Fried chicken Waffles….what is such a thing you might ask, well It seems its breakfast here in South Florida!

 

It’s been 7 years since I was based on a Boat out of Florida, to say the adjustment has been overwhelming  after so long in France would be correct.

Its taken me some time, the convince factor of the USA I had forgotten about.

You can send your photos online to CVS – Pharmacy and then pick them up in person an hr later, maybe this happens elsewhere and I’m just behind the times but I’ve found this quite entertaining.

Pretty much everything is open on a Sunday, apart from post offices banks etc, you can do what you want to do even on Sunday!

Amazon is definitely a way of life here, its so heavily used by everyone! I’m still a bit old fashioned and prefer to go the shops and pick up what I want to buy, touch it decide if its what I actually want, rather than at the click of a button throw things in my cart, get free shipping and have them arrive on the doorstep the next day!

Now don’t get me wrong, amazon has become rather useful for things I can’t find in the shops, like the French text books I was after, Yes I am learning French in the USA after so long in France and not getting it, for some reason it seems to making so much more sense here! Don’t ask me why!!!

The USA was home to me for so long in my first years of yachting that its almost rather nostalgic to be back here, in a different place than I was all those years ago.

I still struggle to understand people and vice versa. The portions of food on your plate in a restaurant are just way to much for me to ever eat. Don’t even get me started on the size of the fizzy drinks at the movies, its almost like they are giving out buckets of the stuff!

Heres to the land of half and half and dunkin donuts.

your growing on me slowly.

Cupcake. xx

 

Boston Creme always has and always will be my fav!

Today I’m feeling the love for the amazing community online that day in day out support each other no matter what is going on.

Now I know this doesn’t happen  all the time, there can also be some really awful things go down via keyboard warriors.

However in the Chef world of super yachts at the moment I feel there is a fabulous support network for all chefs, every one is asking questions and getting answers helpful tips and so on.

There are quite a few groups on facebook and instagram.

The Superyacht Chef is new amazing platform that is sharing pics/posts and creating new inspiration and relationships through someone seeing the pic then following that person.

I’ll never forget the first person to reach out to me via instagram was the lovely Lauren from @sailingfooddiaries we were both in St Tropez at the time, I received a message saying if your around be cool to meet up and put a face to the name. I was so excited to meet the person behind this, it seemed such a foreign concept to me to just reach out to a stranger and get in touch, so I’m ever so grateful to Lauren for doing so in creating conversation and even though we have only met briefly on the dock in St Tropez we are in touch often and its so nice to have the support just a message away! I’ve since then done the same to others and met some beautiful souls along the way.

Recently I have  been in touch with a few other Chef friends via the social media channels about recipes/ ideas etc and its nice to see the change in the industry of one of sharing and helping each other out. I remember a time when getting recipes off Chefs was like getting blood out of a stone!

I was told by a crew agent that the nature of the head chefs currently is more along the lines of  sharing ideas and grooming the sous chef to become there own head chef down the line rather than what we saw in the past of the sous chef being just for crew food, often now the sous chef will be responsible for canapés and guest dessert while assisting the head chef with the starters and mains. This is so exciting!!

 

So please keep sharing and inspiring each other, its just amazing I know myself I gain so much from seeing others posts and trying new recipes that I see posted from other chefs.

 

Bon weekend.

Cupcake xx

 

Well once again a epic fail in the keeping this blog up to date!!!

The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least.

In trusting that everything is how is should be and what will be will be, I’ve ended up back in the mighty USA with a job!

Who would have thought after all those years in Europe I’d relocate back to where It all began…I didn’t think so anyway!

I flew out to the Bahamas joined this new boat prior to a boss trip with new owners, stressful to say the least!

I realised how all my work with yoga, meditation and breathing to keep me calm came into play and how I no longer had time for these in my days, but don’t worry I’m back to finding that flow now.

I’ve taken the last 8 months off from the world that is yachting to focus on travel yoga and some serious me time, reading books, googling random things I’ve always wanted to know about, drinking tea and watching the days pass by dreaming.

To come back straight into a boat gearing up for a boss trip was a snap back in to the reality that is this world, the long hours the stress we place upon ourselves and the lack of time and space for ourselves during this time.

I’m feeling very lucky to have got another visa for the USA and to land this job taking me back to where is all began for me, Newport RI is our next stop, I started on boats there 13 years ago on Sailing yachts, I would look at these big white boats and wonder.

So its going to be a emotional and nostalgic time to return back up that way.

Until then I’m making the most of south Florida the excitement of the USA the abundance of being able to do anything and every thing when one feels like it.

To try all the different foods, create meals with all sorts of ingredients.

As long as I don’t melt in the heat and humidity, theres a reason people avoid Florida at this time of the year!!

as always I’m going to make more of an effort to keep this updated and share with you my life here in the USA.

last night was Hootie and the blow fish concert, my first live concert in I’m not even sure how long! theres a video in my instagram! they were amazing !!

hope your all having a wonderful Sunday funday! here’s to surviving my first week back in the USA!!!

cupcake x

 

Waffles with buttermilk fried chicken and bacon…just your casual Sunday brunch!

 

check out that sunset behind the stage at Hootie and the blow fish. AMAZING!!!

Celebrating my return to the USA and over 10years of friendship with these absolute babes. Thats one of the biggest things I love in this industry its been years between catch ups but it feels just like yesterday!

BBQ flavoured ribs, coleslaw and potato salad, so American, so delicious!