Tag Archives: food

Surfside Food and Art Festival

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Today I went to the 2nd annual Food and Art Festival at Surfside Beach. I showed up around 1400. There were cars parked all along the highway, filling up both parking lots and even the old convenience store down the road. I found a place to park and headed for the music.

Stahlman Park was as busy as I’ve ever seen it. The beach was full of people with surfboards and kites. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out and the sky was blue. By the time I got to the beach, it had clouded up and was grey and clouds covered the sky. It was windy enough for the kites. There were a lot of people having fun with them. I saw a lot of different kinds. My favorite was the dragon. 🙂

The Surfside Volunteer Fire Department was out with their fire truck (and mascot). They were cooking up a storm. Art car by Bonnie Blue was parked out front. Downstairs there was a live band playing, people were dancing, and the chili was cooking. Upstairs the artists were set up. The whole place was crowded, a few of the booths were completely sold out. They even sold out of hot dogs. Good news for the SOBA and St Patricks Day folks. 🙂

I was glad to see such a large crowd. The vendors I talked to said they were selling a few things. I had a booth myself last year. There weren’t many people then and I didn’t sell a single thing all day so I didn’t bother to get one this time (I also thought I would be back to work by now, but still stuck trying to find a job).

They had a lot of interesting stuff for sale. Everything from cupcakes and honey to home made soaps and cremes, jewelry, pottery, paintings, wood carvings, and more. They even had a ‘community art project’ where everyone was welcome to join the fun and add their own personal touch to a large canvas near the front entrance. I liked to see that the whole thing was very dog friendly too. I saw quite a few people brought their dogs along and they were welcome everywhere. Nice.

There was a man by the front door who built model ships. He had a couple of really large models, one finished and the other still needed a few details added. It looked very time consuming! Tiny little pieces everywhere. I would never have the patience for that, but it looked like a good hobby for some.

The Fort Velasco people had a table there too. I drove by later and saw they’ve got signs up prohibiting metal detectors and a round wooden palisade. Looks like they’re making some progress but I didn’t stop to talk to them this year.

There were quite a few teams entered in the chili cook-off too. Everyone looked like they were having a blast. I’m not a big chili fan so I didn’t try any myself, but it must’ve been popular since a few of the teams were already sold out.

There was also a craft beer tasting that looked interesting, but I can’t take any chances on that so had to skip it. I think the chili and beer definitely helped the attendance this year. I hope they’ll keep on adding more things like that to the festival. It definitely increased the crowds by a lot this year!

Bangkok: Market Day

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I’m always amazed any time I visit a foreign market. They’re just so interesting compared to shopping at home. You never know what you’ll come across. The variety of products on offer is incredible. Not to mention the whole experience of all the different sights, smells, and sounds. 

Bright red and gold decorations for luck and prosperity hang from overhead. Colorful orange, purple, red and green fruits with weird spikes, scales or bumps overflow into the passageways wafting their exotic sensuous scents into the air. Frangipani incense competes with the smoke of numerous bar-b-que grills cooking up fresh caught prawns or satay on a stick. Occasional motorbikes putter through the lanes, beeping along to clear the way. Blind karaoke singers toting their tape decks tap their way along, hoping for tips of appreciation from the crowds passing through. 

I always go to check out the nearby markets when I’m traveling. Last time I was in Bangkok, I went to Pratunam (mostly clothes) and Chatuchak (humongous ‘flea market’). Since I was staying in Chinatown this trip, I only had to cross the street to find myself wandering through winding lanes packed with stalls selling everything from teacups to electronics, wedding supplies, shoes, toys, hair and makeup supplies, Christmas decorations, jewelry, coffee, tea and snacks. 

Then there was the food. 

I have no idea what most of these edible items actually were. The vendors were happy to offer samples, but I wasn’t feeling brave enough to try many of their wares. It seems strange to me that they always have so many more varieties of things to eat than we do. I’ve never seen so many different kinds of fruits or vegetables in a store in the US. 

Maybe I’m being paranoid, a germaphobic American,  but I always wonder how they can sell their meats and seafood out in the open like they do all day. They don’t get sick, or at least I don’t think they have any more digestive issues than we do with all our sterile, plastic packed, refrigerated grocery meat departments. 

