Easter dinner on a Cargo Ship

I am sitting here reflecting on the past few days and trying to comprehend that it is already Thursday April 4th. I am onboard the Spruceglen. Wednesday morning when I woke we were sitting at anchor with a full load of grain waiting out the bad weather. We dropped the anchor at 15h00 hours Tuesday and since then were joined by a few other vessels. Tuesday afternoon we noticed the wind and waves picked up in our protected area and I am so glad we were not out on Lake Huron during the storm. Anchoring to avoid bad weather is one of the noticeable changes since I returned to sailing in 2019 after a 24 hiatus to operate my own restaurant. When I sailed in the 80's and 90's we went out in all kinds of weather. I am so pleased that this is not the common practice anymore . Sailing in bad weather is not fun, especially in the galley when things come crashing to the floor. Sometimes it still happens that we get caught in weather but in general, the ships take shelter and wait it out.

One of the 1,000 foot ships, they are so long

We were one of the first ships to leave and continued on our way to Quebec City. It was a smooth ride on Lake Huron.

I am excited that our destination with this load of grain is Quebec City. This has been the perfect trip so far. I am scheduled to get off around the 10th so that I may attend the book signing/meet and greet with Roger Lelievre, from "Know Your Ships". I was delighted a few months ago when he and I corresponded and I mentioned how much fun it was last year in Port Huron when I was invited to the book signing/meet and greet event with him, and before long it was decided that I would join him again this year in Algonac, MI. I have never been to Algonac but I looked it up on Google maps. I was wondering if the route would send Lorraine (my sister, best friend, and publisher), myself and the pretty red car over Sarnia or Windsor. As a girl who loves options, the google map came back with two routes suggesting either the Sarnia crossing over to the US or the Windsor crossing. Surprisingly there was not much of a difference time wise but I think we will take the crossing in Sarnia. From Tremblant the drive is approximately 9 and 1/2 hours. We do love a road trip. Of course I would love to stay here on the Spruceglen. The crew is very nice and in Thunder Bay we had one crew member leave and one join. I had sailed together with the joining crew member before and it was nice to see him again. It took a moment to remember where we had seen each other. I work on a lot of different ships.

I posted a video of the sunrise over the Sleeping Giant on the April 1st but the last time I spoke to you was before my Sunday Easter dinner. I enjoy doing the special holiday meals. Sunday morning Lorraine sent me a message reminding me to put out the Easter chocolates that we had purchased in Port Colborne when she was visiting me during Fit-out. I wanted to make sure that the crew had a little something special. Easter chocolates are no longer on the grocery order list. A few days before Easter I had a conversation with one of the crew asking if it would be better to have the Easter dinner on Sunday or Easter Monday because we were in Thunder Bay loading. He said Sunday would be the better option because it was early on in the loading and he explained that if we were still loading Monday, the crew would be more busy on deck because there is more shifting of the boat as the cargo holds are topped off, staying within the draft lines. On Sunday morning I put a note on the board announcing our Easter Dinner would be Sunday at 17h00 and I would be making a few extra treats. I wanted the crew that normally have a plate put aside because they are sleeping to have the choice to come and get the extra treats themselves.

If you haven’t seen the sunrise video, just click on the following link.

The crew member who had suggested it would be better to serve the special Easter dinner on Sunday also shared with me his favorite Easter celebration treats. I was inspired with the menu he described and made a mental note to add them to the menu I was already building in my head. I like to serve ham for Easter and I think you have to serve scalloped potatoes with ham. They go so well together. I made a honey mustard sauce to go with the ham. My second choice was rainbow trout. I normally like to make salmon Wellington, but I didn't have any salmon. I made a cauliflower-broccoli casserole topped with crispy cornflakes (the first time I made it. It was one of the inspirations that came from the conversation with the crew member). I made devilled eggs (I always think of my mom when I make devilled eggs), a shrimp tray with spicy mayo (I didn't have horseradish to make the traditional seafood sauce). I made my mom's potato salad (which one of the crew said was the best he ever had), pasta salad, and I put out smoked salmon and pickles and olives.

I set the salads and extras out for everyone to help themselves.

I always think of my mom when I make devilled eggs. I don’t have a piping bag so I used a freezer bag and made a tiny hole to get the egg mixture to come out in a thin line which made the eggs pretty.

I am always surprised how many of the crew ask for the honey mustard sauce to go with their ham. This crew member asked for the sauce on the side.

