Slow Load in the Soo

It's cinnamon bun Sunday here on the Atlantic Huron. When I woke this morning the quiet in the room suggested we were still at the dock loading in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. It has been a slow load and last night at supper I heard they were waiting for more cargo for us which once loaded, we will take to Quebec City. I look forward to that trip and have already messaged Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) that maybe we can have a visit when we get to Quebec City. I am curious if it will be the usual quick self unloader discharge of approximately 8 hours or if because the cargo is slow to load it will be slow to unload. We will find out together. I have a perfect view of the Soo locks from my galley port hole and enjoyed seeing a few ships pass. I thought there would have been more traffic as the shipping companies hurry to send out their ships to carry enough cargo before the rivers and lakes freeze and the locks are closed for the winter months

Slow load in the Soo, 0ver 36 hours

We watched the Saginaw pass by and then a little while later….

The second cook pointed out that she was coming back. I think the turn into the Soo was too sharp from the lock but that is just what I think. I did not confirm my galley girl thought with the professional navigator AKA The Captain.

I have always loved sailing this time of year. I am a winter girl and enjoy the crisp air when you step out on deck. I enjoy seeing the snow on the shores and there is a certain happiness in the atmosphere onboard, the crew knowing that they will be going home before too long. We usually sail into January but for some reason that does not seem that far off. I will make plans to celebrate Christmas when I get home in January. When I sailed years ago, my mom would leave the Christmas tree up until I got off the ship. Today the daylight savings time-change could not have come at a better time. I joined this vessel Tuesday night the 31st of October. If you haven't seen how I had to join you can click on the following link.  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/F-ZldfEfA2w I have been on this ship before in October 2022 but it still takes some time to adjust. I was at home for 2 months so getting back into the swing of things, getting up every morning and adhering to a schedule after numerous, unscheduled days off takes a bit of getting used to. The extra hour sleep Sunday morning was welcomed. I love sailing and I love cooking so I enjoy going out to the galley, I just have to convince my ankle, which I broke 12 years ago, that it should also adjust quicker to standing on the steel floors all day. My room is very comfortable and the other chief cook left her TV. I like that the desk is in front of a window (portside facing). The room is large and I hung a couple of personal items on the wall to make it feel homey. The other chief cook also left the galley fridge, freezer and pantry full of great ingredients. She had thawed a few things for me to use so I made sure to use those items first. She had thawed some lean ground pork and I don't normally use ground pork but seeing the thawed meat pushed me to think of something and I seasoned it to taste like a breakfast sausage, formed them into patties, baked them, cooled them and put them in the freezer. I plan to use them at a later date either in a meat pie, or eggroll in a bowl. I usually use breakfast sausages for both these recipes but thought it would be more tasty and economical to use the seasoned ground pork. It was lean ground pork too so it won't be as greasy as some of the breakfast sausages I have used in the past. I will keep you posted and if it is successful it will be in the next cookbook or I will make adjustments and then add to the next book.  When I get on a ship, I always call the wheelhouse and ask them to print an updated crew's list. We are 27 on board and it helps me to learn the names of the crew and I also keep a record of a few general questions that I ask them individually when I see them for the first time. 1) "Do you have any food allergies, foods you don't like or things you hope I don't make." 2) Steak night, "How should I try and cook your steak?" 3) "Fish and Chip night, I batter my own deep fried fish, so do you want deep Fried or baked fish?" and lastly 4) " If I don't see you come in for a meal, Do I leave you a plate on the side?" These questions help me plan my meals. Sometimes I will add a 5th question "Do you like spicy" and if I suspect someone is more limited in what they will try I will explain that I serve some things that they might not traditionally see on a ships menu board, but I always try to make something neutral if I am making some different, fun or trendy food. If I see a crew member look at the menu board, read through, and then stand there, I will offer to make a fried egg sandwich if they can't find something they like on the menu for the day. There is only one place to eat on board so I try really hard to make sure that my crew gets something to eat that adds to their day. I am finding more often that the crew already know who I am before I meet them because they have seen my stories and pictures that I share online. They say they can't wait to try my food. I always feel a slight bit of pressure when they say that because the bar is set high. I was explaining to a friend a little while ago about our restaurant Creperie Catherine that we had in Mont Tremblant, Quebec for 24 years. We had a huge following and during the busy times of the year there could be an hour or more wait to get in. We were listed as #1 on TripAdvisor. You would think I would be thrilled with the #1 placement but I explained that when you are #1 people expect you, and their experience to be perfect and I don't believe in perfect. I said if you are placed #2 and something isn't to the customers satisfaction then they can think, oh that's why they are only #2, but when you are #1 there is a certain pressure that comes with that. I am never nervous about serving my deep fried fish   . My fish batter recipe in the book is a tried and true favorite. Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I have a few days/menus that are set, so it's no surprise that I had deep fried fish on Friday night. I made fish chowder which one of the crew shared with me got rave reviews. He mentioned they were all talking about how good my fish chowder was. There will be another version in the next book.

The crew list helps me remember peoples names and what they like. This is the fish chowder that is in the cookbook and there will be another version in the next book.