I suppose if I ever get around to moving out of the States like I keep trying to find a way to do, I’ll get used to the idea. I’ll probably even work up the nerve to try some of those more unusual things I’ve wrinkled up my nose at. Here’s to hoping that day comes soon! 🙂

Ruby Slipper

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I had a delicious filling breakfast at the Ruby Slipper yesterday. Not because it was voted “Best Breakfast/Brunch Spot” 3 years in a row, but because it’s located right across the street from where I’m staying. 😉

I had the ‘Eggs Blackstone’, consisting of “applewood-smoked bacon, grilled tomato served over a buttermilk biscuit, topped with 2 poached eggs, finished with hollandaise”. I asked them to skip the tomato (which they did- lots of places still leave it and the juices ruin my meal- I love catsup but can’t stand tomatoes!).

It was hard to make up my mind. Their menu offered lots of choices that all sounded delicious. I was headed to the Workboat Show so skipped the ‘award winning bloody mary’s’ too (tho I don’t like tomato juice either, the mimosas looked just as good).

 I sat at the bar, since even tho it was pouring rain, the outside tables were all taken. The place was packed. I still got served quickly tho. My breakfast was nice and hot, coffee too. They skimped a little on the hollandaise sauce, but the biscuits were very large (and fresh home made).

I’m running late this morning, I’ve got to pick up a car and head over to HOS. I’m hoping to get a job interview. So will probably skip breakfast today, but I think I will stop in again tomorrow for another specialty and try a mimosa. 🙂

PS- these photos are all from my iPod, it’s so bad compared to my regular cameras. 🙁

CB&W- Things Found in a Kitchen

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Thanksgiving is a good day to post about ‘things found in a kitchen’. Good thing Cee came up with this perfect challenge for today. Here are some photos I took in New Orleans at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.

I love New Orleans! It’s full of interesting things to do and see. This museum is just one example (here’s a post about another).

The Southern Food & Beverage Museum is a nonprofit living history organization dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the food, drink and the related culture of the South. While based in New Orleans, the Museum examines and celebrates all the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create the South’s unique culinary heritage. SoFAB also hosts special exhibits, demonstrations, lectures and tastings that showcase the food and drink of the South.

You can learn about all the different foods each state is famous for. You can learn about the history of the cocktail and how to make them. You can take a cooking class. You can try the specialty cocktails at the bar, or enjoy a hearty meal. It’s easy to get to on the streetcar, and the nearby bars and restaurants look worth a try too. 🙂

Girls Gone to Galveston

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Hey! We just got back from Galveston. It was a long day.

I’m not a morning person, but got up early to finish getting my photos ready to take up to the gallery in Galveston. I had to sign them, figure out the best mat to use with them and then figure out which frame fit best. It took a while.

I loaded up my truck and headed to the beach to pick up my friends. I didn’t think we could all fit in the cab with my big painting (49″ x 44″) in the back seat, but we managed to fit all the artworks in the back seat and all 3 of us in the front.

Lucky, I found a spot to pull up close to the shop for long enough to unload my stuff. The lady who I’ve been dealing with wasn’t there. I left my big painting there and traded out a few others. I took the rest of the stuff I brought across the street to a new place (Metamorphosis) that I learned about last time I was in Galveston.

My friend was talking to the owner about making a sign for the place while I was busy across the street. I brought in my photos and set them out for the lady to pick which ones she liked and thought would sell. She liked all of them. 🙂

So far, nothing has sold. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. My friend is really hoping to get the sign job too. She’s been a ‘starving artist’ for a long time. Somehow I never thought that’s where I would wind up in life.

I do enjoy it, but like my BFF always tells me, “somebody always has to buy the beans”. For that to work, somebody will actually have to buy some of my art one of these days.

We tried a new place for lunch (recommended by the coffee guy). It was a pretty interesting little deli type place called Old Moon. We sat upstairs where they had a couple of nice comfortable couches to relax on. We ate our lunch surrounded by cool old photographs and paintings of dramatically lit cats (and dogs) dressed to the nines.

I had a Monte Cristo sandwich, it was really good. I’d never had one like the way they made it before. It had a little bit of honey on it, on the outside of the bread. Nice touch, but made it a little sticky to eat. I didn’t try a pie. They looked delicious, but I always eat slowly and I didn’t want to keep my friends waiting any longer. I did try a brownie and it was really nice. I even saved some for dessert tonight. 🙂

Check out the painting. Cool dog, huh?

Arts & Antiques in Galveston

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My friend D called the other day and invited me on a trip up to Galveston for the day. We decided to leave around 1000 so we wouldn’t get there ‘too early’ or stay ‘too late’. Our friend B, the artist, wanted to check out a place she had heard about to show some of her art.

