Happy Father’s Day

Good morning. First, I want to wish all the fathers, brothers, uncles, and mentors of children a happy Father's Day! June 16th is also my late dad's birthday. We always thought it was extra special when Father's Day fell on his birthday. My mom would always make him a Strawberry Torte, and the whipped cream would be beautifully piped around the edges, and the good coffee set would come out of the cupboard our dad had built. The other thing I remember is the three trees in front of our house were in full bloom with white flowers. When they fell a few weeks later, it looked like snow in the yard. I never thought to ask if there were three trees because they had three girls or if it was just a coincidence. I always think of my dad, too, when I see daisies and think of when he immigrated to Canada. My mom stayed in Germany an extra six months while my dad crossed the ocean first to set up a place for them to live in Montreal, Canada. One of my dad's short-lived jobs was watering the lawn at the hospital. He picked one of the daisies and carefully pulled off each petal, "She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, and when he reached the final petal...Sie liebt mich, she loves me." In such a romantic gesture, he sent the fragile stem with the single "She Loves Me Petal" to Germany. Lorraine came across a little velvet ring box containing the single-petal daisy my mom had kept for over 67 years. Daisies make me think of my dad,

Dad was a great musician. He was a one man band

Peonies make me think of my mom. Sitting beside my laptop as I write to you this morning are the beautiful peonies that Lorraine brought me when she came for a short visit in Quebec City while we were unloading. They are in full bloom, and I enjoy them every day. I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote to you. I wish I had more free time. There are not enough hours in the day. When I wrote to you last we were in Quebec City unloading. Our next trip was to Grande Anse in the Saguenay River. I was excited to make the trip to the Saguenay River. I had not been there since the Marine accident when I was on the Peter Misner in November 1988. We hit one of these huge mountains (pictured in the first cookbook, Recipes and Stories as I Sail Through My Day, on pages 98-99.)

Lorraine brought me peonies from my mother’s plants that Neighbor Susan is fostering. The buds have opened up to beautiful flagrant blossoms. I enjoy them every day. Lorraine also brought a new grain-free loaf. Lemon Blueberry. it was delicious! She also brought a gift from a friend. “you are where you need to be”

November 1988. My last trip to the Saguenay River on the Peter Misner when we hit a mountain. I share the full story in my first book.

I was delighted to find out that we would be turning into the river during my break, and the wheelhouse called me to tell me that they had spotted whales on the starboard side. Camera-ready, I went out and looked. I just caught a little glimpse of one on my way back in to start supper. I took many photos and videos and have been piecing together a video for you. I had hoped to have it done for you already, but it is not quite finished, and I put it aside so I could spend my Sunday morning writing to you. I have lots of photos to share with you today and will let you know when the "My Trip on The Saguenay River Looking For Whales" video is loaded onto my YouTube Channel @shiptoshorechef. I was beyond delighted that the approximate 5-hour trip into the Saguenay River and the return trip out of the Saguenay River two days later were during the daylight hours. It was so beautiful, and I had trouble concentrating and preparing the meals, wanting to go out and take in all the scenery. I wish I could have seen a little more whale activity, but the views are breathtaking, and the smell of the trees is intoxicating. A spectacular trip! I don't usually open my porthole, but I made the exception and let the beautiful smell of the trees and salt water into my room.

I am working on a Saguenay River video to share with you. I took so many photos and little videos. I am piecing them together so that you get an idea of how beautiful the trip was. I feel so very lucky that I could experience it. I will keep you posted when it is ready to view.

The weather was perfect for our Saguenay River trip

It was so difficult to concentrate and prepare supper, I kept going outside to take photos of yet another beautiful scenery.

Supper in the Saguenay River

I was thankful that I was able to complete the meal in time. Curry Lamb on Basmati rice, Fresh salmon never been frozen (that’s a rare occasion and I changed my menu to use the salmon that we received the day before in Quebec City). I served it with egg sauce.

The next day for lunch

I made a BBQ filled bun with dipping sauce and a lamb pita in home made pita bread with a side Greek salad.

That night I used the leftover salmon and made a salmon pie with egg sauce

I had some of the lamb pita ingredients from lunch leftover and split the homemade pita bread and made individual lamb pita pizzas. they were a hit with a little lettuce and homemade tzatziki on top.

I opened my porthole to let in the beautiful scent of the trees and water. My porthole doesn’t have a hook to keep it open, but a new bathmat still in it’s plastic wrapper did the job.

