My New Fridge
It's a beautiful winter wonderland in Mont Tremblant this morning. We got an extra 15 cm (6 inches) of snow yesterday. Mont Tremblant is a ski resort, so the consensus in the immediate area is joy when the big white fluffy flakes start to fall. I love to see the snow falling. However, yesterday, I hoped that it did not interfere with or delay the delivery of my new fridge. For the past few years, I have been talking about getting a new fridge. I am on a ship six to eight months a year and away from home, so I went back and forth in my mind about whether to buy a new fridge. My 24-year-old fridge that housed some of my most delicious meal creations was still functioning. Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) has a fridge with no freezer section. It's an all-fridge model. She has a separate trunk freezer (where you can always find homemade treats when you lift the lid.) I would love to have a fridge like hers with more space. The majority of the ships I work on have a big walk-in fridge. I am inspired when I walk into the fridge and see all the fresh ingredients sitting on the shelves, waiting to be added to create a delicious meal. When I open my fridge door at home, I find myself trying to move the items around to find what I am looking for. That piece of leek that I know is in there is found under the bunch of kale that hid it from my site. Lorraine convinced me to get a new fridge. She knows how much I would enjoy a new fridge; It's not just a place to store food at a precise temperature but a place that stores the items I carefully picked out at the grocery store. It is a place that holds jars of sauce, which caught my curiosity when we were shopping in the US. (my most recent successful purchase, Melinda’s Green Sauce. It's delicious).
The drive on our way to the Appliance store last Wednesday.
We drove by a lake and saw parachute skiing. I Think that is what it is called. You would be amazed to see the speed that they reach as they fly across the lake.
Melinda’s Green Sauce. One of my new favorites!
We decided to go and look for a new fridge. It's been years since I went into an actual appliance store. I have seen fridges and stoves for sale in big box stores. They stand there as functional items waiting to be purchased. Walking into an actual appliance store is a totally different experience. It was like walking into a car dealership where the lighting highlights each piece. We entered the store with a budget but could not help ourselves to take a walk through the entire store like there was no budget or space restriction for my new purchase, and we opened the doors of multiple fridges. A lot has changed in fridge design since I purchased my last fridge in 2000. We walked around opening the double-door fridges, which looked similar on the outside, but once the doors were opened, they revealed what would merit the over $10,000 price tag. We opened the door to a beautiful fridge that stood tall beside the 5-digit price tag and remarked the only thing missing was music playing. It had a black interior, mirrors, and lights that backlit the items the salespeople had placed inside the fridge to enhance the experience. As Lorraine and I stood in front of the two-door fridge, we said it was beautiful, but criticized the lack of space and functionality of the very expensive fridge. After touring the deluxe models, we were directed to the back of the store to find the fridge and budget I had shared with the sales person. We walked through two aisles of fridges, and as we approached the furthest corner of the store, we saw the fridge that filled my wish list. We thankfully noticed that the prices dropped as we made our way to the back of the store. I opened the door to the all-fridge stainless-steel model and found the perfect fridge. It was exactly what I was looking for, and the white version of this model was $300 less, which was still over my budget, but with Lorraine's encouragement, we decided it was worth it. We went to the salesperson’s desk to purchase my new fridge and make arrangements for the delivery. They deliver to Tremblant every Saturday and I was added to their delivery list. On Friday I received the message indicating that the fridge would be delivered between 11am and 3pm the next day. Unlike the delivery of the first fridge I bought 24 years ago, the message included a link that I could track the delivery truck carrying my new fridge. It was updated with how many stops it needed to make before arriving with my new fridge. Lorraine came over to help me unload my old fridge and she took the opportunity to organize my big stand-up freezer before we transferred the frozen items from my old fridge's freezer section. Lorraine cleared the snow at the entranceway to my building when she came over at 10am and went down shortly after noon when we received a text that the delivery trucks were 15 minutes away. The snow had been falling and accumulating, so she went down to clear the way again.
Lorraine shoveling the snow outside my building.
They unpacked it before bringing it up to my place.
I live on the second floor and opened the door when the delivery men’s voices and instructions in French "Fais attention...attend...ok" came closer. I stepped out of the way as they maneuvered their way in with my new fridge. They offer the service to pick up your old fridge and within 20 minutes, the old fridge was gone and the new fridge was sitting in it's new home. (I made a sigh of relief that the measurements I gave them were correct and that the new fridge fit perfectly.) The delivery men left instructions not to plug the fridge in for at least two hours. I set the timer, not wanting to wait an extra minute to load in the items that made it to the "keep pile." When I removed everything from my old fridge I sorted everything and anything that was out of date landed in a throwaway pile. The shelves in the new fridge were packed for transportation and Lorraine unpacked them and placed them in a location that she thought would best meet my purposes. I use a lot of eggs and usually buy trays of 30, so she left a thin space that would accommodate these trays perfectly. I placed the remainder of the items on the glass shelves, and once all the items were in, I looked at the two empty shelves that remained. It really demonstrated how much more space my new all-fridge would offer. There was a rack shelf on the door that was so narrow, I had no idea what would fit. I looked at the photos of my fridge online and saw that they had placed readymade pizza crusts and large Tortillas. I thought it was a good idea. I don't use premade pizza crust and my almond flour small package of tortillas slipped right through the rack. I will find a purpose for this section. I rehung the two items that were previously hanging by magnets from the old fridge and the new fridge set-up was done!
