Alison

My friend Alison is leaving tomorrow. I will miss her. We have had many adventures together. We often went to the Royal Hotel for breakfast on our days off. It made me feel like my life was more normal than it really is since I live on a ship in Africa.

Alison has been at the center of fashion at the tailor and has inspired us to have him make us different things. We share a love of Anthropologie and have brought him many torn-out pages of the catalog and have been pleasantly surprised when it turns out exactly like we thought.

We have had many great talks and I will really miss her.

Seriously?

My friends Becky, Meghan, and I often sing the Switchfoot song "This is your life. Are you who you wanna be?" when some things happen that you just feel are completely ridiculous. On Grey's Anatomy, they say Seriously? Like, no way, this is not happening to me. The last 24 hours have been full of these moments.

Yesterday I helped carried a little 5-year-old girl, her name is Best, to the bathroom so she could use the potty. Well, Best does not have the best aim and my flip-flops (they flip and they flop, they are nothing as the Captain would say) and my toes quickly went from dry to saturated.

Today I went to ward nurse devotions on the dock. The topic was spiritual warfare. Not my favorite topic. I know it is real, but I feel like way too often we blame far too many things on spiritual warfare and do not take responsibility for our own actions and sin. I was only half listening, actually, I was looking up at the sky at some birds. I don't think I have ever seen a bird here in Liberia. As I was watching the birds fly above the 20 nurses out on the dock I thought I betcha that bird is going to ....... oh crap he pooped on me. Maybe I should give spiritual warfare more thought.

When I first came on to my night shift tonight, I went around to visit all my patients. Mary said that her IV site was hurting. As I placed a new IV, the tubing was not clamped blood came spurting out all over the bed and my pants.

There seems to be a theme. Should I walk around with an umbrella to shield away the next bodily fluid that is going to attack me? I am thinking that wearing a garbage bag over my clothes and an emesis basin on my head could be the obvious solution.

I have really been complaining a lot lately. Mostly about other people complaining. Today I spent most of the day really searching out how to find joy even in the irritations of life.

Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my anxious thoughts

I read this over and over again. What I took from it was that it is about what my thoughts are. I do not need to be concerned about others. It is only creating my own sin to complain about complainers. It sounds so simple as a write this, but it really was a revelation for me.

It is quite funny to me that I feel like God was trying to get my attention through bodily fluids, but it worked.

Salmon, a good basic recipe

Its been pretty busy here on the ship. Especially in food services. We are catering a pastors conference on Monday and Tuesday (lunch only) and then an African Dinner (with West African style food, hence the name) on Tuesday night along with doing the African food for the regular crew that night also...and a lot of other little things going on...the founders of the Organization coming, a group from a church that has wanted to get involved, etc...

In the galley we have several holes in the floor past the tile and into the concrete trying to pinpoint a water leak in the floor itself, several food coolers going down at the same time, the crane (which lifts two big size rolling bins out of the ship with our massive trash in it) has broken down, a lull in staffing in food service right now (although said church is helping out tremendously when they can in the galley)...

Oh, thats right, Salmon! This basic brine or marinade is great especially for Salmon, but I have not really tried it with white fish, because I don't think it would look appealing when it changed the color of the white fish...but oh well, you can always try and see.

Only soak the fish in this mixture for 1 hour, and definitely not longer than 2 (for those of you who don't follow instructions good). Fish will take on flavors quick.

1/3 part sugar

2/3 part soy sauce

add fresh garlic as much as you want or powder till taste is strong

add fresh ginger as much as you want or powder till taste is strong

But use equal parts of garlic and ginger.

I don't really use a whole lot of measurements, I like ratios so it can be scaled up or down. The taste is supposed to be strong because the fish will push out some water AND because this taste will get diluted separated between the fish. This works great on baked, grilled, pan seared, and/or fried Salmon Fillets.

A good example of this recipe would be like this:

1 gallon soy sauce

1/2 gallon sugar

1/4 cup powdered ginger (or half cup fresh!)

1/4 cup powdered garlic (or half cup fresh!)

On the ship, the fish sometimes looks terrible baked in mass quantity with congealed Grey blood and such...so a mass quantity trick (or if its hard to bake flat that many pieces of fish like it is for us) is to flash fry or maybe more technically correct par-fry the fish in the deep fryer till they look good, or golden brown and crusty (but not till there done) and then fill up the hotel pans/chafing dishes and cover and finish cooking all the fish in the oven. Comes out wonderful, looks great, great texture and color on the outside, and tender & moist on the inside. That is, if you don't cook it too long and dry it out!

