floating is a swimming tecnique right?

My reward for making it through three days of stomach flu hell? An f-ing cold.

Of course, going out and staying out after work last night until 4 in the morning probably didn't help my condition. When i woke up this morning at 10:30, I thought my throat would fall out (is that even possible?), then i realized that i was also pretty hungover.... A half an hour after I took two tylenol cold and sinus nighttime pills (hoping that I could catch a couple more hours of zzzzz's), Dylan showed up to see if I wanted to go for coffee. I told him he should go get us coffee, and we could sit in the backyard in the sunlight. I kind of thought (and, at the time, was secretly hoping) he might not come back, but he did - with Freddie. It ended up being an awesome way to coax my body and head out of sleeping all day and missing the beautiful weather. In fact, Dylan had impressed me so much that I took his advice to go swimming with him at the pool - Wow... he's on to something - like maybe the actual best cure for a mild hangover yet. To be honest, I'm not a very good swimmer - I mostly floated and treaded water - but there was something about physical exertion in the water that made me feel a lot better. And the hot tub was pretty sweet too.

Work was okay.

a day for visits...

Stephen Harper gets here today.... But more importantly, Georgia gets here today for a visit! Dylan made the mistake of being seen in the old post office tower across from the P.M.'s secret service and created quite the security scare.... He does look a little like John Wilkes Booth in his old-timey outfit.

I still feel like shit, so no handshaking for me... It's okay, I'm gonna save my energy for next week and all the birthdays that it brings...

p.s. i love you

I feel much better today - thanks for asking.

Exhaustion has a funny way of forcing you to shut down - I slept for about 14 hours in the last 24. Maybe I was a little tired. I must have been - I watched a stupid romance movie last night (waiting for comments to flood in about my taste in movies) and cried a LOT. Lame. And not the fabric lame. Just lame.

Today, my big plan (so excited) is to do a whole bunch of yummy cooking, fold the laundry that's been in the "clean pile" in my room for two weeks, vacuum (finally), and maybe if the weather turns nicer this afternoon, take out the garden (well, most of it) - I can't imagine much more is going to grow this year.... and the flowers are pretty right now and should probably be enjoyed before they die.

Fast forward to 7pm.

What did I get done today? Nothing. Whatever I had yesterday came back, and I've been camped pretty close to my bathroom all day.

Arg.

It would be really nice to have a day for myself. Maybe tomorrow. I hope tomorrow - Stephen Harper comes to visit Dawson... Don't want to miss that.

why does it always rain on me?

That's it? The beautiful indian summer we were enjoying is over?? Seriously - get it together weather....

I had a lovely day planned with Oliver. And it started great. Janice dropped him off in his pajamas, and we chatted and decided what we would do for the day. Man, he's gotten to be such a little man. Lots of compromising. We ate some breakfast - he even tried some potato pancake against his better judgment. He got dressed by himself (in camo pants and shirt) an we were off to the store on our bikes to pick up some ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. He thought a nice addition would be butterscotch chips - he was right. The day was going great, and Tara showed up for a visit when it hit - I have NO IDEA what happened to me, but I got really sick. It wasn't quite as bad as the food poisoning in Thailand but it was close. Thank god she was here. So, the wonderful afternoon we'd planned was ruined, and poor Shelby (although later I found out that she didn't mind that much) had to take the afternoon off to look after him. Sucks balls.

I'm feeling a bit better now, and apparently, a few people around town are strangely ill... At least that rules out beaver fever (despite boiling water at camp, I am still paranoid), and hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be back in regular form. I have a lot planned for my second day off - unfortunately this one was wasted in agony and sleeping.

Good blog entry. Maybe tomorrow, I'll tell you about that time I bought office supples - that would probably be more interesting.

back in the city

I made it.

Flying in was pretty uneventful, but informative. Last glimpses of random big machinery and old relics...





We picked up another guy - Brian - on our way to the landing strip, and of course there was time for a quick beer. Should I be proud that I finished mine before anyone else did? Probably not. I even got to sit in the front again.

