Sci Fair

Spent Friday and yesterday organizing, setting up, and running one of the state regional science fairs down in Blackwood. Found and talked to two young students who had done projects on boats. Both were quite animated in there presentations, and neither knew that a museum in Philly was dedicated to boats.

Put a coat of glass on outside of step sump boxes for SILENT MAID, while Becky worked on more bowtie as air vents for her lockers/ceiling. Gina set up & glued rub and toerail on TORCH.

Thai, Yemeni, and Marabella

Food again. One great, one good, and the other needs work. Best first. These are all for the pressure cooker and serve four.

Marabella Turkey
1/2 package ground turkey
2 oz. pitted prunes, cut in quarters
1/3 cup Spanish olives
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
6 new red potatoes, cut in quarters
sea salt
2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
10 Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
2 bay leaves

Turn on Wally, put pot on, put oil in bottom of pot. Drop in turkey in small wads. Add the prunes, capers and olives on top. Mix the oregano, vinegar, sugar, wine, parsley and pour half over the ingredients in the pot. Add the potatoes (salted), mushrooms and sprouts. Slide the bay leaves in on the sides. pour in rest of wine mixture. Cover, bring to heat, steam at pressure 5 min. Vent to de-pressure and serve.
We both liked this very much. Only used a small portion of sugar and could actually go without. The prunes were such a nice surprise in this dish. Think this is not quite enough to serve four and should increase amounts.


Vegan Arabian Lentils

1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup Bulgar
1 15 oz. can lentils
1/2 eggplant diced
1 tablespoon garlic chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes
2 cups spinach

This experiment did not work as planned, there was not enough liquid at first for the Bulgar and it stuck to the bottom of the pot. Using canned tomatoes would provide more juice to start. Since the lentils were precooked in the can, this recipe really could be dome without the pressure cooker since simply heating to the point of steam would get everything cooked.

If you like the flavor of cumin this would be good. We both remembered that neither of us like it very much. Think I will try this again with more onion and garlic, no cumin.

Thai Turkey & Rice
After the Bulgar experiment, the rice was rinsed well with water first. The pot was started with the zuchinni and pepper on the bottom, next turkey, all the spices and liquids. A hole was made in the middle and in went the rice. This worked well as far as cooking went, nothing stuck to the bottom. The flavors though were mild and I think would be better without the high heat. Will try the Thai ones again but adding in the favor stuff at the end.

MAID of All Work

It was cooking today at WOW. SILENT MAID was getting galley work, head work, cabin work, step work, and something in the lazarette. There so many people working on her it was hard to move. Check out her new ventilation bow ties.



FISH STIX was getting her deck paint touched up.

Fish Dish

FISH STIX is a dish in her new paint. Yellow deck picked out in red. Green topsides. Second coats all round. Put final fill coat on her centerboard and rudder. Filleted the sump steps for SILENT MAID. Glassed the bottom. Sides tomorrow. John glued up the new bulkhead, Work done on the nav station, tp holder, tie rack, computer desk. I can't wait to start the galley. I want bowl and cup racks, soap holder dish towel rack, cutting board, trash can, fitted racks below sink for cleaners, etc.

Made Pistachio Leek Fish in the pressure cooker. It was very good.

Pistachio Leek Haddock

3 leeks copped to tender green
1 sweet potato. roughly julienne
1/2 pound fish
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
6 baby portobello mushrooms
1 can 15 oz diced tomatoes
1/2 a bunch of asparagus stalks, about 1 cup chopped

Turn on stove, oil bottom of pot, chop and add leek and potato, then fish. Put herbs and nuts on next, then mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus. Bring to pressure, steam 3 minutes, Depressure with cold water and eat. Yummy.

Spar Special

Ed, Ned, Bill, Mike, Paul, Pete, Pete, and I worked on spars, sanding, fabrications, tapering, splicing, scarfing tonight until 10. FISH STIX had her deck painted, boom sanded, mast staves tapered. Pete worked out the tables for his mast tapers. Ned did a find and sort job to clean up our spar stock.

Transom

Another coat of varnish on URCHINs transom.

Sunny Buzy Day

Got lots done today. Varnish on URCHIN, but the Boat Life wasn't dry enough to paint. Tiller and tiller extension ready for shaping and sanding, Mold for gaff laminations fabricated, ready for oak/ash staves to be cut and glued up. I used SILENT MAIDs gaff jaws as a visual reference to figure out construction.