Thats it! Leave a comment if you have further questions on some of my techniques or recipes found here.

Alimou

A couple weeks ago a group from the ship went to Guinea to screen people for surgeries. And they hit the mother load. They found a total of 21 patients that all had problems that are the specialties of Mercy Ships. Alimou was one of them.

If you have ever been to the Mercy Ships website you would have seen many pictures of people with very large tumors, Alimou will be added to that list, I am sure. Alimou was flown to the ship with a couple other patients and the man that brought them from Guinea said that the stench from his tumor was so bad that the other passengers were gagging and as soon as the plane landed they ran off the plane.

On Thursday Alimou had his surgery and it was very popular. Everyone wanted to be in the OR as they took his 6.6 pound tumor off. After they completed the surgery they extubated (took out his breathing tube) and Alimou did not tolerate it. They had to emergently re-intubate him. Alimou was taken to the ICU and placed on a ventilator (breathing machine) and sedation drugs and was continuously monitored.

I came in on Friday morning, not really thinking about the fact that I would be with him in the ICU. That was probably a good thing, I don't think I would have slept as well as I did in my ignorant bliss. I walked in received report and started doing the things that make my brain happy: labeling every tube and line, attaching the BMV (bag valve mask) to the oxygen, mixing up more drugs "just in case", re taping my ET tube (endotracheal tube) repositioning Alimou, etc....

Friday was a very long and very short day. It was long because it has been a while since I have had a real ICU patient and short because he was very sick and there was a lot to do.

Saturday morning I went down to see Alimou and he now had a tracheostomy but was still on the ventilator and was starting to wake up, thus he was thrashing all over the bed.

Sunday, my friend Jenn (a NICU nurse) was the chosen one to take care of Alimou. Jenn did a wonderful job despite a very large difference in her patient population that she is used to working with. Alimou was definitly awake and very ticked off/ confused. He did a lot of fighting and everything was much more difficult for Jenn than it needed to be due to the constant moving target. I went in to see if Jenn and Alimou were doing ok. Alimou woke up looked at me and made his first attempt to smile, despite the large dressing on his entire head.

Monday morning Alimou and I were reunited. I spent the whole day shift trying to problem solve. He hates his NG feeding (the tube that is in his nose that we put ensure down so he can have proper nutrition so he can heal). I feel like in nursing it is so easy to just be busy and not really get to know your patient. I have really connected with Alimou, I am not sure if it was the stressful experience we had on the previous Friday or just me actually taking the time to get to know him, even though he only speaks French. But who cares, we don't need words. We play a never ending game of charades.

When I did his dressing change, I gave Alimou a mirror and as I unwrapped his many layers of gauze he awaited anxiously for his first glimpse of his new tumor free face. After the last layer of gauze came off his eyes started to fill with tears and he threw his hands up in the air in praise to the Lord. After that experience I put my the thoughts of "why in the world am I living on a ship in Africa?" on a high up shelf. I am sure that they may drift back down to my thoughts but for now Alimou's disproportionate smile is what is filling that void.

The rest of the week as been a roller coaster for Alimou. Sometimes he looks much better and other times he looks like he is spiraling down. He is not making enough urine and is becoming more swollen, but despite all this he has this huge smile that lights up his eyes. He has such a sweet and gentle spirit that is obvious when he reaches out for my hand any time I walk into D ward.

Please be praying for Alimou. Please pray that his kidneys start to work more efficiently and that he regains his strengtha and does not loose his joy in the battle of his recovery.

Green Bean Casserole

Simple as it gets, this recipe will make 1 full-size 4-inch steam table pan, chafing dish, or hotel pan(whatever you call it where you are from).


Put in a bowl and mix:

2 #10 Cans of Green Beans (drain water)



2 #5 Cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup



1 Liter/Quart of Milk



2 Bags of French's Fried Onions (usually come in the case of 6/24oz)

1 Bag for topping the casserole, I use more onion than this but I am sure you will change it to your own taste, plus we usually make our own fried onions which we think are just as tasty...but this recipe is for convenience and speed!