Here's us landing in Dawson:



And some shots of the flight in:















You know, I live in a pretty incredible place. I mean, to get an opportunity to try something completely new is one thing... How many jobs do you get to commute to work in a plane?!? I was joking with my mom in an email the other day - what a crazy thing: to choose to isolate yourself in the middle of nowhere (I mean it's a 30 minute flight and then a 40 minute drive to the Barker Creek camp) to cook for 5 or 6 men, who are strangers (not to mention a shotgun comes with the job) - that's crazy. And awesome.


So, it's Friday - and you know what that means:


Hooray.

And I am very hung over. I ended up working yesterday at Peggy's, but because I wasn't supposed to, I got off at 8pm. Went for a lovely dinner with Sean to the Aurora, where, this time, despite loving the veal, ordered the filbert crusted salmon. I wasn't disappointed. Then, after the $200 meal (we did have cocktails and a whole bottle of wine), we proceeded to get wasted. Fun times... Sang at the Pit, yelled at Gill (who does that guy think he is, not knowing my name and calling me so-and-so on stage - arg. That guy's head is way too big), stumbled home, made popcorn - you know, the usual. Woke up to a phone call from Dylan wanting to take me for lunch. Then the headache kicked in. And what was the first thing I did at Peggy's? Dropped the bowl full of maraschino cherries in the freshly cleaned fridge. Started cleaning it up, and I guess I wasn't overly aware of where my body was in relation to the fridge, so when I stood up quickly to do something else (answer the phone, stop the sink from overflowing?), I cracked my head so hard that I thought I broke the top of the refrigerator. What a start to the day.


Two more days and Auntie gets her first day off in almost a month. And not soon enough - my house is a disaster, and I could really use some catching up on sleep.

somewhere, a friend of mine is going to sleep.

That's all I could think about when I woke up at 5am. With all of the box burning until midnight, I am sleepy..... but I did have quite the time what with all the burning and drinking the last of my beers.


The weather was nice last night - a little cool - but what did I care - I had a huge bonfire to keep me warm.


And what a sunset.
First thing this morning (did I mention how tired I was) a glass EXPLODED into my hand while I was putting the dishes away... awesome... Now I know what salt in an open wound feels like - along with tomato juice, lemon, lime, soap... Although, barely injuries, the little cuts on my left hand from picking bits of glass out of it sure are cramping my style.

I've decided to forgo the morning nap (I had to drink sooooo much coffee this morning to function at all) and cook instead - until this afternoon.

On the (BIG) list for today:

#1. Sweets
Check, and good timing too - the brownies and banana bread came out of the oven moments before Stuart showed up, and Georgia told me it was always a good idea to have fresh warm brownies for him whenever possible... oh yeah.


#2. Chicken Pot Pies
#3. Baked Mac & Cheese
#4. Broccoli something-or-other















Check. I did the pies with leftovers from the night before and the chicken that I cooked Monday. Looked up a creamy broccoli salad recipe on the interweb - man it's awesome having internet out here, and had the mac & cheese done before I had a midday nap. The mac & cheese recipes is one of my favorites - I originally got it out a Harrowsmith's cookbook, but have altered it to my tastes over the years:

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Step 1: Cook a bit more than a cup of macaroni noodles the usual way. Rinse with cold water, set aside.
Step 2: In a medium sauce pan, melt 3 Tbs butter and whisk in 3 Tbs flour. Add 2 cups milk and stir often over medium heat until sauce thickens. Add salt & pepper to taste (sometimes I also add some dry mustard too for a bit of kick).
Step 3: Slowly incorporate 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (cheddar is the traditional cheese, but I like adding some mozza or swiss). Stir until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick.
Step 4: Grease a small casserole dish and place 2 cups cooked macaroni noodles. Pour in sauce and stir to combine.
Step 5: Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and baked, uncovered, at 350F for about 50 mins.


#6. Something for dinner for Melinda tomorrow (in case she has a similar day coming out here as I did)

Check. I made a big pot of chili. I figured it's easy to reheat, tastes good, and can be frozen if there's lots left over.

