you how to dock a boat. We don’t speak the same language when it comes to stressful tasks. In this case, Scott likes to use “no no no” or “eh eh!” which tends to stress me out. Finally, I told him the best way to communicate with me is to simply say what I should be doing (i.e. port side reverse, starboard forward, neutral). That seemed to do the trick. Still, trying to dock a 24,000 pound yacht for the first time is not a task I take lightly.
How did I do? Well, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for notifications for our next video. We’ll have the entire drone footage included.
Enjoying the weekend at the marina
Though we can’t socialize and mingle on the dock like normal, it was still nice to enjoy the beauty and calmness of the marina. There was a super low tide (-1.66) on Saturday and it was crazy to see how far it was out. The rock formation you see, is normally under water.
Normally on a warm sunny day folks are enjoying outdoor dining outside of Maggie Bluffs, but due to the shelter order they can only offer curbside service. So we ordered lunch and a bottle of wine in support of our local marina restaurant. They also have a limited Palisade menu, which we’ll order from next weekend.
That evening, we made a nice dinner on the boat (Asian marinated pork chops with stir fried veggies) and watched the sunset fade over the Olympic Mountains. There’s truly no better place to be than on your boat, especially during these stressful times.
We all still have three more weeks of isolation. We’re heading back to the marina this weekend to keep working on the dinghy. Scott and I might even take the boat out to anchor one night – we’ll see. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon and we can begin enjoying life on the water again. Until then, stay safe and healthy.
As always, thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney, so you can see our stories and get current updates on our progress. Also, check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes.
Scott and I spent last weekend on the boat, so we could go boating after being landlocked for two months at the dock. Seattle has been experiencing some crazy, wild weather and Friday was one of those days. Not in the mood to deal with another wind storm, we opted to wait until Saturday to head to the boat. We had plans to go out and practice anchoring with our friends (who we’re chartering a bareboat with in BVIs) Ben and Maria on Sunday.
The weather was nice and dry at the marina when we arrived. But if you look closely at the photo above, you see a huge squall right in front of Scott. Wanting to catch the sunset, we quickly unloaded our gear and made a sunset cocktail. We were not sure if we would be able to see anything, because of the high tide, but we lucked out!
Crazy wild weather in Seattle
As we watched the amazing sunset, we couldn’t help but notice the darkness that was coming over West Seattle into DT Seattle.
Yet, it remained perfectly dry at the marina the entire time.
They had so much hail in West Seattle, it was still there the next day. My co-worker sent me this photo while we were watching the sunset!
Keto on a boat?
Since Scott and I both need to lose weight, we decided to try the Keto diet and we’ve been on it for a whopping week. Surprisingly, we’ve done pretty good eliminating carbs (with the exception of wine…LOL). I wanted to make something easy to cook on the boat, but also Keto friendly and I came up with Zucchini Lasagna. I used jarred marinara (look for one with low carbs and sugar) and then it just had a few ingredients. Slicing the zucchini was easy – be sure to follow my recipe and try to dry out the zucchini before you bake it.
We’ve only used the oven twice before and every time it FREAKS me out. The fact that you have to turn on the gas on the propane tank, then turn on the LPG in two places, then light a burner to bleed gas into the solenoid to the oven so that you can then use a lighter to light the oven, IS CRAZY. Obviously, I didn’t do it. LOL! This is a dumb question for cruisers – but do you actually use your oven when you are out crossing the ocean?
The lasagna tasted great. The only issue I had was it was a bit watery. Zucchini is mostly water, so you really have to be patient to release any moisture before cooking.
Good morning Elliott Bay Marina!
The weather forecast for Sunday was perfect. Winds were SSW 5mph, sunny and dry. We planned on leaving the marina around 11am and head to Port Madison to practice anchoring. While waiting for Ben and Maria to arrive, we decided to check on our anodes using our waterproof OSMO Action camera. We’ll have to go back and try again to get better footage, as we weren’t sure where we were under the boat. But by the quick check, all looks good.
