Always Improvising

We had to improvise in order to accomplish a few things when we left town after Thanksgiving. Mostly it had to do with food and memory. I forgot the hand mixer. I wasn’t planning to do any baking, but there was a pint of whipping cream to use up. Can’t let that go to waste! I found the wire whisk, but who can whip cream by hand? Not me. No problem. Down to the workbench! Yes, there is a workbench on the boat, and it gets a lot of use. My sweetie pried the handle off and then chucked it into the drill.

It's working! Oh, yes! Now am I going to show you a picture of some dreamy, pretty desert with a dollop of perfect whipped cream on it? Several of my friends probably just laughed hard enough that they almost choked on their bruschetta. Genetic testing would confirm that my 'domestic' and 'chef' genes are missing. There was desert. Just envision simple and yummy.

...and hot chocolate. Slurp.

We really rough it on our boat.

Isn't that a beautiful cup? Kirk Garbisch of Wrangell, Alaska made that cup. His work is amazing!

Back to cooking challenges this last trip. Thawing bread is more my speed. When we were underway with the generator off the microwave and cooktop did not have power. The bread was frozen. You all know how I thawed the bread.  I can tell you that a raw-water-cooled Cat 3208 diesel engine is not as hot on top as a Chevy 350 gas engine (or most car and truck engines). Yes, you still have to wrap the food in aluminum foil, but if you have been using “Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!” by Chris Maynard as an on-the-road cooking guide, then please note that marine times and mileage will need to be adjusted.

Oh, goody, perfectly thawed bread. After Thanksgiving there just has to be a turkey sandwich for lunch…or two, or three.

And in the evening, when the boat was securely tied, I was ready for a glass of the homemade salmonberry wine that friends gave to us. But there was no corkscrew. My knight in shining armor to the rescue again!

Yes, the handy-dandy drill, a wood screw, and a pair of locking pliers.

Surely most people have done this on occasion? Or once? Sigh. I bought a corkscrew when we got back to town. You don’t need to send one.

I was glad that these little shortages were minor and easily fixed. It was a great trip, with lots of exploring. I will write about beach totems and bonsai trees tomorrow in the Beachcombing blog.

Here are some more boaty posts: Boat Stuff