Lorraine unpacked everything for me.
These items filled my old fridge. I was so excited with the extra space that the all-fridge model offers.
When Lorraine came over to my place earlier in the day to help with the fridge, she went via the post office to pick up her mail. She brought some Christmas cards that were sent to Ship to Shore Chef address and were delayed because of the mail strike. She had a package with her. We opened the cards and thought how nice it was to receive them. We opened the package, and I recognized the item inside right away. It was my copy of the Junior Mariner's Activity Book "Seaway Queen." The author, Jim, contacted me while he was working on the project and asked if I could contribute a recipe to his project. I selected My Mom's Sugar Cookies. I thought this would be the perfect cookie. My mom made them often, and I thought about young children making them and rolling the cookies in sugar before placing them on the cookie sheet. I looked through the book and was intrigued to stop at each page and see if I could answer the questions of this interactive book. There is a lot of information about ships and more. It's always fun to get something fun in the mail.
There is lots of information in this interactive book about ships. I was pleased to be invited to share a favorite recipe. I love that my mom’s sugar cookies will be enjoyed for years to come.
I have been busy working on the taxes for the Ship to Shore Chef book business this past week. I did the basic accounting the 24 years we had the restaurant business, so I have a good understanding of what I need to prepare for the accountant. The difference between the book accounting and the restaurant accounting is the fact that the book business is doing business in Quebec, Ontario and the US. We have sent books overseas and with all the different locations, there are different rules for tax. I enjoy going through the bank statements and reviewing the bills, especially the bills that conjure up the memories of a purchase. Most of these bill-memories are of restaurants that we stopped at during book signings or deliveries. I go so far as to call Lorraine when I come across a particular bill of a special meal and quiz her...Do you remember where we were last year on a particular date. When she guessed the correct restaurant, I asked if she remembered what we ordered and see if she recites everything on the detailed bill. It's an opportunity to re-live a delicious meal we shared together. I had to use some investigative tactics when I came across one amount in the column of the debit side of the bank statement. There was no bill to go with it and the short, abbreviated words did not make sense. I asked Lorraine if she remembered where we were that date and while talking to her I thought I would look at my photos to see if that would help. As soon as I put the date in the search bar in my photos, I immediately saw photos that told a story. Lorraine had driven me to join a ship and we stayed in a hotel the night before. When I finish writing to you this morning I will return to working on the taxes and bank reconciliations. My goal and reward when I finish the Ship to Shore Chef 2024 taxes is to take time to work on my new project. I can't wait. It is going to be a fun project to work on.
I made 6 frittatas. Three for Lorraine and three for me. I thought it would be quick and I would not lose too much time cooking while I was working on the taxes.
I like my frittata with guacamole and Melinda’s green sauce.
We make sure to set aside time to have fun in between the tax project. We go for walks and we had a little birthday celebration with our artist friend Karen. I love going to her art studio. We brought lunch: a sausage kale soup that I am working on and an apple crisp that Lorraine is working on. Both were delicious and Lorraine's apple crisp that she took out of the oven just before she put it in the car and picked me up smelled so delicious during the 45 minute drive. The birthday visit was fun and all three of us agreed that the new recipes were winners. There are beautiful paintings in Karen's studio and when she saw me looking longer at one painting, she gifted it to me just as we were getting ready to leave. I reminded her that it was her birthday, not mine. She saw how much I liked it and said she was happy that the painting would bring me joy. It was a great afternoon.
We enjoy our winter walks
Lorraine offered to make the sausage kale soup that I am working on and at the same time she made our favorite Utica greens (my version). Lorraine likes to follow a recipe so I wrote out the instructions. Both were delicious.
Lorraine hard at work.
We took the soup to the birthday party but I enjoyed some of the leftovers at home. This is another painting by Karen.
Lorraine made a delicious apple crisp. It was made without sugar and sweetened with a little maple syrup. It was really good and I loved the crunchy topping which was made with almond flour and pecans.
This the painting Karen gifted me. I love all the colors.
Lorraine has prepared a blog for you that you can read on our website. Just click on the following link or go directly to the shiptoshorechef website and click on “Extras” and then “Our Weight loss Journey”
Diets don’t work — Ship To Shore | Chef Catherine Schmuck | Author, Entrepreneur & Cook | Canada
I have a little video that I prepared for you last week but forgot to attach to my story. It is a little video sharing my favorite thing about working on the Algoma Buffalo. I hope you enjoy it. Click the following link.
the books are available online at www.shiptoshorechef.com Lorraine and I will be happy to mail them out to you.