Nearly Powerless Cooking: What Made the Galley Cut

More or less, this is all that came from my kitchen for
Journey's galley.

If you could only bring 10% (or much less!) of your kitchen’s food prep and serving implements, and nothing that requires plugging in, what would make the cut? 

When it comes to galley selections, inches, amperages (low-to-no power consumption) and multi-purpose items rule.  Mix in your best wild guess of what someone else’s kitchen (galley) would be left behind for your use.  You’ve never met your galley benefactor; and are utterly clueless as to whether their normal fare is purely peanut butter and jelly or Martha Stewart.

The Boat Galley was a great resource. I knew I’d want a set of nestled non-stick pots & pans and Wayne bought the set they recommended, though I hated to get rid of the set I had at home.  That was a good call; it gets used daily.

Fortunately Kathy, the previous owner, left behind quite a few useful goodies, particularly

• silverware
• various tupper-esque containers
• mugs
• Corning dishes
• teapot
• can opener
• tongs
• rubber scraper
• loads of little plastic stackable / nestable organizing “baskets”

I brought my:

1. favorite knives, the long meat and long serrated ones that my Dad brought back from Switzerland decades prior, and one cleaver, all recently re-sharpened, with new plastic sheaths, one smaller serrated knife and a grapefruit knife (indulgent, but I love grapefruit and it doesn’t take up that much room)
2. non-stick nestled pot & pan set
3. cutting sheets
4. measuring cups
5. 8” x 8” Pyrex cooking baking dish with rubber storage lid
6. silicone muffin “trays”
7. several lidded Pyrex containers for leftovers
8. French press for coffee
9. hand-held, battery-operated rechargeable mixing wand
10. 3 plastic drinking tumblers
11. 4 plastic rectangular plates with a respectable lip around their edge
12. medium-sized wooden salad bowl and tongs
13. corkscrew / bottle opener
14. vegetable peeler
15. plastic spatula
16. strainer
17. spatter guard
18. “orphan” silverware, a few unsold pieces from my decades-old set
19. crab-eating accoutrements (crackers and diggers – not sure of their correct culinary names)
20. turkey baster
21. lots and lots of ziplocks in quart, gallon & 2-gallon sizes – for more than just galley use
22. 2 plastic egg cartons to buy fresh eggs, direct

What do I wish I’d brought? 

• grater (bought here)
• silicone loaf pan (bought here)
• ladle (bought here)
• (more) Pyrex containers
• Melitta cone and filters
• colander
• plastic serving bowls (bought here – after one of the glass set left, shattered rather dramatically)
• BBQ (the propane one on board was corroded enough we left it behind; it’s on our “buy when back in the U.S.” list)
• drinking glasses for serving guests

Impractical, but really miss…

• Cuisinart food processor
• blender
• bread maker (looking forward to trying Lili’s easy handmade recipe)

Don’t miss…

• my garlic press, which once upon a time that was one of my most essential tools.

Our 3-week sailing trip to Desolation Sound was invaluable for helping me make the right minimalist choices (only about 25 items!) for my galley.  While there are a few regrets, so far, so good!  At least, no complaints from Wayne.