Painted FISH STIX centerboard case. Rudder mortised and assembled, coated with epoxy fairing compound, ready for light sanding/shaping, hardware manufacture. Centerboard sanded, scraped and coated one side with fairing filler. Just Gina and I, we talked to lots of visitors, she worked on stuff for SILENT MAID in between. Gina toured an architecture student and I invited two gals in who were delighted with the opportunity to volunteer. I gave them a copy of Ash Breeze. We may end up with some more women in the shop.

Ceiling Tiles

Spent the day hanging ceiling in the new lab space. Had intended to go to the Workshop but never made it. Ended up supervising the helpers instead and we got the job done. It looks good. Not nearly as much fun as boat stuff. When the guys left, did get to work on URCHIN a bit. It's supposed to be warm tomorrow. Got her beach shoe back on.
Interesting point, remember all the green staining? I thought it was rot from water traveling up the bronze corrosion, but no. It was all in the epoxy and sanded off leaving a clean oak shoe. This was reinstalled with Boat Life rather than resin to allow the wood to swell and shrink as it would anyway. That is what caused the original delamination. Tomorrow I'll put a little paint on her and then to the Workshop, to keep Gina company and talk to visitors and set up for Monday night.

Unstuffed Cabbage

Continuing on in the quest for fast healthy crew meals, here are the three latest pressure cooker trials. After the success with the first three, these were not up to snuff. Will have to retry with modifications.

Unstuffed Cabbage with Turkey

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup pearl barley
8 large cabbage leaves
1 14oz. can of diced tomatoes
juice of one lemon
1 Tablespoon of brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 onion chopped
1 carrot grated
1 lb. ground turkey
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon garlic mince
1/4 cup Craisins

Oil the pot, add 1/2 cup water and barley to pot. Turn on Wally, place pot on burner. Put layer of cabbage leaves on top of barley, put half of tomatoes on top, sprinkle with lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
Beat egg in bowl, add onion, parsley, garlic, carrots, and turkey mix well. Drop by forkfuls on leaves. Sprinkle with Craisins. Top with rest of cabbage leaves and tomatoes. Bring to pressure, steam 8 mins. Let sit off heat while you set table, etc. Depressure under cold water if needed and serve.
I found this one a bit sweet to my taste. Will leave out sugar next time. This was better the next day, but that is against my rule for quick and easy boat food, so can't plan for that.

Pomegranate Chicken

1/2 onion sliced thick
4 chicken pieces, salted and peppered
2 Tablespoons thick pomegranate juice (Boil down until thick, carefully as it will caramelize. This is something to do at home and pack.)
1 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
12-16 baby red potatoes
1/2 acorn squash, seeded and cut in chunks
2 cups Brussels sprouts
6 cremini mushrooms, halved

Oil pot, place on stove, turn on Wally. Place chicken in pot as it warms. Drop mustard on chicken. Add onions, potatoes, sprouts and squash. Pour pomegranate juice over all and bring to pressure. Steam 5 min, cool under cool water, serve.
This one was the best of the three this week. Making the thick juice required extra time, easy at home, but not a good idea at sea. It would require extra fuel as well as steaming up the cabin that we try to keep dry. The ingredients for this would keep rather well. The flavor of this was very good.

Chicken (or Tofu) Satay

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 bunch scallions, sliced into rings
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped fine
1 cup broth, chicken or vegetable
1 cup rice
4 pieces chicken or a 1/2 lb tofu crumbled
1/4 head shredded red cabbage
2 cups snow peas
1 large shitake mushroom thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Turn on Wally to high while you get everything ready. Put coconut oil in pot and add chicken. Fry chicken to sear, add rice and a 1/4 cup water. Shake to bottom of pot. Make sauce from peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, scallion, and 2 Tablespoons of the broth. Drizzle some on the chicken. place cabbage as a layer on top, drizzle with sauce. Put snow peas and mushrooms on top of that. Pour rest of sauce on, cover, and bring to pressure, steam 5 mins. Cool under running water and serve.
(This one was disappointing after all the wonderful smells in preparation. Thee was too much cabbage and not enough diversity in texture. The essences seem to have blended to a bland sameness. I want to try this again but only pressure cooking the chicken and rice, then depressuring to add the rest of the veg and just a quick steam to keep the crispness. Add the sauce last.)

