T&T: Canned cheeseburger in paradise (long reply)

[Candy Chapman and Gary Bell]

Ron Rogers said:
Hormel's Complete Dinners are $1.86 at Walmart and take 90 seconds in the
microwave. NO REFRIGERATION and they taste good and have lonts of meat or
chicken.

Gary's snappy retort:
Ron, as the Big Cheeseburger hizself put it:  "Reminds me of the menu at a
Holiday Inn..."

Ron speculated:
I think that they have been irradiated.

Gary wagishly suggests:
Maybe we ought to check if they glow in the dark....

I personally don't care so much for that cuisine. YMMV.  Admiral Candy and I
both enjoy fancy cooking (preparing it and eating it too, from the look of us
both).  I don't mean to put anybody down, everyone should eat whatever they
prefer.  My approach is different however, and I do keep a lot of
non-perishables aboard.

In the unrefrigerated pantry on Stray Cat I carry lots of tinned tuna, salmon,
chicken, smoked trout, oysters, clams, etc. (and we have a great cookbook
aboard about Tinned Fish Cookery).  I have a goodly stock aboard of canned
tomato sauce, beans and the like.  I keep a couple of packages of Redi-Crisp
bacon.  I also pack lotsa pasta, rice, flour, sugar, dried soup mixes, pearl
barley, pancake and pie crust mixes and the like.  Some folks haven't worn out
their taste for ramen noodles, which can be fancied up no end.  I have a
collection of favorite ultrapasturized soups, stocks, and chili in those
square boxes.  I have some dehydrated and freeze dried veggies and mushrooms
set aside (just for emergencies, they don't rehydrate well) and whenever we
are cruising there are a couple of fine onions, some garlic and shallots and
maybe a couple of spuds hanging in a cotton net in the galley.  Tomatoes,
avacados, fruit, and limes for the Admiral's Gin & tonic are known to stow
away there.  A couple of bottles of lovely red wine lurk in my sweater locker.
I don't go out so long that I would need to spring for the irradiated milk
that doesn't need refrigeration, but I know I could find it if I ever did.

Our smallish Ne'rCold contains fresh meats, eggs, fresh veggies, salad
fixin's, butter, milk and of course a couple of bottles of nice white wine.
There is always a goodly stock of the Admiral's tonic chilled.  If you are
quick you can find cold soda and beer in there too, although for any
significant cruise there is an ice chest full of those up on the flybridge.
The Ne'rCold freezer section I keep full of zip-locks of cocktail ice.

I just can't help myself, I keep lots more food aboard than I need on any
particular jaunt.  Or ever, if you have been listening to The Admiral.  To
make matters worse, I usually make up kits of ingredients for planned meals on
our trips.  These usually have as much pre-cooked as possible, so the
Stroganoff only needs to be heated while the noodles cook, the broccoli
steams, and the salad gets fluffed while I find that little container of
Hollandaise.  When we cruise we choose liberally between the meal kits and the
stash aboard, and usually return with one or more meal kits to eat at home.

We have a downright dinky house bank aboard, so using the microwave in a
crowded anchorage is not our favorite approach.  We emphasize our propane BBQ
and stovetop.  I make pizza in the closed up gas BBQ.  I don't have a regular
gas oven aboard, so I adapted the folding box oven used over a campstove, and
can turn out some mean biscuits and the like.  I don't generally bake bread
and other long oven work there because of the accumulation of water vapor in
the cabin, plus I can bring enough bread from home for a week long trip.  In
good weather the folding oven fits on the outside BBQ.  On any longer trip
than that we are sure to pass by civilization.  I could also bring a medium
cast iron dutch oven and digital thermometer to use on the BBQ (or a crab
boiler burner ashore) -- I used to teach scoutmasters to bake cakes, pies and
even souffle's over a campfire in these things.  I use a pressure cooker a
lot.  I have a stovetop Belgian waffle iron aboard, and a stovetip espresso
pot.  I have a hand pump milk frother for our morning cappuccino.  I do also
have a small electric espresso maker/steamer, and use it when the power
situation warrants.

We also enjoy fine dining, and love to find great eats on our trips.

Ron's approach is far more economical than mine, and equally non-perishable.
Folks who look around in the supermarket can find lots of inexpensive
non-perishable items, if not the complete meals Ron mentioned:  from tinned
ham and bacon, to the tinned and/or boxed chilli, stew and soups mentioned
above; to packaged rice and pasta mixes; dried mashed spuds; etc.. This group
of foods also includes a number of items that many folks turn up their noses
at, like Spam, potted meat and dried milk.  MRE's work, even if they may not
be your favorite meal.  Backpacker's freeze dried food is pricey, and I have
already eaten enough of it myself, but perhaps you haven't yet.  Heck, if
economical food is your only goal and you aren't too picky about flavor
varieties, just get a big ol' bag of dog chow.  Please yourself.

My point (finally!) is that there are many approaches to provisioning and none
are intrinsically better than any other.  We must each please ourselves.  I
intended here to supplement Ron's suggestion with some other choices, and to
broaden folk's perspectives, if not their backsides.