Can you believe this blog is back again? Hey, I’ve been doing this blog for too long to stop now. I tried to change servers since all of my other sites are on that server. Well, that little change over in servers turned out to be a real nightmare! Oh boy, I ain’t doing that again! Anyway, I’m sure you know by now that I’m off the boat and back in Charlotte. Feels so good to be on land. I’m about to launch a weight loss website, so that has been Keeping me busy.

I need to do some traveling so I can do the name of this blog justice! I will still keep this for my un-healthy recipes, and just keeping you up to date on what I’ve been up to. I remodeled my kitchen and I am going to start doing some cooking videos, I will share some of them here as well. I have the funkiest home. I have collected the weirdest crap during my travels over the years. It’s safe to say it’s eclectic!

I’ve been wanting to start taking pictures again, so I will take pics. of some of the funky stuff I’ve bought over the years. Today’s little gem was bought in Oaxaca Mexico several years ago. I don’t want to throw it out, so it just sits on top of my bookcase.

Coconut-Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Here is a soup I came up with on charter several weeks ago and forgot about it until twitter user Allison reminded me of it. It was a real winner with everyone, I’m sure you will enjoy. You can add more sugar if you like you squash soup sweeter. I top this with some lowfat sour cream.

Serves 4

Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 ea. Butternut Squash
2½ cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
1 cup coconut milk, light
¼ cup sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 ea. Lime, juiced
1 tablespoon curry powder
¼ cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in ½ and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 30-45 minutes until very soft. Scrape out seeds and scoop the squash pulp in to a soup pot with the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Either blend with a hand blender in the pot or puree in batches in a blender.

Wow. I might have set a record for not posting. I have been busy online though. I’ve been twittering like a little twitterbird, and I started a daily newsletter with recipes and articles. I do still plan to post here though. Mostly my sinful recipes, and an updates on what i am up to. We are still in Bonaire until April and having a blast. If you miss me and want to hear about my escapades and get a healthy recipe of the day then sign up on the box on the right to my daily newsletter. It’s all fluff and no substance (wait, i meant the other way around). Erica did a new logo for this site and should be up in a few days. It is too cool of course. ok. bye

Chocolate Cloud Cake

Serves 8-12

Cake:

8 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut in pieces

6 large eggs- 2 whole, 4 seperated

1 cup sugar

Whipped Cream Topping:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cake:

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with wax paper. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over hot water. In a bowl, whisk the 2 whole eggs, and 4 yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until foamy, than add sugar and whisk to stiff peaks. Fold in to chocolate mixture, and pour in to springform pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed, and cracked (don’t over bake) Let cool (the center will fall), whip the cream with sugar, and vanilla to stiff peaks, and fill the center. Top with shaved chocolate if you wish (i do).

We are in Curacao for a few days. I was told there was a floating market just down the street, so of course I had to go investigate. I am wishing you a happy new year. Let’s make 2010 the best yet!

I have posted the recipe here before, but it was a jumbled mess and impossible to follow. It comes from my former sous chef Corli, and I think is the best cheesecake ever, and I’m not really even a cheesecake fan. I just made it since we have guests arriving tomorrow. I also made the banana cake, just do a search for banana cake, that’s another keeper (real simple too). The digestive biscuits can be found in the foreign foods area of you grocery store. I know Whole Foods carries them. When you pull the cheesecake out of he oven it is going to be jiggly, that’s ok it’s supposed to be, trust the recipe. That’s part of what makes this recipe taste so good.

Worlds Best cheesecake

Crust:
1/2 package digestive biscuits
melted butter

Filling:
3 packages philly cream cheese softened
1 container mascarpone cheese softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 vanilla beans
1 pint heavy cream
juice of 1 or 2 lemons

For the filling. pulse the digestive biscuits in a food processor until they look like sand. Move to a bowl and add melted butter and mix. Add just enough butter so it looks like wet sand. Press that in to the bottom of a springform pan. In a mixer, add the cheeses and mix to combine over medium speed. Add the sugar, eggs one at a time, and scrape the vanilla beans and add the pulp to the mixture. Add the cream, turn of the mixer and scrape the bowl down. Add the lemon juice and mix that in. Pour mixture in the springform pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the cheesecake to prevent it from cracking. Let sit at room temp. for an hour and refrigerate for several hours to chill.