I was all for that. I have been working on some arty stuff myself lately. I found a couple of places to show some of my work a couple of months ago. I was curious to see if there had been any interest (at all) in my work.

It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot yet when we left. We got stuck in some of the cruise ship traffic on the way in, but found our regular parking place near the Strand (only $10/day). There are a lot of interesting shops in that area of town so we checked out a few.

Lots of really touristy stuff right on the Strand, but wander off it a little and there are more small businesses with local people trying some cool projects. One of those is the place I have some of my paintings and photos- From the Heart Gallery. They show all different kinds of work from at least 20 different artists. They also play good music and have classes for kids. 🙂

While we were there, S told us about a new place -Metamorphosis- just opened across the street. We wandered over to take a look and had a nice conversation with Liz who is really excited about getting her shop up and running. Looks like both B and I will have another place to work with. 🙂

We were getting hungry and since we were right there, we decided to give the Star Drug Store a try. They had a really interesting window display with all the old ads, pills, and elixirs from way back when. It claims to be the oldest drug store in Texas. It feels like an old fashioned soda fountain inside. Looking over their menus, I can see why it’s so popular.

We showed up right at the end of lunch hour, but it was still packed. We sat at the bar since there were no open tables. D had already ordered and B wasn’t hungry. I ordered a cheeseburger (my favorite meal) with a chocolate float. 🙂 The cheeseburger would have been 10 times better if they had grilled the bun. Considering how long it took to get it, I didn’t want to ask them to take it back. I ate most of it anyway. 🙂

Their ice cream sundays, floats and cakes really got my stomach growling, but since I already had a chocolate shake I passed on dessert. Diets suck!

I love this sign!

After fortifying ourselves, we started making our way over to the place B wanted to see, on Broadway and 22nd St. D and me were taking pictures of everything. I especially like all the really cool architecture. Lots of different building styles, from classical to island bungalow.

Along the way, we stopped in to check out a few art and antique shops. Lots of really neat stuff! If I was rich…

But I’m broke. So. I had to adhere to my budget and not buy anything but ice cream. 🙂

B bought a cute little statue of a meerkat. D bought a couple of small mementos in one of the antique shops. My taste is too expensive, I would have bought a beautiful ruby ring (if I had still been working).

I think we were all kind of disappointed in how quiet it was. It just seemed dead. I know a lot of people haven’t returned to Galveston after the devastation of hurricane Ike, but it’s been almost 10 years now. I would’ve thought more people would have shown up by now. For a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon, the whole place seemed deserted.

these plaques all around the Strand refer to the 1900 Great Storm- not Ike

We’re planning to go back up there in a week or so. I need to change out some of my art at the From the Heart Gallery and maybe I’ll be able to put some across the street at Metamorphosis too. B is hoping to get a shot at making a sign for them too. 🙂

I was really hoping to hear some good news, that something of mine had sold. But nothing yet. The area around the Strand is becoming known as an arty kind of place. They have ‘art walks’ every 6 weeks. Those can bring in some crowds. We are going to try to make the next one.

Fishing: Istanbul

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I saw this post come up in my Reader from the Daily Post, re: Fishing. I thought I should be able to come up with something. 😉

Here are a couple of photos from my recent trip to Turkey. The people around Istanbul love to go fishing all around the Bosphorus. I went one day to walk across the Galata Bridge, just to see what they were catching.

It was a beautiful day. I walked from my hotel near the Blue Mosque around Topkapi Palace and down to the waterfront. I watched the ferries come and go and the fishermen all along the quay. They were using bread as bait, and seemed to be doing pretty good.

I walked up to the bridge and crossed over on the lower level. It’s full of restaurants, famous for fish and seafood. I try to avoid seafood as much as possible, just because I’ve had to eat it day after day for months on end and never know when I might have to do that again. 😉

The waiters had no idea of my aversion, so they continued to call out. Trying to convince me to step up and try their specialty (looked like pretty much the same at all of them). I probably should have stopped to see what all the fuss was about. I’m sure a few must have wondered why I was hanging around if I didn’t like fish. I don’t like to eat them anymore, but I still do love to catch them (and I like to watch other people catch them too). 😉

On the way back, I crossed on the upper level. Between a gauntlet of fishermen casting their lines and masses of traffic- cars, trucks, busses, and pedestrians- crossing the bridge, it was an interesting experience. I was glad to get back down to land and away from the traffic.

