Sunday, May 6, 2012

yvonnes full moon birthday sailing party

tic tic tic goes the loose halyard as it slaps rhythmically against the mast. tic tic tic tic with the wind the halyard marks time aboard wishing star. sometimes too magical too put into words. perfect sometimes is all we can say.

the moon some say, was the biggest, closest and brightest maybe ever last night. we sailed in the northern sailish sea as the moon rose over the coastal mountains. we were sailing about 4 knots downwind from big tribune bay on hornby island to cortes island, 30 knots away. we left in the afternoon for a night sail with the promise of the biggest moon ever to light our way.

all went well. we poled out our headsail on one side of the boat with the mainsail tied out to the other. our wind powered auto helm worked smoothly,
so piloting was simple and pleasurable. the weather was 10 knots on our stern and we felt happy to do 4-5 knots steady to our course.

underway we made pasta with nice organic wine and local lamb sausages we bought on hornby to celebrate yvonnes birthday.  i made double nut chocolate chip biscotti that went well with tea later into the evening.

we motored into the gorge with the sails already lashed around 1 a.m. in the morning. leaf was sleeping, the moon was shining bright. we dropped anchor, secured the boat and went to bed hardly able to sleep after such a sweet but challenging adventure.

double nut double chocolate  biscotti

4 eggs
½ cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup fine chopped hazelnut
½ cup fine chopped oat flakes
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
½ warmed coconut oil
½ cup smooth unsalted peanut butter
1 teaspoon salt

whisk salt, sugar, eggs, peanut butter and oil together well.
mixed oat flakes, chocolate chips, flour and chopped hazelnuts and add to wet mix with spatula and spread into an oiled 7 inch by 11inch cake pan.
bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
remove from oven, slice cake with sharp knife lengthwise, then in half widthwise. repeat halving widths until 16 slices divided down the middle make 32 cookies.

these can be eaten now or baked again by removing from pan and laid out on cookie sheet and baked for another 20 minutes at 350. for extreme cookie, melt a 100 gram chocolate bar in metal or glass bowl set in pot of hot water as a gentle double cooker. when chocolate is warm and fluid, dip one side of cookie into melted chocolate and let cool, chocolate side up on plate.

if you bake these, you and yours may be saying perfect too.
more pics, stories and recipies to come, fairwinds.