Kaimusailing

I was securing any items outside that might be inundated by rain. The air had that raw feeling and rain was forecast overnight. It was middle of the afternoon and there was no motivation to do anything more. No sitting and reading. I had a late lunch with the last bit of shrimp gumbo. I found Campbell’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo online and I could buy it at Walmart. It had good reviews online. I think it was $1.72 a can.
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When I cleaned up from the cream soup I didn’t stop, I cleaned my two burner cook top that hadn’t been cleaned since the Pleistocene Era. A clean galley is a happy galley. Out in the boatyard it seemed activities were winding down. Saturday before the Super Bowl. Oppressive winter airs coming from up North and it felt like rain or snow would be upon us.
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Roughrider Lynn texted that they couldn’t get the channel that would have the Super Bowl and were going up to Rick’s on Super Bowl Sunday to watch the game, invited me. I invited Robert and Eloisa to watch the game, both reneged. Robert had a smart TV that he could watch just about anything. It cost a hundred dollars more than my dumb TV. I said I couldn’t afford that. Eloisa wanted to have her dog Blue along and the outside temperature at Rick’s would be about 50 degrees Super Bowl time. Where is Rick’s she asked, I replied, Casablanca. Actually Rick’s is Pirate’s Cove, the gas station restaurant.
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Roughrider Lynn dropped me and Helicopter Dave off at the restaurant. She continued on to shop at the grocers. She didn’t get back in time for the kickoff, but that didn’t matter, she sat with her back to the TV, didn’t care about football at all. I ordered food as soon as I got in and had red bell pepper soup with tortellini and a BLT sandwich that was fried in Irish butter. The game started. Dave had beer and whisky, with ice separate. I had malbec. It was understood that I was getting treated, just don’t worry about it, order more wine, watch the game, converse. The game was a real super bowl with heroic action and a close score all the way through. In the end it was just a defensive struggle with fantastic offensive plays here and there, but the defenses dictated the outcome. The bill was paid by my benefactors and it must have been a big bill. I think I had about a half dozen malbecs. Dave had ordered the nacho platter with extra jalapenos. I dug in with a relish, but I had to back off a bit. Dave was also relishing the platter. The game, the platter, the malbecs, it was over, a good night out watching a great football game.
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The next day I was supposed to make soup for Pizza Night, go figure. I was wandering around in shorts and short sleeved shirt with a windbreaker. The temperatures were deceptive, 37 degrees at daybreak, 60 something in the afternoon, but then we know it will plummet again. I had run out of long pants and had to do laundry. Robert gave me his vehicle and didn’t ask for any money. I realized later that I couldn’t go far without fuel, and I put $20 of fuel in, but the gauge was only about on ¼. I had to stop at the Post Office, but I went first to the laundry and put the clothes in, had to go next door to the Wee Pub to get change for a twenty to get change at the laundry’s change machine that can only take up to a 5. Laundry laundering, I went to Winn-Dixie to get shrimp to replace the shrimp in my tiny fridge that went unplugged, not by design, I also got a couple boxes of wine, a chocolate heart, and bread for breakfast, I looked for bread the shape of what I cooked.
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Laundry in the drier, vehicle stalling out, this is when I put the fuel in. Post Office had a line a mile long, it was Monday. I ended up with a package, for Lynn and Dave, it was probably a USB WiFi adapter. Back to laundry, fold and remove to the boatyard. Unpack, stow, return vehicle and a heart shaped chocolate sampler. But Robert was there to greet me and drove me up to my bicycle, then drove off while I was left with the bicycle and the heart shaped chocolate sampler. I rode past Rocky the hard nosed owner of the boatyard and chief crane operator. I rode around. There were a couple of people at the second entrance of the boatyard from the main road and when I got closer I realized it was Andy, my neighbor back in November, and a woman. I passed them and put the chocolates in a safe shaded place and began pedaling through the yard. I ran into Eloisa. We had a radar moment and I cycled to get the chocolates and gave her the Valentine’s heart of chocolates, she tried to hug me, but on the bicycle it didn’t work. She liked cheesy chocolates. I was out $7.99. That’s with the discount from Winn-Dixie rewards.
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I went back up to Andy and his woman, they were trying to get uber to get their vehicle up in Brunswick, almost an hour away. I texted Robert, do you want to uber to brunswick? He came back and took them up to Brunswick. I ran into Geoff who was cycling in the warm afternoon. I was on a schedule to make the soup, I allowed an hour for it and was already late, Geoff likes to talk. I felt like a timer was ticking off and we were going to be blown up by the undefused bomb. Somehow I was allowed to try to prepare for Pizza Night soup. I put a fresh box of burgundy on the stone table and went back to get other things. Blue scampered up and Eloisa came soon after asking me for something. I looked at her face and into her eyes, she wanted a finger of a leather glove. Kinky. I found out later she wanted to weave palm fronds. Time was ticking away. When do you need this, I asked, maybe tomorrow, yes, OK, I’m running late to make this soup. She understood my priorities and me hers.
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I put the stock pot on my propane cook top and began pouring bottles of clam juice into it with it lit. At the same time I began chopping mushrooms, or slicing and chopping, dumping them into the pot willy nilly. I added 2 tablespoons of red chili paste, 2 tablespoons of tom yum paste, 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a dollop of fish oil, some soy sauce, low sodium, a couple teaspoons of sesame oil, and scrambled 3 eggs with a fork and streamed that into the broth in a thin stream while slowly stirring with a ladle. I did put some cooking sherry in there somewhere along the line.
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I had a bowl with a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with some water, ladle in some of the stock from the stock pot, keep mixing, ladle more, keep mixing, ladle, mix, ladle, pour it into the pot and mix the pot. Actually I did this before doing the egg drops.
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I tasted the soup and added soy sauce, I tasted and added the sesame oil. I added the frozen shrimp, brought the pot to the stone table near the woodshop. Brought out bowls and plastic spoons. Texted, soup is on, texted photo of the soup. Had a tasting bowl, just for the chef to determine if it is palatable. A certain black dog comes galloping up, Blue, and behind him, Eloisa with a heart shaped box of chocolates, and other things I may have forgot to bring. Soon Roughrider Lynn and Helicopter Dave arrive. We have a bowl of the soup. The Breezeway renter comes by and I call him over to have some soup. He drinks it from the bowl without a spoon and compliments me.
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Robert and his 3 legged puppy Haitchi show up and sampled the soup. The heart shaped box of chocolates are attacked and I got a couple of good ones. Lynn gave me a small amount of beef soup to try. I left the remainder of the seafood soup out on deck, it was cold enough to refrigerate everything.
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The next morning clean up was easy, Lynn had taken the bowls to wash, so all I had was the stock pot, knife, ladle, and a mixing bowl to wash.
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The image is of the seafood hot and sour soup just as it was being served. Yum.