I enjoyed seeing the Baie St Paul pass by. I sent out a wave to the swing bench.

here are a couple of crew who answered "No fish" when I questioned them for their likes and dislikes so I made my Beet-Meat Shepherd's Pie.  for the second choice. One of the crew asked if I would be making it and another crew member was a fan of it, so I put that on the menu with the deep fried fish. The beet meat shepherds pie is one of my, and Lorraine’s favorites and I am proud of the recipe because I created it myself. I remember making it the first time while we had the restaurant, experimenting, adding different seasonings until it tasted just right. We didn't have it on the restaurant menu. We spent a lot of time at the restaurant so we used to cook for ourselves at there. Sometimes people in our restaurant would walk by and see us eating something different from what the menu offered and they would say, that Looks good, I'll have that! If I made something particularly good, we would call neighbor Susan and her husband to come over and join us. We enjoyed a lot of delicious meals there but I am more than happy to have my restaurant days behind me. I am exactly where I am meant to be.  Friday for lunch I made sweet and sour pineapple pork with rice. My second choice was very well received. It was a spicy meat pie.

The beet meat Shepherd’s pie which is gaining popularity

There were three pieces of fish and chips left which did not last long.

Sweet and sour pineapple pork. I always like making Chinese inspired food.

Spicy meat pies were popular

Saturday I like to serve something fun for lunch, so I made Pizza. I like to serve pizza on a Friday or Saturday celebrating the end of the week or the weekend. I made my pizza dough by hand and thought that the missing dough hook from the mixer is actually a blessing in disguise. I actually find myself enjoying making the bread by hand. Saturday night was as usual Steak night with fresh mushrooms. I have been roasting the fresh mushrooms lately in butter, olive oil and Adobo at 400 in the oven and I find they come out much nicer. I still saute the onions in a pan with olive oil and butter...and of course a good sprinkle of Adobo. When I came onboard I saw there were some baby potatoes that needed to be used soon so I boiled them on Friday. Let them cool in the fridge overnight and then smashed them (gently pressed them until they splayed open on the cutting board, but smashed sounds more fun), deep fried them and served them with a sprinkle of Adobo and garlic mayonnaise. They were delicious! I also had baked sweet potatoes (which I made extra to have left over for my carrot ginger soup that I planned to make on Sunday.) We had fresh asparagus and I roasted them to finish off the meal. For those who answered "No Steak" to the questionnaire when I came I made baked chicken. Of course there was a pot of rice. I had hoped to finish early on Saturday but the crew were busy and it turned into a late supper. We are paid extra if it is a late meal but sometimes if given the choice I would take the finishing early over the extra money.

It turns out I enjoy making the dough by hand…who knew.

The Atlantic Huron has a great convection oven

Pizza day is every crew members favorite day

Steak night with smashed baby potatoes, deep fried and served with garlic mayo

I had planned on sending you this story and photos yesterday, Sunday after lunch but I finished lunch a little later so I will share my Sunday with you today tool Cinnamon bun Sunday is a favorite on the ships I work on, and this one was no exception. There is something comforting about the smell of cinnamon buns baking. It had been two months since I made Sunday brunch so I decided to try and see if this crew would like the Sunday brunch menu. I offered Eggs Benedict with homemade hollandaise, second choice was a breakfast burrito with sausage, ham, peppers and onions and curd cheese, third choice was an egg McMuffin with steamed eggs   (I shared with the second cook how I make the perfectly disc shaped eggs for the egg muffins and how easy it was. I think he will try it too. It is explained in the book. I get a lot of comments from people that once they have steamed their eggs, they say they will never boil an egg again, the discs are the same principle except they steam out of the shell and cook in a little bowl. Try it, it is worth it.) I offered a fourth choice in case some of the crew were not interested in the Breakfast for lunch theme and offered a salad  with cold chicken and my homemade vinaigrette.  (They have whole grain mustard here and it was so delicious in my vinaigrette recipe) Sunday brunch always creates a lot of pots and the egg poaching pot always needs a little extra attention to scrub so I finished my clean up a little later. Before I left the galley I slid two turkeys into roasting bags to be ready for supper.

Cinnamon bun Sunday sent the aroma of cinnamon throughout the ship.

I always leave a few with out frosting.

Sunday Brunch

Breakfast burrito or Egg McMuffin with the steamed egg disc

Eggs benedict, The yolks in the eggs were huge so the hollandaise came out more yellow than usual

Salad with my vinaigrette made with whole grain mustard

I went out to wave at the webcam at the Soo lock before going to my room for a little break. It will be perfect timing to wave at the Blue Water bridge and a day trip through the canal if all goes well. I came out to finish preparing supper to the wonderful smell of Turkey roasting. I made the usual, homemade cranberry sauce, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, mashed carrot/turnip, green peas and rice. I didn't offer a second choice because Turkey is one of those meals that everyone likes. At the end of supper one of the crew who has a plate set aside asked "Do you have any of that Carrot ginger soup  left?"  I questioned, thinking he had it at lunch, "Oh did you like it? " He answered "No, I haven't tried it yet, but they are talking about it downstairs so I wanted to try it" I liked hearing that and it made me smile. The Carrot ginger was a favorite at our restaurant and is now a favorite on the ships I cook on. I better get going and load the photos to go with this story. I am getting a lot of comments that they like the format of the story with the photos breaking up the story (a solution for no paragraphs making it easier to read) . I am also able to add more photos. Just click on the link at the beginning of this blog and it will take you directly to the website and story of the day. 

The setting sun cast a beautiful color on the Soo locks

on our way again down through the Soo locks

Turkey dinner with the works

Just a little reminder, if you plan on ordering a cookbook or children's book for Christmas, gifts, order them soon so Lorraine can mail them out to you in time. Have a wonderful day. See you tomorrow. www.shiptoshorechef.com 

Lorraine will be happy to mail you, your copy of the books