PAINT !

Paint on FISH STIX.
She is a green boat.

Spar Rounding

Good-bye squid, buried under a layer of paint primer on FISH STIX topsides. Nick helped me assemble Mike's new spar so we could make the plugs for the ends. 1.1" and 1.9" respectively. Doc and Pete did a great job of spar smoothing on all three gaffs, moving from 16 sides down to rough round.

SILENT MAID got another hole in the boat for electronics.

TSCA March Meeting Cradle

Here are two new photos from Mike. It was a beautiful little boat. 3/4/10





Andy Slavinskas gave a detailed relation of how he built Ela's cradle boat. The tiny lapstrake ship is made from scraps of cedar and mahogany and looks like a million bucks. He finished it with shellac as a non-toxic clear finish. Instead of the davits spec.ed in the plans, Andy created a set of tightly fitted rockers. In a few years he'll be able to add diminutive oarlocks and a couple of skulls.


We heard from Tom that a Mystic Tuckup has shown up and maybe we could have a reNewed Constitution Cup series.

Squid

Just for fun FISH STIX sporting a giant squid on her bows in gray primer.
Ed & Bill primed the bottom of the workboat. Mike ran his staves through the taper jig with Pete's help. Paul & I set it up. Bill made 8 sides on the gaff for FISH STIX. Paul S. did the mortise on her rudder.

Monday Foodie

Pomagranate Chicken
Unstuffed Cabbage
Chicken Satay

Gaffs

Spent yesterday afternoon in the shop. Scraped and edgebanded FISH STIX rudder and centerboard. Began working on the gaffs for her and the tuck-ups. Used the spar gauge to mark the 45º chamfers on the two gaffs that Bill had tapered last week. Got one almost all the way planed. Want to make a few check gauges cut from scrap plywood so they don't get planed or sanded too small. 1 3/4", 1 5/8'', and 1 1/2" ought to do it for the gaffs.

Today, painted at the lab and my shop, gentle yellow, a nice color and name. Boss has been doing electrical for the last two days which makes her grumpy. Got to order the secret ingredient to complete URCHINs refit.

Check out SILENT MAIDs new bookcase and navagation storage space designed by John Brady. The photo is his. You can see her new shelves on her blog.

Doad

Doad and I
June 25, 1985

Found a picture of the second boat that Pete & I built. She is a Manuel's Dory designed by Tom Hill.
We tented it in VT and spent a week with Tom at his workshop and completed most of her. It took me three more weeks to paint her. She became our "station wagon" boat carrying loads and acting as a breakout boat for kayak trips. Peter paddled and I would row the wagon. He'd come over for lunch and a stretchout in the big boat. I'd still like to rig her for sailing.

Two Chicken, One Fish

All for the one pot pressure cooker style and four SILENT MAID crew members. Putting the pot on when you start the glow plug and then do veg prep should make best use of Wally's slow start up time. Steam is very hot, use pressure cooker safely.

Chicken Marengo, Napoleon's favor

Start glow plug, turn Wally up all the way, put pot on heat, add chicken skin side down. While those are warming (the diesel takes a while to start up), peel the skin from onions meanwhile. chop greens coarsely, move chicken over to side, add pasta and water, swirl to coat, replace chicken on top of pasta. layer vegetables on top of chicken, ending with tomatoes and their juice. Cover, bring to pressure, steam 10 minutes, remove from heat. let cooker cool to depressure.

1 tsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup water and
1/2 box of Farfalle (about 1 1/2 -2 cups) dry pasta
1 cup of pearl onions
1/4 cup Italian parsley
1/4 fresh basil
8 leaves red Swiss chard, stems removed
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms
14 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes
4 oz. small pimento stuffed olives, drained


Coq Au Vin (and potatoes)
Start glow plug, turn Wally up all the way, put pot on heat.
Fry bacon and chicken in bottom of pot, sweat onion, add rest of ingredients.
Cover, bring to pressure, steam 7 minutes, remove from heat, let pot cool to depressure.
If you want, thicken juice by removing meat & potatoes, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a little water to juice and stir while on heat until thicker. Spoon sauce over chicken.

