Good morning from Milwaukee. I am starting my fourth day, and yesterday afternoon, I stopped for a moment and realized that I had hit my beat here on the CSL Assiniboine. There are a lot of great things about this ship—where do I begin? The galley is the exact same layout as the Rt Paul J Martin, CSL Laurentien (old Louis R, where I spent five years), the CSL Niagara, and the Atlantic Huron (except the Huron Dry Store pantry is on the opposite side of the others). The galley is bright, and it's so nice having a door in the galley that opens out onto the stern so that I can pop out quickly to take a photo. I took advantage of the opportunity to snap some pictures of the new Gordie Howe Bridge at the end of supper on Monday. Watching the bridge-building process has been so interesting; it looks so close to completion.

I wonder if there is a lot of pressure hoping the two pieces will join easily. I would be worried putting in the last piece, did I measure correctly?

I love seeing the two flags on each side

This is what it looks like from under the new Gordie Howe Bridge

There are definite advantages to being in a familiar space; however, I still have to find where the pots, bowls, etc, are stored. The other challenging thing is my starboard room. On the Niagara, Huron, and Martin, my room is on the Port side, so every time I go to my room, I leave the galley, walk in front of the line over to the port side, step into the crew's messroom and sometimes get as far as standing in front of the cabin door before I catch myself and turn around realizing my mistake. It is laughable because I was still doing it yesterday, day three. My goal today is remembering that my room is on the starboard side. My room is large and spacious and has a forward-facing porthole. I love a forward-facing porthole. On Tuesday night, I was messaging a friend and said, "I see land. We must be in the St Mary's River." They responded with a "No, You're not; you are coming up to the Mackinac bridge. I jumped up out of my desk chair and there was the beautiful expanse of bridge. I signed off with my friend, thanking them for reminding me where I was, and went out to take some photos and a little video. I thought I would miss the bridge because all the dogs were used on the side door and I had to open each one before swinging the door open. Usually, the doors are held closed with one dog, but perhaps because it was very windy or the air conditioning was on, they used almost all the dogs. The air-conditioning works very well and I will happily dog the doors for the comfort of cool air. I was happy that I made it out in time and that we passed during the daylight hours.

It is amazing to see how big the Mackinac Bridge is. At this time of year there isn’t a lot of traffic which makes it interesting to see one vehicle cross on its own. I imagine it is busier in the summer months.

Yesterday was the first time I had a moment to go outside after lunch. I wanted to get some photos of Milwaukee. It was so beautiful when I stepped outside that I decided to walk forward. This ship is so clean. The decks are spotless, and I enjoyed my short walk forward, promising myself to take more walks.

It is such a clean ship. I hope to enjoy many walks on her deck

I love the camera on my Pixel 7 pro. I was able to capture the birds in flight as we made our way past the Milwaukee breakwaters.

We made some tight turns in the Milwaukee harbor with the help of 2 tugs

Before I go, I will share the meals I have made over the last few days. The ovens are a little slow here, so I have to change the timing of my meal preparation a bit. The last five ships I worked on had convection ovens, which worked perfectly. The stoves here have hot spots, and what usually takes 10 minutes takes 20 or 30 minutes. It's not a problem; I have to adjust my cooking time. I started my first day making cheddar broccoli soup, a chicken club on a homemade bun, baked chicken breast, Spinach frittata, rice, boiled potatoes, and turnip fries with curry mayo (in the new book). For supper, I made pork chops with a mushroom sauce (in the next book) and mashed potatoes with Brussels sprouts. The second choice was baked fish and rice.

Spinach frittata with turnips and curry mayo

I am getting used to the ovens onboard here, but my buns came out really nice.

I always think of my dad when I make home fries, he loved the crispy pieces.

For supper, I made pork chops with a mushroom sauce (in the next book) and mashed potatoes with Brussels sprouts. The second choice was baked fish and rice.

This is an easy meal to make and I usually make in the first couple of days when I join a ship.

On Tuesday, I started my day with bean and bacon soup. I served Italian Sausages with pasta and marinara sauce. My second choice was a chicken Caesar wrap. For supper, I had wanted to make a beef vegetable stew, but when I thawed the diced beef, it was cut so small I didn't think it would be good, so I switched the plan and made beef in gravy (My mom's goulash, she would have been proud). Apparently, it was a good idea because one crew member returned to the galley and asked if I could have some of the beef? They said everyone was talking about how good it was. I happily obliged. I served it over egg noodles or mashed potatoes. My second choice was eggplant parmesan. I was so excited to find a case of eggplant in the fridge. I served peas with the meal.

I really liked the eggplant parmesan. I have a version of it in the new book.

The beef goulash over egg noodles was a hit.

The beef goulash was popular on mashed potatoes too.

Yesterday, I made beef barley soup. I had bread dough made, already rising in a warm spot, with a plan to make a few loaves of bread, but at 09h30, my planned lunch had to be scrapped (long story). I then decided to make hot dogs on homemade buns, macaroni, and cheese, or chicken salad sandwiches on homemade bread. For supper, I made baked salmon with rice and steamed broccoli. My second choice was peanut noodles. I am starting to figure out what is popular amongst my crew. There were 4 that left yesterday for vacation, so this will change again, but I have an idea of what goes. I have one vegetarian, four meat and potatoes (and don't mess with my food), and the rest are adventurous eaters.

A sandwich always tastes better on homemade bread

One of the crew commented how good a simple hotdog was on a homemade bun. I have to agree.

For those who prefer I don’t mess with their food I offer simple plates.

For my more adventurous crew I offered peanut noodles I thought they came out really good and I was so pleased to find fresh cilantro. The only thing missing was a squeeze of fresh lime.

Have a lovely day and thank you for spending a few moments of it with me. Don't forget to pre-order your copy of the new book "More Recipes and Stories as We Navigate Healthier Eating. Just click on the following link

More Recipes & Stories As We Navigate Healthier Eating – Ship to Shore Chef