I descended to a plaza, right next to the bridge. It was full of more fishermen lined up along the water and in between dozens of small barges, gaudily decorated in red and gold. All selling ‘belik-ekmek’ (fish sandwiches) and doing a brisk business.  Waiters dressed in ‘traditional’ Turkish costume, hustling with trays full of tiny cups full of coffee, tea and shalgam– the weird spicy sour drink thats specially for the fish.

I’m not sure what kind of fish they were catching (or selling), I didn’t actually eat any. Here’s a picture, does anybody know what kind they are?

Fishing: Zanzibar

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I saw this post come up in my Reader from the Daily Post, re: Fishing. I thought I should be able to come up with something. 😉

Here are a couple of photos from my recent trip to Zanzibar. The fishing was fantastic there, even if they were using very old fashioned methods (hand lines and setting nets by hand).

However they managed, the results were fantastic!

Ongoing Arts

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Been a busy couple of days around here. I got an email last week about today’s Sunset Sip going on tonight in Freeport. I was interested in entering some of my art in the show. I found out the information I needed a couple of days ago.

I spent all day yesterday getting my photos ready. Signing them, matting them, and framing them. I met the lady in charge of the operation (Jennifer) yesterday afternoon in her Freeport office. She has some stunning artwork from previous events decorating the place.

She kindly showed me to the Heritage Ballroom, and then helped me set up in the entry. I brought my big painting of the underwater scene I had painted one winter when it was too rough to go outside on the tanker. I’ve had it hanging on my living room wall ever since. I do really like it. I think it turned out pretty good, especially considering I was using the ships deck paint (and a little wonky from the fumes on the last part- after I had to move it to my room).

Most of the rest I’m bringing are photos. I’m also in the show at the Brazosport Art League  Gallery next to the college. I’ll pick up the ones I have there now and bring a few more to enter there.

Once I do the trade at the BAL Gallery, I’m headed to a photo shoot with the Brazoria County Models & Photographers out in West Columbia for the Day of the Dead. That should give me some awesome photos! The models are all great to work with and I always have a lot of fun. I hate to cut it short, but I’ll have to, in order to get back to Freeport in time for the Sunset Sip.

I’m looking forward to this event. I’m sure to meet lots of interesting people. I hope I get a chance to wander around and check out everyone else’s work. They’re having a zydeco band, a brewery, a winery, and all kinds of food.

I’ll have to tend to my booth, so not sure how much time I’ll have to look around. After all, I do really want to sell some things too.

PS- if you like my art, please let me know. If you are interested in buying anything, I can upload it and have it put onto pretty much anything. Check it out here…https://society6.com/captainjillsjourneys/collection/jill-friedman

 

Galatoire’s 33

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Looking for a nearby place for lunch today, we wandered into this place after a couple of false starts. One of the ladies from the travel writing workshop was specifically looking for Galatoire’s and so we figured we would go ahead and try it out. It’s right around the corner from our hotel, at 209 Bourbon Street. Only took about 5 minutes to walk.

It’s definitely not my usual kind of place. I’m not one to enjoy spending big bucks on food and drinks. In fact, I much prefer the opposite end of the price scale. My favorite place to eat out at home is Chinatown where the all you can eat buffet is less than $15 including drink and tip!

I figured I might as well go ahead and try it since it really was a super deal. Looking at the normal prices where a ribeye goes for $44 and side of onion rings is $7, the fact that the entire lunch cost only $20 today was enough to convince me to give it a try.

The other ladies I was with both really enjoyed their meals. I’m not much for seafood (or creole/cajun either) so I was pretty much out of luck for the special. I sure wasn’t going to choose anything off the regular menu tho I definitely prefer steak over fish any day! I decided to try the ‘broiled drum casino’ in the spirit of exploration as a travel writer. 😉

The appetizer was ‘roasted beet risotto’. It was really very good. Not what I was expecting, but nice. It tasted more cheesy than anything else to me (might have been the truffle oil). I really couldn’t taste any beets at all.

The fish was very well done as well. I really liked the sauce. It was creamy and cheesy also. It tasted smokey and salty from the bacon. Very nice. The drum was cooked just right and tasted nice and fresh. I’m sure if I liked fish better, I would have just loved it. I did enjoy the broccoli. 🙂

I chose the Bananas Fosters Cobbler for dessert, it was excellent. Too bad by that time we were in a real rush to get back to the hotel before the next session started.

It’s not my kind of place, but I would recommend it if you’re out to impress. The service was excellent and so was the food. I thought the prices were sky high, but not out of line with similar restaurants.

