and baby makes 6!

There are two ways to cook on a boat. With a gimbaled propane stove inside, or with a propane grill out on the deck.

We have not purchased a grill yet for the boat, as they cost as much as a nice backyard grill, so that leaves us with the stove inside for now.

Obviously I could not bring any meat with us. There is just no way to keep it cool. We don’t have a refrigerator, and the cooler full of ice does not keep it cold enough for safety reasons. There is dry ice, and that is something I will use on longer trips, but for this excursion, I opted for non-perishables. Simplicity to start with.

The dinner I had planned that evening was whole wheat pasta with bruschetta and rolls. Mmm. I chose whole wheat egg noodles both for their protein and that they cook in 1/2 the time of regular noodles. Remember, we are on a “preserve our resources” mantra, and the propane tank is smallish, so the less cooking time the better. I am sure l could run the stove as a heater, and the tank would have plenty of propane, but until we figure out the the longevity of the tank, I will be conservative.

The stove is gimbaled, meaning when the boat heels over, the stove is on hinges that allow it to move with the boat to keep a level surface. It also has little “grips” that hold the pots on the top.

“Too many cooks in the kitchen” takes on a whole new meaning in the galley (kitchen) of a boat. I mean, just look here:

That spot in front of the stove? That is the galley. It is off limits to the kids when I am cooking. There is barely enough room for one person to stand. If the kids came in there, well hell, they might bang the stove and knock the pot of boiling noodles off………or my Tecate (shudder). So, no kids in the galley unless they are in charge of the meal.

Other things to cook would be rice, beans, soup, bread, etc etc. You know, you just have to plan things and get a bit more creative.

Clean up for us is a bit more time consuming than on land. I do not use paper plates for the obvious reason…….what to do with the trash when there is no trash pickup in an isolated cove? I bought some plastic plates for now:

They wash easily and won’t shatter or break.

I will defer the topic of the use of soaps etc. to the lovely Toast, as she wrote an excellent article on doing more with less. In addition, water on a boat is precious, so conserve, conserve, conserve. For the dishes, I put some water in the sink, put just a dab of soap on the scrubber, wash the dishes, then rinse them on the other side of the sink. Bill dries and puts them away.

Other meals consist of breakfast rolls, sandwiches, pesto dips and crackers, and fruit. And beer………you do know that the beer must always have ice. The small cooler we did have with ice? It contained the beer and cheese.

Priorities, people.

Next topic: where does the dog pee….or does she at all?

Cooking