I have been living in the Caribbean for the past 5 years running luxury yacht charters with my husband as a Captain and Chef Team . More recently we have moved to the Mediterranean where I have had the great experience of experimenting with the Cuisines of France, Italy and Greece.
We have up to 10 guests onboard week in, week out and I’m making breakfast, lunch(3 course), canapes and dinner (3 course) for them every day. This calls for a lot of recipes! It also calls for a lot of planning and flexibility, bearing in mind limited storage and limited supplies. I’m not the sort of person that is happy just to repeat the same thing over and over again so i am constantly trying new recipes and adapting old ones. I have had no formal training (except a short course at Rick Stein 2 years ago) and in fact had barely done more that boil an egg or cook a bit of pasta until I decided to pair up with Jonny and embark on this yachting career in the Caribbean. When I look back now and think of some of the dishes I served in the early days I wonder how I am still employed! … but I am and I have improved. It is amazing what you can teach yourself if you are ambitious and willing to keep trying.
Last summer I did a lot of work in the US and comfortably managed to cater a wedding buffet for almost 40 people … its surprising what you can produce out of a small galley with plenty of planning and preparation. It was also a great experience spending a month in Manhattan, having pretty much any produce I wanted in my grasp (a big difference to the Caribbean) and with dinner or cocktail parties every night it was a great chance to try plenty of new recipes and enhance my creativity.
As my Career Progresses and I move my feet from Water to Land this Winter I will continue my cooking as a Freelance Chef, catering for dinner parties, birthdays or special occasions, in villas, chalets and private households … wherever the work takes me!
I’ll be using this blog to keep you posted on my latest movements and ill be posting lots of recipes and menu plans as i try them!
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:53 am
Ack! What happened to your Caribbean Key Lime Pie recipe? It was the best Key Lime Pie recipe in the world. I hope it isn’t gone for ever. Sad.
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:39 am
Thank you! No it has not gone forever – I have had some problems with my blog and lost a lot of content – ill be putting it back up as soon as I am able to make posts again! Thanks for the comment
July 24th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Yay!It’s the most requested recipe I’ve ever had and it’s become infamous among my friends. Strangers who know people I’ve made this for email me requesting the link! I think you need to make a cook book!
July 24th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
its back! http://www.kellycoop.com/2011/03/04/key-lime-pie/ I managed to restore it after the problems had been fixed with the site. Enjoy
January 19th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Hi Kelly,
I sent you an invite for Pinterest…this is a great way to “up” your exposure for your recipes and charters. I have posted links to your sites for both…check it out…meanwhile say hi to Jonny and we hope to be once again on one of your fab charters! Love you guys…
Ginny and Paul
The Hague
January 19th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Thanks so much Ginny, thats great
Would love to see you guys again sometime, maybe now we are both Europe based we will get that chance one day!