my new laptop
November 30th. Onboard the Atlantic Huron passing under the Mackinac Bridge. I have a video and will share with you soon.
I am writing from my new laptop this morning. I had hoped to share a story and my pictures of passing under the Mackinac bridge with you yesterday, but the laptop set up took a little longer than I had thought. There were a lot of little details and features that I thought I should take the time to view and understand. I clicked here and there and was excited to see one feature that will save me time and be much easier. The keyboard is really nice and I feel like my fingers are flying across adding a few extra words per minute. I always think of my highschool teacher, Miss Morwick when I think about typing quickly. She was a great typing/shorthand teacher. I was always trying to improve my speed and accuracy. My mom was a two finger typist, but she was pretty quick. I did a facetime with Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher. She was busy writing out mailing labels for books and Ship to Shore Chef merchandise.
My first video all with Lorraine (my sister, best friend, publisher and head of the Ship to Shore Chef shipping/mailing department)
I cannot believe that I am already into my second week off of the ship. I always try to believe that “I am where I am meant to be” and I am enjoying every day to the fullest. I do not have a ship yet but I believe I will get a call this week. I actually got a job call on Friday for a 30 day compassionate relief. Already knowing the answer before asking “Is there a second cook? I turned down the job when the Union agent confirmed that there was no second cook. He went on to say that it’s a small crew, but I know from past experiences that even a small crew is a lot of work by myself. Lorraine’s voice in my head reminding me that working by myself leaves me no time to do anything else but work and sleep. I finished the call with the message “I will be happy to take a job on a ship with a second cook.” In the meantime while I am off I am working on some recipes for the next book and taking time for myself to go for walks and relax. I get inspiration for recipes from many different places and often will try to recreate meals that we had in a restaurant. I have wanted to try recreating a soup that we tried at Georges Greek Restaurant in St Catharine’s, just below lock 3. The soup we tried had rice in it and my goal was to try and make a similar soup following the criteria I set for the next book. I decided to add spinach and cauliflower rice to my Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)
I usually don’t use the mini carrots but I looked in the fridge and thought, they could be used. my notes in the background came from looking up four different recipes for inspiration and taking an element from each one. Some recipes said use only the yolk of the egg some suggested the whole egg. I went with the whole egg, I also used Adobo. I used a Rotisserie chicken and the broth was from boiling the rotisserie chicken bones.
I am going to try this recipe again using fresh dill. One recipe suggested the fragrant herb and I’m curious how it will taste. For this version a little cracked black pepper gave a nice flavor. It was excellent for a first try.
I love going to the grocery store . I always park far away from the front door of the store. I have a talk with myself as I walk toward the grocery store with the automatic doors that are waiting to welcome me in. The strategically placed grocery items immediately catch and inspire my imagination as I take my first steps in. I always take a cart, even if going in for one item, because you never know if I will see something that I just can’t leave behind. When I see some of my favorite items, I am already planning what I am going to do with them. We went to the Niagara Falls Keg the other night and had the most delicious Brussel sprouts and I can’t wait to try and recreate them. I looked at the little mini cabbages but took a moment and reminded myself that I don’t how long I will be off the ship and to stay with the plan of the ingredients for butter chicken dinner I planned to make. I picked up a bunch of fresh cilantro knowing that it would go really well with the butter chicken. I went down the international aisle and was so excited to spot the Adobo seasoning that I use on everything. I was in the No Frills store so if you are in Canada looking to purchase it, check your local No Frills store. In the US it is available in Walmart, Sam’s club and most grocery stores. I planned to make riced cauliflower. I picked up my favorite Pataks hot curry paste and continued down the aisle. I have made a new version of the GPS (Ginger Pepper Sauce) in the book. The new version will be in the new book and it is made with maple syrup instead of sugar. It is excellent! When I serve the GPS sauce on the ship I find that the crew start asking for it to accompany other meals. It is a little like a chutney and I add it to all my curries and Asian dishes.
I was delighted to find my favorite Adobo seasoning in the “No Frills” store (in the international food aisle)
This meal was so delicious. Butter chicken on riced cauliflower, roasted carrots tossed in olive oil, a little vinegar and fresh cilantro. the GPPS (Ginger, Paleo, Pepper, Sauce) made with maple syrup instead of sugar was delicious!
The most delicious brussel sprouts that we enjoyed at the Niagara Falls Keg. Most people in the restaurant were trying to capture the perfect picture of the water cascading down the huge falls, sending a cloud of spray and mist but the only picture on my camera from our trip to Niagara Falls were these brussel sprouts and the Christmas lights show. I will have to go back to the Falls.
In the next book I am going to share ideas for using leftovers. With my rotiserie chicken I got 5 meals. 1)One of the legs for lunch, 2)The two chicken breasts for chicken in mushroom sauce which I served over riced cauliflower. 3)The other chicken leg and the bones after taking away the breast meat of the chicken were put in a pot and boiled for the Greek chicken soup. I strained the liquid from the bones. I picked the chicken off the chicken leg and put it in a little bowl and put the broth and the chicken meat in the fridge overnight. There was not a lot of fat to skim off the top of the broth but I always like to do this so the soup is never greasy. There was lots of chicken broth and I 5) froze half of the broth for another soup on another day.
I shared this the other day but thought I would share it again since I was talking about it and it was really good.
When I am off the ship I enjoy cooking, going for walks and I like to catch up with friends that I don’t get a chance to see when I am on the ship. I enjoyed a trip to a farm and loved seeing these beautiful egg laying hens. I loved that they had the private spot to lay there eggs. There was a row of these little egg laying sections and each had a door. It was such a surprise to open one of the doors and find these two eggs. It was great fun.
One of the options for using the two eggs was a frittata. I used two eggs in each ramekin and added spinach a TBSP 35%(heavy cream) a little grated cheese, sliced grape tomatoes and Adobo. They came out beautiful cooking them in an air fryer (my newest favorite way of cooking quickly)
This new laptop is so much heavier than my old laptop but the extra weight is worth it because with extra lbs comes speed and the ability to open and run programs easily. I made a “spend the day cooking with me on the ship video with Turkey dinner for supper” The video is 14 minutes long so I didn’t have the power to load it. I was so excited when I just thought I would try to load it this morning and in no time it was on my @shiptoshorechef YouTube channel. Just click on the following link to see the video. You may need a snack or beverage because it is a little longer than usual. https://youtu.be/eU1pljNk9bw
Lorraine is going over to the US post office Wednesday. She asked me to let you know that she will be happy to mail you your copy of the books. They make great Christmas gifts and she said there is still time to get them before Christmas.
Have a great day . Tomorrow I will share the Mackinac bridge video and photos.