Welcome to the Ward

Here are some pictures of the ward patients. The little boy is Adolpho. He had a mass removed from his ear. He is a very rambunctious child. He played with a truck constantly, supporting the theory "boys will be boys" even in Liberia. The little girl is Godgive (yes that is her real name). The rest are of the ward nurses getting "handover" and of various other patients. We are not allowed to take pics on the ward due to patient privacy, these are the communication departments' pics, hence the watermark.

Henry

Henry is a 21 year old guy that was brought to the ship from a dental clinic about 8 days ago after he pulled out his own infected tooth.When he was brought to the ship he was in bad shape. His heart rate was in the 150's, his blood pressure was low and he was really struggling to breath. The infection had taken over his mouth, jaw and right chest. He was brought to surgery emergently and they cleaned out the horrible smelling stuff that was killing him.

I received Henry from the recovery room and he had 14 penrose drains (drains that allow the exudate to leave the body to get rid of the infection) in his mouth and chest. Over the next couple of days I spent countless hours with Henry, changing his dressing, starting IVs, giving him meds, and just trying to keep him comfortable.

On Sunday and Monday they took Henry back to the OR to clean him out again. As of Sunday morning Henry was not looking good, I was starting to think maybe we would loose him too. All of this time Henry was quiet and very stoic. But on Tuesday I came in to take care of him, I almost started to cry. Henry was sitting up in a chair, the drains in his mouth were gone. I think I actually screamed in excitement and Henry started to laugh. Woohoo!! That to me was pure joy, to see a boy that was so miserable and incredibly sick, laugh. Henry still has a long way to go. His wounds are very open and really need to heal. Please pray that Henry will have no more infection and that he will recover quickly so he can go home!!!!

Pink Meatballs, Pasta in oil or butter

I have had the report back that some of the meatballs were pink in the center...alright, fair enough.  But let me give you a little bit of education and science behind some of the things and preparation we do.  (because it didn't bother some people)

The meatballs were first boiled for 20 to 30 minutes to quickly set the shape of the semi-ball form (we don't have the luxury or time of making them machine produced perfect orbs, I am sure you already know that so we will move along) and additionally to boil off and leave behind meat juice 'residue' and fats.

Then the meatballs are cooked at about 325F or 160C (roundabout proximation) for about an hour.  This tightens up the structure of the meatball as well as colors it with a better roasting brown (thats a color for you to request at the paint store, roasted brown meatball - it works well with a burnt caramel, or creme brulee on the molding and trim).  In addition to this it completely cooks the meatball.  Then I check the temperature for at minimum for 160F (71C).  Then it is held in the warmer/oven for an additional half four or more before being served on the line.  Sometimes meat can be fully cooked and still appear pink, this is true with smoked meats especially.

Another example is science that most people will not accept because their upbringing or knowledge will not allow them to...that is that meat can be cooked to a varied (depends on kind and cut of meat) temperature for a certain length of time and not be well done, BUT STILL has been cooked to the appropriate specs allowed by government regulations.  Which is the standard that most of the world goes by that has these health governing agencies in their country.  Some exceptions are of course fowl, more specifically (in our situation) turkey and chicken which internally should/has to be 165F or 74C.  Most of my specs are drawn from the food and drug administration.  Here is a link if you are interested in this: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fttmeat.html or here http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/MeatTemperatureChart.htm 

But of course, you and I both know I couldn't have or didn't check every meatball. (laughing)  Just a few in different batches.

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Pasta!  Some of you may want to argue when I get done with this section but putting butter or oil in the pasta water doesn't really do what you think it does...I say its 50/50 (and food science backs me up with plenty of experimental statistics to prove it) and the experts say its 0% that oil or butter in the water actually helps the pasta not to stick together in the water.  Its one of those old traditions that was handed down and taught to everyone so long its hard to change the mindset.

From my experience and all the food science books I have ever read all you need is the proper amount of water per pound of pasta, a high enough temperature for cooking it, and salt in the water (for taste, not the silly change the degree in the water explanation, because even if it did what use is 1 or 2 degrees difference?).  Thats it. 

I have talked to Italians, Chinese (because supposedly they had the pasta before Italians but I won't be in that argument) and worked for a 'boat load'of chefs that all agree, water and salt.  Here on the ship I cook the pasta without watching it all the time.  A few stirs here and there, my pasta comes out beautifully time and time again...and when I teach it to others they have the same experience, no oils or butters.  No sticking.

So what does the oil do?  In the water it will attach itself to the pasta but not consistently because of the moving boiling water.  And then when it does it 'seals' the pasta so to speak.  What is the outcome of this?  Ever had that plate of pasta bolegnese or spaghetti and meatballs only to have watery sauce in the bottom of that plate?  Yep thats what it did, locked the sauce out of soaking into the pasta.

