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Perfect Pasta Planner … What’s for Dinner on the boat?

While preparing this week's lecture for The Five Minute Professor, I stumbled upon some brilliant advice for the galley.

Pasta is not a particularly “boater-friendly” food because it typically requires a lot of water sitting in a pan for 15 minutes or so. Even mild swells could wreck havock in the galley. But a little pre-planning will go a long way.

As you are setting your float plan prepare pasta for a few meals (depending on how long the trip is) at home. The pasta should be cooked to the very first stages of al dente (firm to the bite). Then rinse in cold water and then separate into single meal plastic ziplock bags and then store cold (refrigerate not frozen). Store in your on board refrigerator or ice chest until meal time.

When its time to whip up a home made meal, simply slide the pasta from the bag onto a plate (if one serving) or a microwave safe bowl. Reheat on medium for about 2 minutes and then add sauce or olive oil and seasoning.

Quick and easy onboard.

On a vaguely related note, I think it is fine (but odd) to be able to refrigerate pasta that has not been previously “frigerated”.

For more on pasta check out the Five Minute Professor facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=51258148090

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Do Boating and Intercourse go Together?

You would think the answer to this question would be obvious. However, here at “Florida By Water” we are not the kinds to answer a question without first doing our research. You’d think that this kind of research would be one of those jobs that most people would gladly volunteer for. But don’t make any assumptions; the quest for truth can be a long, hard road.

The quest for knowledge took me outside of our beloved state of Florida. I boarded a plane at Jacksonville International Airport and headed to the Philadelphia International Airport. From there we traveled hours and hours (okay – only 2 hours, but it felt like longer!) by car to Lancaster County PA. Along the way we saw signs for the thriving metropolises of Virginville and Blueball. No stops for us, though. Even though they sounded like interesting places, we were in search of Intercourse.

We traveled across the rolling hills and around some beautiful farms located along routes 340 and 772 until we reached our destination. Intercourse, PA. The town was quite beautiful; it’s a major tourist attraction. Amish horses and buggy rigs filled the streets with the clitter clatter of horseshoes on the asphalt. Smells of spring filled the air. The pace was relaxed and very laid back. It’s no wonder that Intercourse is a lifestyle we all strive for!

But back to the question of the day… Do Boating and Intercourse go together? First we drove all around the area. No lakes, no navigable rivers, no boat ramps; not even a West Marine store. We decided to check with a few of the locals in the shopping district. We presented the question in a way only a true boater could appreciate. Perhaps not surprisingly, the locals did not see the humor in our question. Therefore we concluded that NO, Boating and Intercourse do not go together. The major reason — no waterways. The second, less obvious answer? If you spend all day in Intercourse, who has the energy left for boating?!

In conclusion, it was a great place to visit, but if your heart is in boating chances are you should stay in Florida. There is more to life than just Intercourse.

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The 40th Anniversary of Earth Day !!

Today Earth Day seems like a no-brainer… anyone who really enjoys the water or the out of doors at all, should see the benefits to preserving what we have.

But not everyone has always embraced Earth Day. The first Earth Day combined with Vietnam War protesters. Early protesters against the April 22nd gatherings also included the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR was concerned about a vast Communist conspiracy… seeing as how April 22nd, 1970 marked the centennial of Lenin's birth (Most likely a coincidence). It was also Eddie Albert's birthday and the birthday of Arbor Day founder Julius Morton and just a day after JOhn Muirs birthday — founder of the Sierra Club. Or maybe they were just all Commies.

The DAR protest resulted in this fantastic quote printed in the May 4th, 1970 issue of Time magazine “Subversive elements plan to make American children live in an environment that is good for them.”

As for the 40th Earth Day, the biggest controversy is probably about the scientific validity of the Global Warming (or climate change) argument.

Bottom line as a boater…

Bring on Global Warming … more water for us.

Find out more about Earth Day on the Five Minute Professor Facebook Group.