Kitchens of August 2024

Dining from the Ship’s Kitchen for One Week

The ship’s kitchen.

From August 17-25, our meals came from the excellent kitchen of the Lindblad-National Geographic Endeavor II as we were touring the Galapagos Islands. Beginning with a wonderful and varied breakfast buffet, we enjoyed each day’s food. Except for one barbecue buffet (originally planned to be on the deck, but the wind was too high) we sat down and had excellent table service for lunches and dinners. Despite the sometimes-frantic pace of multiple excursions to shore, the meals were always very relaxed, and we were happy with the companionship of other passengers onboard.

The kitchen viewed through a window (with reflections).

Every morning I ate the fruit from the breakfast buffet — especially the papaya.
Several counters were loaded with amazing choices of cereals, eggs, Ecuadorian pastry, and much more.

Desserts from the kitchen

As we entered the dining room we would see the beautifully plated desserts waiting to be served at the end of our meal.

Flan and chocolate lava cakes. MMMM! Dessert buffet after the barbecue meal.

Chocolate mousse cup served with an edible spoon made from white chocolate.
Ecuadorian chocolate is the best in the world, and the taste is unbelievable.

Tropical flavors: coconut, lemon, pineapple.

Len’s birthday cake — another beautiful creation from the ship’s kitchen.

And more…

The food was very flavorful but never hot-spicy. However, hot sauce was always on the table.

Salads were part of most meals. This one with flowers was especially pretty.

Another salad with an interesting crisp garnish.

Carrots, broccoli, and palm hearts.

Somehow by the time I received my main course I was always so engaged in conversation with my fellow diners that I never took photos of the plates, but believe me, there was always a wonderful local fish option and a meat or chicken option with many different vegetable and starchy side dishes. Potatoes, which are native to Ecuador and the Andes mountains were often on the menu. Yucca or casava was also used, as was a wide variety of sweet corn. Interesting fact: popcorn is used as a garnish for ceviche. 

We had a beautiful week on the Endeavor II.

In My Kitchen At Home in Ann Arbor

Now for my normal report on what’s happening in my kitchen — shared with the other bloggers at Sherry’s blog. And with the bloggers at Deb’s Sunday Salon.

Magnets from Ecuador on my refrigerator.

New napkin holder from the Quito Artisan Market.

Using Michigan’s great local produce in August…

Figs aren’t local but they are in season in August.

Plus one barbecue in our back yard: served with the lingonberry jam we bought at Ikea.

Since we came back:

Blog post and photos © 2024 mae sander