Props still look shiny thanks to Prop Speed
While we were down there, we also got some close ups of the kelp crab hanging out on the piling.
After we played around with the OSMO Action camera, we then decided to fly the drone over the marina. The first flight didn’t record, so we sent it back up again. This was only our 2nd time flying it, so I think we did pretty good. Scott said, he was getting some disturbance from either airlines or another drone and was having some difficulty controlling the direction. At one point, it spins too fast in circles. LOL We’ll include the footage in our next YouTube episode, or you can check it out on our Facebook page.
Heading out to anchor on our own!
Since we have never anchored overnight and only anchored once last Fall, we needed to head out to practice anchoring with Ben and Maria. We’ll be completely on the hook in the BVI’s, but we haven’t ever moored or anchor, so we need all the practice we can get. In some ways, anchoring in the PNW can be harder (I think), because we can’t see to the bottom of the sea bed, it is muddy and full of kelp. At least in the BVI’s we can dive down and check the anchor if we have to.
Scott and I were trying to decided where to go and he suggested Blake Island so we can practice mooring and anchoring.
Then I reminded Scott that we don’t have a mooring line, nor do we have any idea how to catch a mooring ball. Better brush up on that on YouTube. So we headed off to Port Madison again for lunch.
The weather was perfect and we cruised over in about 40 minutes going about 9.8 knots. When we arrived, we headed north of the barge buoy which had about fifteen sea lions on it. The last thing we needed was for them to come over for lunch!
We anchored in about 30′ of water, which was actually tricky where we were. There’s a slight shelf off of Port Madison and as you approach the shore, it gets very shallow, then suddenly deep again. So you have to find the right spot to anchor. We noticed right away that the winds were blowing us towards shore and into deeper waters.
Ben and I were on the bow and using the foot windlass I started to lower the anchor, giving Scott arm signals as to the direction of the chain. Once it caught, we could tell right away, because the chain went taught. We then let out about a total of 120′ – we were the only ones in the bay, so we didn’t need to let out our full 5 to 1 or 7 to 1. Another successful anchor!
Time for lunch!
Once we knew the anchor was holding and secure, we headed down to the salon for lunch. You would have thought we had another party joining us with all of the food we brought!
The entire time we were eating, I kept looking behind us to the transom to see if one of the sea lions had jumped aboard. A guy in Olympia had his small sail boat destroyed by them!
The hardest thing I think I will need to get used to, is the swinging and swaying. I’m constantly looking around the entire time. Perhaps when we’re surrounded by crystal blue turquoise waters and not a bunch of noisy sea lions, I’ll be okay with it!
After a nice lunch, we headed back. We could see the weather was starting to turn over Seattle and we didn’t want to get stuck in it. So we kicked the engines into full (almost) throttle and headed back at over 18 knots!
The four of us still have a few things left to tackle for our trip to the BVIs including provisioning on-line with The Moorings. Hard to believe we only have 51 days until we leave! This has been a year in the making and we couldn’t be more lucky to being doing this epic trip with such great friends. We’re hoping to get together for one more review before we leave – stay tuned!
Be sure to follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney, so you can see our stories and get current updates on our progress. Also, check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes.
As always, thank you for following us! We have some exciting things planned for this summer, so stay tuned! Cheers, Scott and Ally (Watch our full episode on YouTube – see below)
Okay, I admit that Sous Vide home aged steak is a weird title! But there’s more to the story! Don’t skip ahead. As I mentioned in our last blog, Scott and I have made a commitment to stay every weekend (if possible) on the boat, so we get used to it.
Keep in mind, it’s still not the same as living aboard. Yes, we have our supplies, toiletries, etc. But we still pack clothes, food and beverages every weekend. That does become a chore. I digress. What does that have to do with sous vide steak?! For me, I don’t like to just hang out on the boat by ourselves. In our old house, we entertained every weekend, so why should the boat be any different?
