THE lAST FEW DAYS

I thought about all the Turkey dinners and family gatherings that were happening to the south of us for the Thanksgiving celebrations. I hope those celebrating and everyone else, north, south, east and west all had a wonderful day. I had planned on sharing a longer video which I made on Tuesday but the internet had other plans for me. I was finally able to finish and load the video but there seems to be an issue. Hopefully I will be able to share my day cooking on the Atlantic Huron soon. In the video I take you through all the food I prepared in one day for my crew of 29 with a turkey dinner for supper. It was a lot of fun doing the video and I look forward to doing more cooking videos. The video is almost 15 minutes so you may have to grab a snack or beverage to sip on while you watch it. In the future I will do one recipe at a time, but for my first cooking video I thought it would be fun to have you along for my entire day. In the background you can see Nancy working.

I took this screen shot from the video I made for you. I did a little demo on how I make the “crack” .

The end result of the Turkey video that I made for you. I hope that I can share the whole video. It takes you through my day, step by step and all the food I made. It was fun to do.

Butternut squash soup

I made this soup on the video and this was the last bowl. I almost didn’t get a photo of the finished product.

the custard peach pie is also included in the video.

We were both disappointed to find out late Tuesday night that she would be leaving Wednesday when we got to Port Colborne. We had both thought that she would be here for the month of December.  We enjoyed our last day working together. The returning second cook is also very nice but Nancy and I got along particularly well. At the end of the day Tuesday, the Captain came down to tell me that I will also be getting off the first of December. I had really hoped that I could stay for the month of December and layup but destiny has another plan. I shared my disappointment with the Captain and he already knew that I wanted to stay. I really enjoy this job but as I explained to him (trying to absorb and live by the words I was saying) "I am where I am meant to be and I will be where I am meant to be" . I have some lovely pictures to share with you when we came up through the 1000 islands. One photo in particular came out so interesting, it was not touched up, We passed Brockville just at the end of lunch and I went out to wave at Blockhouse, seeing Kamden waving the Canadian Flag from a distance. It was so beautiful out that I stayed longer looking out at the familiar shoreline and seeing how it had changed from my first trip down this past spring while I was on the AlgoTerra, to the beautiful green of summer to the colors of fall and now the colder look of winter approaching. I received a message from someone and said I would wave from the stern. I started thinking about the little island with the house that had the red canoe full of planted flowers. I thought how I had enjoyed watching the owner of the cute house plant the flowers in early June when I passed by when I was working on the Oakglen. I spent the summer on two ships that travelled the St Lawrence. On each trip when we passed during the day I would look for the little red canoe and the progress of the flowers. I thought of my mom's garden and how much she enjoyed flowers and would spend hours weeding and transplanting. I can hear her voice as she would say "I have to dig that crazy garden" It brought her hours of enjoyment and she would always have a tiny  little vase on the table or on the kitchen window sill with a flower.  At this time of the year, when the growing season was over for another year, she would still go out, dressed warm for the cool temperatures and try to clean up the dried up plants that would make it easier for the plants to emerge in the spring. I looked over at the little island and easily spotted the red canoe. All the summer colors of the blossoms in full bloom were gone. I snapped a few photos and was so amazed at how beautiful the pictures came out. It was a different kind of beautiful. The water was really calm and the gentle waves we created  as we glided by the little island through the narrow passage made the most beautiful image.

We were disappointed to find out that Nancy would be leaving in Port Colborne and not long after I found out that I would be leaving at the end of the month. My hope to stay for December and layup not going to happen. I remind myself, I am where I am meant to be.

passing the red canoe filled with flowers August 2023 while I was on the Spruceglen

November 2023 while on the Atlantic Huron passing the red canoe planter which now sits empty waiting for the next summer season.

I offered to make dessert for Nancy so that she could clean up the fridge before she left. I made my mom’s “best sugar cookies you ever snitched” They are in the cookbook.

Friday morning I looked out at the sleeping town of Port Colborne as I went to pick up my coffee. This is a great spot. We were having repairs done and I already decided if we were still there at the end of the day I would go for a walk after lunch. I have laid up two ships in this exact spot and it is so easy to walk into the pretty little town. Maybe you remember I also had a chance to spend the day and go ashore one beautiful summer evening this past summer while I was working on the Spruceglen. As I am writing this I am also reminded that I had a really nice time on the Oakglen and the Spruceglen and didn't want to leave there when my time onboard was completed. I remain optimistic to get another great job in December to finish out my sailing season. As the end of the year is fast approaching. I am also starting to get excited to work on finishing my next cookbook. I made a roasted red pepper soup the other day that was so good. It was funny because I have some regular soup eaters but on that particular day when I made the roasted red pepper soup, some of the crew who don't normally ask for soup when they come in asked for soup. I was curious and commented you don't usually have soup? They replied "I heard it was really good" It was funny when my regular soup eaters asked for an extra bowl for supper of the delicious roasted red pepper soup and I had to tell them that there was none left. We laughed together when we decided that next time I make an exceptionally good soup they shouldn't spread the word so that there would be enough for them. The roasted red pepper soup will definitely be in the next book. I have some great recipes that I hope you will try when you get the book. I also look forward to having some additional time this winter to start adding some cooking tips to my new website. Right now it takes a long time to load photos with the internet, but I was told the other day that they have installed Starlink on the ship and that we are just waiting for the IT department to come and hook it up. The initial feedback from other ships that use starlink has been very positive. I have decided that I will upgrade my laptop too. My current laptop crashes at the most inconvenient times. My program that I use to write the cookbooks and childrens books (Adobe Indesign) needs a lot of power to hold the 280 page book with cover to cover photos. The next cookbook will be laid out the same as the first with more stories and lots of photos of food and ships. The process of selecting photos will be challenging because my new phone has been taking the most beautiful photos. Saturday morning I tried again to load the Turkey dinner video but the slow internet keeps dropping it. The loading video symbol just twirls non-stop. I may have to break it down into smaller videos. . I also saw an updated notice posted on the crew's message board  that Starlink will not be installed which is disappointing. I actually looked into the cost of travelling with my own starlink but the monthly fees are not within my budget.

