Goodbye Sailing for now

Sailing trip commenced in June 2007 and completed in September 2008.

It has been an adventure......but it is now time to tackle something else on the bucket list.

Signing off on this blog...for now, maybe!

First Impression ...Food in Papeete, Tahiti

Been a while since a food update on Dreamer, but rest assured we have been eating well! I will back track at some stage and advise of our food encounters in Colombia, Panama and Galapagos, but in the meantime.....

The current "crew of 2" of Dreamer arrived in Papeete, Tahiti after some 4000 nautical miles of sailing.
Steve and Jaci were keen to check out all the gourmet delights of French Polynesia, this is their observation of food in Papeete after 27 days of galley life on the high seas:

"Lots of pizza, spit roasted dogs (veal apparently), steak & fries, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Only French food we have really seen is the mountains of cheese at the supermarket, the crepe food stands & French sticks (which we drown in chocolate hazelnut spread).
Morning markets (from 6-8)are cool-heaps of fresh stuff, fruit, vegies, french sticks, fish, Chinese stuff & meat-pork (hooves as well),beef & roasted chicken."

Quick Nachos

Layer corn chips and grated cheese on an oven tray. I use a blend of 6 cheeses and white corn chips. Warm in oven until cheese melts.

Top with oodles of chopped capsicum, tomato, onion and avocado. Add baby corn and sprinkle with a good splash of pimiento or taco sauce. Top with sour cream if desired.

Garlic Lobster & Chili and Lime Fish

Garlic Lobster
Boil a pot of sea water and drop live lobster in and replace lid. Boil for 10 minutes, remove lobster and refrigerate to cool. Remove tail from shell and remove back vein. Heat a fry pan with butter and crushed garlic, pan fry quickly to warm....serve with crusty bread and salad.

Chili and Lime Fish
Place fillet of fish in foil with a good splash of chili sauce, cracked pepper and the juice of half a lime. Seal foil and fry in a dry pan turning until cooked (a few minutes).

Foodfront for past few weeks

We sampled fast food from Taco Bell, a popular American food franchise store. If you can manage to avoid the delicious double fried chips and crispy cinnamon twists it is possible to eat healthy here for a few dollars. Chips and twists are good though, so forget about the healthy!

Jac has taken the award for the best bread-maker and she makes a mean chocolate cake. The iced chocolate cake makes the blow of Steve losing his crown easier!

We got some meat vacuum-packed at Curacao two weeks ago….sadly a poor job was done and now our meat supply is fish food….so meat free recipes on our last few days of sailing…

Spinach & Feta Cheese Quiche

In a bowl, whisk 6 eggs, sour cream, grated cheese, crumbled feta cheese, tin of drained and rinsed spinach and salt and pepper. Pour into a greased pan (lined with bread crumbs…I omit crumbs) and bake in a moderate oven.

Fried Rice…
Pan-fry onion, chopped bacon and capsicum. Add cooked rice and pan-fry adding tinned corn , stir through beaten egg and add soy sauce and cracked pepper prior to serving…

A variation to this is to add pre-cooked red curry rice, omit egg and soy sauce. Add a tin of coconut milk.

Sandwiches ( home baked bread) with cold meat, cheese and pickles….ABC islands had a great supply of pre-packed sliced cold cut meats/sausage and gouda cheeses.
Serve with a lettuce side salad adding chopped tomato, onion, S&P and tarragon vinegar.
Grated and drained cucumber mixed with vinegar, cream and S&P is a favourite and fresh side salad.

Ostrich Burger,Cocktails & Apple Pie

Not all at the same time....but a sampling of our "eat outs" the past few days.

