Stuffed, Baked Apples with a Little Difference.

Hands up whose favourite desert when they were a kid was a good old stuffed, baked apple? Anyone?... Those back-to-school days, that glut of apples from the back garden and endless apple puddings.

Stuffed, baked apple was my least favourite. There was nothing ‘fun’ about a stuffed apple as far as I was concerned. It was a desert for old people. No chocolate, no treacle, no cakey bit, no tasty bit you could dig for; just raisins, cinnamon and cheek-pinchingly tart apples from the garden.

And so much of it! Why were they always so big?  Stuffed by a stuffed apple. The cruel fate of a well behaved child. I mean, let’s face it; stuffed apples were just not cool.

Funny how I love them now.

Wissy, George’s Mum, made us one my first night back from France. And I joyfully ate the whole thing. It was the most delicious stuffed apple I’d ever had and made it even more of a joy to be back in the UK at such a time of year. A real inspiration for this recipe.

I’m in Norfolk as I write this blog. George and I are looking for a house to buy round these ‘ere parts. We’re looking for that dream cottage, the one that we live in in my ‘other’ life. If you’ve read my blog, 'My Other life and Baked Bananas', you’ll know exactly what I mean.

We haven’t found it yet on this trip home but I will continue the hunt. When I’m not cooking or writing about cooking I’ll be looking for my home, tucked away in my stuffy cabin on the internet. It’s out there somewhere waiting for me. It has apple trees in the back garden of course and one day I will force feed my children stuffed apples for months on end. Tehe.

Okay, I might have made a more child-friendly stuffed apple recipe up my sleeve. They’re small apples and they have white chocolate in them too. And even if you’re old like me you’ll probably like these too;

For pretty tasty little stuffed apples for 4 you will need;

4 small Braeburn apples or similar

Zest and juice of one lemon

Zest and juice of 1 orange

50g S.R flour (self raising makes a much better crumble for some reason, my Gran swears by it and I have to concur)

50g crushed Amoretti biscuits
2 tbsp dark brown sugar

100g glace cherries, finely chopped

50g cold butter

50g white choc, finely chopped

50g flaked almonds

Few drops of vanilla extract

Heat your oven to fan oven 140, gas mark 4 or as far as it will go boat oven…

Method;

• Begin by preparing the apples. Take the top slither off the apple and then with a teaspoon dig out the core and a little bit more so that you can get a good bit of the stuffing in. When the apples have been cored, pop into a baking dish and rub the insides of the apple with the lemon juice to stop them from going brown. The lemon juice will add to the final flavour so be generous with it.

• Put them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

• Next make the ‘crumble’ mixture. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips. It will be quite buttery at this stage so best not do it in a food processor in case it turns into a dough. Then mix in the crushed Amoretti biscuits, flaked almonds and orange and lemon zest and a few drops of vanilla extract. When it is all well mixed, gently fold in the white choc and cherries. It will be a nice crumbly, buttery mixture. Don’t eat too much of it at this stage or you wont eat your supper.

• When the apples have had 15-20 minutes cooking gently in the oven they should be tender but not too soft. Spoon in the crumble mixture packing it in quite well and over-filling them so that the mixture loosely covers the top of the apple. Pop back into the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

• I think they would be lovely served with a rosemary and orange syrup and custard. As it was I didn’t really have the time so I garnished them with a sprig of rosemary and served with freshly made vanilla custard with freshly squeezed orange juice in it.

Yum. Seasonal and tasty and gooey and a little bit naughty but healthy too! Practically Angelic then.

So we’re back to France on Saturday…oh that’s tomorrow. I’ve mixed feelings. It’s going to be incredibly busy and a lot of hard work with 3 classic yacht regattas back to back; Monaco, Cannes and St Tropez. Lots of sailing and lots of guests and Birthday wishes for Mariquita who is a hundred years old this year. She is a beautiful boat and we are so lucky to be racing her still.