Weekend Plans
So we reached out to a few friends and the next thing you know, we had plans for both nights! Friday night we invited our friend Meghann and her boyfriend Josh over for dinner. Meghann is currently fighting a huge battle with breast cancer, so this was a big pick-me-up for her. She needed it. (Say a prayer for her if you can). She just shaved her head and in honor of her dew rag, Scott wore his that our friend Cory gave him (who’s also battling cancer – cancer sucks by the way!)
I did take a really cute pic of Meghann and Josh, but my camera didn’t actually take it. Boo!
We had a fantastic night catching up and they even enjoyed my simple pasta (yes, again).
The next night, our friend Randy was coming down to go out boating with us. Then I remembered he started aging his own beef, so I hinted that maybe he might want to share one of his prized possessions with us for dinner? He jumped at the chance and suggested that he also bring his Anova Culinary Sous Vide Cooker. Interesting , but hell, I’m game. More about that later.
Boat Chores First
As with any boat, Scott and I had a list of chores to tackle on Saturday before Randy came over. First on the list was a new foam topper. We have been talking to companies at every boat show, now was the time to make the move! Off to the Friendly Foam Shop in north Seattle we went.
They were awesome too! They let us sample about four different types of foam and then we finally selected our favorite. They do offer to put it in a cover, but we already had one. For a couple hundred bucks, we now would have a great night’s sleep on the boat. And it is awesome! Keep in mind, unlike on Kokomo, we actually have a very nice mattress, but it still needed something!
Scott ended up trimming it himself with a bread knife – it’s not the prettiest around the edges, but it sure is comfy! One thing to note is it does STINK the first 24 hours, so be prepared. We ended up going with an open cell polyurethane foam.
Next Stop – Find a Canvas Shop
Since we borrowed the canvas snap tool from work when we installed the new cockpit carpet, we decided to make a few repairs to the canvas while we were at it. So we headed off to Seattle Fabrics near Ballard. Not only did they have snaps, but they had canvas fabric tape AND they sell our canvas. (If we ever feel like experimenting, I guess we can buy a sewing machine!)
There are corners on our canvas wear the snaps have completely pulled through. The repair tape is only temporary to get us through, until we buy new canvas. Scott and I headed back to the marina and he went to work!
A new grill and propane!
The method of sous vide cooking is actually not new to us. Years ago, we went camping at the Pot Holes and I made omelets using this method. It was super easy, no clean-up and no sand. Simply add your omelet ingredients into a freezer ziplock bag and boil until the egg is cooked.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
To use a sous vide cooker, you set the water temperature to the desired temp, place the meat in a sealed bag and then the meat will cook only up to that temp. But when cooking a steak, you don’t want just “boil” in a bag, you want the sear. So our plan was to grill them on the bbq or the stove after we took them out.
Oh yeah, not only do we not have a bbq, but if we cook them on the stove top – we might need propane there too. Off we go again right before Randy headed down.
We bought a new Magma grill at West Marine and they matched Fisheries Supply’s price! We saved almost $30! Then we removed our LPG propane tank and headed to U-Haul. I didn’t know the age of the tank and they only service tanks that are 10 years and newer. Turns out, we not only had a new tank, but it was virtually full. LOL!
Right now, we don’t have a “home” for the grill. The old grill was mounted inside the cockpit (I would rather not die from carbon monoxide poisoning). So we use it on the dock for now. Here’s a photo from our survey – yuck!
First, a sunset cruise before dinner!
Randy has taken a few boat trips with us, but not on our new boat. So we headed out for a quick tour of Elliott Bay to help us gain some hours on the water too. The weather was gorgeous and a perfect night.
Time for sous vide steak!
Randy was pretty excited to show us his project! He dry aged the steaks in his fridge using an aging kit that he bought for roughly 40 days. To cook the steaks to 130 degrees takes about two hours, so we got everything rolling right when we returned to the dock. Randy seasoned the steaks will a little bit of garlic pepper and salt. That was it.
I made a grilled corn & asparagus salad and we waited for the steaks to come up to temp. Let’s just say it was one of the best meals we have ever had. If we were at a steakhouse we would have paid over $125 a steak! Thank you Randy!