Port Colborne is such a pretty little town and a great place to watch ships.

The officers mess where I pick up my coffee. There are three choices, Keurig (too much plastic waste), Espresso machine (takes too long) and the old fashion drip coffee (just right in my Goldilocks world)

We tied up at the salt dock Saturday morning around 06h30 a mere 18 hours after our repairs were done in Port Colborne. I am finishing this story for you now Sunday morning, cinnamon bun Sunday. The last couple of days were busy, but busy in a good way. I was taking extra time to savor all the moments that bring me joy. I was especially delighted on Friday to take advantage to go sit outside on deck after lunch. The wind was too cold to go out and walk on lake Erie but it was beautiful in a little sheltered spot and almost warm when the sun peaked out. The sun started to came out less frequently and when my eyes were drawn to something landing on my black coat and then evaporating I realized it had started to snow. I love winter and was excited to see the snow falling. It didn't last long but just enough to remind me of winter . I am a winter girl and love snow and the white winter landscapes.  I believe we are taking this load of salt to Milwaukee, so I look forward to a trip down Lake Michigan and hope to pass under the Mackinac bridge during the day. Here are some of the meals I prepared in the last few days. Friday morning I went out to make hamburger buns and realized as I was kneading the large ball of dough on the counter that I had actually made pizza dough instead of my bread/bun dough, so I made a quick adjusted to my menu and continued on to make pizza day. No one will complain to have pizza, one day early. I made clam chowder soup and the second choice was a salad with cold salmon. I had planned on making deviled eggs to add to the salad but ran out of time so only the last salad had a devilled egg. Devilled eggs always remind me of my mother. I made Asian beef noodles as a second choice to go along with the Friday night deep fried fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce. I use frozen french fries and some of the crew were excited to see the different brand of fries which have a coating and made them more crispy than normal. I had a really nice Friday and finished earlier than usual after lunch and after supper.

Saturdays pizza day was served on Friday when I realized my autopilot in my head was not correctly programmed and I made pizza dough instead of bread dough for hamburger buns.

The crew like these fries that are coated and of course my homemade fish and chips batter is always crispy and delicious.

Asian noodles

I looked up the recipe in my own cookbook.

my mom made the best devilled eggs

I spoke with a few crew at the end of supper as they were dropping off their dinner trays. One commented that he was disappointed he wouldn't get a chance to see what I would make for Christmas dinner. I said to the three standing there that I would be taking requests for my last week. One immediately said butter chicken, I laughed because we just had butter chicken Wednesday night. I looked at another crew member and said I don't have to ask, I know you like the beet-meat shepherds pie and peanut noodles. As I walked down the hall to my room, I kept reminding myself that I am where I am meant to be and the next ship will be nice too.

Some of the meals I made over the last few days, Mac and cheese and tomato tart, both in the cookbook

chicken Caesar wrap with homemade Caesar dressing always goes well.

Turnip fries with curry mayo will be in the next book and of course the spinach frittata which will be shared again in the next book, with other frittata ideas.

I made a vegetarian plate which was very well received. cauliflower couscous(in the current book and really good, you should try it) macaroni salad, homemade humus and homemade bread crisps.

I hope you have a wonderful cinnamon bun Sunday and will share the video if it finally loads. If not I will break it apart. See you tomorrow. Lorraine asked me to remind you to order your books soon if you intend to gift them for Christmas so that she can get them out to you in time. She is making a trip over to the US post office early this week. If you plan to order T-shirts/aprons/tote bags please order them by the end of November so there is time to have them printed. We have lots of books in stock and ready to send. see you tomorrow. www.shiptoshorechef.com

Saturdays Hamburger buns

The butter is still melting into the tops of the buns in this photo. The buns came out extra delicious

A new crew member enjoyed the onion rings dipped in the curry mayo. Everyone loves hamburger/cheeseburger day.

Order your books and Ship to Shore Chef merchandise soon if you plan to gift it for Christmas. We want to make sure to get it to you in time.