I’ll let you know how it all goes. And I’ll let you know if I get my dream cottage in the country-side. Why England when I’ve travelled around the Mediterranean and spent time in some great countries you may ask?

I love the country-side here. Nothing beats the green of the English country-side. It’s so lush and so very…home.

For now, I’ll be content with life aboard an old wooden racing boat, the glamour of racing in such prestigious places in the Med. And I love it all. I’m very proud to have been a part of Mariquita’s amazing history.

Thanks for reading

Thats quite a tree trunk.

Cheers!

Typical Norfolk road-side

Who the hell needs stuffed apples when there are cow pats to enjoy?

The beautiful Norfolk woodland

Sea Shots and Spag Bol

There’s nothing quite like a really good spaghetti bolognaise on a Saturday night. My Mum used to make it for us when she and my Dad were going out for the evening. My Mum’s ‘Spag Bol’ is the best in the world and my little tummy (those were the days) would rumble in anticipation whilst it slowly simmered away in the pot, the deep aromas wafting through the house. And to top it off (after the parmesan) when my parents went out on a Saturday night, we were even allowed to eat our supper on our laps in front of the telly. My Mum’s spaghetti bolognaise on our laps in front of ‘Blind Date’ on a Saturday night was about as good as it could get.

Ah, those were the days. I’ve absolutely no idea what UK Saturday night telly is like anymore. I’d take a wild guess that good old Cilla has probably retired from match-making.

On the boat the crew tend to watch movies on lap-tops on our own bunks with ear phones plugged in if we have a Saturday night such as this; anchored off just outside Cogolin near St Tropez. It’s not quite the same and fairly anti-social but at least it prevents mindless ‘channel flicking’ and there’s no interruption from the ten o’clock news to boot.

And tonight there is a pot of bolognaise on the stove, the smell wafting through the boat. It’s not the same as my Mums but its still pretty good if I do say so myself. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’ve had plenty of time to get excited about it because it’s been sitting there behaving itself for the last two hours on the ‘Force ten’ on the smallest of simmering flames. If you have read any of my earlier blogs you’ll be very familiar with my penchant for long slow cooked Italian dishes and how I feel that their improvement from a good dish to a great dish can be the difference between an hour or 3.

And Bolognaise leads the pack. As it slowly reduces and intensifies in flavour it becomes a deep, deliciously moorish, special rich meal fit for kings. Or sailors, or for laps on a Saturday night in front of the telly but by heck you deserve the best so make your bolognaise in the afternoon and let it slowly work its magic, filling your kitchen with the best of homely smells and eat it 3 hours later when you can wait no longer. A large glass of Italian red and some very good parmesan, a little rocket salad and you’ll see what I mean.

This is the best recipe for bolognaise that I have ever tried. I’d love to hear your recipes and ideas too. I’m sure I remember once eating a rich and delicious bolognaise when I was younger that had capers in it…

For the best bolognaise for 6 you will need;

2 medium brown onions, finely chopped

4-8 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, grated (Sometimes I use butternut squash which is a superb alternative to carrot)

2 ripe, juicy tomatoes, chopped

Mushrooms, sliced

2 pork sausages (flavoured ones are great such as herb or sundried tomato)

3 slices of unsmoked streaky bacon, finely sliced

3 slices of prosciutto or parma ham, finely sliced

800g minced beef

400ml of red wine (a good one, deep, dark and full bodied)

300ml beef stock

2 tbsp tomato puree

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method;

• In a good heavy non-stick pan heat some sunflower oil. Add the onions and a tbsp of sugar (more than I normally suggest here but you’ll see why later once you’ve added the red wine). Sauté gently for 5 minutes or so until they start to soften and then add the carrot, celery, tomato and garlic and continue to sauté gently for a good ten minutes or until they have softened.

