is it a wiggle or a wobble?

November 27 2023. I am sitting here at my desk in the chief cooks room on the Atlantic Huron, sailing on Lake Huron and I am trying to think of a word that describes how the boat is moving today. (quick side to side rocking, wiggling up the lake, wobbling back and forth..)

Love the clouds and the sun behind

it was a bit of a wiggly, wobbly day out on Lake Huron

It felt like a winter day. I like the reflection of the water in the porthole

When we had the restaurant, Creperie Catherine in Mont Tremblant for 24 years, we had numerous ways to describe the business and each reference painted a picture to either Lorraine (my sister best friend and publisher) or myself depending on who was on the phone at the restaurant explaining to the other who might be at home. I also had the cash register synced with my phone so I could see from home or wherever I was how many tables were occupied, and I could see what the customer had ordered and how long they had been there. It makes me laugh when I think of all the different adjectives to how busy/not busy  the restaurant was: Busy, very busy, crazy busy, in control busy, no time to talk busy, steady busy, steady, trickling in, slow, really slow, dreadfully slow, I'm falling asleep slow,

Line up waiting to get into my original restaurant.

The second cook that I am working with now is really very nice. He makes beautiful desserts and I was so tempted when I saw the coconut cream pie that he made from scratch for last night's dessert. I really would have enjoyed spending the month of December working with him. I accepted this job as a medical relief for the regular cook. She is scheduled to go on her regular time off for the month of December. The December job call is an STO job (scheduled time off) which is technically different  from the medical relief job that I accepted. The STO job was called at the union hall and although I had hoped no one would take it, somebody did. I received a lot of questions asking why I have to go? This is the reason. It's technically a separate job. I will call the union Hall when I get off of here and my card will return to the same place it was when I accepted this position. It is fairly close to the top so I should be able to pick up another ship. I am selective on which ships I will work on and will make sure there is a second cook.  I just went out to get another cup of coffee and saw the 8-12 wheelsman having his breakfast. I stopped at the door of the crew's mess room and asked him about the movement of the ship this morning and what term they use. He said the ship is "working." We are going into the wind and the ship is working against the wind causing the motion that we are feeling. He said if the ship is working a lot, they will call the Captain and ask if they should cut back (reduce the speed) because the ship is working too hard. I actually just looked up fish and how they swim because this movement reminds me a bit of a fish tail swishing back and forth. I just spent the last 10 minutes reading about the "study of fish locomotion and how it has benefited the engineering perspective". A little heavy reading when I got to the "efficiency of a boat as forward force (thrust) multiplied by speed, divided by the power required to move the propeller." I think I will stick with my terminology. It is kind of a wiggly movement. Cinnamon bun Sunday started off a little earlier than normal for me. I was awake early but somehow did not get out to the galley any earlier. I started my day making the cinnamon bun dough. I made Dahl soup which is in the book and very popular with the crew. As my time is coming to an end here I am looking at my menus and how I can use up certain items. Instead of making the traditional Sunday brunch I decided to use up the leftover steaks that did not get cooked for Saturdays steak night. I also had some shrimp leftover so I decided to make fajitas, steak or shrimp or as a couple of crew requested, a combo of the two. The second choice was a fried egg sandwich with bacon and cheese.

Dahl soup is really popular and is in the cookbook. It’s a great winter soup

Why pick one, have them both

Two crew members asked for the steak and shrimp fajita.

The shrimp fajita without the wrap

I don't usually sleep in the afternoons but decided it would be a good idea to have a rest. For supper I had an easy meal planned. Pork chops with mushroom sauce. I only had 21 pork chops so I took a Pork loin out of the freezer and thought I would cut a few pieces off of that, just in case I needed them. As I ws cutting the slices off of the pork loin I tried to keep them the same thickness as the very thick pork chops. The slices from the pork loin reminded me of the pork pieces that my mom would use in a sauerkraut dish that she made. I hadn't had that dish or thought of it in years. I knew that we had two very large jars of sauerkraut and decided that I would bake some of the pork loin pieces in the sauerkraut for Monday's lunch. That night's pork chops with mushroom sauce (the mushroom sauce will be in the next book. It is so delicious) came out beautifully and I had a few left over and didn't need the slices of pork loin. Several of the crew commented how tender the pork chops were. I explained "12 minutes in the oven". They are really thick so I think there is a tendency to overcook them but I have watched hours of the Food network shows and they often finish their meat in the oven. I do now as well and it's perfect for pork chops or well done steak. For the second choice rainbow trout with ginger sauce or chimichurri. Quite a few of the crew ask for the ginger sauce. It is the GPS recipe in the book and I always have a batch ready to add to my curries, Asian food or as I have found out with fish.