It was the perfect ending to a great and productive day! The sunset was amazing and it was great catching up with our long time friend. True friendships are so valuable in life, so never take them for granted.
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Stay tuned for our next blog, where we take you to our weekend getaway at Dock Street Marina in Tacoma! Cheers, Scott & Ally
While Scott and I haven’t prepared too many meals lately on the boat, I have put together some of my favorite recipes. These would all be very easy to make and perfect for a day on the water.
Many times, I will prep the meals at home first for a few reasons. If it involves rinsing the ingredient, I don’t like to use the water on the boat. In a pinch, I will use bottled water. While the water is safe to drink, something about a 17 year old water tank, that had been sitting on the hard for two years grosses me out.
Secondly, our galley isn’t that big. It’s perfect for small meals, like breakfast and lunch, but trying to chop a lot of vegetables is cumbersome to me.
Breakfast
Speaking of breakfast, one dish I always make is a frittata. We have an Xpress Redi Set Go Cooker , that works great for frittatas. It’s awesome for toasting bagels, cooking omelets, grilling chicken – you name it! Scott and I love this gadget! And yes, if you click on the link above, you can buy it from us.
Usually after a day of boating, Scott and I like to have a cold salad, especially on a hot day. Normally I make these at home, so they can have time to chill and blend all of the flavors. Plus I don’t have to rinse the quinoa with water on the boat.
My newest two favorites have been my Lemon & Garlic Cousous Salad. I will make a big batch of it and take it to work for a couple of days. It’s so easy too!
My other favorite is fairly similar, which is a Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers & Bell Peppers. Both salads hold well for a few days. As you can see, I love to use cucumbers and bell peppers in a lot of my salads for crunch and flavor.
Entertaining for a Crowd & Dinner
One thing I truly enjoy doing, is entertaining family and friends. This past summer, I made a BLT Dip for my family over the July 4th weekend and it got gobbled up! It tastes exactly like a BLT and it feeds a crowd.
When it comes to having people over for dinner, I like to prepare fairly easy meals. This way I can spend more time with them, versus in the kitchen. For a pasta recipe, one of my favorites is Chicken Pasta Primavera with Spring Vegetables. It’s hearty and delicious.
For a more elegant meal, I typically will make a seafood dish. I recently made Cod with Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic Sauceand it was amazing. Even if you are not a fan of cooked tomatoes, you have to try this. You can serve it with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.
For more tasty ideas, be sure to visit our RECIPEpage. I try to share a new recipe every few weeks. It’s been hard this summer, as it’s been a bit too hot to cook. But there will be plenty more on the way! Stay tuned!
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This past Christmas my brother in-law, Kurt gave us some great gifts from his Fletcher Woodworks business. If you recall, Kurt has helped us out tremendously on the boat, including helping us dock on our first day. He is also a very talented woodworker!
We have a joke in our family that if you want him to design cabinets or counters for you, be patient because he has to grow the tree first. After Kurt retired from the Washington State Ferry system, he started this business with his two sons, Chris and Spencer. Everything they make is handmade with custom wood and gorgeous!
Cutting Boards
This year Kurt gave us a Birdseye Maple cutting board and honestly this picture doesn’t do it justice. You have to see it up close.
Here’s a close-up of the grain:
Cheese Knives & Spatulas
In addition to the cutting board, Kurt also gave us four utensils. The cheese knife is displayed above on the cutting board. The utensils are made out of Leopard wood, also known as Lace wood. The knife has a very sharp edge on it too.
I know what you are thinking……these are way too nice to actually use! However, they are designed to be used regularly. They also have a wood finish that is food safe to use on the cutting board and utensils. Fletcher wood finish is made of organic beeswax and organic flaxseed oil (linseed oil). They chose this mixture over mineral and other oils because of its food safety, rich color and tougher finish. Flaxseed oil naturally soaks into the wood pores and polymerizes with time to form a stronger finish.