• In a separate non-stick frying pan heat some sunflower oil till pretty hot and sauté the sausage meat, which you literally just squeeze out of its skin once you have sliced it lengthways down the middle with a sharp knife, breaking it up as it cooks with a wooden spatula. It is best to squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skin or you'll get stringy bits of skin in your bolognaise. Not great. Once it has cooked through add the Parma ham and bacon. Put aside once it has all cooked through and lightly browned. Then in the same pan, making sure it’s still good and hot add the minced beef. The aim here is not to stew it in its own juices but to sear it over a very high heat like you would a steak. It needs to be browned and dry and not gray and swimming in water.

Brown it, don't stew it!

• Once the meat has all been browned add this to the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Add the tomato puree and oregano and keeping the heat high get a good sizzle going. Now’s the time to pour in the red wine all in one go.  It will bubble and reduce quickly. The smell will be awesome.

• Once the red wine has reduced by about half you can add the beef stock. Bring this back to the boil and then turn the heat down to very, very low. Finally add the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and lots of black pepper and prepare to wait patiently…

Thats what I mean by really small flame

• Don’t panic. To keep you occupied now is the time to brown off some mushrooms to add to the bolognaise. Again, please don’t do this half heartedly. A very hot pan is needed to sauté the mushrooms till they are well browned and have absorbed all their own juices. This is how they will obtain their real intense ‘mushroomy’ flavour that will ultimately add to the meatiness of the bolognaise.

• Now I’m sorry you really do have to be patient.

• If it is starting to look a bit dry over the next few hours feel free to add more beef stock to loosen it a bit but remember, a good bolognaise is a thick, dense and dark meat ragu.

I’m sure I don’t need to write about serving this with some good red wine, a nice salad and a handful of parmesan cheese. Do get messy and enjoy it; there’s no shame in wearing your napkin under your chin at all. Nobody likes a distraction whilst they’re enjoying their food.

On that note it could well be time to put a large pan of water on to boil for my spaghetti. My chosen movie, all ready to go, stars Will Smith. Admittedly he’s a lot more attractive then Miss Cilla Black. I guess we all move on eventually.

This could be a great Saturday night.

Thanks for reading. Happy September and change of season. I’m pretty excited myself…

Cheers!

We Caught a Fish!

This is the third time I have started this blog. I do believe I could well have the time at last to finish this one in the same sitting. But then who knows, I have my beef Carpaccio to finish and my very nice glass of red to drink, the bill to pay and a dinghy ride back to the boat to interrupt things. Let’s see how we get on.

Here I sit, in a little French restaurant in Cogolin, near St Tropez and back in France. I have to remember to say Oui and not Ci, Merci and not Gracias. Its all very confusing for the bilingually challenged you know.

So how did the regatta go in Mahon you may well ask?  It was a great regatta with some brilliant sailing and plenty of wind; one first place and two second places, so we claimed a second overall. But we did beat Moonbeam 4 twice out of 3 races over the line which says it all for us…

The sailing was awesome, the entertainment was spot on and our guests were a joy to have.

But the best news of the week, the highlight of the season so far and I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with baited breath (relevant joke in there);

We caught a fish! 

We left Menorca for France on a 48 hour trip on Monday afternoon. I was just considering taking the roast leg of lamb out of my little galley oven that evening for dinner (which of course wasn’t cooked through enough despite having been ‘roasting’ away for an hour and a half…don’t get me started). Then came the most exciting call of ‘FISH’ as the engine was swiftly dulled to neutral and the entire crew rushed up on deck.

Have you ever caught a fish on a line before? It is a very exciting hunter’s desire to battle yet adore what is fighting so hard against your line and hook. What a moment when you first catch a glimpse of his huge powerful body as he is slowly drawn nearer on the reel. Then you finally manage to get him in the air and he is still fighting like the king of the sea that he is. You can’t rest once he is on the boat. He will continue to fight hard and you have to fight to keep him there. The swiftest blow to the head and a well directed knife will ensure he is all yours with as little struggle as possible. He was so beautiful and so big. George was literally shaking with adrenaline.