 

Cherry Cheese ‘Pockets’

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Today was kind of a slow day around here (other than the usual computer issues). I took the time to do a little bit of ‘experimental’ cooking.

Since I live alone, I don’t usually cook much. I normally eat soup & sandwich for lunch and then I’m not really hungry til late. I try not to eat anything then, but just go to bed.

Today, I made some ‘pigs in a blanket’ (sausage wrapped in crescent rolls) for breakfast. Since I was baking, I thought I might as well throw something else in the oven. 😉

I had this recipe floating around for a while for these little sweets made with the same crescent rolls, but stuffed with cream cheese and cherries (or apples, etc). It looked really easy and so I decided to try it.

Here’s what they looked like before putting them in the oven…

And, here’s what they looked like when they came out…

Maybe not as pretty as the ones in the recipe I copied from, but I didn’t have any confectioners sugar. They tasted alright without it.

Here’s the recipe I went by (with some of my own modifications- I used the dough sheets instead of crescent rolls, no confectioners sugar for icing, I added cream cheese to the filling).

Refrigerated crescent rolls let you make these fruit-filled pastries in a hurry. My family loves these turnovers for breakfast, but they’re so delicious, they’ll be welcome any time of the day. Feel free to experiment with other pie fillings as well. —Elleen Oberrueter, Danbury, IA

Source: Quick Cherry Turnovers Recipe | Taste of Home

Fresh Bread

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Today was the farmers market in the old town. The park was crowded with snowbirds and locals, all out shopping for the weekly needs. I saw people selling home made healthy pet food, potted plants, flowers, home-made clothing, art objects and food. Food from Mexico, India, Thailand, Malaysia, China and the US (gourmet hot dogs).

I was especially impressed with the bread. Check it out…

This is what got me to post the earlier one I did (for the recipe on how to make some great bread at home). Another issue with the new blog is that I can’t ‘press this’ on here. I still can on my old blog.

Fiesta Mexicana!

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Friday night was the Fiesta Mexicana! Lot’s of good food and drink to sample from all the local restaurants. Different spices and flavors from all over Mexico were on offer. Tacos, fajitas, moles, pibil, burritos, tortas, corn, flan, ceviche, shrimp, fruit drinks, beer and margaritas.

Tables were set out in the park and decorated with candles and colorful linens. Lights were hung and live mariachi music kept things lively. They have this party every Friday night, starts at 1930. I’ll be back next week and hope to get a seat.

There was a pretty good crowd, especially to watch the dancers in their colorful costumes. They were all students at the dance school, but they did as well as any professional troupe.

More on that later, for now, the food!

Guest Post: Skyrim

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What the heck is Skyrim?!

I’m very happy to report I had my first guest post today. Leisel, over at her blog Skill Up Skillet, posted my beef stew recipe.

If you’re at all into sci-fi, fantasy, games, geeky stuff you really ought to check out her blog. She also posts some very interesting recipes. Here’s how she describes it

A Geek & Game Themed Food Blog- because cooking IRL doesn’t have to be a feat of strength. 

I do love reading sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and just about everything else. But I’m not much into games. I just don’t have the patience to keep starting over when I get killed off in the 1st 5 seconds of the game. I was addicted to Gems for a while (that game is impossible to win), it kept me busy while I was on the tuna boat for 3 months at a time with no one to talk to. It’s still on my computer and if I really get bored I try again.

I used to LOVE this one game we used to play on The Performer. It was called VGA Planets. It was one where we were all different alien races and we were all trying to grow our empires and take over the universe. It was a real blast, lasted the entire 5 week long hitch and sometimes longer.

Now I’m more into crosswords and sudoku. If I ever have the time to play games at all.

Another post for the Just Jot It January challenge. 🙂

7 Ways to Drink (and Eat) Eggnog!

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Seems I can’t use “Press This” anymore either since I moved my blog over here. Just one more frustrating fuck up! Makes it harder to share good stuff I see online and when I decide it is worth all the extra effort, the post looks like hell. 🙁

So, I’m not much in the holiday spirit. Things have not been going very well around here lately. I’m home, for one thing. I’m almost always out to sea on the holidays, it’s always the best time to get work. Most people want to be home with their families over the holidays. I need the work more.