As we came to the end of our return trip on the Saguenay River, we turned right and we made our way back up through the seaway, passing Quebec City after my bedtime. Montreal after lunch, Both the US Locks; Eisenhower and Snell were also while I was sleeping, but we got to Iroquois at a great time. It was fun to wave at everyone. There was a special event in the area and lots of motorhomes. I know, motorhomes is an old fashioned word but I can't think of the name. I got an excellent porthole photo of Iroquois as we were leaving. I calculated the time it would take to get to Brockville and thought it might be difficult to go out and wave, but we were having Pizza Day with an antipasto salad and the most delicious fish chowder, and if the timing was not good, the second cook said she would be happy to serve. In the end, the timing was perfect. It was fun and thank you Kamden for waving your flag. Later in the afternoon, just before I had to start making supper, I went out to wave at Meg and her neighbors. Thank you for the bell and the other waves and messages along the way. It's such fun! I would have liked to spend more time sitting outside, but I was cleaning the fryer so that I could make fish and chips for supper. There need to be more hours in the day.

We got yellow fleshed potatoes which were really good in the fish chowder

Pizza Day. I got so many compliments on my pizza. One of the crew said it was the best pizza he had since 1986.

Friday night is always Fish and chips night in my galley

One of my crew doesn’t care for fish so I made my version of African Stew. It got rave reviews from those that tried it. It is a favorite of mine and is in the new book “More Recipes and Stories as we Navigate Healthier Eating”

This photo was taken below Montreal. The pilot invited me to come up and say hello. He said his wife follows me and we took a photo together. I love gong to the wheelhouse and took this photo. I thought it was fun that there was a bag of lifesavers laying beside the window. It made me laugh.

Iroquois Lock with all the motorhomes. I found out later that there was a Blues Festival in the area.

I made a German themed meal with Oktoberfest sausages on homemade buns, home fries and sauerkraut. I also made some dinner rolls that went great with the Goulash soup.

One of the crew tried their soup while they were waiting for their lunch plate and said to the others inline “This soup is really good” That’s all it took and by the end of lunch, it was also the end of the soup.

Thank you for the hello sign in Picton. Picton is a beautiful area, too, and we were there for a little over 24 hours unloading the slag that we picked up in Grande Anse. I looked off the ship's stern at the Picton cement loading dock. I saw the spot where my mom was standing about 40 years ago in her beautiful orange/rust-colored dress when she was visiting Lorraine on the Stephen B Roman. The full-page picture is in the table of contents of the first book. Back in the day, you could drive right down to the ship. My mom would arrive beautifully coifed, lipstick, earrings with a matching necklace, a beautiful dress, and strappy sandals. She was not afraid to drive the family's Delta 88 amongst the monster cement trucks that had wheels larger than our car. She would drive through the cement plant which resembles something out of a sci-fi movie, on her own, unafraid. She arrived in style, picking us up and taking us away for a few hours of fun. If the weather was nice, or if my dad was along, they would take us to the Sandbanks for a few hours on the beach. There are beautiful beaches there. Really great memories. I just looked to the bottom right of my screen and the last 90 minutes have just flown by. I will load the photos after lunch and get this to you this afternoon. It is Assiniboine Cinnamon Bun Sunday.

My mom always look beautiful, even on a trip to the cement plant. The days of driving dockside to meet the ship are long gone but it used to be a lot of fun.

The Cement dock where my mom came to visit Lorraine 40 years later

Unloading the slag we picked up in Grande Anse

We have fresh basil and since half of this crew like more traditional flavors I added the fresh basil to individual bowls of homemade tomato soup. This was my bowl. Extra basil and black pepper. it was delicious.

If you can’t decide between a taco salad and nacho chips with cheese sauce, I say “Have both”

This recipe is also in the new book. It is a vegetarian dish. Asian Eggplant. It is sweetened with maple syrup. My famous GPS has been altered for the new book and I have replaced the sugar with maple syrup. I refer to it as GPPS (Paleo inspired version of the original GPS Ginger, Pepper, Sauce). I could not tell the difference from the original version.

I just looked to the bottom right of my screen and the last 90 minutes have just flown by. I will load the photos after lunch and get this to you this afternoon. It is Assiniboine Cinnamon Bun Sunday. Have the most wonderful day. I had hoped to get this to you yesterday, but it is now Monday morning. I had planned on loading the photos after lunch but became distracted as we made our way into the canal. It was such a beautiful sunny day and I went out to sit on the bench looking at the path that I have walked on many times and took a photo of the bench where I like to sit and watch ships myself. As we got closer, a little family came to sit down on that same bench to watch the ship. There were two little girls and I wondered if they were intrigued about life on a ship and if they thought working on one of these vessels would be fun. If they were to look into our wheelhouse, they would see that our Captain, who was expertly maneuvering the ship into the lock, is a woman. We also have a female third mate, engine cadet, and of course, there is the second cook and myself, so I would say to those two little girls that they should dream of the adventure on a ship. I love my job. Have a wonderful day. We are on our way to Superior and then back to Quebec City.