What a moment we will never forget. And just for those who think that surely I should be supporting the over-fishing cause, well this is how it should be done. One line; one fish at a time. If you’re still not convinced please read my blog ‘Mariquita’s mackerel meal with a message’

 

So roast lamb was served once Mr Tuna was gutted, skinned and filleted and the beautiful meat was wrapped and put on ice. I thanked our fish further as the lamb was given more time to complete it’s cooking in my ‘Force Ten’ oven due to the distraction he gave.

He also gave me a chance to try out my new Global knife and my long dormant sashimi knife. Bless that tuna. Big respect.

And what did I do with it?  Where shall I start?  I decided on a seared tuna steak salad for lunch. A Nicoise of some sort. The simplicity is a necessity when your prize catch is to be the star of the show and as we were France bound I thought it appropriate.

 The great thing about this salad is how each ingredient compliments the very briefly seared tuna so brilliantly. The crisp iceburg lettuce and a garnish of firm green beans. The lightly roasted new potatoes with lemon zest and black pepper, cooled to just warm. HHHHhhalved boiled eggs and a tangy, garlicky, zesty lemon salad dressing. So you see, absolutely nothing complicated served with some warmed herb ciabatta bread (great for deliveries because it lasts and heats well). And when you sear the tuna the pan must be so hot that the tuna sears instantly just on the outside and remains in the pan for no longer than 2 minutes so that the inside of the steaks are still completely pink.

It was delicious. As was dinner. This time I took the Japanese twist as one really must with freshly caught tuna. The main star of the show was to be perfectly raw tuna Carpaccio, laid thinly on large serving plates, drizzled with hot sesame oil and freshly squeezed lime juice. Just the smallest pinch of salt and dash of soy sauce, a garnish of Furikake seasoning and nori, served with coconut rice infused with cardamom and star anise. I stir fried some vegetable spaghetti (with my clever little vege spaghetti tool) in ginger, garlic, chilli and fresh coriander. And of course I cut a lot of sashimi served with the obligatory wasabi, ginger and soy sauce. Ace. Really, very ace.

We are all so lucky.

So here we are back in France amongst all things French. It feels a bit like being home which is funny. And we’re at anchor again. You know how much I love that…

Talking of which, I best pay the bill here and catch a ride back to the boat. Pretty chuffed I managed to start and finish this blog and eat dinner at the same time. It did take two glasses of vin rouge however. I wonder if I look funny sitting alone in a restaurant, typing and reading bits out aloud to myself whilst munching on fries…

I really can not rave enough about how much nicer it is to be a little bit cooler though. I was getting quite bored of sweating from dawn till dusk and then some. That’s a nice little bit of information for you!

Thanks for reading. I’ll be with you again shortly with a September recipe. We have some time to relax and repair our aching bodies before the next regatta so I’ll be cooking up a storm or two in my hopefully less than 33 degrees galley.

Cheers!

Mahon Regatta On Mariquita

Oh my goodness. Our first day racing in the Mahon classic yacht regatta in Menorca and I do believe that at one point even my eyeballs were sweating. It dripped – no, sorry – poured from every pore in our bodies. Being a classic yacht we have a significant lack of modern instruments on board so I have to admit I have no idea what the temperature rose to. I just know that it was hot.

I do apologise if you have come here expecting to read about delicious food and find a recipe or two and have instead been more than understandably ‘put off’ by my telling you about such profuse bodily leaking. Unfortunately for you it is, as you can probably tell, consuming our very lives.

