Like New 4 HP Outboard

After an hour or so over at Rick's place (no, not the one in Casablanca) he had my little 4 horse power outboard motor running. Replacing the old fuel with fresh, cleaning the spark plug, and a few minor adjustment was all it took to fire it up for the first time. It has corrosion issues on the exterior and the prop is bent but otherwise it will do the job. Today, with a surprise day off, I ran around looking for a few parts. A new prop for one thing. The old one will work in an emergency but a new one is needed. I also sprayed a lot of penetrating oil here and there around joints and moving parts.

I stood the engine up and loosened the lower unit oil plug intending to replace the oil since I have no idea when it was last done. I held a small bucket under the drain and waited. Nothing! I loosened the filler plug and waited. Nothing! As far as I could see there was not a single drop of oil in the lower unit. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that is not a good thing. I replaced the drain plug after carefully cleaning the corrosion around the hole and the plug. Then I slowly poured fresh oil into the filler hole and poured and poured. It doesn't take a lot to fill this space, but I sure hope filling it will save the engine.

I replaced the spark plug with a new identical on and tossed the old one since it was pretty fouled and quite rusty. I bought two so I have a back up if and when I need it. I finally was able to pull the old zinc off the lower unit. I took penetrating oil and a bit of a wait for it to do its job. I ordered two new zincs from Clearwater Marine, again I got an extra. When I can I am buying two of every replacement part. Sometimes you need one and aren't in a place where you can get one easily and sometimes they need to be ordered and that can takes valuable time. Nice, very helpful folks over at Clearwater. I even bought a can of good zinc chromate primer paint and a can of Mariner gray. There are several places on the engine housing that have suffer from corrosion, in some places down to the metal. So I am scrubbing and steel wooling these areas. Then a couple of primer coats and follwed by a coat or two of the gray. Where I have done it, it is looking pretty good. Considering I am doing it outdoors and not in a pro paint shop, it looks very good.

I asked Clearwater about a new prop and they want $106 for a new one. So I thought I'd look around for a used one first. Pacific Marine down on Holly Street will be my first stop. If they don't have one I'll go ahead and order a new one.

One last thing. A discovery actually. I noticed a small but familiar symbol stamped on the engine in a couple of places. Then it occurred to me that they are the symbol for Yamaha products. I asked the fellow at Clearwater about this and he told me that for a time Yamaha had made a good part of the Mariner's engine. I hope Yamaha's reputation for quality was also imprinted on my engine. Time will tell.

My wife came downstairs looking for me about 9 o'clock last night figuring she'd find my in the family room watching TV. She was surprised to track me down in the garage still carefully cleaning the grease and oil off off another section of the engine housing. Can't wait to get home tonight and get back at it.

Feels good to accomplish something on my own probably saving myself quite a lot of money. And Rick, I know you read this quite often and get a few laughs. But a big thanks to you and your lifetime of knowledge about boats. I owe you, buddy!

Barcelona, Spain

A new country! We haven't had that happen to us in Europe in quite a few years. Here we were in Kate and Nick's living room in Bristol on Boxing Day 2009. As a Christmas gift to us they presented us with tickets for us, themselves and Nick's folks to take an Easy Jet flight directly from Bristol to Barcelona, Spain. This is a country we have long wanted to explore but for some reason it has remained off our radar.

Thankfully, after the long flight from Seattle to Bristol, this one was short and before we knew it we were banking out over the Mediterranean on approach to Barcelona's massive airport. This place was built to take care of the Olympic athletes and tourists arriving back in 1992. From the looks of it the place was way over built. Huge expanses of check-in desks sat unused as did whole wings of gates darkened and empty. A long walk through the airport took us to a train which whisked us into the city and the central train station.

A six block hike with our luggage and we were at the front desk of our hotel, a very nice 3 star in a good location. It was only a short 4 blocks to the nearest Metro station, an easy to use, inexpensive mode of transport around the city. A prepaid card of 10 rides amounted to around 70 cents per ride.

We took a 2 hour nap after checking in and then rejoined everyone to go to La Rambla, a pedestrian street running about 2 miles through the center of Barcelona and ending at the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful Christmas lights hung in the trees. They looked like stars and occasionally certain of them appeared to fall out of the sky. Street performers lined the boulevard dressed as plants, angels, you name it. Wandering through the maze of side streets we came upon a small plaza where a line of people were in front of a church waiting for what turned out to be a guitar concert. We purchased tickets for the following evening and enjoyed a wonderful home grown classical guitarist named Miguel Gutierrez. Fabulous player!

