…are the order for the day. I buy in bulk, cook once, freeze most, use it diced; and while I tried oven roasting, I decided the best-tasting and fastest way was the good old George Foreman grill. I have the little one: I just set the timer for 15 minutes, to be sure it’s done, and just keep loading it on. The bread—is my old standby, most of a pound of white flour, 1 half cup of brown rice flour and a cup of wheat bran, atop 1 1/2 cup water, teaspoon honey or maple syrup, teaspoon salt, 2 T of olive oil, and 2 tsp yeast. The rice flour and bran make the hard crust super delicate and crunchy. The chicken tonight will be heated chicken bits, finished in hot olive oil with salt, pepper, dill; then liberally coated with grated Parmesan, atop Caesar salad, with fresh bread. Tomorrow, and for several days, chicken stir fry, probably with rice; and then a quesadilla in my new maker: mostly mixed cheese, jalapeno, and a spoonful of Texas chili. Also with Caesar salad. It saves brain work, when the cooking is that neatly laid out. The chicken will go from now halfway through October, so rotation of that menu—stir fry is easy to vary—and we’re good.
I also got a neat gadget from Amazon, a bread slicing guide, to keep my slices straight, that sits on a neat little wooden grid that catches the crumbs before they get all over the kitchen. Neat. I just wrap the loaf in a teatowel, and set it on this until ready to slice, and we have no crumbs! Yay! (Jane also rejoices…)
Keep in mind OSG and OSGuy’s kitteh Kate, who’s a wonderful kitteh-person: she’s very old, and not doing well. They were up at all hours with her. Just think good thoughts their way, and hope things can be as good as they can possibly be.
ROFLOL roller gear vs idiots making the flatfish guys use midwater gear was the rant….
I have to agree though, its interesting how many past observers there are floating around here! Maybe it has to do with the fact that so many of us observers can relate to the ‘stranger in a strange’ theme… There is absolutely nothing like being the only female, the only one with a college education, and one a very few english speakers on a ship with 125 people to make one realize its a very small world out there, and our chunk of it is even smaller than we like to admit!
OOps, ‘stranger in a strange LAND’ that is supposed to read
weeble…..been there, done that. But, since I spoke passable Spanish, and many of the Poles on the 3 boats I served on spoke some Spanish…we communicated via a cobbled together mish-mash of Polish (from my phrase books), Spanish and English. One of the boats had a scientist working on his PhD on hake and his English was excellent so I had it easier, at least on one of the boats. When I was in Poland negotiating a contract several years later, he came to pick us up at the airport….and I was so embarassed not to recognize him until he reminded me (blush). I felt the observer work broadened my view of the world, and I’d worked as the sole female in so many situations, being on a big boat with a bunch of fishermen for 64 days was the easiest part. It’s harder for me to be tossed into a stadium full of sports fans where I have zero in common with folks who paint their faces blue and white and jump around over stuff I can’t figure out at all (grin).
I missed the foreign fleet days by just a few years, so my experience was all on so-called ‘American’ boats with American crews. But the fishmaster was ultimately in control, and for the most part they were still foreign nationals working for foreign countries. Crews were a mixed bag, most ships I worked on had at least 5 nationalities represented, and most of them spoke at least a bare minimum of English. I agree, after I got over the seasickness, the fishing boats were actually a fun adventure getting to see glimpses of other cultures. One big advantage about dealing with the maniacs who paint their face blue is at least you get to sleep in your own bed every night!
I had to think about this a bit more….I think I’m especially attracted to the ‘Foreigner’ series BECAUSE of the experience of being tossed into a strange/foreign culture and learning swim rather than sinking. The whole syngergy of familiar and umfamiliar, finding ways to express yourself without offense. I remember learning the word ‘What’ in Polish and using it frequently. I was taken aside a few weeks later and told only retarded people spoke like that (weak grin). Live and learn….
It’s been years since I read any in the series and have been buying the new books as they came out, so I’m several behind. I have to start from book 1 now, it’s been so long….so maybe I’m remembering the ‘setting’ badly. As soon as I’m not in OT mode trying to get the data to the stock assessment biologists…I can relax and READ some Cherryh!
Stephen, you’re welcome!
I also appreciate knowing about fish and seafood sustainability. I like seafood. I’m in Houston, so Galveston is less than two hours away, so fresh seafood is usual around here, and the IRS er en, shrimpers, and mariners who live with and from the sea are (of course) essential to our economy. Also because I was brought up to respect the land and resources. But I’m a landlubber and a city-boy, so what do I really know about sea-life conservation? — Much appreciated, I will remember to check those links.
Sending good thoughts to OSG, OSGguy and Kate.
And to you both, too, come to think of it!