I did cook a dinner for four guests last night. The crew got a defrosted, pre cooked chicken casserole. I have been most organised for this regatta. Knowing that we would have racing and VIP’s staying on board spurred me into a cooking frenzy and I filled my small freezer up. Anything to make my life just a little bit easier. But even a relatively simple 2 course meal for the guests had me wilting with heat exhaustion in my little galley.  I should really have served ice cream for desert but couldn’t help myself with some little, plump fresh figs I had procured. I ended up turning the oven on for maximum heat effect to bake the juicy little bulbs of sweetness which I quartered, stuffed with mascarpone, drizzled with honey and scattered with a good handful of a walnut crumble topping. I of course made sure that I cooked a little too many. Scattered with a little fresh, chopped mint they were juicy and nutty and everything you would want in a desert to be honest. I could be more than a little addicted to figs and may try a little pasta recipe I’ve heard of with figs and chilli’s…

I’ll let you know how that goes when I get to make it.

Oh and by the way! We came first today! Well done us! It certainly helps to make the racing easier to deal with in the heat when you have a cracking spinnaker finish in the port entrance. Very cool. So we’re pretty pleased with ourselves. Let’s hope we keep up the performance. There are rumours that there is a lot of wind on its way… potential for a lot of fun.

I’ll let you know how we get on with that. If I haven’t fully melted by then. I’m a true English girl at heart and could happily do with some rain. I’ll put an order in for some clouds and hope they get here soon. Thanks for reading. Wish us luck with the rest of the regatta.

Cheers!

Our beautiful Mariquita heading down wind and winning our race.

A Short Diary of A Classic Yacht regatta

Waiting for the wind...

I've been a bit busy racing in the Palma classic yacht regatta. The sailing has been brilliant, the weather - hot. And internet access has been limited. So I have been writing a sort of diary of the regatta, short snippets of the days events. I hope it captures a little picture of the last week aboard Mariquita;

Friday’s race diary;

42 degrees. No I’m not lost or changing the name of my blog, that’s how hot it was in Palma today. Now I’m sure all you guys back home in the UK are cursing me for complaining due to your lack of sunshine so far this summer, but really, 42 degrees? When you’re wearing traditional heavy cotton sailing trousers, hot heavy cotton t-shirts and heavy safety belts with harness, rigging knife and spike attached; let me gently suggest to you that you really do not need 42 degrees heat to add to the discomfort.

Try 42 degrees and no wind too. Not a puff. Sitting on a boat that’s drifting in the bay of Palma waiting for some breeze to start the classic yacht racing; mix that with very little shade and the full force of the sun on you at around the hours of midday - what a giggle.

Then out of the force of around a hundred sailor’s prayers, the wind came. It literally hit us, from oily flat sea and droopy flags to perky waves and full sails driving the momentum we all needed to stir us back into a fighting race crew with full sailing mojo. The sails were hoisted, the race sequence began and thank Neptune we were off.

It can take a few tacks and gybes to adjust from no wind and no action what-so-ever to heeled over, harnessed on, working ropes under a powerful rush of water and shouting to be heard above the general din and clunk of a wooden boat going full pelt under fully powered up sails. But it’s pretty cool.

After waiting so long for the wind it finally came and some of us got pretty wet!

Saturday’s race diary;

Oh yeah! what a day. No delay and a clean start with wind. The race today was a fight. We pulled ahead of Moonbeam 4 on the first beat up to the first mark and there we stayed. We need to fight hard to stay in front of Moonbeam so we did. Some great tactics and a lot of swift hauling up of sails, loads of sail changes and a lot of sweat lost. The temperature was still well up there in the 40’s but the breeze helped to keep our energy levels high enough to stay in the lead.

Strength and honour!!!

What a day and what a great way to finish the regatta here in Palma.

Sunday Morning

There are a few sore heads this morning. Turns out, if you’re really tired from a weeks racing and 40 degrees heat and then win the last race with style and aplomb, it would seem you then have the ability to go out and party till the wee hours. Breakfast was an amusing affair of fried eggs and tales of last night’s adventures; who got up to what, who went to which clubs and who woke up fully dressed etc. I’m sure you’ve been there too.

I, thankfully, made it home at just about a reasonable hour and I am very smugly pouring people glasses of coke with ice and lemon and considering making them pizza. Bless ‘em.