A street or two over we found a delightful little bistro with a warm friendly proprietor. The prix fixe dinner was only 16 Euros. We started out with a duck pate topped with a raspberry jam and crostini along with a bit of green salad. The main for me was a steak and eggplant. We walked back to the Metro stop in a warm tropical evening, a far cry from the below freezing temps we left behind in Bristol. I really have a hard time with this continental habit of eating dinner at 10:00 at night.

A nice buffet hotel breakfast and off we went on day 2 of our Barcelona adventure. Explored the Palace of Music the nearby cathedral. Sitting in front of Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece cathedral Sagrada Familia is absolutely awe inspiring. It has to be one of the wonders of the world. Still unfinished after well over a hundred years of construction, this towering tribute to God is not to be missed when visiting this city. It is my numero uno attraction. Each side of the exterior is a different theme. One side decorated to the nativity, another to the crucifixion. There is is still much to be done but this is the work of nothing less than a genius. Several other buildings around the city and a hill top park also display the work of this amazing architect.

Wandered through La Bocheria, the huge public market. I was in my element here. I could have spent the better part of the day wandering the aisles here. Everything under the sun was displayed beautifully and hawked by friendly, smiling folks behind glistening seafood, perfect fruit, brightly colored candies, as well as meat, poultry, eggs, and on and on and on!

Had our first paella at lunch today. The kids and we shared two very different kinds. One a more traditional seafood type and the other a kind of gratin with a sausage, chicken and an egg omelet over the top. Interesting. Had a delicious Tempernillo wine with it. This was supposed to be one of the top 10 paella restaurants in Barcelona.

After lunch I headed back to the hotel for a nap while everyone else went to see the Catylan Art Museum. It was New Year's Eve and after my nap I discovered I wasn't just tired, I was dealing with a gastro-intestinal issue that kept me home from the New Years festivities. Everyone else went out for the evening while I slept and slept in between fireworks explosions echoing down the high rise canyons. From the stories Leslie shared at breakfast the next morning, I hadn't missed much. Not that the family hadn't had a lot of fun, but rather it was crowded, everyone was out very late (2 or 3 in the morning), loud, hugely crowded--in short, everything I have the hardest time dealing with anytime.

Walked up to the Gaudi Park on our last day in Barcelona. Beautiful, crowded but not to crowded and a lovely day. This World Heritage Site is another must see here in Barcelona. The views are worth the climb alone. The Gaudi columns, the fanciful bench seats, little homes and gift shop are all just wonderful stops. Lots of photo ops. Lunch was at Casa Joan, named for artist Joan Miro, right along La Rambla. We all met for our final lunch in Barcelona.

We flew back that evening arriving back at the flat in Bristol by midnight, shivering in the English deep freeze and quickly missing the warmth of Barcelona.

Banoffi Pie

Our arrival on our daughter's and son-in-law's doorstep in Bristol, England on Boxing Day, found us celebrating Christmas a day late. We had brought our luggage filled with gifts for our wonderful English side of the family.

Kate and Nick had planned a "roast" for our afternoon dinner which included Nick's parents, his sister and her family. So by about 3:00 we were gathered around a lovely roast dinner including roasted lamb shanks, roasted potatoes, and an assortment of other delicious goodies. Dessert was a new one for us. Kate had made two Banoffi Pies. Two what???

The Banoffi Pie is a dessert created by the Hungry Monk Restaurant in East Sussex in 1972. Its most interesting ingredient is a can of sweetened condensed milk, but most curious is the way it is used. The can is boiled in water, unopened for 3 hours turning the milk into a thick caramelized toffee-like substance.

It was a big hit at dinner and as leftovers for the next several meals. I found this original recipe as published by the Hungry Monk Restaurant on-line. The restaurant decided to publish their recipe after finding so many knock-offs published that were just not good. This recipe should produce a delicious pudding for any special occasion.

One change that our daughter made was to use Hob Nobs, a kind of cookie also known as a digestive for the crust. She crushed the cookies like you would for a graham cracker crust, mixed it with melted butter and baked it a while. Or, you could put the pie together per the directions below. I thought a graham cracker crust would also work well, and I also thought maybe the chocolate covered digestives I love so much, would make a rich delicious crust.

Banoffi Pie Recipe

12 ounces uncooked shortcrust pastry
1.5 tins condensed milk (13.5 ounces each)
1.5 pounds firm bananas
375ml of whipping cream
Half a teaspoon powdered instant coffee
1 dessertspoon caster sugar
A little freshly ground coffee

Sprinkle powdered chocolate over the top, shave chocolate or sprinkle a little freshly ground coffee as suggested in the recipe.

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 10 inch pie tin. Line this with the pastry thinly rolled out. Prick the base all over with a fork and bake blind until crisp. Allow to cool.

The secret of this delicious pudding lies in the condensed milk.
Immerse the cans unopened in a deep pan of boiling water. Cover and boil for 3 hours making sure that the pan does not boil dry *(see CAUTION).