Fletcher Name
So you are probably assuming that Kurt’s last name is Fletcher, but in fact it’s not. My sister and her husband live in Ballard and in a quaint neighborhood (one street) called “Fletcher’s Village”. This quaint street has a handful of Storybook Tudor homes that were built in the 1930’s, featuring European style homes with clinker brick & stone work exteriors. As you enter the village, there is a big wooden sign over the street for “Fletcher’s Village”. Now you know where the name comes from!
Fletcher Woodworks On-line Store
Fletcher Woodworks has an on-line store with all of their products available. These are locally handcrafted items from the Pacific Northwest and are great gift items. Of course they would go perfectly on a boat, but also serve great in any kitchen. So the next time you are looking for that unique gift, remember Fletcher Woodworks handcrafted gift items. Check out their website and on-line store at www.FletcherWoodworks.com.
Stay tuned for the end of the month, as we are heading to the Seattle Boat Show! We plan on staying on the boat that weekend for our first winter stay over, so we’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Cheers! Scott & Ally
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When you are prepping dinner in a small galley, the last thing you have time for is making dessert. On top of that, I’m not much of a dessert eater, but Scott is. This summer, I decided to keep dessert simple and easy.
Typically we are enjoying a great bottle or two of red wine relaxing on the deck.
Red Wine & Chocolate
If you love red wine, be sure to pick up a bottle of Cab from SuLei Cellars out of Walla Walla. They are one of our favorite boutique wineries! Since dark chocolate goes well with red wine, I decided that’s exactly what our desserts would be this summer! Pick up your favorite chocolate bar or bark and pair it with your favorite wine! Here are our picks: Thindulgent, Roca Thins, Alter Eco, Green & Black’s & Divine.
Next time you are entertaining or just relaxing on your boat, grab your favorite bottle of wine & chocolate and you’re all set! Have a great weekend! Cheers, Scott & Ally
Scott and I live in Renton, which is about 40 minutes from Downtown Seattle. One great thing about mooring our boat, Kokomo at Elliott Bay Marina is we can go spend a night or two on the boat and feel like we are “getting away” from it all.
Seafair 2017
Seattle has had one of the driest and hottest summers in history and we wanted to be sure to take advantage of every nice weekend we could. Seafair is our big summer celebration in Seattle. The festival ends with the hydroplane races on Lake Washington and the Air Show that includes the Blue Angels.
For us to go to Lake Washington to see the races and air show, we would have to go through the Ballard Locks and during the summer time, this can take hours to get in and then hours to get out.
We decided to watch the air show from Elliott Bay and hope that the Blue Angels would make a few fly overs.
Scott and I took his sister Cherie and her family out for the day. Unfortunately, due to all of the smoke from the B.C. fires, Seattle was very smoggy and visibility was limited. Yet, we still all managed to have a good time.
When the Blue Angels flew out of Boeing Field, they first came right over us and then over the city. It happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to take a photo.
Just when we thought they were gone and gone, they made one final flyover above us! That made the day perfect. So if you are thinking about watching the Blue Angels on Elliott Bay, know that you won’t get to see them very close.
Where to go for an afternoon?
The following weekend, Scott and I invited our friends, Matt and AJ for a day on the water with dinner. That morning we woke up to 8mph winds and it was cold and cloudy. They were not scheduled to come down until 2pm and we were worried the weather would get worse. Luckily, the day got warmer and sunnier so the plan was still on.
I had remembered a few years ago that my sister took us over towards Bainbridge Island for lunch in a cove. I found out it’s called Port Madison and we decided to zip over there for a visit. It was a quick 20 minute boat ride going about 18 knots west.
Just as we approached the entrance to Port Madison, we saw a large pod of dolphins! They were so quick, that none of us captured a shot of them.
Port Madison is deep and we only went in about one quarter of the way, as it got very shallow, about 4′ deep. Yes, I know our draft is only 2’9″, but 4′ is shallow enough for me to be a bit freaked out! We turned around just before Treasure Island.
After we turned around, before Treasure Island it was nearly as bright, so the scenery was much better.
