Underway - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 139

particularly handy. If you're feeling ambitious, on the other hand, you can also add oil and
eggs for the “home style” version of the same mix.
As a confessed chocoholic, I also stock lots of brownie mix and find the small, half-size
boxes especially handy. These bake quickly and make the perfect amount for our small
family (I can also reliably bake them in my solar cooker when at anchor). There are few
pleasures as great as enjoying a brownie at sundown! In the past, I shied away from quick
mixes that called for eggs since we don't have refrigeration, but I have since learned that
eggs will keep for several weeks as long they are turned regularly, and brownie mixes that
use fresh eggs do taste better.
When a special occasion approaches, I plan ahead with the right ingredients. For example,
knowing that Thanksgiving would fall sometime during our November passage across the
central Caribbean, I bought a can of pumpkin pie filling and the condensed milk needed to
complete that simple recipe. If a birthday is coming up, I will keep candles, icing, and a
special cake mix in the larder. Often, the more expensive name brands found in up-market
supermarkets really are tastier.
For the things that I do make entirely from scratch, I save a lot of trouble by preparing be-
fore our departure. For example, I pre-mix the ingredients for my own bread dough in
Zip-loc bags so that when the time comes to bake, I only have to add yeast and water to
the blend of flours and dash of salt I have already measured out (see Bread Recipe below).
This makes bread making quick and easy; the result is a healthy, hearty pleasure.
The key to good offshore eating is preparation, so stash a good supply of long-lasting con-
venience foods before you get out of range of large supermarkets. If you aren't sure
whether a mix will tickle your taste buds, sample a few before setting off. For example,
Trader Joe sells a variety of quick Indian meals that might be just the thing for your crew.
Be sure to check the food's shelf life before setting off for remote cruising grounds. Fin-
ally, look for meals with the shortest cooking times - but don't make the mistake of read-
ing microwave instead of stovetop directions!
All your preparation will be for naught if you don't stow these convenience foods where
they will be close at hand. Otherwise, you will find yourself excavating an entire locker to
find what you need, thereby killing the prospect of an easy meal. Keep supplemental in-
gredients near each mix - for example, dried berries with the muffin mix, a can of corn or
chicken near the soup, and so on.
I'm not suggesting that you subsist entirely on these foods, but sometimes art must be sac-
rificed for the sake of a quick, one-pot meal that can be whipped up in the most uncom-