The steward of the Edmund Fitzgerald stepped into my bakeshop and made\u00a0this \u00a0brief announcement, “The Captain is\u00a0 having guests for dinner tonight , so be sure to chill some white wine.”<\/p>\n
Knowing they were going to have seafood or chicken, I immediately went to the liquor cabinet and chose a Chablis.<\/p>\n
We had\u00a0just departed from Silver Bay, Minnesota and were heading eastward on Lake Superior. The seas were gentle and I knew I would not \u00a0have much difficulty serving the passengers.<\/p>\n
My greatest concern during the captain’s dinner was to plan well ahead so that I wouldn’t have to flee at the last moment to get something I had forgotten, committing a faux pas by answering a guest’s question, then having the captain graciously give his version\u00a0 which would inevitably contradict whatever I had said.<\/p>\n
My mind became a jumble of facts and figures and subconsciously I reviewed some of them.\u00a0 “Let’s see now, Two Harbirs is about 26 miles northeast of Duluth and about371 miles from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.<\/p>\n
Depending upon the weather, it usually 24 hours to sail from Silver Bay to the Soo Locks and about 12 to 14 hoursto get to Port Huron.<\/p>\n
A deckwatch jolted me back to reality, saying, “The captain gave the passengers a tour of Silver Bay this morning and said you should “chill” this wine for his dinner tonight.<\/p>\n
The wine label told me the wine was a Pinot Chardonnay, a wine we didn’t have in our liquor closet so\u00a0 I placed it in the refrigerator and went to my cabin to learn all I could about this n0ble white wine.\u00a0 This time I would be well prepared!<\/p>\n
After lunch hour was over, I returned to the galley with renewed enthusiasm.\u00a0 Iprepared a tray of my finest hors d’oeuvres\u00a0 and had the passenger porter deliver them to the passenger’s lounge.<\/p>\n
I went into the galley and asked the steward if he had any suggestions for an after-dinner drink.<\/p>\n
“What do you have in mind?’ he asked.<\/p>\n
“Oh, I can give them Brandy Alexanders, Pink Squirrels or Grasshoppers”<\/p>\n
“Brandy Alexanders sound good, he replied.<\/p>\n
“O.K.\u00a0 Brandy Alexanders it shall be!”<\/p>\n
When they arrived, I made them feel welcome. \u00a0 I gracefully pulled out the chairs for each lady and gestured where the men should sit. Moments later the captain’s dinner was underway.<\/p>\n
Everything went smoothly.\u00a0 Planning ahead assured that.<\/p>\n
The captain, sitting at the head of the table began the dinner conversation as I entered with the chilled salads<\/p>\n
When the time came to serve the wine, I beamed with pride. and everyone stopped eating as I began my little speech.<\/p>\n
“Ladies…..gentlemen, our dinner wine for this evening will be Pinot Chardonnay.\u00a0 With a napkin draped over my wrist,I held it high for all to see, and continued, “It is\u00a0 a noble white wine made from Chardonnay grapes.\u00a0 Since these grapes have a smaller yield, this makes the wine more expensive.\u00a0Our captain went up town in Silver Bay and purchased this wine especially \u00a0for dinner tonight.\u00a0 We sincerely hope you enjoy it.”<\/p>\n
As I began filling one of the lady’s glasses with wine, I could hear the captain’s voice \u00a0almost apologetically say,\u00a0 “George, I didn’t buy the wine,\u00a0 Our passengers bought it!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The steward of the Edmund Fitzgerald stepped into my bakeshop and made\u00a0this \u00a0brief announcement, “The Captain is\u00a0 having guests for dinner tonight , so be sure to chill some white wine.” Knowing they were going to have seafood or chicken, … Continue reading