We visited an ostrich farm....Ostrich meat is red and tastes very "gamey" and seemed a little rare, and seriously, difficult to eat something that eats it own poo! Also, if an ostrich is being pursued by a predator it will continue running until it drops dead. Meanwhile, the pursuer has long ago gone looking for easier prey. Oh, to be an ostrich.
Curacao liquor is flavoured with the dried peels of Larahas, which were developed from the sweet Valencia orange transplanted to the island by Spanish explorers. The nutrient-poor soil and arid climate of Curaçao changed the fruit's taste, creating the Laraha.The recipe was created by accident by the Senior family in the 1900's....and voila....Curacao! Flavours are the same for orange, blue, red and green curacao. Chocolate, Coffee and Rum Raisin flavours also available.
Apple Pie...nothing quite like it
In particular, dutch apple pie(appeltaart or appelgebak)
We have become very good coffee and pie samplers. Every place has awesome appelebak, we may need to attempt a second round to decide the best.

Bread Update....

It is official, Steve is changing his surname from Brown to Baker!
How can a man who struggles to boil water make an awesome loaf of bread...I mean this man seriously cooks nothing....and yet my bread flops and his is awesomely (?) delicious!
His latest effort.....

Food Packaging

This is not the local dump, it is a beach in Venezuela

We have been sailing now for eight months and to date and have travelled from Florida to Venezuela, making many stops at various places in The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spanish Virgins, US Virgins, British Virgins, St Martin, Saba, St Kitts and Nevis, Bonaire and Curacao.
What has been the one constant along the way?
The amount of litter we have seen on our travels. Do not even get me started on the careless over-use of disposables!
Ok, so far Venezuela has the most litter but are conservative in packaging and do not overuse. Beer bottles litter the roadsides, so much so if you were to throw a bottle you would be very lucky not to hit a bottle that is already there! It is a poor country, why not have a bottle return system, like we had in the good old days....a few cents a bottle adds up doesn't it? Not even sure if they actually even have bin collections. For some strange reason the litter in Venezuela didn't worry me, perhaps because they do not overuse disposables and it is heavily populated.
The Bahamas on the other hand is not heavily populated and truly have magnificent waters so to see them over-package everything (I have never seen so many styrofoam food containers) and just carelessly discard their waste is alarming. One fellow in Nassau had no qualm in throwing his KFC box on the busy footpath when he was done with it....maybe that island 'no worries mon' attitude.
Florida...well that is just a throw away society. I cannot believe Americans are only just now introducing re-usable grocery bags in the supermarkets. I might add some oldies are complaining about it..they believe it is their right to use plastic bags. So much for older being wiser!
Dominican Republic for a poor country still manages to have lots of styrofoam hot boxes.
Bonaire supermarkets charge for plastic bags and while the island still has it's fair share of litter, the people are at least making an effort, by reducing wastage.
Curacao (in fact most places I have been) on the other hand put three grocery items in a plastic bag that has been re-enforced by another plastic bag and I am expected to walk out with ten of these double bags with a few items in each. I don't think so.
Everywhere in St Kitts has don't litter signs and guess what....everywhere there is a sign, someone has kindly dumped their rubbish. Why?

I am not having a whine about a few pieces of paper or a couple of plastic bags, many times there are garbage bags full of waste just dumped by the roadside.

Every paradise we visited was littered! The exception to this was Saba, Dutch Antilles. It takes out the gold medal in my book for being the cleanest place we have visited. Congratulations proud Sabans for respecting your paradise!

Most of the people we have met so far are fabulously friendly and proud people. I just can't understand most peoples total disregard for the planet and the consequences of their actions. Someone enlighten me!

Ok, I will get down off my styrofoam soapbox now.

Lunch at Marsche Bieuw

Generally influenced by the Dutch, Curacao’s local cuisine is a mixture of some 50 cultures with a touch of local flavor added.
A majority of Curacao businesses close for lunch for a few hours and a hot lunch is favoured.
Marsche Bieuw, an old market in Willemstad, is a good source of authentic local cuisine. It is mostly frequented by locals, which is always a good sign that the food is good, portions are generous and prices can't be beat. There are several venders in this building and dining areas are differeniated by the colour of the tablecloths. The atmosphere is great here so it a good cultural experience for us.

We had Stoba di Cabrito, Curacao recipe style for kid (goat) stew, it was delicious. Another local favourite is Yuana – the Iguana Stew, but we passed on trying that.
Fried plantains (cooking bananas) and peas and rice are traditional meal accompaniments throughout the Caribbean.