Then fill in a pan and bake in the oven at 350F/177C for 45 minutes to an hour...

10 Minutes before finishing take the last bag of French Fried Onions and top the casserole and heat the remaining time.

That's it!

Interesting Food Bites (Monrovia Liberia)

My storeman, Freddie (from Ghana), goes to town weekly (in Monrovia, Liberia) and also arranges food purchases from the Chandler (its like a 'buy everything you want' contact man for ships in port). And Freddie has turned up some interesting things about the 'fresh' produce and eggs we get and I thought you might be interested in them:

1. Eggs are from India

2. What looks like Roma Tomatoes are reported to be from the Ivory Coast

3. Potatoes are from Holland (and are supposedly the ones Holland won't keep)

4. Still trying to figure out where my carrots come from but I don't get enough of them at one time, and when I do its a month apart. The ones we get locally are almost black on the outside (so theres no question as to whether you are going to peel them). And when we get the 'once a month' carrots they come in plastic looking real nice like they were hijacked on the way to someones grocery store where they pay a lot of money for them.

5. Occasionally we can 'acquire' some sweet or bell peppers (like once since January) at a very expensive rate even compared to U.S. or European standards. But we buy them when available, the crew (our people) are worth it.

SO, how fresh do you think my 'fresh' produce really is? Hmmm, and the potatoes are old (believe me, I think I can tell by now) and you loose about a third or more of the content after peeling and cutting out green, black, and/or rotten spots. And that takes A LOT OF TIME FOR 400+ people, but we can save that for another post that way I can introduce you to my industrial strength potato peeler!

Where I get my fresh produce, and where we are...are sometimes worlds apart.

Sardines in a can

On Friday night Sarah, Becky, and I got into a Land Rover with our sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and mosquito nets. Our friend Carlos drove us out to New Matati for our sleepover with our Bible Study girls (9 high school and college-age girls that we have a Bible study with every Wednesday). When we drove up to the orphanage most of our girls were waiting for us. They carried our bags into the room we would be staying in, which was way nicer than we thought.

Once we settled in we walked to the local market and bought some food to cook for dinner. Sarah did most of the cooking with the girls while Becky and I got our hair plaited. They crushed up some peppers and added them to the potato greens and was added to the deep-fried fish. This was put over rice and we ate it communal style. I have to admit I was definitely praying that I would not get sick and I didn't, Praise the Lord.

The whole time we were out there we just laughed and laughed. They are so dramatic but very deep. I was talking to Mary and I asked her what her dreams are for the future. She looked at me with such confidence and said "I want to be a medical Dr. I pray every night that the Lord will give me the chance." I just can't wrap my head around that concept. In most Western Countries education is about effort and abilities. It has little to do with opportunity. What I mean is that if anyone really wants a certain education if they work hard enough and put enough effort to get scholarships, grants, or loans it is actually possible to obtain your goals no matter how lofty they may be or what your financial status is. But here, it is different. It is actually not feasible to go to medical school, especially if you are an orphan. Here there is no government support. There are no grants, scholarships, or loans to apply for. So what then? Just what Mary is doing, her best in school and a whole lot of praying.

Our girls are just so funny. They are so easily amused and entertained. I guess you have to be right? Annie, the oldest, decided she was going to be the MC for the evening and then whipped out her imaginary program and announced we were all listed to do solos. None of us are hugely vocally enclined, but we all had to do it. When they sing, they are so confident. Most of the songs they sing are gospel songs, with the occasional Akon song.

When we were ready to go to bed the girls followed us into the room that we were staying in and sat down. We started to get ready for bed and they just watched every move we made. I am sure they think we are so weird. I have these face washing towels that are disposable and they all wanted to try one. After a little time passed the girls started to settle in on the floor, we asked them where they were going to sleep and they kinda looked at us weird and said "here", like duh it is a sleepover. Becky, Sarah, and I slept on the double bed with this purple mosquito net over it. They tucked edges of the net under the mattress and we felt like we were sleeping in a cage.

All of the girls slept on the floor like sardines in a tin can. At 5am they all got up neatly folded their blankets and were off to morning devos and then started their chores.

Saturdays are washing day and plait day, hence all the little ones with afros. Saturdays are also for playing. We played a game called lappa. It is kind of like dodge ball meets shoe organizing. We played that for a while and Josh (Sarah's husband came to pick us up) came to pick us up. Overall it was so fun. I love those girls.

