Why Yes You Do Have to Climb That Ladder

Well its Sunday again and I've been home since Tuesday. But it has been a busy week and I wanted to get a few pictures on here. I don't think I have mentioned that I was on the Ohio River last week. One of the major differences in the Lower Mississippi and Ohio Rivers is that on the Ohio River there are locks and dams to go through. We went through several during my 6 days on the boat. It looks completely different. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how the lock process works. The difference in this lock experience is that at 10:15 am, about 20 minutes before we approached the lock, the captain called down and said we were gonna do crew change while in the lock. Now that meant it was right in the middle of lunch. I made 2 pans of chicken rotel, (recipe follows) one for us and one for the crew coming on along with green beans, turnip greens, corn, and salad with wheat bread. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat!! :(



But back to the story. After I got all my stuff together, I was standing in the galley finishing up. The pilot walks in and says, "Ready to hit the ladder?" (See the picture above) I looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. I hadn't considered HOW we were getting off the boat. At this point let me confess that in orientation when they were discussing climbing lock walls I didn't listen very well. I was going to the lower Mississippi and we don't have locks, so I assumed that would never happen to me. Well we know what assuming does!!



The boarding crew threw the monkey line, used to offload our luggage and load their luggage. I asked if I could stick my foot in the loop and let them haul me up. No dice!! So I belted on my life vest, so of course I couldn't see my feet. (Who am I kidding? I can't see my feet without the life vest without bending over!!! ) So looking like a big orange pumpkin, I approached the ladder. Twenty five feet above my head was my destination!!



I looked at the Mate and said, "Any suggestions?" He said, "Hand over hand. Three points on the ladder at all times." I asked him if I had any more points I could keep on the ladder cause three just didn't seem like enough!! He just shook his head and said, "Don't embarrass Mississippi!" And off I went. I can cross that off my bucket list now!!


It has been a busy time at home. Wednesday we spent the day at the zoo, Thursday Lauren and David left for his brother's wedding in Orange Beach, and Saturday we went to Andrea Hawkins and Brett Rakestraw's wedding. Beautiful!! Congratulations to Andrea and Britt and Will and Kelci.


Time to start packing up cause tomorrow will be a busy day. Got to get my hair did before I leave!!!




Till later......


Chicken Rotel

4 chicken breasts - boiled, deboned and shredded
2 quarts chicken stock
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 cans rotel tomatoes
1 pound thin spaghetti
1 lb velveeta cheese, cubed
1 8 oz can mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen English peas
Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray 13 x 9 casserole with Pam and place chicken in dish.
• Combine broth, onions, bell pepper, butter and rotel tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
• Add broken spaghetti and cook al dente. (About 8-10 minutes.)
• Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir gently. If needed add a little more liquid to make it runny. Will thicken when it cooks.
• Pour over chicken and mix.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Well its been a busy three days. I'm still lost in this galley, but I'll be gone by Tuesday so I'm not moving anything. This crew is different from any other I have cooked for. The captain, engineer, one mate, and two deckhands eat lunch; the pilot, the other mate and two deck hands eat breakfast and dinner. I could actually have the same thing for lunch and dinner everyday and it would be fine, but how boring for me!! Friday of course was FRY-day so we had fish of course. Friday night I made shrimp gumbo and cheese biscuits which went over pretty well.
I grilled monster ribeyes yesterday along with burgers and hot dogs.

But today.....GLORIOUS SUNDAY. The captain told me to sleep in. The crew asked yesterday for breakfast for lunch so that's what we did. When I got up at 8 a.m.!!!!!!! I made biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, French toast, fresh fruit, Gorilla bread (recipe follows) and omelets to order. I had a bigger mess than I would have if I had done a full buffet for 50 people!!! lol

The crew is really easy going. One mate and leadman are from Philadelphia so they are always telling me that Mississippi folks need to stick together. They asked for fried okra, tomato gravy and homemade biscuits!!! The Mate says that most of the cooks are Yanks and don't know Southern.

We had some excitement Friday. Just as the watch changed at lunch, we had a line snap. Luckily this crew had it all together and we didn't end up on the bank or worse with 12 barges free floating!!!! It was a little iffy there for a little bit!!

Yesterday, we did drills. I have my own way of remembering what they mean:
Abandon Ship - 7 short blasts and 1 long blast - (7 words) Grab Your Vest, Get To Tow, Pray
Fire - 1 long blast - FFIIIIRRRREEEEE!!!

