Hanging in Prickly, etc.

Our car whilst cruising

It's a bit rolly here - not unusual for Prickly Bay - but we are settled in for the moment.  We made an excursion yesterday to Spiceland mall using the local bus/taxi service so that I could try to remedy my vision limitations (I left my prescription glasses behind, didn't bring enough contact lenses, and sat on my prescription sunglasses).  I MIGHT be able to get a pair of prescription glasses while we are still here, though it's not 100% certain that they will arrive in conjunction with our awaited weather window (though that may not happen at all).

Joni was able to get the Florida documentation today, and is sending it to Island Dreams, so we will have solved that problem for moving on and/or returning to the US.  Phew.

Today we dinghied to Prickly Bay Marina, and then had a nice walk over to one of our favorite spots, Secret Harbor, where we had (soft) drinks, a nice breezy corner couch, and a couple of hours of internet.  Such a sweet place; Whisper Cove is our other "Brigadoon" marina here.

Last night I made a NYT recipe that seemed tailor made for boat cooking: San Francisco-Style Vietnamese-American Garlic Noodles.  It was both delicious AND good for boat cooking, as it cooks the pasta in an inch and a half of water in a skillet.  

"These noodles, adapted from the cookbook "The Wok" by J. Kenji López-Alt, and based on the noodle dish originally created and served by Helene An at San Francisco’s Thanh Long restaurant, are extraordinarily simple and delicious on their own..." [I added some cut-up leftover roast chicken from our local French butcher].4  tablespoons unsalted butter

20  medium garlic cloves, minced or smashed in a mortar and pestle

4  teaspoons oyster sauce

2  teaspoons light soy sauce or shoyu

2  teaspoons fish sauce

1  pound dry spaghetti

1  ounce grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano (heaping 1/4 cup)

 A small handful of thinly sliced scallions (optional)

Melt the butter in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce, and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, bring 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil in a 12-​inch skillet or sauté pan over high heat. (Alternatively, heat up just enough water to cover the spaghetti in a large Dutch oven or saucepan.) Add the pasta, stir a few times to make sure it’s not clumping, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente (about 2 minutes short of the recommended cook time on the package).

Using tongs, transfer the cooked pasta to the garlic sauce, along with whatever water clings to it. (Reserve the pasta water in the skillet.) Increase the heat to high, add the cheese to the wok, and stir with a wooden spatula or spoon and toss vigorously until the sauce is creamy and emulsified, about 30 seconds. If the sauce looks too watery, let it keep reducing. If it looks greasy, splash some more cooking water into it and let it re-​emulsify. Stir in the scallions (if using), and serve immediately.