#7. Clean the fridges, toss old leftovers, scour the kitchen
#8. Get a whole bunch of lunch stuff ready

Check and check.

And, yes, that's the Food Network on TV...


#9. Pack up to go
#10. Nap (if there's time) I made time for a nap - there was no way I could survive dinner without one.

As soon as Dave took his last bite, he asked if I was ready to go - a quick clean up and good bye camp....


And good bye Fred - you cute french dirt bike riding gold miner.

someone left the cake out in the rain...

Man, I am freaking out.... I'm always joking that I'm a redneck at heart, but what if it's true.... in a huge political discussion that more resembled a debate between Dave and I last night, I found myself agreeing with a lot of the things he was saying... And not just to fit in.... It all seemed to make sense... Oh man. I'm sure it's just the isolation working in my brain (of course I'm still a bleeding heart lefty). I had dreams about camp cooking last night.... what does that mean - can someone help a lady out? I thought I'd try something special for breakfast today. I made about 16 blueberry pancakes. I threw out about 13 blueberry pancakes.... Well, screw you guys - they looked delicious.To be fair no one seemed hungry this morning - Dave had his usual (oatmeal - how he does it every day, I have no idea), Fred did have the 2 or 3 pancakes that got eaten and some thick sliced bacon (but I think he'd eat almost anything out of some weird french table manners thing or something), Gary, as I found out yesterday, despite his size and evening appetite, "don't eat breakfast". The night crew came in, and Brad walked in shortly after the truck turned off to "give me the heads up" that Kevin was going straight to bed, and that I could put everything away if I wanted because, as per usual, he grazes the leftovers instead of eating the breakfast because 1) it reduces waste; and 2) he likes to eat dinner for dinner even though it's 7am. It was nice of him to tell me - I cleaned everything up and went straight back to bed. And slept like the dead for 3 hours.

The accomplishments of the day:

5 dozen chocolate cookies
butter tarts
pastry (which I hope works out) for five pies for tomorrow
egg salad


and dinner:

Roasted Roots and Warm Corn, Mushroom, Leek and Bacon Salad and, drum roll please - (Mom I hope it's okay to divulge your secret recipe - I also named what was always one of my favorite meals):


Barb MacArthur's Famous Stuffed and Slathered Meatloaf

Step 1: Take a pound of lean ground beef and toss it in a bowl. Add 1/2 a diced onion, 1 egg, and salt & pepper, and a handfull of oats (you're basically making hamburger patties). Mix with your hands and add oats until the mixture is still loose but can easily be formed.
Step 2: Line a baking tray with foil (you don't have to, but it makes clean up a heck of a lot easier).
Step 3: Transfer beef to the baking tray and flatten the mixture out into a huge and oblong patty (it's important to spread it almost as wide as the pan).
Step 4: Place either sliced or chopped ham OR cooked cut up bacon OR a mixture of both along the long center of the patty leaving an inch or two on the ends.
Step 5: Place grated cheddar (I suppose any hard cheese will do) on top of the pig on top of the beef.
Step 6: (This one can be a bit tricky.) Carefully fold the long edges of the patty up to meet each other over the filling, pressing together to form a log. Work ends together to prevent rogue cheese from oozing out.
Step 7: Press an indent along the long center of the log (you will see why in Step 9).
Step 8: Make the "slather" by combining equal parts ketchup and brown sugar with a couple squirts of yellow mustard - this is the "Sweet BBQ Sauce" - until you get a sweet and thick sauce.
Step 9: Pour sauce down the indent and spread out, allowing it to drizzle over the sides and ends.
Step 10: Bake for about 45 minutes at 325F or until the beef is cooked (a good indication is melty cheese and clear juices). Remove from oven, let sit for 5 or 10 minutes, cut into slices, and enjoy!

The amount of the stuff the guys ate tonight seemed to suggest that they enjoyed it. And Fred just told me he loved the sauce and when I credited Mom's secret recipe he told me that "your mom, she have some good seecret." That's my mom - bringing me closer to cute french guys since 1979.