I’m pretty tired though and Mariquita and her slightly weary crew will be leaving Palma tonight at midnight to make our way to Mahon for the next regatta which starts on Wednesday! Yay….

It’s not been easy blogging since we’ve been here what with all the sailing, cooking and lack of internet. So I hope to make it up to you soon. For now, I’ll regale you with regatta stories, short but sweet especially since the beautiful Mariquita, 100 years old this year, has done so well.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for recipes and sailing 

Cheers!      

Water balloons!

A Frittata that tastes like Summer

When I’m being nosey and I’m looking at what some people have typed into Google to get to my blog I feel that I may have let a few people down. I’m not sure that all three of the people who typed in to the Google search box; ‘Hot Sweet Cherry’, intended to get to a recipe on how to make a classic French pudding. But perhaps it gave them a tantalising idea on how to cook up a little more romance into their lives.

Likewise, the person needing advice on how to deal with the terrible affliction of ‘finger burns’ from smoking a particular illegal substance more than likely retreated quickly from my blog; or read on in desperation and discovered that sailing gloves could be the way forward. Or oven gloves, both a viable consideration for avoiding burns to the fingers. Of any kind.

Maybe I have been useful after all.

But the most common search questions, where I feel I can be of most help, have been ‘Why is my frittata soggy?’ and similar frittata worries. Now that’s right up my ally. I thought I’d put in this very light salmon and leek frittata with goats cheese and I’ll explain about the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of frittata making as I go.  It’s a real simple, light summer dish that looks so pretty and makes for a great crew lunch. It even tastes like summer.

For Smoked salmon and leek frittata you will need;

3 leeks, the white parts only (the sweetest bits) finely sliced and washed

About 1 medium pack smoked salmon or around 4 decent slices, sliced!

8 eggs beaten

3 medium potatoes, sliced and boiled till cooked

1 tsp fennel seeds

80g soft, mild goat’s cheese

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tbsp chopped dill

Method;

• Sauté the leeks in some olive oil and 1 tsp sugar and a good pinch of salt over a medium heat in a large non-stick frying pan. Make sure the leeks don’t brown; you’re just looking to soften them. Sauté till good and soft and any escaping liquid has been absorbed, about 10-12 minutes.

• Now this is important because if you don’t do this before you put the eggs in then you will get a soggy frittata! Any vegetable that you use that has a high water content must be sautéed before you add the eggs or they will release their water as they cook in the egg. In fact all vege’s should be sautéed. Also fresh mozzarella is best avoided because this has the tendency to ooze water out after the eggs have been added. Mushrooms should be well sautéed till they have gone a lovely intense mushroomy brown. And I rarely add tomatoes to a frittata.

• Add the cooked sliced potatoes to the leeks and the fennel seeds and continue to sauté for a few minutes, mixing them well but gently so the potatoes don’t break up.

• Turn the heat right down to very low and add the smoked salmon pieces, sort of resting them over the top of the leeks and then do the same with the goat’s cheese. Sprinkle with the fresh dill and parsley and then pour over the beaten eggs.

• I use a fork or small knife to jiggle the eggs into all the ingredients so that the eggs get to the bottom and bond with everything in the pan. Keep the pan on the very low heat for about 5-8 minutes then put the frittata under the grill to brown the top.

• Once the top has browned put the frittata back on the heat but again on a very low flame. This should take about another 10-15 minutes before the whole thing has cooked through. If you have the strange notion that a frittata should be bunged in an oven for half an hour then please try the method I am suggesting; stiff over-cooked egg is disappointing at best. Like a steak, give the frittata a little poke and you should be able to tell when it has cooked through. It should be set but creamy and delicious not stiff and rubbery.

• Let the frittata rest in the pan for a while before serving to ‘set’. Then making sure the edges are free from the sides with a pliable spatula or palette knife, turn the frittata onto a board. I like to turn mine over again so that it is as it was in the pan but on a pretty serving plate or rustic wooden chopping board.

