So, here we are In Newport, RI, again. The first and second times were associated with the (ill-fated, for us) Newport to Bermuda Rally of November, 2009. Mike has already talked about why we came in and why we will be here until Saturday so I don't need to drone on about that. This morning was drizzly but sort of OK so we dressed up in our boots and foulies and called the launch service. Have you ever stumped around for a long walk in deck boots and foulies???? I was a sweaty mess by the time we found a coffee shop and I perched at a high table that had two spots left next to an immaculately coiffed and expensively clad young Mum. Ugh.... the comparison of the two of us could be nothing but hilarious - anyway she turned out to be quite friendly and interested in what we were doing. Her opening phrase was "well you certainly seem prepared for the weather...". She is over here with husband and kids on a fall school break from Switzerland and we commiserated about the weather for a bit.

Newport is an interesting place - makes you want a wad of cash to spend in the shops before going off to a tour of the grand old homes and museums and ending the day in one of the fine restaurants before repairing to a suite in one of the many ritzy hotels of understated elegance.

We are basically now on the boat for an extended period unless the launch service resumes or we choose to inflate the dingy to get ashore. I have the feeling that we won't be going ashore anytime soon so I took this opportunity to experiment with a stove top oven that I found on the give-away table when we were at the Indiantown Marina the last time in 2017. They are an item that is at least $70US and it was brand new. Hmmm - so I snatched it up and scurried back to the boat before someone had second thoughts. I haven't summoned up the courage to try it until now. There was no recipe book with it so I went on line to have a look. There wasn't much to go on so I checked on The Boat Galley's website and found lots of suggestions, guidance and recipe ideas. I tried their Streusel Coffee Cake from that site, using pecans and non-sulphured dried apricots as the add ins. It turned out to be pretty delicious but a tad charred on the outside. All that means is that I need to bake it at a lower temperature on top of our little Flavel two-burner stove. This will really open up the possibilities of what we can prepare on board and indeed when we are camping. Of particular interest are the basic recipes for yeasted breads. The oven in the Flavel stove is OK but neither does it brown well nor does it hold the heat so I have not bothered to waste precious ship's stores and propane on what would be a disappointing and perhaps inedible end product. Once we finish up this coffee cake and the store bought decent sourdough bread I believe I will try some swoon-worthy sounding brownies and some bread - then the calzone or a lasagne. Although, to be honest, it is the yeasted breads that most interest me - oftentimes when we pull into an anchorage and get to shore there is little to pick from for bread other than Wonder or Not-So-Wonderful Bread as we have taken to judgementally calling it.

Right now I am looking forward to a small steak and roasted veg - fingerling potatoes, carrot and parsnips.

Speaking of parsnips - the other day before we left Onset I roasted up some parsnips, garlic, potatoes and onion and dumped them into some chicken stock and a chopped Gravenstein apple, simmered it until the apple was tender and then puréed it. I made one mistake while preparing it when I added a bit of milk which promptly curdled (reaction with the acidy apple perhaps?) - anyway it tasted fine as we found out at lunch today but looked a bit un-Pinterest-worthy. Without the milk it will become a boat go-to.