So many of you have asked about the food situation up here that I thought I'd do a post dedicated to it. I'll talk about mealtimes, facilities and the food itself.
All meals are on a schedule, with breakfast from 0700 - 0800, lunch from 1130 - 1230 and supper from 1700 - 1800. As I don't usually eat before 7:30 back home, much less 6, going to dinner at 5 was a big change for me. I've gotten used to it now, but I can't wait to get home and have some nice late dinners where I'm good and hungry (as everyone knows, food tastes better on an empty stomach :P).
As people close to me know, I like my sleep, and I was worried that I'd be in trouble with an early scheduled weekend meal (I can wake up for workdays, but do like to sleep in on the weekends). Fortunately, weekends only have 2 meals a day, a 1030 - 1230 'brunch' and a 1700 - 1800 supper. I may have mentioned this earlier, but weekend days up here are tremendously laid back. The first weekend I was here I was actually kind of nervous, because I didn't see another human being until about 3 in the afternoon! People tend to sleep in, nurse hangovers and watch movies in common rooms. I'm fine with the slow pace, as during the week things tend to come at you pretty quickly.
The food up here is plentiful, varied and FAR above my expectations of any military base, not to mention one located in such an isolated environment. The menu is extremely varied, with only a few days that maintain a common meal. Breakfast's are usually the same, with cooked to order eggs (including omelets), several types of meat (bacon, sausage, ham, etc), pancakes, french toast, oatmeal, potatoes of some kind, as well as a wide variety of cereal, yogurt and fresh fruit. The fruit might have surprised me the most of all the food up here. I never would have thought that fruit of that quality could have made it up here, but now, thinking of the huge journeys that our oranges from Florida or apples from New Zealand make, it doesn't seem to outlandish.
Lunches and dinners are quite different as well, and I haven't had the same thing twice. There is the same assortment of fruit, cheeses and salads (both lettuce and artisan types) as well as every juice imaginable and whole, skim and chocolate milks. Main courses are very good, and there is always enough selection that there is something for everyone. There is always a fish, meat and pasta choice, as well as accompanying rice, potatoes, vegetables and other meal-related things. For example, if pasta is the main dish, there will usually be garlic bread.
The two nights of the week that have set menus are Wednesday (steak) and Friday (alternating between pizza/wings and burgers). Of course there are the alternatives for vegetarians and the like, but the main courses are known. I can't remember everything that I've had up here, but just some examples from this week would be: beef curry with rice and samosas, huge pork roast freshly sliced onto your plate and a "DQ Night" where the kitchen made up everything like Dairy Queen, including making their own Oreo Blizzards complete with hand drawn DQ logos on the side!!
As you can see from the pictures, the dining hall is made up of several large tables, with no arranged seating. People tend to form their own tables, but if the meal is quiet (weekend mornings) people condense themselves down. Everyone knows everyone to some degree.
Well, tonight is going to be Poker for the first time. Hopefully I can get some beginner's luck and use my lack of skill to my advantage against some of the better players. Unpredictability (even to myself :P) can throw off a good player...hopefully. **Update: 2nd last in Poker...but it was fun***
Hope everyone is well 'down there',
Graham
Wow, Graham
ReplyDeleteI never imagined that the dining room, food would be that extensive. Looks like I need to get myself up to Alert eh? Glad you're having a good time!