10 Elements of Basic Kitchen Knowledge

Originally Posted by Columbia University Press in Science, Food

Herve This’s 10 Elements of Basic Kitchen Knowledge

Here is his list for 10 basic elements of kitchen knowledge:

1. Salt dissolves in water.

2. Salt does not dissolve in oil.

3. Oil does not dissolve in water.

4. Water boils at 100 C (212 F).

5. Generally foods contain mostly water (or another fluid).

6. Foods without water or fluid are tough.

7. Some proteins (in eggs, meat, fish) coagulate.

8. Collagen dissolves in water at temperatures higher than 55 C (131 F).

9. Dishes are dispersed systems (combinations of gas, liquid or solid ingredients transformed by cooking).

10. Some chemical processes - such as the Maillard Reaction (browning or caramelizing) - generate new flavors.

[I thought these basic principles would help you understand a few more things about cooking without boring you to death or asking you to read food science books. It is not by any means all encompassing...]

Herve This was the author of a book I read about food science:

Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking

Can Sizes and Equivalents

For those of us who cook in bulk, commercial, food service for schools, restaurants, ships (laughing), camps, etc...anything that takes large amounts of canned foods, this will be 'old hat' or 'old news' to some of you!

I want to list some can sizes and equivalents that will help you understand a little bit about recipes in bulk, and the sizing in general. And later this might help you if I post a few BULK recipes.

#10 can. The number ten can, most prominently recognized by most of us in the business is labeled below as being 12 cups but I am almost certain I have had up to 1 to 1 1/2 cups difference in product with a #10 can...so I would say the below equivalents may not be definitive but a good guide to go by...

Can Sizes and Equivalents

Many recipes specify a can size rather than a volume amount. This chart will also come in handy to determine how much to buy.

Can Sizes
8 ounces	8 ounces	1 cup
Picnic	10-1/2 to 12 ounces	1-1/4 cups
12 ounces vacuum	12 ounces	1-1/2 cups
#1	11 ounces	1-1/3 cup
#1 tall	16 ounces	2 cups
#1 square	16 ounces	2 cups
#2	1 pound 4 ounces or 1 pint 2 fluid ounces	2-1/2 cups
#2-1/2	1 pound 13 ounces	3-1/2 cups
#2-1/2 square	31 ounces	scant 4 cups
#3		4 cups
#3 squat		2-3/4 cups
#5		7-1/3 cups
#10		12 cups
#300	14 to 16 ounces	1-3/4 cups
#303	16 to 17 ounces	2 cups
Baby food jar	3-1/2 to 8 ounces	depends on size
Condensed milk	15 ounces	1-1/3 cups
Evaporated milk	6 ounces	2/3 cup
Evaporated milk	14-1/2 ounces	1-2/3 cups
Frozen juice concentrate	6 ounces	3/4 cup

I want to give credit where its due and thank About.com for having such a beautiful chart that I could 'borrow' for this post. (I was about to make it myself in excel, but this is less painful)

Coming up this week a green bean casserole recipe made with #10 & #5 can products...tested several times by my own 400+ International volunteer taste testers.

The workers are few!

From time to time the kitchen thins out, and I mean thin like stretching.

We have some important guests coming from the states, a pastors conference, and a few other events that will be happening on board in the coming weeks.  And during this time the galley will need to do its daily job feeding the crew and keep up with visitors, special requests, functions, and a few other meals.

This is not so bad, except that right now we have two rotating cooking teams (and thats normal) with only 2 cooks on each one (thats not normal).

This is what the cooking teams 'look' like right now: 1 Team Leader (cook), 1 Cook (or assistant cook), 2 salad prep, 1 baker, and 1 dishwasher...and yes, we are still feeding 400+ (approximately).  And of course I cook and help out where needed.

As Chief Cook (my title right now, it changes to Galley Manager) its my job to run the kitchen and to work with both cooking teams as they are on a rotation (2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off - thats a 2 week schedule) working long days, 10 1/2 to 12 hours and maybe more if there are special events or functions.  These days are long physically and mentally draining  and most of our workers are new to food service(and some are new to working this hard).

The most amazing thing is that these people are volunteers, people who have given their time (crew fees & insurance) to come help the less fortunate.  You know what else?  They will probably never get direct credit for helping out the people we try to serve in these countries and medical situations.  Why not?  Because we are behind the scenes, and thats where some of us are happy to stay...and because we support and build the framework for keeping the body (organizationally and physically) fed!

