Food Discoveries

One of the best things about our trip has been the food.  I’m proud that I’ve been able to provide great food that we’ve enjoyed so much.  It’s that phenomenon where everything just tastes better when you’re out camping or boat.  Or I’m trying…

Things we learned during the trip:

Cheese:  Bring lots of it, seal it and keep in the frig.  I froze the Tillamook brick and it dried out.    Usable but not in premium condition.  The further north you get the less selection and higher cost.  Ketchikan Safeway had an aged gouda for $9.98 before tax so that was our splurge for that shopping trip.

Our friend Jamie sent us a package of Point Reyes cheese selection as a bon voyage present (Jamie, it was fabulous–Thank You!) so between that and the sailor rumors of expense cheese I went a little went a little overboard on the cheese purchases.  However, I don’t regret it one bit.  We’ve been in good cheese for the entire trip until now.  Eat the soft cheeses first otherwise that can spoil while you’re distracted with other cheeses.

Bring your favorite foods:  For example, we like mixed nuts that we get in the bin containers at The Market in Anacortes.  I bought a large bag and sealed them if 4 separate packets.  We ran through them in a couple of weeks.  Should of brought more because we haven’t found anything better or comparable we like so far.  Same goes for coffee, canned goods, etc.

Make note of new products and where you got them:  Bick’s pickles are good and readily available in BC.  Prince Rupert has a great meat shop near the marina  and will do custom orders and freeze them for you.

What we found plenty of was Best Foods/Hellman’s Mayo, Budweiser and Simple Lemonade (surprise) for Shandy’s, variable vegetables type and condition.

New Discoveries:

True Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Orange products (not the drink product).  Don’t get the bottles but rather the little packages.  The damp clumps the crystals badly in the bottle.  Reconstituted liquid is a good replacement for the fresh squeezed.  It worked in cooking and cocktails.

High Seas Canned Smoked Albacore Tuna:  This stuff is great.  From Cheese and crackers, chowder, and tuna salad sandwiches.  I’ve been using it carefully so it will last the trip. $6 a can at the Co-Op, cheaper direct.

No Knead Bread (based on Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day):  This is easy, tasty and a clean process comparatively and certainly nice for the boat.  I haven’t figured out how to get the crisp and crunchy crust but maybe its the propane stove.  Everything takes longer to bake.  I made baking powder biscuits and baked for 40 minutes before they browned (yes, I know what you’re thinking).  By then, of course, they were hard tack.

The 1/8 baking sheets, Silpat pads, and baking stone are great for making everything bake well and clean up is so easy.

Yesterday I decided to try out a number of baked items.

Pie Crumbles.  I read an article on the the King Arthur Flour website discussing the old way of keeping pie crust in the freezer for ready use.  Dan’s grandmother did this all the time and I thought it might work well on the boat.  It did!

I made a double pie crust recipe with flour, salt, butter and Crisco (I had to buy this in Ketchikan because I haven’t used it in years), or your favorite recipe.  You then need to figure out how much mix will be needed for small boat-size pie tins.

It’s 1 cup of mix, 3 Tablespoons ice water for 4 single or 2 double pie crusts.  It worked great except I don’t have a rolling pin so the Oban bottle was used instead—hope I didn’t damage the booze.  Christian, I could really use a custom rolling pin.

I followed the baking instructions for a normal sized pie.  The filling was made up from old and new apples I had on hand.

Celery and tin foil:  Go figure.  Clean and dry your celery and wrap in tin foil and store in the frig.  They will stay fresh forever.  Well, probably not forever but long enough to use up on the boat.  Does this work for other things?  I want tips from all of you!

Storage containers:  Our friend Stew put me onto these (he won’t remember because he’s been using them forever).  When I was setting up the boat with storage containers for food stuffs I went through a lot of different types (Rubbermaid, lock-n-lock, snap ware) and nothing really worked for the space I had (plus they were expensive).  Storage space is varied on a boat (see pics below).

Anyway, I bought a package of these short and tall containers that stack and share the same lids (like to ones at the grocery store delis only sturdier).  This works great for storing supplies in general, but those especially that come in bags or paper boxes.  The bags can rip and the paper can get damp and ruin your product.  I moved all my baking supplies to these so there would be a even layer in “The Hole” to stack my giant flour container on.  They are also super for left overs, etc.  They don’t leak, they stack well, easy to clean and reuse.  They were cheap too.

Coffee:

Tomato Products (hmm, I’m getting low):

Canned vegies and fruit, miscellaneous:

The microwave cabinet aka “The Mess” (bread, cereal, herbs and spices, etc.  needs some work)

Spice Rack (everyday items):

The Hole (Dry goods and baking supplies):