This is Zorro. Zorro is Jayne's dog who stays out here to protect Melinda (and me!) from bears - he's not big, but I hear he chases off a mean bear (when he's not sleeping through it). He came inside last night, and he started on the floor of my room, but when i woke up in the middle of the night to a weird breathing sound, I discovered that he'd jumped up into bed and we'de been spooning for god knows how long. I don't know if Melinda lets him do that, but I enjoyed the company and the warmth - it was really cold here last night.

Off to burn some boxes.... and drink the last of my beer.

I found out today that I leave camp Wednesday night - not Thursday like I thought.

and you thought shot guns was a beer thing...

Holy shit it was early when I woke up this morning. Haven't seen the front side of 4:30am in a while. And to be honest, I really didn't need to be up that early, but, after last night, I wanted some extra time this morning. The early was compounded by the fact that there was nothing I could do to fall asleep last night. I guess anxiety and excitement does that. Is it bad if it takes you three beers to calm down and finally fall asleep? The night shift (the language-challenged cutie Fred, and Brad) came back last night at around 9:30pm - I guess the area they were supposed to be working at was flooded.... So I sat on the porch while it rained drinking beer and taking advantage of conversation with wide-awake people. Brad was very informative, and even showed me how to use the shot gun. I didn't fire it, but I think I could if I had to. Best quote of yesterday: "Adrenaline is the best drug going - well legally anyway". This seems to be the beer camp. Brad said he thought it was funny that all the pot heads were over in Georgia's camp, and all the beer drinkers were over here. I'm fine with that - I can control myself after a couple of beers, and we all know what happens when auntie takes a toke...

Speaking of 4:30am... Speaking of shotguns...


Breakfast went off reasonably problem-free. Based on pork chop consumption last night I opted to go with two packages of breakfast sausage - a mistake. Oh well - when life gives you extra breakfast sausage, make sausage rolls (which I did).

Delicious. Also delicious - a little something I like to call:

Leftover ham, Swiss & Sweet Mustard Tartlets

Step 1: Roll out pastry dough (that Melinda kindly left in the fridge)
Step 2: Finely chop leftover ham.
Step 3: Cut rounds out of pastry and press into muffin tins.
Step 4: Throw a dollop of sweet mustard in each cup.
Step 5: Fill each cup with ham chunks.
Step 6: Place sliced swiss on top of the ham.
Step 7: Bake at (shit what was it?) 350F (?) for (shit how long was it?)... until cheese is melted and pastry is cooked & golden.
Step 8: Remove, cool and enjoy. And I did.

Dinner tonight: Chicken Parmesan with Simple Creamy Pasta and Green Salad.


A crowd pleaser.

Had fun talking politics with Dave and making fun of french people - poor Fred - so cute, so french.



Boiled a whole bunch of eggs today - man the water... words won't do justice to what it does to eggshells....




That there, is NOT tea, nor lemonade - that my friends is my drinking water. Not to worry, it was boiled, but I'm not going to lie, it's hard to look at and harder to bring myself to drink.


Also, by far the funniest thing I've encountered here so far:

I've been using it, but, man, would I love to see one of these burly dirty men drink a cup of joe out of it.

This is what I'm taking to bed with me:

Rhubarb Cream Cheese Dessert.

Not too bad.


Good night kitchen - see you in 5 hours. (I'll probably get into this schedule the day I leave.)

you can take a girl out of town...

So, let me tell you about my first day at camp....

That's gold mining camp (for those of you who might have thought I was camping...)

