Mid Winter Dinner!!! (A month late...)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mid Winter was a month ago. But it's still cool! And the food is something I'm really proud of. So the first pic is our Mid Winter Greeting. This is something that all the stations around the continent participate in. We get together, take a photo, write a poem or some simple words of good wishes, and send it out all over the continent. It's pretty cool to know your not alone out there. Captn Dave Bardun took this photo of us in front of the Cape Renard and the Graham Coast area. Yes, that is the mainland. The actual continent.



Below is the Mid Winter Menu. I know that most have seen this already or at least knew what was on it. But it was fun to create! Most Mid Winter menus I've seen and worked with are very flashy. Lots of fancy designs with telescopes and Poles and fish and blahblahblah. We made this one simple. Dave stained it with tea water and baked them for about ten minutes. It turned out smelling great and crispy! But not tough enough to roll. We tied a bow to each of them and had them on all the place settings when people arrived.



This is the Palmer dining room and the way the tables were set up for service. It was a great idea by all the people that helped out. We were all able to sit and eat in the round as a big family. It gave the meal a real fancy feel with out being snooty or pretentious. Thanks to all who helped set it up.



This is me getting things ready. Everything went out in courses. L. Trot, or Lisa our Station Manager, volunteered to help out by serving. So I would plate all the courses and she would deliver them to the tables. So that the others on station could relax and have food served to them. Always a treat down here. This is the first and only time I have/will worn/wear the Palmer Chef coat. I like my tee shirts better.



This is just one of the hors d'oeuvres that we had out. The bacon wrapped scallops were a hit. Along with the Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Canapes. I was able to save some baby tomatoes and freeze them for two months so we could thaw them and have them for Mid Winter. We were well out of freshies at this point so the appearance of tomatoes was great!



Apparently I forgot to turn the hood fan on whilest frying up the bacon. And, since we have a very sensitive fire system, L. Trot was able to spring into action and cover the detector. We don't want a fire alarm in the middle of our festivities. Especially once caused by the cook. Yikes.



Here, Sean and Dave are ordering from the menu. People could pick whatever they wanted and it was prepared for them. Just like in a fancy restaurant. As you can see, Lisa underwent several garment changes throughout the evening...



Cory likes the soup! I think? I don't know what the hell this face means...



Here I am preparing the soup. Ok, these pictures are out of order. But I hate computers and don't care enough to waste my time fiddling with them. Cream of Pumpkin and Garam Masala. Awesome soup! Thanks to James Brown for the suggestion! Yeah dawg!



Neal and Drew like the tossed salad! HA! Iceberg lettuce tossed with the last remaining fresh vegetables and a roasted garlic vinaigrette. The lettuce tasted a bit bitter but I don't think anyone cared. It had been a month since we had fresh salad greens.



Lisa dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow delivering the entrees.



Finished Pumpkin Soup. Garnished with Roasted Pumpkin Seed, Creme Fraiche and Fresh Mint.



Finished Meat Plate! Stuffed Tenderloin wrapped in bacon stuffed with spinach, bleu cheese and roasted red peppers. Served with roasted root veg medley, spinach orzo and garnished with tomatoes.



Apple Dumpling Dessert!



Lisa's final serving outfit. I believe the conversation went as follows...
Keith: Who's that cow running around the dining room?
Lisa: That's the only time you can call me a cow and get away with it!

Touche!



Sorry this was so late. I'll try to do better at keeping up with this. But the reality is...I probably won't.

Band Blog!!

Band blog Band blog, Ya Ya Ya!

Yes, there is even music during a Palmer Station winter. A surprisingly huge turnout actually. There are 18 of us here for the winter and 7 of them show up every Tuesday in TerraLab for band practice. That's almost half the station! Sweet.

Some of us played a little open mic in the bar before the last boat left, but now that we have months ahead of us we can really sit and practice some songs. There are people of all different skill levels so it's nice to learn new things and teach some things as well.


This is Johnny on the right and Cory on the left. Johnny was actually at Pole with me last winter. He didn't play there so it was awesome to see what he can do. And he rocks! Singing and playing!


This is Sean our Electrician. He just picked up the mandolin when we got here in April and hasn't put it down. It sounds great with all the songs we picked, especially the bluegrass tune!


This is Steve Sweet in the front and Buttercup in the back. I know Buttercup (Andrew) from my summer at Pole. Both Steve and Drew make up the acoustic section of the band. And I included Steve's last name because one band name in the running is "Steve Sweet and the Sweet Steve's." Can't get much more apropos than that!!


This here's Cory our one resident scientist. I guess this makes him the chief scientist. He's here studying fish. He's actually mating them! NOT mating with them. Let's make that clear. There are no Troy McLure's down here...

Cory is our shredder guitarist. Not much more to say. Slash, eat your heart out!


I find these next two pictures awesome! This is the Palmer Station drum kit. Perfect for the little space that we have. But it is literally a Playskool or Fisher Price first drum kit. Note the empty buckets used as toms. Classic ICE.


And this is Capt. Dave Bardun. Some of you may know him. He is of April the Leukemic Cat fame. This is the guy that goes home and plays awesome music in his basement on a huge drum kit. He is clearly not a Fisher Price guy. But he makes do. He's also singing on a couple songs.


Look at that friggin bass! Awesome! We dub it "Satan's Bass" because it was most certainly forged by the Dark Lord himself in the 7th circle of hell. I mean, LOOK at it! Sweet.



Now I'm not one to TOOT my own horn, but I've started learning this and I think I'm catching on. I've never been much of a guitarist. I can read tab but not notes. I've never done the percussion side of things before and it is a change. But I'm catching on and really liking it.



Johnny, Cory and myself are putting together a lengthy acoustic Metallica medley with all our favorite parts of various songs. We can't really loud here like we could at Pole, we we can definitely wail on acoustic guitars/basses. And Satan's Bass.



So far our set list is...
Island in the Sun-Weezer
Used to Call Me Baby-Split Lip Rayfield
Creep-Radiohead
Out Loud-Dispatch

And we have a couple more to practice as time goes on.

Stay tuned for Mid Winter Photos...