Here is a quick video i took this morning of the grocery store on Bonaire. Not quite sure what a lot of this stuff is, but that makes it that much more fun!

Her is our home for the winter.

I have decided to hold a contest and this post contains the official rules.

The contest is pretty damn simple (just like me). You be the first to correctly guess where the boat is heading in the Caribbean, and I send you a $50.00 gift certificate from amazon.com. (I told you it was simple).

Here is the key though. You have to be the 1st person to guess correctly, so if you see someone else has already guessed your destination then guess another place. There is only one prize for this.

Also if I know you personally, then you are excluded cause you probably know where I’m going and, well that would be like insider trading.

I will do a post on my newsletter facebook page sometime this coming Monday the 21st. that tells you that the contest has officially started. click here to sign up to that page.

Simply make your guess, and good luck! As soon as we get down there, I will find the winner and post here.

Celeste closed on her Condo yesterday. I’m so proud of her. We both want to kill each other, but just one thing i got to say- I love ya so much boo!

Celeste sent this to me. Hilarious!!!!!

OK you kitty lovers this one’s for you! How can you not melt with this little cutie?

Being the nice Chef Jeff that I am (why did just refer to myself in the 3rd person?) I asked the crew what they wanted me to cook them for Thanksgiving. We will have guests on the boat, but they are going out for dinner, so I will have some time on my hands. Just got the list back. This is great. Here is what they think I am cooking for them:
Green Bean Casserole
Turkey
stuffing
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallow
Dinner Rolls
Baked Pumpkin
Gravy
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Cranberry Sauce (fresh)
Corn Bread
Baked Pumpkin Seeds
Cranberry Sauce (Ocean Spray)
Corn
and my favorite…
Turduken (that’s a chicken wrapped in a duck wrapped in a turkey)

Ok, so i’ve been meaning to post this for like over a week now. I’m spending way more time on twitter these days because it’s easier for my little brain to put quick thoughts out rather than sit down and do a blog post.

So we left Newport a few weeks ago, and it was getting really cold, plus we had been there for over 5 months (that’s a lifetime in yachting).

I’m not a big fan of delivery trips. Basically it’s my job to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the crew (no matter what the sea conditions are). I have yet to get seasick, and was hoping to keep the streak alive. I got tested a few nights as it got so bad one night I literally got thrown out of my bed and in to the wall!

We we were almost to our destination and got held up because of a NASA rocket launch. Safe to say the was the first rocket launch I witnessed on a boat!

So, the streak is still alive as I didn’t get seasick (thanks bonine), though there were some real close calls. If you can only imagine trying to cook as your getting thrown around the galley- wowza! Anyway, we’re here now and all is good and the sun is shining bright.

We are going to be here until mid-December and then down to the Caribbean for the winter. My car is here plus my gym and all of my favorite grocery stores (whole foods), so life is good indeed.

One of the girls has been trying to lose weight since I have been on the boat. She has tried a few different things including the cookie diet that did not work. She asked me last month if I would help her and I agreed, as long as she was committed and would follow the plan that I created for her. Our other girl on the boat also wanted to participate, so it was good that they could support each other while on the same plan. I went on vacation so we only started a few weeks ago. It’s basically the 1200 calorie plan from my website that they are following. You would be surprised at how much you could actually eat with such a low calorie level if you choose right. They each lost 4 lbs. the first week, I’m proud of them. The core of the program has them writing everything they eat in a food journal. They are shocked to see how many calories are in some of their favorite foods such as macaroni & cheese. They can have it, but it sure depletes what else they can eat, and neither touched it when I made for the crew. Their goals are to lose 17 and 32 lbs. respectively. I will try and do a weekly update here to let you know how they are doing. They are both on vacation this week, so should be interesting to see how they did!

We will be leaving in a few days. The best spot on the dock was the end, but was occupied by the largest privately owned sailboat in the world. The crew was nice, so no big deal. They left for the season yesterday. I went to work out after work tonight and was blown away by the sunset. Ran back to get it on video. Not amazing, more about me wondering what I missed the last 5 months.