4 slices of bacon (use precooked or panchetta for less fat)
3 onions, quartered
4 chicken pieces
8 oz. button mushrooms
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 pound fingerling Yukon Gold potatoes (or baby reds)
salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of cornstarch


Cajun Haddock and Sweet Potatoes
Turn on Wally, put pot on to heat. This one is very quick. Peel one large sweet potato, Cut into coarse julienne (like shoestring fries) Thin slice onion, snap beans, quarter tomatoes. Oil bottom of pot add onion and garlic, swirl to coat. Add potato, beans, fish and tomatoes. Cover, bring to steam, process 4 minutes, cool quickly with cold water, open carefully and eat.

1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 lb white fish like haddock or cod - sprinkled with
Creole seasoning (for this trial I used "Magic" all the same stuff, but less hot for our wimpy Yankee tongues. Southern crew can add Tabasco later)
1 large sweet potato
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 cups green beans
4 plum tomatoes (or 14 oz. can w juice)

These were all really yummy. Nice, quick, hot, underway should serve in bowls rather than plates. It is easier to wash the bowls anyway because you can stack them in the sink to sterilize. The plates are too big. All of these suffer from plating options anyway because of the cooking method. If you keep the steam time reasonable - it is a matter of balancing the starch, meat and veg times - you can retain a lot of favorable texture. Got to get the meat done, pasta -al dente, and veg crisp. If you let the steam go too long you get great flavor, but it might as well be pureed. Coming up is one pot vegetable lasagna. Any and all suggestions from crew are welcome now. Send in you comments, requests, and preferences. I am working on vegan stuff too for our lone vegan sailor.

Menu Explorations

In the midst of transmutation of the elements. Chard, olives, portobellos. Here's why. During the last fall's cruises on SILENT MAID, I learned to adjust to the diesel stove. In the first cruise, I didn't know if we would have a stove at all since it hadn't been hooked up yet, but by the end of the first day motoring and sailing in 30kt wind John Brady (in companionway photo) had the little guy operating. Hot dinner that night. I had packed simple things to eat and a backup stove from my backpacking gear just in case.



It rained and was cold for three days of that transit from Toms River to Philly. The hot food was very welcome. The stove is a Wallace and has two hot spots under a glass top, one cooler than the other. The first thing I learned to do immediately on waking, was flip the glow plug switch on and start the coffee water. It takes a good 30 minutes to get water boiling from a cold start, so no lazing under the covers for cookie in the am. Once the little guy, Wally, is hot, he keeps pumping out BTUs, so my goal was to get the crew fed in less than an hour and heat dishwater. Most of what I brought to eat last fall had been hastily gathered and semi-prepared the night before sailing. Preboiled noodles, chopped onions, peppers and potatoes nuked in their travel containers, hard boiled eggs.



It is way fun to cook for a group that likes to eat and as I got to know my shipmates, their food choices and likes became the gangplanks for the next meal. This spring while SILENT MAID has been in the shop, evenings have been spent experimenting with food for cruising. Making a passage safely from point A to B, means a comfortable crew, well fed and rested. MAID required a lot of looking after in those first trials since some systems had not been hooked up yet. Swaying up the sail and reefing provided lots of exercise for the deck crew and the helmsman expended energy on the wheel. She is a catboat. This year she'll be a catboat with autopilot and electric winches (and a glow plug that will heat) because of the new alternator bracket.


On the last cruise in November, I brought the pressure cooker from home, mostly because it has a locking lid. I had made a large pot of vegetable chili with bison. That was a convenient transport container ready for reheat. An oven would be a nice addition, and harking back to scout days, a folding or dutch oven charcoal one could be used for rolls, cake, cookies and biscuits at anchor, but not under way. One pot is the choice under way. The pressure cooker cuts cooking time drastically. Usually things take about a third to a quarter of the time needed to stew, boil or braise.

Bow Tie

There is something elegant about a bow tie
especially on a boat.
BOW TIE

Sanding and Metal Work

TORCH has Calvin sanding her foredeck.

FISH STIX got rolled over and had her trunk routed and trimmed, she had a new sternpost installed and rudder and centerboard work. Paint was composed of all the less than half full cans blended together. Flat red for trim, cream colored decks and grey-green topsides, I'm thinking a bronze green bootstripe and red bottom paint. She will need the squid on her stem eventually.

SILENT MAID got a fine new alternator bracket and work done on her blackwater tank and vacuum head.