It does get very chilly going across the sound, even on a hot 90 degree day. We always end up bundled up after a few minutes on the water.
Once back into Elliott Bay, we had to wait for the one of the cruise ships to leave. We have two ships docked across from us and they leave around 4pm daily.
We finished the day relaxing on the boat and enjoying a fantastic dinner with Matt and AJ.
What to make for dinner?
Knowing that we were all going to be out boating all day, I didn’t want to come back and have to spend an hour prepping dinner in our small galley. Planning ahead, I decided to make my Chicken & Tortellini Salad with Grilled Artisan Bread. Another perfect weekend on #Kokomo!
Cook the pasta according to the directions. You can do this ahead of time and mix with a little bit of the dressing to keep it from sticking together. When ready to serve, mix all of the ingredients together, season with salt & pepper and serve chilled or at room temperature. Serve with grilled artisan bread.
Galleys are kitchens on a boat. One thing you will learn very quickly on a boat our size, is that there is NOT a lot of room to make any kind of gourmet meals. I love to cook and entertain, and I couldn’t wait to do that on our boat. Soon I realized things had to be very simple and pre-planned. This is our “Kitchen”, which has a microwave, two burner stove top and fridge.
We have some cupboards and three drawers for utensils.
With limited space, I’m always looking for efficient kitchen gadgets to make prepping dinner easier. One of my all-time favorite tools is my Mueller Onion Chopper . It’s fast, no mess and easy cleanup! Here’s a quick demo:
Last week we bought “marbled salmon“, which I had never had before from Wild Salmon and it was fantastic! Because it has a higher oil factor, it stays moist when you grill it. The grill does have larger grates, so we typically will use our lava stone or foil to keep things cleaner.
Since we are buying super fresh fish, you only need a few spices on hand. We simply used garlic salt, Italian seasoning and pepper with some olive oil for this salmon.
Pair it with a pasta and green salad, which you can make ahead and you have the perfect dinner for hot weather!
Sweet Chopped Kale Salad
Pesto Pasta Salad
Many weekends, we’ll go down and stay on the boat on Fridays. Since we work on Fridays, we don’t have time to prep for dinner. That’s when we will swing by Alberton’s grocery store (they have the best fried chicken) and buy their six piece chicken dinner with the side dishes. It transports easy and there’s no cleanup!
One of my favorite side dishes to make is our Corn, Tomato & Avocado salad. It’s easy to prep and very tasty!
When in doubt and it’s a hot day, you can always fall back on a fresh tomato salad with mozzarella! It only has four ingredients and tons of flavor!
Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad
Desserts
For those who know me well, I personally don’t eat desserts, nor do I make them. But when you are entertaining guests, dessert is a must. With limited fridge space and no oven, what’s a good idea for dessert? I love to serve different kinds of chocolates. Super easy and delicious!
Scott and I haven’t been entertaining that much this summer on the boat, since we have such a great restaurant at the marina, Maggie Bluffs. But as Fall arrives, we’ll be spending more time on it and we’ll share some of the great recipes with you!
Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
We transferred the pasta salad to a ziplock bag for easy storage in our small fridge and it kept perfect for the next two days!
Mix and blend all of the vinaigrette dressing. Then add 1/4 cup of the dressing to salad. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Let sit for 15 minutes and serve at room temperature.
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home aged steak is a weird title! But there’s more to the story! Don’t skip ahead. As I mentioned in our last blog, Scott and I have made a commitment to stay every weekend (if possible) on the boat, so we get used to it. 
. Interesting , but hell, I’m game. More about that later. 
, that works great for frittatas. It’s awesome for toasting bagels, cooking omelets, grilling chicken – you name it! Scott and I love this gadget! And yes, if you click on the link above, you can buy it from us.
This is our “Kitchen”, which has a microwave, two burner stove top and fridge.
. It’s fast, no mess and easy cleanup! Here’s a quick demo:
that fits perfectly on the side of the boat and I’m amazed as to how much food we can cook on it.
and 
