Man Plans God laughs

The Captain has a saying, "Man plans, God laughs".  Well that certainly has been true the last couple of days.  We had originally planned to leave on our cruise to the Erie Canal this past Monday the 9th. Well we discovered the faulty exhaust elbow.  We then waited two days for the delivery of the new part.  It arrived early Thursday afternoon and Mike was able to get it installed in no time.  While he was working on that I was able to get some cooking in and tried some new recipes.  I made a chocolate cake that was very similar to one a friend of mine Kathy used to make when we were younger and also found a recipe for candied pecans you can make in a crock pot.  (See below)  Crock Pot recipes are always a winner on the boat since it cuts down on the heat in the galley.   We were also about to get in some practice time for me (the First Mate) to work on my mooring skills.  (That is still definitely a work in progress).  And spent a wonderful evening with some of our dock mates watching Bogart and Bacall in "To Have and Have Not".  Love that movie!!!  We said our goodbyes to everyone and took along with us their good wishes in preparation for our departure this morning.  Well now's when we get to the Man Plans, God Laughs part.  Woke up this morning to a cold front coming in across the lake that will make 10-20 kts wind and 2-4 seas.  These are going to produce rip tides this afternoon near Cleveland.  Well knowing how our boat reacts to these kinds of conditions we decided to stay put one more day.  Better to be at the dock wishing you were on the water than on the water wishing you were at the dock.  

So on goes another pot of coffee, time to catch up on the blog and facebook, Captain has time to play his pirate computer game and maybe some new food creations.  We will get out there.  Here's hoping for calm cruising tomorrow and a dock to spend the night in Cleveland.

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Crock Pot Cinnamon Pecans

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups pecans
1/4 cup water

Directions
1. Mix together sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg white and vanilla until frothy. Add the pecans and coat thoroughly
3. Add the Cinnamon sugar mixture to pecans and thoroughly coat pecans
4. Spray crock pot with non stick spray. Pour in pecan mixture
5. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, stir every 20 minutes, making sure everything is coated
6. During the last 30 minutes add 1/4 cup water and stir well
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread pecans on the paper to cool.