Day 15, Year 7: A Hearty Northeast Blow
Date: Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Weather: Heavy Rain Overnight and AM, Drizzly All Day, Winds NE 30+
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, Massachusetts
I spent my day in the kitchen at Heather’s cooking and didn’t realize what a blow we were having until we got back to the boat tonight. Right now the winds are blowing 30 to 37 knots with higher gusts. The water is churning and it sounds fierce outside. The wind is howling and the lines on the other sailboats around us are clanging and banging. Since we are the only live-aboards, there is no one on the other boats to secure loose lines. We can take a look in the morning and see if there are lines we can tighten. And even on Windbird, the lines holding us to the docks on either side of us are creaking and groaning. It should settle down sometime tomorrow morning, but it is going to be a noisy night.
Mark ended up being called into work at West Marine again today and Heather stayed home with Jonah as he spiked a high temperature last night. I had planned to bake all morning and then go pick up the kids as usual, but since Heather had to take Jonah to the doctor a little before time to pick-up Sam, she picked him up and I stayed home in the kitchen. We made and canned cranberry chutney to give as holiday gifts, made our traditional cranberry salad for tomorrow, baked pumpkin and pumpkin pecan pies, and Heather worked with the boys to make holiday butter cookies in the shape of pumpkins and leaves. We had some of the cranberry chutney with pork chops for dinner and Heather and Jed both loved it. It is a recipe I got from Judy and Howard Wang of Laelia while in Grenada last spring. Here’s the recipe:
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1 cup raisins
I cup chopped onion
1 cup sugar
I cup white vinegar
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup water
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 (12 oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Yields 4 cups. Serve with poultry, roast pork, or ham. Judy of Laelia made a note at the end of the recipe that said, “I’ve even eaten it on a peanut butter sandwich.”
Thanks to Judy and Howard for the yummy recipe.