So, I’m sitting here tonight, chilling out, having a drink and still HOPING to get a call tomorrow. Some last minute rush to get me there before crew change, nevermind holiday airport madness. I thought of this email I got the other day, thought some of you might like it too…

cashew nut nog, epicurious.com

Here’s the link to a site with some pretty cool looking ways to make eggnog. Surprisingly enough, most of the recipes are for eating your eggnog. I’ve always been a fan of real (spiced) eggnog, even if I do only have it around Christmas time. I have to admit, I never thought about eating it before.

Some of these recipes make me feel like I ought to spread them out over the rest of the year. I especially like the Cranberry Eggnog Tart, which is really a cheesecake with some cranberry jam to change the taste a little.

They also give recipes for Cinnamon Flan (made with rum spiced whipped cream), eggnog sauce for your spiced apple cake, Tiramisu Eggnog Trifle, and even eggnog ice cream (made with heavy cream and dark rum) that sounds like another real winner. 🙂

And if you just want to stick with drinking your eggnog, they have a recipe for Cashew Nut Nog and another for a coconut eggnog they call Coquito.

I don’t know about you, but I think I might need to pick up another carton of eggnog before this is all over. 😉

Quick and Easy

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Today was such a lazy day. I didn’t do anything much. I did manage to take my daily walk around the neighborhood, but that’s about it.

I finally got hungry enough to cook some dinner. I had some pork loin (center cut chops) I got on sale the other day that I never put in the freezer. I figured I had better cook it up before it went bad.

I cut it up into thin strips, sauteed it with some onions til it was pretty much done. Then I added a can of pineapple chunks, some frozen green beans and peas. I had one of those single serving rice cups I threw in the microwave and a few ‘cheese rangoons’ to heat in the oven.

Made a nice (so-called) Chinese dinner without having to go out. I would have called for delivery, but pizza is the only thing they’ll deliver around here.

For dessert I made some Waldorf salad. Apples, celery, raisins, cherries and mayonnaise. Just sweet enough and the apples went nice with the pork.

I like to cook. I don’t usually do any ‘fancy’ cooking (follow a recipe) anymore. Mostly since it’s just me and I don’t like to waste it. I learned to cook on the ship, so it’s still hard to cook for just 1. If I cook from a recipe I wind up eating the same thing for a week and still throwing half of it out! 🙁

Free Form Harvest Apple Tart

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This popped up in my email this morning. Yes, my email finally started working again here this morning after 3-4 days of having absolutely no luck with that! No reason why it didn’t work, or why it did this morning. I just hope it continues!

Anyway, this recipe looked so good, and so simple, I thought I’d share it with you. Just follow this link. I think I’ll skip making the home made crust and just use a frozen crust to save time and effort.

I can’t complain about the food on here, the cooks are doing a great job with what they have to work with. Still, I like to cook my own food sometimes. I can’t wait to get home and try out some of these great recipes I’ve been seeing lately.

I’m due off this ship tomorrow. Of course, the crewboat won’t get us off here til 10-12 at night and we won’t hit the dock in Grand Isle til Thursday morning. I probably won’t actually make it home til around 9 pm Thursday night. Great to get off here, but sucks to be SO totally exhausted by the time I get home that I’ll have to waste 2 days catching up on sleep before I can really do anything. 🙁

Make the Ultimate Apple Pie

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Everything You Need to Know to Make the Ultimate Apple Pie | Epicurious.com.

I’m out here on the ship and REALLY starting to miss my sweets!

They try, but somehow they just don’t ever seem to get it right. I’ve very rarely been aboard a ship without great cooks. Most companies understand that a good, hot meal is the only thing the crew has to look forward to during the day and it helps morale enormously to have good food to eat.

I’ve been on this ship a few times now and I have to give them credit. They have improved a lot since I was first here. I just wish they would get the snacks and sweets down!

They have a BBQ on Saturdays here, and they make a very nice apple crumble. I had it yesterday. It was really good. The only problem with it was the “crumble”. It didn’t. I know a couple of easy recipes to fix that part. Or maybe this lesson on apple pies in the link above at Epicurious.com would help?

Easy Caramel Sticky Buns

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Easy Caramel Sticky Buns Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I do love sweets and I miss having them out here. Usually, working offshore, we eat damn good. The cooks are always fixing up all kinds of goodies for us. We have full cooked meals 4 times a day and then snacks halfway between meals.

Since I’ve been working in Africa, I haven’t seen the options we usually have for food. The dessert tray is most definitely not up to the usual standards.

I get all these emails every day (I subscribe), showing me all these delicious looking foods. I can’t wait to get home to try out the recipes!

