April 1, 2014 – Freezer Food

Yep.  Still April 1st.  Fooled you!  We were doing a lot those last few days.  5-6 trips to the boat a day.  5-6 trips to various stores – pharmacy, grocery, the dreaded West Marine.  Revising the inventory.  Last-minute follow-ups with the rigger, the canvas guy, fellow cruisers to talk about routes, anchorages and lessons learned in the Keys.  We were burning through every hour of daylight trying to get every last thing done.  One of which was the freezer food.  Several fellow cruisers had recommended we make some hearty meals before leaving that could be frozen and easily re-heated for the passage.  We were told to put them in gallon-size freezer bags, that way, all we had to do while underway was re-heat them in boiling water inside the bag (sort of a sailboat microwave if you will) and – voila! – a hearty meal while underway!  Thankfully, this lucky gal has quite the gourmet chef for a Captain, so he whipped up some of his famous beef and pork bolognase and chicken and sausage gumbo for freezing.

Recipes here: Beef and pork bolognese and chicken and sausage gumbo.  But, I’ll tell you – I don’t know what kind of witch voodoo magic Phillip works in the kitchen, but his just turn out amazing every time.  I follow the recipes and even add a dash of this or that to try and give it my own personal touch, but whereas Phillip’s “touch” is a gentle stroke of the hair and a light cupping of the cheek, my “touch” is like a swift knock to the chin and a “here’s looking at ya!”  Just not quite the same.  But, give it a try all the same.  And, if any of you have other recipes you’ve made or different ways to pack and stow hearty meals for passage, we’re all ears!  We’re going to give this gallon freezer bag method a go and see how it works.  (Although between you, me and the fencepost, I’m a little concerned about boiling water while under way – we shall see … ).

 And, there they sit.  Two servings lovingly packed in freezer bags for the passage.  We, of course, then had to stick up two or three notes around the condo demanding we “Don’t forget the freezer food!”  Those sticky notes were helpful, though, because we quickly started adding other items to it: “Pack the knives”  “Clean out the fridge”   “Take out the trash”  “Set the AC”  Anything that popped into our heads immediately went on the sticky notes that were tacked up all over.  The most important of which was on the door so we’d see it right on our way out.  There was just SO much to think about.  But, we were one day out.  Tomorrow was the last Publix run – the perishables – and then Thursday was the day.  Just one more day now!