Monthly Archives: February 2012

Trials and Tribulations of a charter chef…

Aside

I have some guys with simple tastes..One of the guys consistently tells me that I make the best coleslaw in the WORLD. Pretty high praise! If you have to be known for your high gourmet cooking, coleslaw is a good start..

I thought I would be quite posh and threw a few raisins in it last night. Do you know what Dave told me?
“Yeah, about those raisins DON’T do that again”
And what is my absolutely amazing gourmet coleslaw recipe you of course want me to share with you?? Well cabbage, carrots, salt and pepper and Hellman’s Mayonnaise!!!!! DON’T try to put onion or raisins or anything else in :)
You are welcome. I won’t charge you extra for that hint!
I was also quite fancy and made my potato salad with a vinegar, sugar, mayo, mustard blend..and let it sit overnight. Apparently I am better off with plain old Hellman’s and Salt and Pepper too! However, I am allowed to put a bit of mustard in this one..
Gourmet potato salad apparently!

Gourmet potato salad apparently!

My ribs went down a hit though!
BBQ Ribs with a Jack Daniels Steak Seasoning BBQ sauce

BBQ Ribs with a Jack Daniels Steak Seasoning BBQ sauce

I enjoyed making my lunch platter yesterday, but the blueberries were wasted on this crowd…..

lunch platter on Promenade

lunch platter on Promenade

My breakfast this morning was not quite as classy…We must have had a batch of propane that was destined for the first world and made it’s way to Tortola instead on a detour..As it actually burned properly and I burnt everything!!!! When you are doing breakfast to order it makes it a long affair when you burn half the food..This was the start of my reject pile!

My sad pile of breakfast rejects...

My sad pile of breakfast rejects...

Remora pooping on your head?

Posted on by

Found these pictures from when my girls, Heather and Lisa were here in November..

We were posing underneath the boat, and there was a large Remora hanging all over the boat and around us. I looked up and saw a whole bunch of crap going by my face. I thought ” oh great, nice of the boat to dump it’s holding tank on us” although I could not quite figure out why they did that when we were in the water!

Girls told me afterwards that the remora had came down from the boat, pooped on my head and went back up!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Look! I made it..

Posted on by

..and managed to watch episodes of Survivor and Amazing Race last night..not to mention having tonights dinner totally ready including dessert!

NOW I want to sleep :) One hour before pick up time and it is raining..how unusual :) Bring on my hoards of men…for the week…

My clean galley

My clean galley

My clean saloon

My clean saloon

I overstuffed my ribs to parboil which meant Bazza had to step in to unclog the vents….there was no damn way I was doing two when I could shove them all into one! :)

Also made Potato Salad, and a large Birthday cake….

a stuffed pot of back ribs

a stuffed pot of back ribs

Looking up at Promenade

Looking up at Promenade

Now it is back out on the wild blue seas where I hope I find more whales to dive with :)

Promenade- Our Humpback Whale from last week

Promenade- Our Humpback Whale from last week

Just a last minute run to the grocery store..cuz I am SURE on Sunday morning they are going to have different things then they did Saturday morning :)

Not doing what I am supposed to be doing…

Posted on by

I am supposed to be cleaning my saloon and putting away the groceries that Riteway delivered at the moment.

It is always such a surprise when I see what they picked as opposed to what I ordered..This week instead of Italian Sausage, Jones Sausage Links were substituted and flat bread..well, some kind of weird whole wheat thing that I am sure they just wanted to get rid of that no one on here will eat…and apparently they can never pick up the bread flour instead of the regular flour, even though I scream in capital letters. Ah well, better then fighting the Saturday crowds myself at the store!

Instead I am slow trolling the internet, adjusting my rates on the yacht for next season, updating small changes on websites… Not much ambition happening here.

THIS is what my galley looks like. Not only does it need food put away, but it needs ribs parboiled for tomorrow too…Thank god I had gone out on Thursday when we dropped charter and picked up all the frozen and dry goods, otherwise I would be much further behind.

my messy galley

my messy galley

And this is what the saloon looks like. I am not sure how I think I can start tomorrow morning to clean it and still be ready to pick up charter guests at 11…however, experience has shown me that I will be ready.

Our messy saloon

Our messy saloon

Notice I have all the liquor on the shelves that came on Thursday still to put away, laundry to put away, god I have not even put away the buffet table cloth from last charter! Good thing Dora is in cleaning the cabins today, at least they will have clean beds this week.

I now have 8 back to back charters coming up.Yeah…when did I think I was 30?? Can’t complain to anyone, I booked them after all! :)

So I will just put up a few pretty pictures of coral in the shallows at Beef Island and try and find the ambition to put away my vegetables (one good thing, I have all men this week, so I really did not need to stock a lot of fruits OR vegetables..but I have a billion eggs!)

pretty coral in the shallows of Beef Island

pretty coral in the shallows of Beef Island

the colors blow me away

the colors blow me away

Rocks outside Hans Creek, Beef Island

Rocks outside Hans Creek, Beef Island

Guess I am not sounding that perky today?????

Gee..provisioning on Tortola

Posted on by

…I received an advertisement from a provisioning store for my boat business today.  They advertise free delivery, Fresh produce WEEKLY, and 10 day leadtime for your full provisioning needs….

I am lucky if I get my provisioning order together to send it the DAY before charter, never mind ten days….:)

 

On the other hand, yesterday I made the best batch of conch fritters I think I have made for awhile!

Conch Fritters

Conch Fritters