The supper went well and although I had wanted to make more homemade chocolates I was pleased with what I accomplished. I get a lot of inspiration from memories of my mom. My mom always made beautiful meals and of course Easter was a cake with a chocolate bunny, or shaped like a bunny. Lorraine recently went through old slides and sent some Easter themed slides. My mom always dressed us so nicely and she always looked beautiful. My dad was rarely in photos because he was always holding the camera, so it's nice to see him in the pictures too. Lorraine is the youngest and I love her little fur coat. A friend of my moms, took an old fur coat and made children's coats out of the one adult coat.

I love seeing my mom’s coffee set on the table. We still have the vase that is on the table holding the daffodils. I love the bunny cake she made and remember the little cakes with fruit on the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Those were our dad’s favorite. It’s amazing what she was able to accomplish in her tiny kitchen.

Mom mom always dressed beautifully. I love her hat. It’s nice to see my dad in a photo, he was usually holding the camera.

Lorraine in her little fur coat. She still loves chocolate!

For my Easter dinner dessert I made individual lemon meringue tarts. The crew member who shared his Easter favorites had mentioned lemon meringue pie. I don't make lemon meringue pie very often. I always find it hard to slice without destroying the delicate meringue. I decided I would try and make them as individual tarts and I love how beautiful the little meringue peaks came out. I also made white chocolate Krispie nests to surround the pastel colored chocolate Easter eggs that Lorraine and I had purchased. I made hot cross buns earlier in the day and had leftovers to put out. (It was funny when a crew member asked me yesterday about Cinnamon bun Sunday. he said he just realized I never made cinnamon buns on Easter Sunday. I explained that I thought it would be fun to have hot cross buns. He asked if I would make the cinnamon buns again before I leave and I promised I would).

I was so pleased with how the little individual lemon meringue tarts came out. I will definitely do this again.

The white chocolate Krispie nest with some of the chocolates Lorraine and I purchased when she was in Port Colborne visiting me.

The hot cross buns I made for lunch. I had some leftover and put them out for supper. They were gone by morning. The second cook is very nice to work with.

Easter Sunday's lunch was an easy lunch so that I could focus on the little extras that I was making for supper. I made chicken fingers and French fries with the option for poutine. I also made a crispy chicken tropical salad with mango-black bean salsa and maple mustard dressing which turned out to be more popular than the regular chicken fingers. I like serving this salad, it looks so delicious.

I like serving this crispy chicken tropical salad with black bean mango salso and maple mustard dressing.

Monday I decided to make something for lunch that would go with the leftover potato salad and macaroni salad that I served for Easter dinner. I decided to make sub sandwiches on homemade buns. The second choice was an Italian frittata. For supper I made roast chicken and made extra chickens so that I would have enough leftover to make butter chicken. I made pecan pie and peanut butter cups. The day after making a special holiday meal always seems so easy.

Sub sandwich on a homemade buns went well with the leftover pasta salad and my mom’s potato salad

I made peanut butter cups. I didn’t have quite enough peanut butter so I added some peanuts.

Tuesday I was back to my regular routine. My easy menu gave me extra time to run upstairs and go wave at the webcams in the Soo lock. I went up 4 different times and when we were exiting the lock I saw two people on the observation deck and they waved back. I thought that these observation decks will be filled with people when the warmer weather comes. When we left the lock and maneuvered the big curve by the Ferry I went out to wave at Andrea and her mom. I had messaged Andrea and she said she was home. It's nice knowing someone is out there when I am waving. Andrea posted the video and you can see me waving just above the RU in SPRUCEGLEN. I have one week before I have to get off the ship. I am trying not to worry. Normally when I get off the ship I am flexible if there is a delay and I have to stay a few extra days, however, this time I have the event in Algonac on the 13th and have to be relieved in time. I remind myself that I am where I am meant to be and with this I hear Lorraine's voice "where is worrying going to get you". She's right and I laugh that I can hear her when she is so far away. She said she will pick me up wherever I get off. This morning as I finish sharing the highlights of my last few days with you, we are in in the Welland Canal. We picked up the anchor Thursday morning around 10h00. It was a perfect smooth ride down Lake Huron. I hope to find some extra time in the next few days to share the meals I made on Wednesday and Thursday. I had trouble finding extra time this past week. Time is going so quickly. I hope you have a lovely day.