I don't really know why people would come to do this specifically in food service...dedication, passion, compassion, sympathy, because they can, etc...???  Or maybe their just willing to do it wherever they are placed and can be of help/service to keep the body strong and support in whatever way possible.

Its easier to realize why I do it, this is my background, my passion.  And who wouldn't want to really feel and/or be able to make a difference?

But really its because I'm crazy.  There I said it.  I feel better.

Winner Update

Food Services News

2008 Culinary Challenge Winner (AFM)

*Congratulations to Tatyana, winner of the Culinary Challenge. Tatyana directed the cooking team in preparing Curry Chicken with rice, vegetables, and a cabbage & pasta salad. Thanks to all of the contestants; Tatyana, Mark and Peggy, and the team of Peter and Josh for their hard work and creativity. Thanks are also due to the crew for taking the time to vote (and eat) and to the cooking teams for all of their work in helping the contestants prepare their meals. You all helped to make the Culinary Challenge a smashing success. We hope to hold another one in the future, perhaps with a bit of a twist.

[*Edited from an internal article announcing the winner, and many thanks for all involved...just in case you missed it]

Adventures in Date Night

It is so funny to me when I look at pictures of us when we were in Tenerife (the Spanish island that the ship was at when we first boarded the ship back in Jan.) and now in Liberia. The first picture is of us at this cute little restaurant that we would go to often. We usually ate outside and enjoyed the peaceful downtown setting, sometimes with nice live music. We either walked there or we got a ride from friends. In Tenerife, we both wore sweaters to keep us warm. My hair was straight and nicely done and I have makeup on. We went out often and always had a lovely time.

The second picture was taken at the Bamboo Bar which is on the 4th floor of one of the only buildings in downtown Monrovia that is not just a bombed-out shell of an old high rise. The restaurant provides a great view of the city. While enjoying a meal, which is always some sort of a surprise, the background noise is taxis honking, people screaming at each other, and music blaring Akon from a wheelbarrow selling music CDs.

Getting there is always an adventure. It is about 3-4 miles away from the ship. I called a guy that has a private car and he usually takes us where we need to go for a reasonable price, unlike the rest of the taxis that love to rip off the "white people". Well, our guy had gotten wind of the great money he could earn by ripping us off. He wanted $17 American dollars to take us and pick us up. For goodness sake, it is only 3-4 miles. SO after arguing with him the whole way there he wouldn't back down so I gave him a small amount of money and told him not to come back and that I will never call him again.

After finally getting to the Bamboo bar my hair is not straight or nicely done (due to the humidity and wind rushing through the open windows of the car), I certainly do not have makeup on ( the idea of mascara running down my face, is not very attractive), but I do have a cute new shirt on (thanks to online Anthro).

Going out in Monrovia can be such a hassle, but going out on a date with my husband (even with all the obstacles and "adventures" that Liberia offers) is so worth it.

Liberia Bans Food Exports To Tackle Food Crisis

[Just to give you a little idea of how bad things are getting here because of the food crisis (worldwide rise in prices), here is an article from RTT News, and there are similar ones all over the Internet for Liberia and other countries as well...]

(RTTNews) -  In the latest attempt by Africa's poorest countries to fight a food crisis sparked by a worldwide rise in prices, Liberia banned all food exports Monday, to prevent profiteers from taking advantage of its relatively cheap rice prices by selling the grain to neighboring countries with higher prices.

Rice is a staple food in many countries in West Africa, where the high cost has hit the poor people hard as they have to resort to importing. In Liberia, which is recovering from war, the price increase has put yet another obstacle in the way of economic recovery, as rice is already in short supply in Liberia.

The ban on export applies to commercial foodstuffs also, Commerce Minister Frances Johnson Morris said. Liberia also dropped all import duties on farming tools to promote production.

The government said it is launching a campaign to urge Liberians to eat alternative food products such as yams, cassava, and plantains to reduce consumption of rice.

Although Liberia heavily depends on imported rice, dealers from neighboring countries have been buying up sacks of rice on Liberia's market to resell in countries like Guinea, where it is more expensive. RTTNews

 

Here is what others have to say:

Associated Press

AllAfrica.com