Recipe....Guacamole

Avocados are in plentiful supply in the southern part of the Caribbean.
Finely chop avocado, onion, tomato and capsicum. Gently fold in a little sweet chili sauce, ground pepper, few drops of tabasco, good squeeze of lime and small dollop of mayo.

Bread

Steve tried out the bread maker....this is our third attempt, and we don't talk about the other two...oh, ok....I may have missed adding one cup of flour on the first attempt and the 2nd try, the power went off half way through..(is that my fault?)! Anyway the third attempt and this is the result...sorry about the pose...but he is strictly a 'boil water only' kinda guy, so he is feeling a bit cocky that his loaf of bread is so light and fluffy.
Presently we are still at the Curacao Marina. Let's hope when we are sailing the breadmaker doesn't zap too much power when we will be generating our own by solar, wind and battery.

Meat & 3 Vege.

Never again will we take the basic "meat and 3 vege" meal for granted.
First job when we get to a new , inhabited destination, is to clear customs. Next stop is usually a coffee shop, in search of the perfect cappuccino (Cotton Tree is still the best so far) ... Our first meal in a new location is often a "local" meal out as we have usually depleted our meat and produce supply, or we just want to check out the local food. After a grocery shop our first on-board preferred meal is cold meat and salad or meat and 3 vege.

Chicken breast and pork fillets have generally been quality cuts, inexpensive and in good supply throughout the Caribbean. We haven't been adventurous enough to try some of the unidentifiable meats (to us) yet...in fact, probably isn't going to happen. We are happy enough with our international culinary sampling to date without going overboard (no pun intended).

Jazz up the basic:

• Add a big squeeze of honey to carrots whilst cooking, then serve with butter and dill (from our new herb garden).
• Mashed potatoes are creamy with a good dollop of sour cream and grated cheese.
• Add garlic, leek, mushrooms and onion to pan while frying meat, add creme fraische upon completion.

Herbs!

The time has come to try growing a herb garden on the boat. I bought some of the more hardy herbs today, parsley, basil, dill and mint. Will nurse these for a month before I try others.

Also, did you know....

Captain James Cook had his sailors eat sprouts, limes and lemons for their Vitamin C content to aid in curing scurvy. So if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us!

Am dashing out to buy some mung beans to sprout as soon as I finish my margarita!

Mung bean sprouts are easy to grow, supposedly, we don't need anything special...seeds, fresh water and a jar with drainage holes drilled into the lid. Let's see if that does the job.

Recipe....Easy Pasta

This is a favourite...quick, easy and tasty.

Sautee onion, diced bacon, capsicum & garlic in olive oil. Add tin of tomato & dollop of tomato paste. Season with italian herbs, pepper & a little fresh lime juice. Add white wine & a little water (if needed). Simmer a few minutes to reduce.
Serve with pasta and parmesan....and crusty bread (from new breadmaker!)

Variations....
omit bacon....add a tin of pink salmon or tuna at water & wine stage.
omit bacon & water... add cream instead.
omit bacon, water & tomato...add cream & mushrooms
add sliced carrot, mushrooms & zucchini (or whatever vege I have)
add sliced carrot and celery at sautee stage
omit italian herbs and stir basil through prior to serving

Recipe....Fish and chips

Doesn't get much easier than this....

Prepare a green salad.
Dust fresh fish fillets with flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper
Wash and chip potatoes.

Heat olive oil in saucepan, just enough to almost cover a good layer of chips in oil.
Heat frypan with a little olive oil and butter for the fish.

Start cooking chips first, moving chips so they cook evenly...after a few minutes....panfry the fish fillets so both are ready together.
Serve immediately with salad and wedges of lime.

Variation: season flour with a little chilli or curry

Recipe...Curacao Sweets

Popular local sweets bought from a street vendor for about US$2.