Pork chops with mushroom sauce

This is a really nice meal. It is so easy and so tasty. I will have the recipe and cooking method for the pork in the next book.

The best of both worlds, one piece of rainbow trout with chimichurri and the other with ginger (GPS) sauce

Cinnamon bun Sunday

This was the last cinnamon bun left at the end of the day. I took the picture, turned around and when I looked back, it was gone too.

It is now Tuesday morning November 28th. My pork loin sauerkraut lunch was really good and very well received by the crew who tried it with the exception of one. I always appreciate when the crew try something new and always say if they don't like it, come back and I will give you something else. In this case he came back and said he didn't really like it and I gave him a piece of the Shepherd's pie with gravy. My third choice for lunch was a chicken salad or tuna salad wrap. One crew member came in and asked for the tuna salad and chicken salad to be put together on one wrap. I always try to imagine the flavors of the food I am preparing but could not wrap my virtual taste buds around that combo.

I thought of my mom and dad as I made, served and then ate this meal.

Shepherds pie

I usually scoop on the mashed potatoes with an ice-cream soup so that I can visualize how many portions I will get.

The fork leaves little ridges that brown nicely

I would have had another photo of the finished product, but there was none left.

Tuna salad wrap

I spent a little bit too long in my room during my afternoon break, trying to wait for the internet and share the first part of this story and lost track of time. I have an alarm set to remind me to go back to work at 14h25 but thought just a few more minutes...I jumped up from my desk at 15h00 and immediately knew that I would have to really hustle to get my chinese inspired dinner ready in time. I had made egg drop soup for my soup of the day. For supper I made a huge amount of chicken vegetable stir fry and took special care not to overcook the vegetables. I steam the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots (separately since they cook at different times) in a colander over boiling water. I sauteed the onions, peppers and zucchini and added them to the beautiful colored vegetables. For a large group like my crew, I bake the chicken breasts and then slice them and add them to the vegetables. I had boiled some chicken bones earlier in the day and after straining the bones I was left with a beautiful base for my stir fry sauce. I added a little soya sauce, sesame oil, chicken soup base, Adobo, chili peppers and a very little cornstarch to thicken and once all the veggies and chicken were together I poured the sauce over top. My second choice was shrimp rice. I always have leftover rice and I am always trying to figure out how to use it. I had some leftover shrimp and put them in the food processor and then mixed them with the leftover rice. I added some water with Adobo, and fish soup base mixed in. Once it was all combined I put a piece of parchment paper across the rice so it wouldn't dry out, covered with aluminum foil and then put it in the oven to heat. By this time a light panic started to set in that I would not have enough time to make the star of my meal, the one thing that always gets the crew talking, my crispy pork with homemade cherry sauce. I was going back and forth in my head considering the easier and more time efficient choice of grabbing chicken fingers out of the freezer and serving them with the homemade cherry sauce which was now ready and so very tasty but the stubborn part of me insisted to the cautious me that I could get it done. For the crispy pork I use the same recipe as my fish batter except I put in chicken soup base and a little sesame oil. As the third batch of crispy  pork fried, the first crew member came in. I could not believe I was ready in time but looking around the galley and seeing what looked like a tornado had just gone through I knew that Yes, that just happened. As I imagined, the crispy pork was the star of the evening and one of the crew who doesn't usually like pork asked to try it because he heard them talking about how good it was. I had another crew member who usually avoids the deep fried choices but always trusts me to choose what he should try say "you are going to offer me the crispy pork?" I said yes "it is a perfect  vehicle for the delicious homemade cherry sauce". At the end of supper he agreed, the cherry sauce was good! It took me an extra half an hour to clean up all my pots and pans after the rushed Chinese dinner preparation but I always use this time to reflect on my day and think about what I will make the next day and what needs to come out of the freezer.

Egg drop soup, surprisingly popular. It will be going into the next book.

Chinese dinner chicken vegetable stir fry, shrimp rice and crispy pork with homemade cherry sauce

I enjoyed my day and hope you did too. Just a little reminder from Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) to order your books soon if you intend to gift them for Christmas. We have lots of books in stock and can still get them to you in time. If you are considering any of the ship to shore chef merchandise please order before December 1, since they are printed to order. See you tomorrow. www.shiptoshorechef.com

Lorraine will be happy to mail you your copy of the books or Ship to Shore Chef merchandise.