Response #3

About Roast Beef...

From ship to ship and at the IOC we have some similiar cuts of meat and some that range a bit beyond what is normally seen.  So, as you can imagine I have to learn how to work with the food after seeing its various cooking 'personalities' what it will and won't do for me, and what I may have to force upon it by method of rubs, brines, and marinades. 

I am not quite happy with the beef used for Roast Beef yet, and as you bare with me I will be applying other 'tricks of the trade' so to speak to see what I can get this beef to do for me...its much like getting old circus animals to do new tricks for a new ringmaster.

Also, we are looking into getting some horseradish for a nice sauce, we do not have any horseradish at present.

That being said, a nice meat slicer would accomodate us quite nicely...

EMT

Today I attended my first Emergency Medical Team meeting. I didn't really know what to expect. I still am not really sure what to expect. It's intentions is to be similar to a code team. We respond to all medical emergencies and are involved in the the  fire drills. All of this sounds fine, but as we were in our meeting I realized wow, we live in a hospital. Every time there is an emergency a mess of people will respond. This is good and bad. It is very hard to function in an emergent situation with too many people involved. There may be 4 anethesists, 5 surgeons, and up to 50 nurses. Oh my. So for now, I will pray there are no emergent situations and if there is one, I will do my best to fulfill my duties as a part of the EMT. I will also try to remember the famous first line of many medical schools "First do no harm".

Tears of Laughter

Last night Tyrone and I went out with Tatyana, Rodrigo,(Taty and Rodrigo are married and have baby Estevam, 5 months) and Jan (Pronounced Yawn, is married to Elizabeth and has daughter Isabella, almost 2 years) all of which we know from the Caribbean Mercy. We went out in a rental car to our favorite place to eat, we call it the Meter Place, cause all the food comes out on meter boards. We thought it would be easier to take the car than to walk, but we were very wrong. Rodrigo was driving (aka zipping) around looking for a parking space, while the other boys were telling him to slow down, turn port side or starboard side. It was a mess. The whole evening was full of laughter and tears (of laughter). Those boys are a very funny combo, I have heard that the only thing funnier is to add their Australian friend Jon into the mix.

Tuesday Night (late for AFM'rs) - Wednesday morning Surprise!

Surprise!!!  If you are reading this on Wednesday after breakfast you are too late!

Someone volunteered to make pancakes AND I showed Maria how to make cinnamon rolls (w/a glaze) she will be baking/making them for breakfast, so there is a good chance you missed them both if you are reading this after 8am...Well you know.

Back to the food for a minute...

Michael Ruhlman has an additional blog that spawned from his new culinary book 'Elements of Cooking' and his latest post is of the most under utilized fresh vegetable that most people I know never use at home, and some restaurants still don't use, the SHALLOT.

Here is a link to his post - SHALLOTS