This one looks super simple. I probably already have the ingredients in the house. 🙂

Cheesecake

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PHILADELPHIA Classic Cheesecake Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE cheesecake! I have a cookbook at home with recipes for about 100 different kinds and I could eat it every day. 🙂

I haven’t been too impressed with the cooking over here offshore Africa. I thought at first it was because it must be really hard to get good ingredients. I’ve heard since that other rigs do manage somehow to have the usual excellent food we’re used to working out here, so now I’m not sure what to think.

Our cooks here have been making a dessert lately. It is like cheesecake in a pan. It doesn’t have a crust, which IMHO is no great loss. Probably saves some calories even. It doesn’t look anywhere near as impressive as the picture at the top of the post, but it does taste just like a classic cheesecake. 🙂

Poseidons Christmas Dinner

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Our catering department stepped up their game and came up with a fantastic Christmas dinner for the crew. The European tradition is for seafood for the holiday. So we had shrimp, mussels, salmon, fresh tuna and lobsters. Appetizers were various cheeses, crackers and homemade pates. We had roast beef, baked chickens, cold meats, even a roast suckling pig. For dessert we had fruits and nuts, cookies and cakes, ice cream and puddings. Our Italian clients even had a  special delivery of enough panettone for everyone to try a taste. Everyone enjoyed the feast. 🙂

We don’t really appreciate the catering crew enough out here on these rigs. I have to give them all a big hand.

Offshore Saturday Night

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I made it to the rig by Wednesday afternoon (I left home around 1330 on Monday). I managed to stay awake long enough to finish my first watch. Since then I’ve been trying to catch up on sleep. It takes me a week or so until I feel halfway normal again after a long trip like that. 🙁

It’s the weekend so we have a little bit of a change of routine. Today we had a nice BBQ out on the bow. The cooks did a great job (as usual with the BBQ). They had ribs, chicken, sausage, roast beef, hamburgers, shrimp, salad, corn and all the fixin’s.

There was even a choice of sodas and (near) beer!

The weather was nice, it was already getting dark and there was a nice cool breeze. The clouds had started clearing up (for some reason it’s always overcast here), we could see some stars. 🙂

The weekly BBQ is something we all look forward to.

Tomorrow should be drill day. We look forward to those too, but not in quite the same way. 😉

 

(the pictures are from another BBQ, not tonights)

Halloween Treats Recipe Slideshow

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Halloween Treats Recipe Slideshow – Photos | Epicurious.com.

I thought you all might enjoy some of these special Halloween recipes. Yes, it’s my favorite holiday. Yeah, I know it’s getting kind-of late, but you can always eat any leftovers later (along with the candy).

Some of them are cute, some are silly, some look really good, some I would take a pass on. Something there for everyone I guess.

Here are a few shots from the article to whet your appetite (there are over 40 more). 🙂

White Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

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White Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake Bars Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I love cheesecake! I love chocolate! I love white chocolate! And, I love raspberries!

This is the perfect combination. 🙂

Looks so good and simple to make. Use some Oreo cookies for the crust like they say, or make it even easier and use a store bought crust. It should just take a few minutes to make this and then you have to wait at least a couple hours for it to cool off.

That’s the hardest part…

Waiting.

I’ve got at least 2 more weeks before I can go home and try some of this. 🙁

How to Host an Oktoberfest Party

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How to Host an Oktoberfest Party – Betty Crocker.

Since I’ll be going back to work soon, I’ll be missing Octoberfest this year. It actually started in Munich yesterday.

It’s already over here in Houston. I might have gone if I knew about it earlier. Really, I just had too much to do at home to check out fun things to do. 🙁

It’s always like that when I first come home from being offshore for a month or more. With this new job I recently started it looks like I’ll be missing ALL of the things I’d like to do for the next few months at least. 🙁

Here are some fun suggestions for those of you who DO get a chance to enjoy some interesting events on your time off. 🙂

Those pretzels look especially interesting. And beer is always good, I even have some Saint Arnold Octoberfest brew in my fridge right now, I’ll just have to settle for a few of those before I leave for work. 🙂

Raspberry-Lemon Pie Recipe

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Raspberry-Lemon Pie Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

This is one I will DEFINITELY have to try asap! I am not due to get off this rig for another 2 weeks. 🙁

I wish I could teach the cooks on here how to cook some real American style food. They do OK with some local style stuff. Basic chicken and fish type things. But they sure as hell don’t know how to do dessert!