Serve with a cold glass of rosé and take all afternoon about it too.

Palma is so incredibly hot. It’s like breathing soup. I can’t bare it. But I’m looking forward to the racing which starts on Wednesday. If we have some breeze I shall be a different person, full of my usual beans.

So please join me for regatta adventures. Sian and I are very excited about the Gin and Tonic tasting on Saturday night. And of course the racing. But equally serious for both events.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Barcelona To Palma

I am sitting in a nice little coffee shop in the city of Palma in Mallorca sipping on an iced coffee ‘shakerato’, nibbling on a very flaky croissant and I’m finally connected to the internet. This blogging when travelling on a wooden boat is not easy you know. I walked miles to find this place in the mid-day sun. Mad dogs and English girls…

The blog below was written 2 days ago but I thought I’d send it anyway. Keeps everyone in the loop and up to date and if any of those naughty sons on board haven’t yet rung home to let folks know they are safe and well, then this should suffice for now;

If I give you the sob story first then you won’t dislike me too much when I explain the scenery in which I am writing this blog now.

The wind howled and the sea seemed to swell with an awesome power as every wave approached, gaining height and speed with the intent that only Mother Nature can throw at you…Okay, I exaggerate slightly. It was actually quite a good trip to Palma from Barcelona. It’s a distance of just about a hundred miles so we did it in 18 hours with a lovely sunset to boot. The problem (the sob story I promised) was that infernal sea-swell that plagued us on the way to Barcelona. We somehow managed once again to be taking the boat directly into the wind with a huge aft, starboard quarter swell which rocked and rolled the boat in sets that surfers on a beach would adore. Not cooks down below in a dark and airless galley.

The boys came up with this idea to keep me cool in my galley. The fan is blowing cool air through my little port hole directly over me. Genius. I love them.

It’s exhausting. It took me three whole hours to make a beef stroganoff with noodles and a cauliflower with mushroom stroganoff for the non-beef eaters. I even flambéed the hot paprika and cumin sautéed cauliflower florets, in a little brandy before adding crème fraiche and Dijon mustard; probably not wise on a wooden boat, that’s rolling around like a pig in mud (don’t tell the captain). But I needed something fun to perk up the experience which had me regularly thrown from my tight body-clutch to the galley cupboards, sending my onions off in every other direction but my chopping board.

(I once tested the potential rolling speed of certain vegetables on a particularly rough crossing once. Courgettes can build a good speed and seem to gain confidence as they go. Aubergines predictably end up veering off to one side, unable to handle the competition that tomatoes can offer. But courgettes and onions are the winners in any tilted galley. The trick is to quickly halve the little blighters, removing their rolling capacity rendering them completely unable to escape the chop. Hah!)

And once again, I’m sorry to say, no fish. Very disappointing indeed. George even bought new lures; but to no avail. We’re starting to take it personally now. George isn’t handling it well. I think his hunter/gatherer instinct is wounded…male pride. And my sashimi knife is waiting, honed, sharpened; standing by to stand by.

Our fishing gear in for the night. But it's about as useful when the line is out...

The end to my pretty tame ‘sob’ story is that we’re anchored off an island, west of the bay of Palma as I write. It’s a stunning day and we’ve all been for a little refreshing swim in the incredibly clear waters and mucked about with fins and snorkels. We’ve all caught up on sleep lost from standing watches through the night and I made a little light salmon and leek frittata lunch (recipe to follow). We may even have indulged in a glass of rosé wine with ice. Sounds pretty awful I’m sure. But we’re going into Palma tomorrow and Sunday the hard work starts. Regatta crew will be flying in and race training starts Monday. It should be a fun regatta and if we win anything we could get to meet the king of Spain. Lucky us.

Today we were very lucky. A nice little day off. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it in this blog before, but I may have the best job in the world. Life at 33 Degrees is A-Okay by me. (She says before two back-to-back regattas)

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Cheers!