[Maryanne]Kyle's away so I get to really mess up the boat. More recently I decided to mess up the galley a bit, I needed to redeem myself from my prior bread failures. Regular readers may recall my last attempt. Now I still blame this previous failure on bad yeast, but even when I'd purchased new yeast I was stalling "just in case" it turns out I've lost my touch and just can't make bread. I checked over a few recipes, averaged out/combined them all into a "this will do" mix and just got to making my bread. This time I used the oven (which is a little bit temperamental to say the least) but it worked. The difference in the yeast was obvious from the bubbling cup I mixed it in, to the rising bread.
VOILA! A perfectly edible (but blurry) loaves.
Now I just have to learn how to steady the camera too!
The galley was suitably floured up once the experiment was over. One loaf was completely gone before I even got to clean up - DELICIOUS. :-)
Next in the plan is to try the stove top method again and start making some bread with extra flavors: Honey bread, herbs, etc. Good news is that we now know we can have a good supply of fresh bread on our next passage.
Aside from such experiments I've had visitors recently - Kyle and Tina were cruising around the BVI for the week on their boat "Far Cry". We briefly met Kyle when we were getting fuel in St Maarten, and we've also been in touch through Sailnet.com forums. Kyle and Tina were kind enough to keep me company for an afternoon, and let me join them for dinner at The Last Resort - just a stones throw away from my boat. They were great company, and it's always nice to have visitors.
Talking about "The Last Resort", most mornings I get to see their 3 black labs decide they want to go ashore from their little island - so off they trot, part wading, part swimming to the beach. They are great fun to watch, 2 always want to get in a fight and the 3rd looks so bored with it all.
Dogs from the island head ashore for their daily wander
Now I just have to learn how to steady the camera too!
The galley was suitably floured up once the experiment was over. One loaf was completely gone before I even got to clean up - DELICIOUS. :-)
Next in the plan is to try the stove top method again and start making some bread with extra flavors: Honey bread, herbs, etc. Good news is that we now know we can have a good supply of fresh bread on our next passage.
Aside from such experiments I've had visitors recently - Kyle and Tina were cruising around the BVI for the week on their boat "Far Cry". We briefly met Kyle when we were getting fuel in St Maarten, and we've also been in touch through Sailnet.com forums. Kyle and Tina were kind enough to keep me company for an afternoon, and let me join them for dinner at The Last Resort - just a stones throw away from my boat. They were great company, and it's always nice to have visitors.
Talking about "The Last Resort", most mornings I get to see their 3 black labs decide they want to go ashore from their little island - so off they trot, part wading, part swimming to the beach. They are great fun to watch, 2 always want to get in a fight and the 3rd looks so bored with it all.
4 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS on your first on-board loaves of bread Maryanne. Very cool. Not being a sailor, I'm not sure why you have avoided using the oven for baking bread...but I'm sure there is some technicality there I couldn't grasp ??
And if not for bread, what, exactly, is the oven used for??
Ah, I understand your confusion - but there is some logic to my madness. Let me explain.
Our stove fuel is propane gas (LPG), and we have to carry it with us, we don't have a constant supply of gas delivered to our home by the gas company. One cylinder lasts us about 2 weeks in hot climates, and we have 3 cylinders aboard - giving us a max of 6 weeks between resupplies. I know most of our gas goes to running the fridge since if we are at the dock and using the mains power for the fridge, one tank easily lasts us 6 weeks. The more propane we use, the more often I have to fill our tanks (and that ain't so easy in paradise).
As soon as I have a recipe that requires 40+ minutes of oven time, I start to worry about how much gas that's going to use, and look for a way to reduce it... Hence the search for the perfect stove top recipe. It might be in the pan for just as long, but at least the heats going mostly to the pan and not some big box of air... At least that is the theory. I've yet to prove that, just an assumption. I could be full of hot air myself. :-)
Judging from the outcome of the stove top loaf last year, you may have to commit to the propane for the oven, but I understand the difficulty. I still haven't come to grips with the notion of you lugging those incredibly heavy and cumbersome propane tanks to and from a filling station, when you can find one. Being the burro is no fun!
Well done Maryanne! There's nothing like freshly baked bread- especially if you have to work for it!. I'm sure you've probably heard of this group, Solar Cookers International- they help make solar ovens for people in Africa. the concept is simple- a reflective box, a dark pot, one of those baking bags for a turkey, etc. Perhaps a magnifying sheet (http://www.lifewithease.com/pagemagnifier.html) directed at slate roofing shingle, etc. If you perfect the design, you'll be fameous!
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