In the Galley - Preserve Today...Eat Tomorrow

 

They call it preserving here. We call it canning or can processing in the States. I'm not sure why it's called canning when you put the preserved food into glass jars, but who cares? I only know that canning is a way of life on the boat that allows me to have lots of extra already-cooked food aboard that lasts a long time, without too much hassle and without refrigeration. I've talked about it before.

I had just done an inventory of our preserved chicken and ground turkey (mince) and found we were woefully low. We had Tasmanian apples and blackberries left, but not much else. Theoretically, home-canned goods, if preserved properly, will last for well over a year or two, but ours have never lasted that long - we eat them long before their “eat-by” dates. Since I've been back, it's been easier to grab a jar of canned chicken and use it for chicken salad sandwiches or in chile or with pasta sauce on spaghetti, than making an hour long round-trip run to the local grocery to buy something else for dinner.

When I saw the sign in Farmer Joe's for boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $8.99/kg (~$4/lb), I jumped at the chance to replenish the stock. I asked for 10kg (22 lbs). When the clerk indicated that a whole case was 12 kg and asked if I was interested in the whole thing, I asked if I could get a discount. One of the things about being a cruiser, we're thrifty and we're not shy. She consulted the manager and sure enough, I got my chicken for $8.50/kg. The 25 lb box'o'chicken was not very portable, but the clerk thankfully divided it up into three large, double-wrapped plastic parcels which fit neatly into my newly purchased trolley cart. Nothing else fit, but I was definitely chicken-rich and I headed back on the train to the boat.

Once back aboard, I dug out the pressure cooker and fired it up. I got all my jars and lids washed and proceeded to jar and process all the chicken. I use the raw method, so no cooking or prep required for the chicken other than cutting it up into chunks that fit easily into the jars. In no time at all, I had 24 jars of all white meat chicken breast, cooked and waiting for me to use during our upcoming passage. Along with the fish we expect to catch, we'll have enough to last for several months.

Hunting, Gathering and Foraging in Port Adelaide

 

Whenever we arrive in a new port, there's a few days of wandering around aimlessly trying to figure out what's available and what's where. David was here long before me, but he really spent his time working on the boat, not exploring. He went to the local Foodland for whatever he needed and called it good. It's time to start thinking about provisioning for our next passage, so I was interested in checking out more shops to see what they had to offer and how prices compared.

The Port Canal Shopping Centre is just across the way from the train station in Port Adelaide, so it's pretty convenient. There's a Cole's Supermarket and a K-Mart (yup, K-Mart) right there. The Centre continues for a couple of blocks or so with little shops inside mall areas till finally you reach the promised land … Farmer Joe's Fresh Food Barn.

Here I found fresh produce, eggs, fresh chicken and so much more ... for so much less. Green grapes are in season here ... on sale at Coles for $3.20/kg; Farmer Joe's had the same grapes and same quality for $2.49/kg. The best deal was the boneless chicken breasts, my favorite for canning/preserving. I saw the sign $8.99/kg and I was all over it. (another blog, another day)

Not having a car to tote everything entails a challenge of its own. You have to be able to carry everything you buy and it's amazing how fast your backpack and grocery sacks fill up when you're shopping and you still haven't purchased everything on your list. If you want 5kg (10lbs) of potatoes, you need to forgo purchasing something else on this trip or you're overwhelmed. You can only carry so much. Remember, once we get off the train, we still have a 15 minute walk back to the boat … toting everything we bought. Our old tote cart had given up the ghost to rust and abuse long ago, so I broke down and found another trolley (tote cart) in the local discount shop … that would be either The Reject Shop (think Big Lots) or Cheap as Chips. I like Cheap as Chips simply because of their name. These type stores carry everything from breadboards and bottle brushes, to totes and cellophane tape (all of which we needed) and lots of stuff we don't need.

I'm glad I bought the drag-along trolley. It's saved lots of sore shoulders and backs toting heavy groceries back to the boat, not to mention I can buy more at one time. The fact that I look like an old granny walking down the street … well, that's another topic of discussion. The point is not everything is available at the same store. I get what I need at Cheap as Chips, I load up at Farmer Joe's, keep my receipts handy, and head into Coles and/or Foodland for whatever else is on the list. I've gotten to know where yogurt powder is cheaper or where dishwashing soap is on sale. Usually, there's not much room left in the tote and there's always an issue if I'm alone trying to pull the tote and push the cart at the same time. It's doable, but rather comical to watch.

Folks ask how we spend our time on a boat and isn't it easy to get bored? How can you get bored when it takes an entire day to hunt, gather and forage for food? And that's just a week's worth, if we're lucky. We haven't even made it into Adelaide's Central Market yet, but that would be an even longer distance to cart everything. And this is just for food … it's a whole other adventure looking for boat parts and brew supplies.

Next comes an inventory of everything aboard to see what we need to stock up on for the upcoming passage. We may need more than a trolley … we may need to rent/borrow a car.

Donuts

 

There's something about doughnuts (or is it donuts?) … maybe the fact that they're so unhealthy … that makes them especially appealing. In New England, especially the Boston area, the donut leader is definitely Dunkin Donuts … “America runs on Dunkin.” There's a Dunkin Donut shop on every corner, it seems. In fact, there are more than 500 Dunkin Donut shops in Massachusetts alone. Wiki indicates there are about 15,000 shops worldwide, in 37 countries.

Within 5 miles of my sister's house, there are at least five Dunkin Donuts shop and two Honey Dews. There are a couple of non-chain donut shops, too. This definitely paints a picture of local preferences, doesn't it? Nationally, Dunkies competes with Starbucks on the coffee side and Krispy Kreme on the doughnut side, but locally, Dunkies wins. After all, it started in Canton, our neighboring town. You gotta support the local family. When President Obama was campaigning in New England, he even indulged in some Dunkies. It's the thing to do here.

There are cake donuts and raised donuts. Then there's glazed, filled and frosted with hundreds of variations to fit the geography, season and local taste. Some have colorful sprinkles on top. When we eat donuts, which is very seldom, my favorite is jelly-filled or creme-filled raised. David likes chocolate frosted chocolate cake donuts.

There are those specialty donut shops that catch your attention like Ronald's in Las Vegas which we found only because our daughter-in-law claims them to be some of the best vegan donuts in the country. We weren't impressed, but then we're neither vegans nor donut fans.

Then there's VooDoo Donuts in Oregon (“the magic's in the hole”) which is supposedly opening a new store in Denver, but it hadn't opened yet when we were there. They offer gimmick donuts with local themes. How could you resist that?

We were stunned when we were in Ecuador a few years ago and there in Salinas, a beach resort town, was a Dunkin Donuts. We just had to have one. It was awful … definitely not what we're used to in the US … way too sweet and very greasy. Supposedly there were Dunkies in Australia for awhile, but they were all closed down. We've heard that they'll be opening again in the near future. With any luck, we'll miss the grand re-openings. Who needs donuts when you have all those pies?

Check out a little donut trivia here.