I have to say, I’ve never been on a rig with worse food. I don’t know if it’s because we’re working off Africa and they can’t get a lot of things here, or because their grocery budget is too low and they’re forced to buy things in Luanda where it costs $10 for a cup of coffee…

Usually the food on a rig is excellent. The companies figure it’s a cheap price to pay for good morale. We eat like kings out here. Not this time. 🙁

This recipe (just click the link above the photo) looks very simple and delicious but they don’t have the ingredients to make anything like that here. 🙁

I’ll have to wait until I get home to taste it. I wonder if its better then my usual raspberry whipped cream pie?

Rush-Hour Pork Stir-Fry

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Rush-Hour Pork Stir-Fry Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I’ve been busy since I got home working on my taxes. I’m trying hard to get them to the accountant before I leave again next week.

I’m about sick of that so taking a break and cooking tonight. I made a quick and easy stir fry for dinner tonight.

It only slightly resembles the recipe in the picture (but that one looks pretty good too). I fixed mine up with stuff I had around here. Substitute ramen noodles for the broccoli slaw and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what mine looks like. I didn’t have exactly everything the recipe calls for, but I’m very good at improvising. 😉

Basically, I just melted some butter and sauteed some onions (I almost always cook with butter instead of any other kind of fat/oil). I added some pork ‘medallions’ I had saved in the freezer from last time I was home. I just sliced them up real thin. I threw in some mushrooms (cause I always add mushrooms with onions and I like them). 😉

Then I boiled up a pack of ramen noodles. Drained ’em and threw ’em in the skillet with the seasoning packet. Then I added a few pieces of fresh pineapple I’d just got done chopping up for a smoothie (they’re on sale for $0.99). 🙂

I needed some green vegetables so I added some frozen broccoli to the mix. I was going to add some peas too, but the broccoli looked good enough.

I didn’t have the “Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing” the Kraft recipe calls for, but I did add the garlic and soy sauce to the pot. I like sweets, so I also added some honey.

All in all, it came out really good. It only took me about 15-20 minutes from start to finish. I’ve got plenty for leftovers I can have in a day or 2. I think if you make this recipe the way I made it, you can figure on feeding 2 people if they’re hungry, 4 if they’re not. 😉

You can easily scale it up or down depending on how many you want to feed. I don’t usually cook from a recipe or strict measurements, I throw in ingredients by look and by taste. If I think it looks or sounds good, like it’ll go together, I’ll try it.

I like to TRY and cook for 2, that way I always have leftovers and so if I don’t feel like cooking again soon, I can have the leftovers.

Twisted Strawberry Shortcake

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Twisted Strawberry Shortcake Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

This looks SO good! Strawberries have been on sale and so I bought a bunch the other day. Too bad I didn’t see this recipe until after I went to the store. 🙁

The only thing I have that the recipe calls for is the strawberries and milk. Oh yeah, and I always keep a can of whipped cream in the fridge (never know when that’ll come in handy). 😉

Since I’ll be leaving for work again so soon, I don’t want to go back to the store again now. I know I’ll buy way more stuff than I intended to and then wind up having to throw most of it away when I leave for work. I HATE THAT!

I guess I’ll just have to settle for strawberries and whipped cream and will try this recipe next time I get home (if the strawberries are still in season).

Pineapple Lush Dip

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Pineapple Lush Dip Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

pineapple lush dip

I got some nice fresh pineapple on sale the other day and need to find ways to use it up before I have to leave for work. This looks like a nice easy recipe.

I wonder if this recipe would work the same with fresh pineapple as with canned. I can throw it in the blender and see what happens. 😉

I’m already making pineapple banana smoothies and pinacoladas. 🙂

Almond Cheesecake with Raspberries

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PHILADELPHIA Almond Cheesecake with Raspberries Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

Almond Raspberry Cheescake

Almond Cheesecake with Raspberries

I LOVE cheesecakes! I like all kinds of cheesecakes. I’ve never had one I didn’t like. 🙂

This one looks absolutely amazing! I don’t have any raspberries at the moment but I do have strawberries and I’m sure they would work just fine. The recipe even says to use whatever berries you want. 🙂

I am a little curious tho, they make the crust here with the cake mix instead of the usual crumbs. They don’t mention baking it before you pour the cheese mixture into it. I’ve never done it like that before. I wonder if you’re supposed to bake the crust a little first like usual and they just forgot to mention it, or if it’s really supposed to be done that way.

Has anybody done a cheesecake like this before? How does it turn out?? Does the crust cook along at the same time as the filling?

Hey, raspberries on sale at Krogers for only 99 cents! I’ll have to go get some! 🙂