Remove the tin from the water and allow to cool completely before opening. Inside you will find the soft toffee filling.

Method
Whip the cream with the instant coffee and sugar until thick and smooth. Now spread the toffee over the base of the crust. Peel and halve the bananas lengthways and lay them on the toffee. Finally spoon or pipe on the cream and lightly sprinkle over the freshly ground coffee.

*CAUTION
It is absolutely vital to top up the pan of boiling water frequently during the cooking of the cans. 3 hours is a long time and if they are allowed to boil dry the cans will explode causing a grave risk to life, limb and kitchen ceilings.

Hint - Banoffi is a marvellous "emergency" pudding once you have the toffee mixture in your store cupboard. We therefore suggest that you boil several cans at the same time as they keep unopened indefinitely.

Serves 8-10

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A Cotswolds Adventure

Today we headed into The Cotswolds, a region of England roughly bordered by Bristol in the southwest, Oxford on the southeast and Stratford-Upon-Avon in the north. Getting around is really best by car which worked very well for us since we are visiting in the off season. In the summer the traffic can make the experience quite obnoxious.

The attraction of visiting quaint English, country villages with names like Stow-in-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, draws visitors by the droves in summer.

Our one day journey took us through many of the above mentioned villages. We made stops in Bourton-on-the-Water for tea and scones served with delicious clotted cream and raspberry jam. We walked through the village which calls itself the Venice of England. I am not so sure about that but it is quaint and cute. Lots of upscale shops without any of the big name stores you often find in resorty types of places. Still I had the feeling that this village was a bit of a victim of its own success with too many touristy shops and it was obvious that most shops catered to the tourist trade.

We drove through many other villages without stopping. We made our final stop in Stow-in-the-Wold, which is an absolutely stunning village with enough of a local population to need the specialized butcher shops, chocolatiers and bakeries that dotted the main street. Stow is also home to the Royalist Hotel, the oldest inn in all of England, going back to 947 AD. Also worth a stop for a pub lunch are The Queen's Head or The White Stag. We lunched at The Queen's Head. I had locally famous spotted sausages with mash and carrots and brussel's sprouts all covered in a rich gravy and accompanied with a locally made pint of cider. Surrounded by locals enjoying a pint and arguing over the news of the day, the Queen's Head was a warm and colorful stop on our journey.

The Royalist Hotel

Driving through the Cotswalds is an adventure in itself and not for the timid. Driving down narrow lanes lined with hedgerows and on the opposite side of the road than we Americans are used to takes a lot of concentration and can be a bit nerve-racking at times. But the craziness of attempting it is rewarded by a lovely drive through rolling hills criss-crossed by hedge rows dividing the land and ever present emerald green grass dotted with roving sheep. And, of course, the occasional village right out of a storybook.

We drove through the countryside back to Bristol and stopped to do a little shopping before heading home. Picked up a few things we wanted to take home as gifts--cheeses, sauces, cider, jams, etc.

Tomorrow we leave early for our 4 day trip to Barcelona, Spain. I won't be blogging while there but I will be sure to blog about my first ever experience in Spain as soon as I get back. Stay tuned.

The Avon River Valley

I start a new travel series with this blog entry. I am visiting with family in the west country of England and will also spend 4 days in Barcelona, Spain. Follow my adventure in upcoming blogs.

We arrived safely in Bristol yesterday after two long flights starting in Seattle. We arrived in time to exchange Christmas gifts on Boxing Day, visit and enjoy a tradional English "roast" cooked up by our own Nick and Kate. Had roasted lamb, roasted potatoes and roasted carrots and turnips. A tradional English pudding for dessert as well as lots of fun conversation. Nick's sister Kate along with her partner Andy and their beautiful daughter Grace were over. Nick and Kate along with his parents gave us the gift of a trip to Barcelona, Spain. We will go for 4 days while we are here. Never been to Spain so this will be a new country for us. Don't know how we ever missed Spain with all our trips to Europe over the years but there you are.


We ate in this dining room at The Lock Inn


Today, we ventured by train into the Avon River Valley. Our main stop was at The Lock Inn Cafe along the Kennet and Avon Canal and just a stone's throw from a hand operated lock on that canal. We stopped in to the Dick and Jane for a Boatman's breakfast which was an enormous platter of food including sausage, rashers of bacon, bubble and squeek, chips, mushrooms, tomato, beans, fried bread and a fried egg on top. A pot of great tea washed it all down, all in a storyboook setting along a canal teaming with long narrow canal boats tied up or slowly cruising up and down the canal.



This canal crosses and recrosses the Avon River and roads along its meandering path. It is able to to do this with the help of an old aquaduct system, some of them dating back to the Roman occupation. Canal boats cruise across these aquaducts a hundred feet in the air above the hilly English countryside.