Talked to Mollee and Lauren. We are going to take the girls to the zoo on Wednesday when I get home. So exxcitteeddd!! I think I have more fun than they do. Mollee, Chet, Lauren, Davo, Marty, Caleigh, Kynnadi and I are going. Can't wait.

Bout time to get started on the chicken for supper, cause what would Sunday on the river be without fried chicken!! I'm afraid I don't have much to tell. Everyday is pretty much the same. I apologize for being boring!! :(

Till later....................


Gorilla Bread

1 stick butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cans cheap canned biscuits (10 ct)
1 8 oz cream cheese cut in 20 pieces
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

• Liberally spray Bundt pan with Pam.
• Melt butter and brown sugar in small saucepan over low heat.
• Combine white sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.
• Cut cream cheese into 20 equal pieces.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped nuts in Bundt pan.
• Open1 can of biscuits and flatten in palm of hand one at a time. Place 1/2 teaspoon of sugar mixture and 1 piece of cream cheese in center. Fold edges around and crimp. Place in Bundt pan. Follow with rest of biscuits.
• Pour half of butter mixture over biscuits and sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans.
• Open second can of biscuits and continue process until all are used.
• Pour rest of butter mixture over biscuits and top with last 1/2 cup of pecans.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 55 -60 minutes. Do not overcook.

Invert on cake plate for 5 minutes before removing pan. Wonderful warm, not too shabby cold!!

They Called and I Answered the Phone

Well I was suppose to be home until May 25 when I got off the boat on April 23. They called me on Monday April 26 and said, "Will you come work until next Monday?" Since Lauren totalled her car I thought extra cash would be great. I drove to Paducah, crewed up Tuesday morning, and off we went to St. Louis to get right back on the boat I had just gotten off of on Friday. I settled in on my regular boat which was great cause I knew where everything was!! Well the river rose and on Thursday they said, "We gonna tie up again. We gonna send you on back home." Ok by me. I had grandbabies to keep, a car to shop for after I dealt with the insurance and oh yeah, it was Mother's Day and someone needed to cook lunch!!

So I went and got Caleigh on Wednesday and went to Oxford to pick up a load of La's stuff (cause remember she's got no ride and is working and taking finals.) Thank goodness for a sweet boyfriend willing to ferry her to work and the library!! Caleigh and I had a wonderful time playing in the water and enjoying the sunshine until Saturday. She was in a wedding in Southaven so I had to take her home and I went back by Oxford to collect the last of La's stuff and her. Of course this was a pretty lengthy operation. By the time we got home, Mollee and Caleigh were there. Heather and Mike got there on Sunday. I missed the boys but that is the way it works sometimes! :(

On Monday in the pouring rain, Marty, Lauren and I went to Burns Motors and found just the car she wanted right out of the gate!! Yayyyyy!! She is now the proud owner of a Ford Escape. Tuesday was loan arrangements, insurance, tag and all that goes with it. On Wednesday, she was going to Oxford to turn in keys and talk to her employer about the fall. After lunch she left, I thought aahhh I believe I'll take a nap. As that thought skirted round my brain, Dispatch called and said, "If you want to work, can you be here at 8 am in the morning?" So no nap, pack up, drive up and crew up. At least there was no long commute. The R. Clayton McWhorter was right at the landing at the foot of the hill!! It is set up completely different from my boat so I'm a little lost. My bedroom is about half the size and I have a twin bed instead of my regular fullsize. But the captain and crew are great so far. More on them as I make observations. The cook I relieved had a roast in the crockpot and pintos and potatoes on the stove, bless her. All I had to do was make up a salad and fry up a batch of okra.

This afternoon I made 2 pecan pies and some brownies (recipe follows). These guys told me they were dessert eaters. Only three of them usually eat dinner so nighttime will be easy.
Tonight I am frying potatoes with onions, grilled cabbage, and some ham cause we have pintos and cornbread left over.

Till later...................


Chocolate Brownies

4 squares unsweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plain flour
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

• Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave bowl at high 2 minutes or until butter is melted.
• Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
• Stir in sugar
• Mix in eggs and vanilla.
• Stir in flour and pecans. Spread in greased 13 x 9 pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. (Do not overcook)
• Cool and cut.

I like to put a can of chocolate cake frosting on brownies while they are still warm and sprinkle with chopped pecans.