Kokada

½ fresh coconut, grated or 1½ cups dried unsweetened coconut
¼ cup water
½ cup sugar
Juice of ½ lime
Food colouring (optional)
Boil the water and add sugar, one spoonful at a time. Cook until it becomes a thick, pliable syrup. Add the coconut and continue stirring until the mixture hardens. Stir in the lime juice and food colouring. Let cool slightly, and then form into patties. Serve on broken pieces of coconut shell.

A Breadmaker!

We bought a breadmaker today. Everthing from electric fondues to foot massagers were in electrical stores in Willemstad, Curacao . Are breadmakers that much "old hat"? It took 8 electrical stores before we found a store that practically gave us their last (old stock). We are happy!

Recipe...Easy Chicken & Vegetable Soup

Quick easy and tasty......
Ingredients:
large chicken breast fillet or thigh fillets, olive oil, 2 to 3 cloves garlic, 2 to 3 chicken stock cubes, large onion, washed potato, peeled sweet potato, carrot, any or all of these green vegetables - celery, leek, cabbage, broccoli, silverbeet. Salt and cracked pepper.

Dice chicken and vegetables. In a large saucepan brown chicken, onion and garlic in olive oil.
Add diced vegetables and stock cubes and a few cups of water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and cracked pepper if desired.

Variations to recipe: add pumpkin and a little curry powder
add chinese noodles
add a good swig of white wine (and a swig for the galley slave)
add a little grated cheese or parmesan or sour cream

*you could also substitute chicken with bacon or beef (beef needs to be cooked for min. 90mins before you add vegies)

We are presently at Curacao, Dutch Antilles.....the supermarket has bags of diced vegies...I just add the potatoes, garlic and onion....makes the recipe even easier.

Recipe.....French Omelette

I have always known it as french omelette but recently in a french cafe in St Martin in the Caribbean, the omelette Steve ordered came out flat. So if this recipe isn't a french omelette then I'll call it a "light and fluffy" omelette.

Separate 2 or 3 eggs and whisk egg whites in a large bowl with a pinch of sugar & salt until light and fluffy.
Gently fold through the broken yolks.
Pour egg mixture into heated frypan that has enough olive oil and butter to lightly cover the base and sides. Gently spread egg mixture over base of pan and top with a sprinkling of grated cheese (if preferred).
When browned on base you will be able to easily fold omelette in half to enable the middle to cook. Take care to turn again without flattening or overcooking the omelette.
Result is a light and fluffy omelette (or variation of classic French omelette?)...good for brekky, lunch or light dinner.

Recipe....Potato & Bacon Pot

Quick & Easy......

Wash & dice potatoes
Heat a well olive oiled heavy frypan. When hot add potatoes and place strips of bacon (eye of bacon is best, not fatty) on top, put on heavy lid. Do not turn potatoes as the plan is to have a crispy, brown bottom. You will need a good egg flip/lifter (metal) to remove crisp base with the potatoes in tact when cooked.
When potatoes are almost ready......In a separate pan sautee onion. Add beaten eggs and stir quickly until eggs are just cooked (do not overcook eggs). Serve immediately with potatoes and bacon. Great with icy cold milk!

Sometimes I cheat and turn the potatoes after they are crisp in an effort to crisp up some of the top layer....everyone wants the crispy spuds, it isn't as presentable though as the top layer of spuds do not hold their shape and the bacon gets shuffled aside.

Variation......include peeled and diced sweet potato

Sunset drinks

aka sundowners
Usually anytime after 10 is acceptable but usually occurs after 4pm.

Favourites:
Steve...never changes....wild turkey and coke and only ever 1!
Maria...varies...fave is margarita....but spirits are so cheap in the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico . Rum is cheap everywhere and there is so much variety. ...I change my fave drink often.

We also sample the local beer at most of our stops. Dominican Republic has midi bottles to share. Venezula, the norm is 227ml ....always seems to be a few sips short to us. We had our bottom scraped (the boat and barnacles). At the end of the day we offered the diver a cold drink. He was overwhelmed by the size of the DR 'midi' and took a coke instead.

Most food outlets throughout the Caribbean sell alcohol, even the local take-way store.