The day started with me frantically running around, packing, cleaning the house, finishing up some business, etc.... I was at home at 1pm to wait for Dave (the guy picking me up to fly me out) to call, like I was told. He called at 2pm to tell me that he was running late and would pick me up at 3pm. Now keep in mind, this is my first solo camp cooking gig, Melinda (who I'm relieving) came in last night, so I have no idea what I'm walking into or where anything is, I have to make dinner tonight, and we're picking up a grocery order that has to be put away to boot.... So he picks me up, we pick up groceries, he makes a couple of stops and we head to the airport. In the plane at 4pm, and off. A storm front prompted Dave to take me on the "scenic" route - which was scenic but much longer than normal. Land, unload the plane, and off in the truck (which Dave informed me was currently just two-wheel drive due to a mechanical issue, and, "as long as it didn't rain a whole lot, we should be fine"). Well, because it rained tons last night, the road was basically a mud bog (great since I missed the festivities in town), which at points had me a little nervous, especially given that Dave seemed more interested in checking out the landscape more often than the road. So, I'm sitting there, trying to mask my aprehension, thinking "okay - there's going to be just enough time to put away the groceries and do something with the pork chops Melinda left to thaw for me"... and then - wait for it - FLAT TIRE!

So now it's 5:15pm, i am dirty from helping with said tire, and we still have another 20 minutes of treacherous driving through a series of "switchbacks" (basically, a ridiculously zig-zagging path down what would otherwise be a very steep slope).

Now, I was told that the most important things about camp cooking was to have lots of food and on time. First dinner (for the night guys) is supposed to be on the table at 6pm. Oh yeah - right on, it is 5:40pm and I have no idea where anything is, boxes of groceries all over, dirty dishes, and - oh sweet - the pork chops are still frozen....

How did I save the day? With charm and wit of course.

May I present:

White Trash Chops with Mushroom Sauce, Microwaved then Broiled Asparagus & The Quickest Mashed Potatoes Ever in 20 Minutes & 15 Simple Steps.

(photo taken is in leftover form - although it didn't look much better to start with- except for there was soggy asparagus too....)

Step 1: Freak out a little.
Step 2: Throw frozen pork chops into microwave to defrost.
Step 3: Peel some potatoes (after finally finding the peeler), and find some left over baby spuds to add to the mix. Chop very small and throw into a pot of water.
Step 4: Carefully ignite burner to boil potatoes.
Step 5: Check on pork chops - almost thawed - good enough. Place some olive oil in a skillet and throw in chops to quickly brown both sides. Turn heat down, cover.
Step 6: Find and open a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Step 7: Asparagus! Trim, toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper. Place in a preheated (you wish) oven at, oh say, 400 degrees, decide that they will never cook fast enough, and toss them in the microwave instead.
Step 8: Poke potatoes... yep - still raw.
Step 9: Introduce yourself to the night crew starting to filter in, apologize profusely for dinner being late, and remember "oh shit - lunch stuff isn't out".... say a quick prayer (not that you believe in anything) that there's lots of lunch stuff from yesterday still (phew - there is) and toss meat cheese, condiments, fruit, veggies, and sweets out. No juice made up - okay now you boil water so you can make some juice. It won't be ready in time, but you have to try.
Step 10: Poke potatoes - they're coming.
Step 11: Fuck - pork chops! It's okay, they're fine - definitely thawed, mostly cooked. At this point, add your can of soup and some whipping cream, cover and simmer.
Step 12: Remove asparagus from the microwave and put in the searing hot oven to brown a bit. Don't forget about them.
Step 13: Drain potatoes. Return to pot, add cream, butter, mash. Leave lidded on stovetop to keep warm.
Step 14: Move cooked porkers to a serving dish. Add some more cream to the "gravy" and stir to deglaze the pan. At this point, you can add fresh mushrooms (which I did when I repeated this exact frantic dinner for the next crew for 7pm). Stir, thicken. Pour over pork chops.
Step 15: Throw meat and potatoes on the table with furrowed brow..... something's missing.... FUCK, THE ASPARAGUS. Remove the overcooked (but not burnt) asparagus from the oven and place on table.

Repeat for the guys coming in in half an hour.

Not exactly my best foot forward, but everybody seemed to like it okay.... even had some "thank yous" and one "that was good". And they ate all the asparagus! The worst part of the meal, and they ate it up! No dessert guys, sorry - maybe tomorrow.

Welcome to Schmidt Mining.