We hiked 2 miles along the canal towpath until we arrived at Avoncliff, a quaint village which has become a bit famous lately as the home of Kevin Spacey. The Cross Guns Pub was a picture perfect place to stop for a draught of hot Cheddar Valley Cider, a scrumpy style cider with a neon orange color and a kick to match!



We hopped the train and returned to Bristol at Temple Mead station and drove back to Kate and Nick's flat. A perfect day!

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh Restaurant

Last night we discovered a wonderful restaurant in the Chinatown section of Vancouver, B.C. We had heard of Phnom Pehn over the years but hadn't got around to trying it. How sorry we are that we hadn't and how exquisitely happy are we that we finally have. Located at 244 E. Georgia Street this little gem has long been recognized as the top Asian/Vietnamese/Cambodian restaurant in all of Vancouver. Just take a look at the wall of honors from local newspapers and magazines as you sit waiting for your table.

Butter Beef

We checked several websites critiquing Phnom Pehn to see what others recommended. Several dishes were repeatedly suggested and that is where we began our Phnom Pehn adventure.

We arrived without a reservation but waited only about 20 minutes until we were escorted to our table. We were immediately served a pot of delicious tea and began perusing our menus, zeroing in on the dishes on our list of recommendations. Most items were in the $7.50 to $20 range with some, more exotic sounding dishes even pricier. We decided on "Grandmother's" garlic fried squid, Phnom Penh noodles with the soup on the side, butter beef, and their famous chicken wings.



Their famous garlic Chicken Wings come with a lime juice and pepper dipping sauce. They also had a sweet taste to them which led me to believe the wings may have been rolled in some kind of sugary season salt.

The Squid came with a fantastic lime-pepper sauce that was terrific on everything.

The butter beef is served carpaccio-style with a lime, soy and fish sauce, sprinkled with fresh cilantro and crispy fried shallots that melted in your mouth.

Garlic Fried Squid

With the menu items we haven't even begun to explore ahead of us, we will be returning to Phenom Pehn often and we can't recommend it highly enough for anyone else looking for an outstanding Asian dining experience.
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Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, Phnom Pehn takes reservations and accepts VISA.

Nona Rosa's Ristorante

Last night we went to dinner at the newest restaurant at 113 Magnolia. This location has been the home for repeated attempts by a number of would be restauranteurs over the years, all failing for one reason or another.

The newest attempt is Nona Rosa's Ristorante, a Sicilian-style Italian trattoria.

Initially I was a little concerned when I noticed the refrigerated display cases filled with what looked like pretty worked over slices of salamis, cheeses, olives and other deli items. The display needed attention to make it look more appealing. On top of the counter next to the register was a pile of dirty plates and leftover food that should have been in a bussing tub on its way to the dishroom.

However, we were quickly greeted by a friendly host who seated us promptly even though we had no reservation.

If the rest of the evening is any indication, Nona Rosa's should do very well. A family run operation, there is an informal, family-friendly feel to the place. The decor is of a traditional trattoria which had a feel as if you were under a grape arbor in a small Sicilian hillside village. Catrina Bremer, the owner, and members of the family all work here. Even Nona Rosa herself is often on hand. She is the inspiration for the Sicilian-style dishes served.

We were very confused at first. The music was distinctly Greek sounding and the menu had offerings that seemed to be influenced by cultures other than Italian. We were set straight when we met Catrina who educated us. Because of the location of Sicily in the Mediterranean, the island was conquered many times by other cultures thus influencing the Sicilian cuisine. We might find cinnamon in some dishes, tzatziki was on the menu and the red sauces were sweeter than many traditional Italian sauces. The sauces are spicier, too, the dishes uncomplicated.

We started with a bowl of the soup of the day, a rich chicken broth with fresh vegetables and chicken bits that was just delicious--and actually came to the table hot.

The traditional Sicilian-style bread served was made with flour, sugar and olive oil, then brushed with an egg wash and sesame seeds. This, too came to our table hot out of the oven and served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I had made eternal favorite Spaghetti and Meatballs, here called Spaghetti Polpettoni. The generous meatballs melted in my mouth. The spaghetti, house-made was cooked perfectly. The dish was finished with a generous topping of parmigiano cheese broiled over the meatballs.

My wife had the Lasagna, again, with the house made pasta, the rich red sauce and lotd of meat and cheese layered under it. Both our mains came to us piping hot. Both were absolutely delicious.

The mistake we see over and over in many Bellingham restaurants is that they start out with delicious food and over time they start making changes, cutting corners and become a big disappointment. Our hope is that Nona Rosa's, being family owned and operated, will continue to serve their wonderful family's recipes just as they are for a very long time.

Bene apetit!