… and food has become way too expensive anyway!  I read that the first six months of 2012 broke records for being hot, damn hot! Connecticut, as well as much of the east coast has been experiencing what seems like weeks of temps in the upper 80s and low 90s- every day and with a bit of humidity tucked in for good measure, we’ve started to wilt.

My desire to use the oven- gone. My ability to create tasty cool meals- diminishing. My hair up and off my neck- all the time! Most days, the breeze dances through the cockpit with our front panel rolled up. Scattered thunderstorms find their way south- looks like Canada is sending them our way every few days.

Cooking or baking takes place in the morning or with the A/C on.  My usual method of resorting to cold salads is stymied by the small fridge. Rather full of ingredients, beverages, fruit, veggies and cheese, it fails to offer much space for bowls of salads.  Digging out a seldom-used item can take a full minute, in which time the fridge temp has risen 4 degrees.

We’ve discussed purchasing a plug-in portable Engle fridge/freezer and thought we’d finally settled on buying a knock-off. Fortunately we come to our senses (those things are pricey) and decided to buy a cube fridge to keep in the cockpit during summers and to use during haul-outs. A few years ago I’d won a $100 gift cert to the local appliance store- we’re selling everything; what are we going to do with this? I kept it, figuring if we or Benj didn’t use it, we’d give it to friends. Long story short, we ended up with a GE white cube fridge and it fits on top of our cockpit side bench seats. Love it. Extra drinks and those cold dinner salads have found a home!

Salads or sides that I can assemble at the last-minute have been my go-to options lately. My strategy is to buy a few key ingredients such as goat cheese, bacon or arugula and use them over the course of 4-5 days in various meals. Russ was with me the last time I bought bacon and was shocked at the price, a whopping $6.69 for Oscar Mayer Select Cut. He was so blown away that he asked Benj how much he thought that bacon cost. “$7” was Benj’s answer- boy was Russ amazed. So was I, but not as much!

Here’s my recipe for Shrimp, Bacon and Arugula Salad:

Cook 2-4 (depend on how much you  love bacon) slices bacon in a nonstick skillet until crisp, then crumble

Using the pan drippings (removing any excess) add peeled raw shrimp and sauté until done

While this is happening, with your other hand, or before, arrange arugula (mixed greens works OK) on plates, adding halved cherry or grape tomatoes.

Arrange shrimp and bacon over the top and drizzle the dressing over all.

Before you begin or if you’re really good, during the process- make the dressing: 2 T plain yogurt, 2 T balsamic, 2 tsp EVOO and ground black pepper. (enough for 3-4 servings)

Serve with crusty bread, a fine wine or whatever you have and voila! Dinner in no time.

Charleston Maritime Center was privileged to be our first marina slip since Nassau three and a half months ago. Not only do we like Charleston and have only stopped once, but this marina is on the downtown side of the peninsula with a short walk to everything we need or want to do. Fortuitously, our stay would coincide with forecasted T-storms heading east Wed afternoon.  The weather gods continue to smile on us- so far at least, but you know that can end in a heartbeat.

We’d read mixed reviews on the Maritime Center:  controllables, the marina staff had covered, that which they couldn’t control became the dark side of the mix. Wakes from the almost constant stream of container ships find their way in to the basin while a mix of strong wind and current would challenge most boat captain’s docking game.

Small basin makes Ortolan look larger than life

Once again, we were over prepared for the eventuality that never showed itself.  Instead, we roamed the streets of historic Charleston shopping ‘til we dropped and eating (nibbling really) our way through the day.

One of the many ways to get around Charleston

The Center offers free washers and dryers and up until a month ago, one of each made for a loonnnnnng wait. Thursday was a mostly rainy day; perfect for cleaning, laundry and boat chores. I met 4 sisters who were waiting for the Carolina Belle’s next harbor cruise, departing from the Maritime Center. Every year they travel to a new destination for a sisters-only week of fun and sightseeing. They asked mucho questions about our cruising lifestyle. Been a while since I’d talked with land peeps not familiar with cruising.

Pedal cab (to left) and four sisters by laundry area

A couple of blocks south on East Bay St is Saffron Bakery and Café, a dream come true. Clean, contemporary and comfortable, Saffron offers a huge array of individual desserts, cakes and pies as well as a wide selection of breakfast goodies and cookies. They have a daily happy hour with excellent choices and prices, and on top of that they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Could I ask for more? Well, if we’d stayed another day….

The marina is small and half of it is too shallow to use. Even at our dock the depth gets down to 4 ½ feet.  Power cats, smaller monos and trawlers do well here, but no one feels too comfortable when north wind pushes the waves inside.

A steady stream of container ships, mostly in the mornings and evenings, made me wonder how such huge creatures could appear to move so effortlessly… almost gracefully.

Container ship backs in to dock