Key Lime Pie

We were sailing in Charlotte Harbor, Florida with our friends Hans and Ria when we decided to spend a night or two at South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island. After docking, we walked into town and I spotted a huge homemade Key Lime Pie in the refrigerator case of the general store. I bought it and brought it back to the boat for the evening's dessert. It was pale yellow, creamy and large. When it was time to cut into it, my husband said, "Why don't we just cut it into fourths?" to which the spontaneous response was "NO!!!". So Ria cut the pie into little slices. We each had a piece, then another and another and soon we had eaten the entire pie in one sitting!

Homemade Key Lime Pie is a masterpiece but is probably not suitable for galley cooking. I am sharing a recipe for an easy Key Lime Pie that your guests will enjoy. It is a crowd pleaser and not as fattening as the one we ate on Captiva. Plus, it does not have to be refrigerated.

Just to be sure that we all know this I will mention that REAL Key Lime Pie is not green, it is a pale yellow color.

Kathy's Key Lime Pie
note: make this one day ahead to allow flavors to blend

1 pre-made low fat graham cracker crust
1 can low fat Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1/4 to 1/2 c key lime juice (either fresh limes or bottled key lime juice)
8 - 12 oz. Cool Whip, either regular or low fat

Fold the milk, lime juice and Cool Whip together by hand. Pour into the crust. Garnish with fresh lime slices or zest.

Do NOT have to keep refrigerated before serving.

Goodbye Good Friend

One of my favorite knives broke yesterday. I feel like I have lost a good friend. It was a Henckels 4" paring knife and I loved it so much that I have two of them which I use interchangeably every day. It was (and still is) my "go to knife" for almost everything I do. IT DIED WHILE IN THE KNIFE BLOCK! THE BLADE SPLIT CLEANLY FROM THE HANDLE! How did this happen? I was a good mom to my knife: I never put it in the dishwasher and always washed it by hand. But to split while standing up IN THE BLOCK is somewhat like being shot while lying asleep in bed! It will be an unsolved mystery and I am not completely comfortable with that fact.

So I went to Williams Sonoma and purchased a Henckels 4"replacement along with its 5 1/2" bigger brother (they came in a set), and they will join their biggest brother, the 7" which has been the big boy in the block for years. I hope they all get along well and I will remind them, as every mother does, that each has its talents and I love them for who (or what) they are.

I had a real problem deciding how to store my knives on the boat. I don't have enough room for a knife block on my counter, plus there's too much movement on my sailboat to keep the block stable, and I knew that putting them in a drawer would be disastrous.

One day I was walking through Williams Sonoma with a $25.00 gift card in my hand and found the perfect solution for me: a wall mounted magnetized bar. Just like the one they use to display the knives in the case. Now, to be perfectly honest and fair, the one shown on the left is more expensive than the one I have, but they come in various lengths which is handy for boat owners. Our galleys are weirdly shaped and long, flat lengths of wall are at a premium. Mine is mounted in my galley wall that is facing aft right above my refrigerator. The knives, scissors, and wine bottle opener stay put while we are underway. And isn't that what we want from all the contents in our cabin?

My Favorite Soup: Chicken Noodle

I could eat soup 365 days a year, and of all the soups I make, our favorite is chicken noodle. It is the epitome of comfort food: real chicken, fresh vegetables, lots and lots of thin noodles. It makes you feel good when you are sick and warms you up when you are cold. So the real test was to reproduce the same chicken soup that I usually make in a large commercial pot at home and bring it down to scale for the 6L pressure cooker. I knew if I could make my chicken soup successfully in the pressure cooker, I would have a very happy crew.

I practiced it many times at home. It was very successful and it took only 45 minutes of cooking time from the time the jigger started moving until I stopped the stove flame. How much faster than 2+ hours in the larger pot! What a richer flavor!! It is the only way I make chicken soup now.



This past April my husband and I opened our boat for the season. We spent two weeks on her, learning our new electronic equipment, programming the radio with our MMSI number, etc. We had a lot to learn and none of it was going smoothly. Everything took longer than we thought. And what complicated the entire process was that it rained 3 inches in 5 days while the temperature hovered in the 40’s with wind. We were stuck in the cabin, our bimini was in the shop, the electronic system was not reading the computer chip and we were at a really low point. One day I put down the instruction manuals that I had been trying to digest and said, “I am going to do something I KNOW HOW TO DO WELL” and I began a pot of chicken soup in the pressure cooker. Because I had practiced this recipe at home, I knew it would be delicious. I felt empowered that I could cook and do something successfully.

One hour later lunch was ready. We were warm. We took a nap, gave our brains some down time, and were able to tackle the rest of the day.


JULIE’S PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP RECIPE (6L POT)

1/2 whole uncooked chicken, split down the spine and breast bone

4 carrots, peeled and cut in large pieces (can use baby carrots)
1-2 stalks celery cut in 1/3’d
1 large or 2 small onions, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cube chicken bullion (I use Telma brand)

salt and pepper to taste

water to within 2” from top of pot

noodles, thin or medium, to preference

Place everything except noodles in the pot. Tighten the lid and bring to pressure. Maintain pressure with jiggler valve moving for 45 mins. Remove lid when pressure has dropped on its own accord. Discard celery. Debone the chicken, cut into small pieces and return it to the pot. Skim fat if necessary. Add noodles and bring to a simmer uncovered, until the noodles are done.

In The Beginning

Many of us have gone to boat shows to look at the latest boats, gadgets, “gizzies” (as my friend Crystal calls them), gear, etc. Well, my first big boat show was THE Miami Boat show and I was saturated with the latest and newest of all of those things. But what I REALLY wanted to get was some information about cooking on my new sailboat: how to stock my galley, what pots/pans/utensils were the most economical for space, how to store food without inviting bugs, how to plan simple meals using the minimum number of ingredients. After walking through the show for 3 days and not finding anything on the topic, I came upon Corinne Kanter’s booth in the tent area in the sailboat marina. I KNEW I had found the right person and the right place to help me get started. I asked her a zillion questions and she answered them all so patiently. So while many of you purchased gadgets, gizzies and gear, I purchased a PRESSURE COOKER and Corinne’s book The Cruising KISS Cookbook. I was on my way.

Welcome to my blog!

When I first started sailing, I was always amazed at my more experienced sailing friends who could cook, entertain and eat well on their boats. I looked at the food I had brought from home, and then looked at the delicacies from their galleys, and thought to myself, "How do they do that?" I didn't want to be a gourmet chef, I just wanted to create dishes on my boat that were the way I wanted to eat - in short, to eat on the boat the way I eat at home. So I made it my mission to find out. Over the course of several years, much trial and error, and even more sailing, I finally feel I'm a capable galley cook. And now anyone on my boat - including me - is part of a well-fed crew. I hope you'll enjoy the nuggets of information on this blog, and of course, please share your own! With a little planning and passion for food, anyone can have a well-fed crew.