C'est la Vie is a 1966 Charlie Morgan 34.

Her home port is Everglades City, FL. Our typical cruising area is Southwest Florida, the Florida Keys, the Southeastern Atlantic Seaboard, and the Bahamas. We are C'est la Vie's third owners and purchased her in 2005. We continue to maintain and update this classic vessel. Please post any questions or comments about C'est la Vie or our travels via the comment links below.


Saturday, June 1, 2013

Making Almond Milk on board

OK its really easy and can be donw on board. You need...
  1. Blender or an immersion blender (I use a Cuisinart cordless/rechargeable hand blender on board the boat.)
  2. Strainer or coffee filters
  3. Almonds
  4. Water. 
That's it! Sweetener and real vanilla extract if you want but I like it just fine with out it.

Steps

Soak 1/2 cup of almonds in water over night. Rinse in the morning. 24 hours of soaking is max otherwise they get kind of funky.


Fill blender or cup with the soaked rinsed almonds and 4 cups of water.
Blend for 2 minutes. Don't skimp


Then strain the mixture into a clean container.  Squeeze out any excess water from the almonds. 


There you have almond milk. I let it set for a day or 2 before drinking. Tastes better. Lasts about a week!


Do not throw away the almonds. Make something with them scones or cookies or pesto. They are delish so please reuse.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Alternator Repairs

Alternator repairs are what drew us back to Boot Key Harbor.  Just prior to departing from Everglades City we realized our alternator refused to generate any current.  Rather than start into a new project on the cusp of our departure, we placed our faith in the new solar panels and began the trip without a working alternator.  Our new solar panels continue to exceed our expectations.  On a sunny day they are easily powering everything aboard and charging up the house bank.  None-the-less, we want to get the alternator back on line.  

Mike at the Battery Shack rebuilt our alternator in under 24 hours. 

The rebuilt alternator resting on the sole
 For better or worse I've become quite practiced at removing and installing C'est la Vie's alternator.  Hopefully this rebuild will limit my practice sessions removing & installing the alternator.

The alternator back where it belongs






Who wants pizza?

Here is the best recipe I have used in a long time - King Arthur Flour Pizza Dough.


On the boat I use half or a third of the dough for one pizza.  The remainder of the can be placed in the fridge for the night and become cinnamon rolls the next day.  The dough is very forgiving and the crust is crispy on the bottom and soft crumb on the inside.


We were due for some homemade bread products and I aim to deliver!
I sauced ,cheesed, spinach, pepper and turkey pepperoni!  It was in the oven at 350 for 35 min as the oven just got only that hot today.

Hot stuff!

Thank goodness for the internet! For so many reasons but mainly because I was so excited to make a recipe out of the latest bon appetite magazine. Sesame noodles with chili oil. I left the magazine at the outward bound base camp. Dang it! Now what? I guess I will check my email. Wow, best idea ever. One of my favorite food blogs www.lottieanddoof.com covered this very recipe! I opened the email read his review and what he would change. Voila the recipe was at the end of the post.
I thought I had everything for this rice noodle salad. I know I said no more salad but this is different right? Well, I didn't have everything but I had good substitutions.
Recipe
1tbs orange harbenaro olive oil
1 pkg rice noodles soaked for 5 min in hot water to soften then drain
1 grated carrot
1/4 of onion thinly sliced
4 baby bell peppers thinly sliced
Sauce mix together and add to noodles and veggies
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup tamari
1 tbs sesame oil
As an added kick we dressed the salad with siracha maybe too much?
It turned out well and for dessert we were treated with the most beautiful sunset.

Monday, May 27, 2013

No more salt!

We were quite the crawdad eaters yesterday. We woke up feeling a bit parched. It was not from lack of libations the night before!

We needed to eat some of the fresh peppers that we had and have a bit of a detox. I know! Detox pasta. Ha.

I found in my new favorite cookbook, cooks illustrated cooking light, a roasted red pepper sauce  for the whole wheat pasta that we have on board. Add spinach and fresh tomato and we might have a winner
.
It was OK. I did get to use my immersion blender which was fun but the flavors were lacking I used no salt at all and did not roast the peppers long enough so they were fresh tasting instead of blending all together. Like I said it was OK. It was really much more fun to cook.


We were both exhausted as well since we left snake creek to avoid a storm only to be chased by one and ran into driving  stinging rain. We picked up a ball in marathon after hours and just ate and fell asleep.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Snake creek fun

We had a good sail from everglades city to snake creek. We anchored off the channel by a no wake sign. I decided we did not have to have a salad but a light dinner was in order.


I sauteed 2 chicken breasts in a special oil Jeff's mom and I got when we went to an olive oil and vinegar shop. A little bit goes a long way. So I used cooking spray cooked the chicken then drizzled on the plate some of the orange habanero oil and mixed it with the cranberry pear vinegar. When the chicken was done I placed it on the plate and rolled it in the mixture. The smell was divine. I wish I had sliced it and then added the mixture. Next time. In the same pan I added sliced garlic broccoli rabe and some of the blood orange olive oil. That cooked down and on the plate it went. I salt and peppered the whole thing before serving. And voila super easy dinner for 2 and only one pan to clean. We could have had a starch or rice or quinoa or Israeli couscous but I really did not want to heat up the cabin. So while it might be bland on the plate there were no leftovers! I suggest going really easy on the habanero oil. It can over power the meal for sure.

We were really lucky as our friends Eric and Kim had invited us to a crawfish boil. I had never been to one so again a first for me!

 I enjoyed the claws more than the tails. Sorry to all the  Louisiana folks but I could not get the hang of sucking out the tails so I pealed them like shrimp deveined them and ate them. Yum. I did love the claw meat so sweet! Worth effort for sure. Thanks folks for the delish experience I loved it!

Smoothie Time in Snake Creek Anchorage

Anne's using her battery powered immersion blender to whip up morning smoothies on the water.  Yum!  Also notice the romaine lettuce she is growing on board.