Now, all that being said...I add olive oil (when available, its extra virgin 'the good stuff' right now) after the pasta is in the pan, yes it still locks out some of the sauce from attaching itself to the pasta but this is the compromise:  When you are at home and want to add the pasta straight into the sauce or vise versa and eat it right away I would never use an oil or butter directly on the pasta, because the fresh cooked pasta will suck it up like a child and a milkshake...BUT when you are feeding 400 plus people that little drizzle of olive oil mixed with the remaining wetness of the noodle keeps the pasta from sticking together in big clumps while it sits on the line.  So a compromise is made for the best.

I will only add additional oils or butters (besides the drizzle) if I am applying some herbs or flavors to  the pasta...otherwise, NO I do not.  Although our cooking teams may decide to cook things differently this is my standard.

We should stand on that rock

Going to the market in Liberia is always an adventure, well leaving the ship at all is an adventure. Yesterday, Jen and I both were canceled from the ward, so we decided we would be brave and go to the market. We walked through the gates of the port and entered Africa (on the ship we are next to Africa but not in Africa). We stood by the road with our hand out, kind of waving in the direction that we would like to go, hoping that a taxi would stop and take us to the market. We stood there feeling very silly and watching taxi after taxi whizz right by us, with at least 7 passengers already in them. Then, a Mercy Ships Land Rover stopped and gave us a ride. It worked out perfectly. We then walked towards the "market" , I use this word in-quotes because it is by no means is anything like any market I have ever been to. It is a myriad of storefronts, Wheel Barrel stores ( a guy has a wheel barrel full of one kind of merchandise), and tarps of stuff on the side of the road. In some areas, it seems like a Liberian form of a mall. There are inside stores with lots of stuff and some of the stores are even upstairs (well up these uneven concrete things that kind of look like stairs). There are many things sold at the "market", we bought fabric, a serving dish (for my cookies that I often bake and share with friends, it actually looks like something from the summer collection from target), and Jen bought flip flops (slippers).

At one point we turned onto one of the side streets and there was a median-like structure in the middle of the road, but unlike our well-manicured western medians, it was actually a make-shift dump.

Once we accumulated all of our treasures and had enough hissing sounds and "white girl, white girl I love you!" yelled at us, we decided to venture back to the Ship. We needed to catch a taxi, which seems pretty much impossible. We tried a couple of different places, with our very best taxi catching wave with no success. So then we saw a large rock that we decided was a good idea to stand on so the taxis would see us better and then would definitely decide to stop. Many people just laughed hysterically and kept driving, but one taxi actually stopped and let us in.  We got almost to our destination when we figured out that this taxi was being chartered by a woman. When they got to the point in the road where they needed to turn and we needed to go straight we got out and the woman said we didn't have to pay.  What a blessing, we made it to the "market" and back to the Ship without even paying for a taxi.

Culinary Mystery

Here on the ship we have a smaller galley for individuals and families that want to cook their own food.  As an inheritance of small tools & devices from the 'cleaning out' of that area I have acquired a kitchen 'tool' that has been a mystery so far... (you can click on the pictures to see them bigger)

I asked (by email) a good friend Bob A Hunger Artist what did he make of the picture I sent him to which he sent out an email requesting the help of several of his food-centric friends.  In addition to this, he also posted this on his blog (which by the way gets way more traffic than my site does, by 'food' people at that!), and right away (or at last count) the first original post garnered 28 comments, mostly suggestions and humorous cracks.

Then Stephen The Foodist & Scotty Cooking In Theory & Practice also picked up the story...and later at Scotty's request, I produced another picture for him and Bob that suggests the proper 'right side up' look of the tool.

Stephen went so far as to inquire of the English (can't remember exact office) about the registered number posted on the tool...and we are currently awaiting an answer on that!  And for those of you who are curious, this is the only and exact writing on it:  REGD 911032 made in England.

So a final answer has not been forthcoming, and I am still enquiring from people here on board the ship since I have at least 30 nationalities represented on board at any one time...

Irritating as it may be (to us) it may be that this tool was really useless or does not work adequately, or maybe it's not even made anymore?  Which would explain why none of us know what it is, because we only remember the 'good stuff, the stuff that works.  And maybe sometimes the stuff that works so bad or was such a terrible idea that you can't forget it! (laughing)

A big 'thank you' to Bob at A Hunger Artist for kicking things off!  As well as The Foodist & Cooking In Theory & Practice for also helping out...BUT we are still looking for an answer out there!

Do you know what it is?