Cheese making on Charisma. You put the yoghurt in the cheese cloth and let it drip overnight. Then salt and seasoning and you're set.

Mixing in the herbs

Done!

A new word in Charisma’s lexicon. Fivesies is the Kiwi word for cocktail hour. You get invited to a Kiwi boat for Fivesies. So there you are, your lesson for the day and our new concept of “Charisma Time”.

Speaking of new concepts for stuff, the new concept for social hour when you’re sailing in the wilderness as we are is the 0800 social hour….on the radio. The shortwave. It’s essential for keeping up with people. We have two nets we are checking in with. The 6212 MZz 0800 social net where a few friends including Bright Angel, Gato Go and Ladybug chimed in this morning for a delightful chat. Then there is the 0830 “official” net called “Drifter’s Net” with a Net Controller where all our friends check in and update their status of where they are, what they are doing etc. It’s a great place to hear about other islands, anchorages, dive spots, hikes, etc, etc. So, while having breakfast and a coffee, we listen to the “net”. Fun and informative and how we keep up with where all our friends are.

Also, today was Sunday. That meant Huevos Boberos day. We haven’t celebrated that particular holiday is a while but discovered that in Fiji there is an Indian product called Roti that is suspiciously similar to flour tortillas. So, add a can of refined beans, marinated serano peppers, topped with sunny side up eggs and some shredded cheese all baked in the oven and…there you have it…Huevos Rancheros a la Fiji! A good start to a cloudy, windy Sunday.

Then, not to be topped, Ann whipped up corn fritters. Why you might ask? Because in opening a can of corn for last night’s dinner, we discovered that we bought a can of creamed corn. No bueno- at least for our intended dining use of corn/black bean salad. But, Ann quickly realized we could use the leftover black beans, serano chiles, and creamed corn combined with pancake mix for-waIt for it-corn fritters. I was slightly horrified even thinking about it, but have to admit that it made a delicious lunch.

So, after all the good food for breakfast and lunch, we went minimalist (more or less) for dinner with Waldorf Salad a la Charisma. That is blue cheese/yoghurt dressing with cabbage/toasted walnuts/carrots and apples. We’re down to our last and most hardy veggies. It was great though.

And, talking about food and invention- Ann has about perfected cheese making. Not quite artisanal, but absolutely delicious! She makes yoghurt, then strains it overnight and in the morning adds spices to the solid whey. Refrigerate and voila, the best cream type cheese you have ever eaten. Several cruiser friends have partaken and loved it. We don’t have the heart to tell them the product is strained through some old (but clean!) panty hose- not having enough cheese cloth on board. That’s on our list for the next shopping expedition in the real world.

In the mean-time, we’re reporting from the wilderness where it’s starting to blow really hard. Gusts into the 30’s but we don’t care, we’re tucked into a nice little sandy cove. No waves, no rocks, just wind.