February 1st 2024

February 1st. I am into my third week being off the ship and I am enjoying my time off, doing what brings me joy. Every day I work on my next cookbook. I find selecting the photos of ships and food that I cooked for my crews for the next book fun and I have so many to choose from. I have been organizing them on my new laptop trying to narrow down the photos that I would use. I store my photos in Google Photos. I knew that I could call up photos by entering the location of a photo that I was searching for, entering a month that I knew I was on a particular ship, or by asking for photos that I am in, but I just found out that you can also narrow your search and call up all the photos by entering specifics in the search bar using the words: salads, pasta,...ladders, etc. It's amazing and makes finding a picture I am thinking of, but can't find, much easier.

I was looking for this winter photo and found it easily when I put the word “ladder” in the search bar.

It was fun to see all the photos of ladders and stairs in one place.

I have also been looking back at the last five January's. Of course January 2024 was spent on the Spruceglen laid up in Port Colborne. January 2023 I spent the first three weeks on the Rt Hon Paul J Martin laid up in Port Colborne. I spent the first 25 days of January 2022 on the Rt Hon Paul J Martin Laid up in Hamilton. I was on two ships in January 2021. The first two days of January 2021 on the Thunder Bay, finishing my 30-day relief and disembarking in Isle De Madeleine. I then went to a one-week job from January 7 to January 14 on the AlgoCanada. Five years ago, in January 2019 we closed our restaurant after a successful 24-year run. A few weeks ago I received a message from a customer who used to frequent our restaurant and they wrote how much they missed our restaurant and the food we served. It made me smile thinking that they still think of our restaurant five years after closing. I shared with them that all my Creperie Catherine recipes are in my first cookbook. I also mentioned that I would make a video of how to make crepes at home. I have personally made over a million crepes over a 24-year period and will share how easy it is to make them. I am asked every once in a while if I will open another restaurant and I always reply that I am having too much fun sailing and cooking on ships. I love that sailing offers me blocks of time off where I can work on projects, and travel.

January 2023 Port Colborne Lay-up on the Rt Hon Paul J Martin

January 2022 Port Colborne Lay-up Rt Hon Paul J Martin

January 2021. The 1st and 2nd of January 2021 were the last two days of a 30 day relief job.

January 2021 (7-14) Sailing on the AlgoCanada

AlgoCanada Galley

I took this photo during my time on the AlgoCanada. All the illustrations and stories in the Children’s book are taken from my experiences and photos sailing. We used this galley photo for the first book; The Stowaway Adventures of Mitchell Mouse.

January 1st 2020. I was working one month on and one month off on the Algoma Hansa. We were sailing year round between Sarnia, Ontario and Nanticoke, Ontario.

January 6th 2019 Lorraine and I prepared the last meals, and served the last customer of our 24-year in the restaurant business. We spent the January 2019 month packing up our memories and my extensive chef figurine collection.

One of the last meals Lorraine prepared for us in the downstairs kitchen of our restaurant. On the right is the special stove that we bought to accommodate the huge soup pot for making our famous French Onion Soup.

We sold a lot of French onion soup. Our dad loved the French onion soup and always had a bowl when he and my mom came to visit us.

Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) and I are planning a mini vacation and overnight stay in Montreal this coming week. I mentioned to her that I wanted to buy a few new knives. I gifted one of my knives to the second cook, Nancy who I worked with on the Atlantic Huron in November. She liked my knife. I had two and gave her one. She was shocked that the knife was inexpensive but cut so nicely. She gave me a nickel, mentioning the old superstition about gifting a knife. (The belief that a knife should never be “given” as a free gift: instead, you’re supposed to exchange a coin along with the knife, so the recipient can “pay” you for it. If you don’t, the knife may “cut” the friendship.) I used to have four identical Kiwi knives which I bought in Chinatown in Montreal but I am down to one. It's time to replenish my supply.  I like these knives because they are inexpensive and they are good for people (like myself) who are not careful with their knives. I have had expensive knives but I much prefer my Kiwi knife. It is easy to sharpen, I like the thin blade and I like that you can easily pick up what you have just chopped with the wide blade and carry it over to drop into a pot. I also like that I don't have to worry about damaging my knife if I drop it, which sometimes happens. Montreal is a beautiful city and the mild weather that is in the forecast will offer the perfect temperature to walk through old Montreal. I mentioned to Lorraine that I would love to walk along the waterfront to see which ships are laid up there for the winter.  It is going to be fun.

My two favorite items, are my Kiwi knives and my emulsifier with the whisk attachment.

I go for a walk with Lorraine every afternoon.  I love winter! Of course, the winter that I love and live in is a unique place. I live in a ski resort town, Mont Tremblant, north of Montreal in the Laurentians, Snow is celebrated, and driving down the snowbank-lined streets creates an illusion of driving into a life-size snow globe. A sometimes very cold snow globe, however, the last week has been unseasonably mild offering beautiful temperatures for going for a walk.

When Lorraine and I see a deer we in unison say “Where there’s one, there’s two” knowing to be careful when driving and seeing a deer on the side of the road there may be another so we always slow down.

I have cooked a few meals since I have been home, always taking extra care to take notes of ingredients/measurements knowing that I would like to add them to my next book. I've added notes of times and temperature for cooking. When I am home I like the opportunity to buy items that I don't usually get on the ship so I placed poblano peppers in my shopping cart during a recent trip to a grocery store. I love poblano peppers and look at them like an extra special treat. When I eat poblano peppers I think of being on vacation because the first time I had poblano peppers was in Mexico when I ordered chili rellenos years ago. I will share my version of chili rellenos in the next book. I have also used poblano peppers in frittatas. They add a wonderful flavor. I am inspired to share tips on how to use leftovers. On the ship and at home I am always trying to use up leftovers and not waste food. I made the most delicious sauce the other day which I served over zucchini noodles. I had a pint of grape tomatoes that were looking tired so I put them in the air fryer with a little olive oil (you can also roast them in the oven). I added them to the sauce I was making with Italian sausage meatballs and it was delicious.

I made these chili rellenos with poblano peppers and enchiladas sauce. They went really well with riced cauliflower.

The rellenos were stuffed with chicken and cheese.

The pint of grape tomatoes that were looking a little tired came to life after they were roasted and added to this sauce with Italian sausages. It was delicious served over zucchini noodles.

Lorraine and I have a few events planned for February and hope to see some of you there. We will be in Ashtabula, Ohio February 13th, 2024. We had such a good time during our September book signing in Ashtabula so we were happy to accept the invitation to the Ashtabula Maritime Museum pub night. It will be held at the Cloven Hoof Brewery 1308 Bridge Street in Ashtabula, Ohio 44004. If you are in the area, please stop by. Both Lorraine and I will be there and we will be happy to sign your books. We will also be bringing a limited number of both the cookbook "Recipes and Stories as I Sail Through My Day" and the "Stowaway Adventures of Mitchell Mouse" book. If you are interested in picking up a book you can order online. We will reimburse the shipping fee when you pick up the book or mail the book if you are unable to attend. Our second February event will be in Massena New York and the Massena Public Library on February 24th from 1-3 (13h00 to 15h00) You can also bring your books to this event to be signed or pick up books that you order online. We will reimburse the shipping when you pick them up or mail them if you are unable to attend. We look forward to both events and meeting you there. We also have books in stock and will be happy to mail you, your copy. Have a wonderful day