If I Had A Boat

Sunset over Marquette Harbor.

"Hey, I thought you might want to know that there's a Farmers' Market and it looks to be buzzing."

I looked at the clock. I was just putting pate for banh mi in the oven. I had bread dough rising on the counter. I still had to pickle some carrots, make the banh mi sauce, and get all the toppings out. In addition to baking the bread. But I always seemed to miss the Farmers Markets lately. So I grabbed Eve and we headed up the hill that leads from the harbor to the downtown area. 

It was indeed buzzing. We got green onions, lettuce, yellow squash and zucchini and cilantro. When she gave me the money, Cap asked if I couldn't bring back some berries, so we got blueberries and raspberries and cherries. We got nectarines, beets, sugar snap peas and parsnips. And we got an extra basket of raspberries for the Argo, since they'd missed out on the gift from the mayor of Bayfield. 

The Insides of the Argo
For the first time today, I climbed onboard the Argo. I was surprised at how wide her decks seemed in comparison to ours. From a distance, I always sized her up as a bit bigger than the Marlin, but she's much bigger. I wasn't even sure where to turn to find the galley. The engineer pointed the way. All I can say is, I was blown away. What a difference between Mammoth's cave of a galley and this open floorplan (soleplan?). The galley opens onto the dining area with a large "bar" in between, but the bar doubles as their freezer space, with cabinet doors on the counter. It felt so spacious. Huge in comparison to my little nook. 

I don't know my woods, and I naturally think boat=teak, and I'm probably wrong, but imagine a teak interior, shiny and polished, and you have the effect anyway. Their cook, Klaus, was frying chorizo on a propane stove. Note: propane. (Flame.) All Mammoth has to cook on is a wood stove. The Argo has a propane stove AND a diesel stove. If it weren't for all the obvious reasons why I wouldn't want to work there, I would totally want to cook in that galley.

Klaus said it was a little rough on the open sea, and I can imagine that. In my little space, it's hard to get tossed around much. (Though one time, when I was sitting down getting flour out from below my cabinet where the pots and pans are, I managed to slide, on my butt, from one side to the other. The grips on the sole are a joke. I guess they're probably ten years old.) And the Argo galley does lack a view out, which I find really helps combat seasickness and just makes me happy. Still, it was hard to imagine a more lovely place to cook. 

Tomorrow I have the day off. I plan to do my provisioning in the morning, then join in a sailing race. Then eat creme brulee. Or maybe have dinner on the boat. Alex is cooking dinner - without any help from me!

Saturday's Menu
Breakfast
Bacon
Toasted English muffins
Eggs over easy
Lunch
Banh mi sandwiches
Dinner
Texas Brisket
Mashed Potatoes
Salad of fresh market greens, dried cranberries and asiago
Dessert
Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies