A Very McMurdo Christmas

 Y'all, I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year, I'm enthusiastic about all of it—the lights, the cookies, the gifts, the music, and of course, the Reason for the Season, the birth of Jesus. But all that to say that I'm always excited to celebrate Christmas, and while I always like to spend the holiday with my family, I can make the best of a real McMurdo Christmas.

While we're not as bad as supermarkets putting out Christmas decorations before Halloween, the Christmas spirit had taken hold immediately after Thanksgiving. Dorm doors were getting decorated, Christmas movies were on the station TV channels, and Christmas music was playing over the various kitchen speakers. I myself was definitely annoying some coworkers with my eclectic Christmas playlist. (I'm kind enough to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but then they can't stop me.)

For a place that will take any opportunity to party, you know that holiday festivities were abounding. Every shift had some kind of movie night. So even for us midrats, the option to watch The Polar Express and Elf double feature in the coffee house was there. There were Christmas dance parties in the gym, Christmas themed workouts and yoga—because the holiday can't stop the gains—and one of my buddies made his own eggnog and mulled wine for a small get-together, in a process that it's probably best I not ask too many questions about.

The real active day for the station was actually Christmas Eve. This was when all the scheduled events were taking place. For me, Christmas Eve started at midnight, considering my weird sleep schedule, but I did have the 24th and 25th off, so that was nice. The first Christmas-y thing I did was attend the Christmas Eve service in the chapel. In keeping with the tradition of what my family calls "Chr-Easters," the chapel was more full than most Sundays. We sang a few Christmas carols, read the Christmas story from Luke, received a sermon about Simeon in the temple who gave a blessing for the newly born Jesus, and finally shared in Communion—using the Erebus Chalice no less!

(Holidays are when we bring out the good China.)

The real star of a McMurdo Christmas Eve, however, is the banquet. There's contention from those who've been here for a few seasons about which is better, the Thanksgiving meal or Christmas. But whatever side you might fall on, the food we got was phenomenal. Everyone in the main kitchen was putting in extra effort to get it all just right. Even the simple dishes like lemon risotto and herb green beans were very well done. The big draw were the entrees, of course. While the beef tenderloin was excellent, the most fun and unique addition were the crab legs and lobster tails. Now, I'm not typically a fan of lobster—it's more like a convenient way to eat more butter—but even I enjoyed the seafood. A bit of Surf and Turf is a great way to make a meal memorable.

(The lobster is sadly not freshly caught down here.)

But the real attraction of the banquet was the desserts. I've been singing the praises of our bakery in a number of articles now, but they really outdid themselves this time around. Any of you local might know about the Naevestad Christmas Open House and the sheer amount of cookies we've baked for it over the years. So when I say they made a lot of cookies, just know that I mean it. For a few days before the meal, there were volunteers in the bakery helping cook and decorate sugar and ginger bread cookies, truffles, cakes and pies, and more. And all that effort came through on the final product. Plates were loaded with confections of all kinds, and back at the table, I think all of us had at least one bowl loaded up with as much sugar as we thought we could manage. Every dessert was excellent, and all the remainders have been used in the cookie box so that the base can continue to enjoy the treats, even after the holiday.

(What my dentist doesn't know won't hurt me.)

Just like at Thanksgiving, the Galley team had a special meal time at noon so that those working didn't have to try and schedule breaks around the various dining times, and more importantly, so that we could all eat together as a department. Again like Thanksgiving, we quickly ruined the good work setting up the dining hall by dragging the tables all together to form one long family table that we all ate at. It was a glorious festival of laughter, jokes, shouting, toasts, and overindulgence that we all needed. Holidays away from home can be rough, but getting to share in it together was a great time.

(Fire codes are a suggestion.)

And to cap it all off, we even had a White Christmas. While most everything is covered in ice and snow, fluffy snow falling from the sky is a rarity. But the Good Lord saw fit to send us a gentle snowfall all the way into Christmas Day proper.

From all of us at McMurdo and the rest of the Antarctic stations, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Undying Spirit of Adventure and the Weirdos That Follow It

Coming to Antarctica is a pretty big commitment. It's at least six months of your life, often in some of the busiest months of the year. You're away from home and family, modern conveniences are absent, and any sense of normalcy is supplanted with work and ice. So what draws people to come down here and willingly put themselves through this?

Any look into the history of Antarctica will tell you the same thing: the spirit of adventure is a siren call for many. Antarctica is the wild unknown, and there's something in us humans that sees that as both terrifying and enchanting. To go somewhere that so few have been to and see it for yourself? The excitement is too much to resist.

That spirit of adventure is why so many of the recreation opportunities are outdoor. The hikes and ski trails let you see even more of the great unknown. Guided events (known as Boondoggles) take those whose job wouldn't let them out into the field and let them explore different parts of this unique continent. The desire to see as much of Antarctica as we can is a driving force. So many that I talked to say they're down here solely for the story: to brag to friends, to have another chapter in their travel log, to fulfill a lifelong dream. Adventure is still in all of us.

Some of us, though, have purely mercenary reasons for being here. While the pay isn't amazing, there're a few things that suddenly make it more tantalizing. There's no cost to travel down here. There's no food or housing cost. No utility bills or home repairs. A lot of what we have to worry about back home in our apartment or house isn't a concern here. With so little overhead, it's mostly profit from whatever you get paid. I've been making extra payments on my student loans, as well as donations to charity events that my friends have been running. Others I know are using the funds to further the things that bring them joy. One of my friends is an intense hiker. He's already hiked from Mexico to Canada, across the entire United States. He's saving to make a hike from the top of New Zealand to the bottom. And after that, maybe a kayak trip up the west coast of the US to Alaska. If you have a dream, this could be a good stepping stone toward it.

Others have their personal reasons to be here. One of my favorite stories is from a buddy I work with. For years now, his parents have told him that he could inherit their restaurant once they retire. And he's been waiting. But every time it's, "Maybe next year." Well, waiting was only going to go so far. So he made the move for independence and came down here. He's not going to put his life on hold for promises that are more like maybes. I've talked to more with similar stories: the need to wipe the slate clean, reset, and eventually return to life and try something new.

For another, it's almost a family tradition. Her son came down in 2009 and told her and her husband that they both would enjoy being down here. So she sent her husband down on a scouting mission in 2014, and the two of them have been coming down together since 2016. She's been a wealth of knowledge about how McMurdo and the program has changed and grown over the years. Many people are like her; they knew someone who came down and shared their experience, and that made them want to come down as well.

The one unifying theme I hear from those who keep coming back is that they return for the people. I've spent most of this article listing out the various kinds of weirdos that come down, and the fact is that most of us weirdos connect with other weirdos and want to stay in community. Many I've met talk about the friends they've made down here and the group texts, Facebook groups, and annual meetups that they continue to share. Whatever you feel about the work, it's the people that really make a job feel like an experience.

And then there's that one coworker I have who just really liked The Thing.

And to the Ends of the Earth - Acts 1:8

I brought my Bible with me to Antarctica. It was given to me by a mentor and is one of my favorite translations. I expected any time spent focused on my faith would be by myself. So imagine my surprise when I learned about The Chapel of the Snows, the southernmost dedicated religious building in the world. With regular Sunday services and Bible studies, I was impressed to see that the Gospel was at work even at the edge of the world.

(Future tattoo idea?)

The chapel is probably my favorite place on base, if only for the aesthetics. Whoever designed the layout knew exactly where to put the chapel so that it was at the heart of everything, and at the most picturesque location. On clear and sunny days you can see most of the mountain range across the horizon. The building itself looks like any country church, but against the backdrop of utilitarian science buildings and winter desert, it's a touch of life that I can't help but admire.

(When we still had sunsets)

We only have official leadership during the summer season. I came down on the Winter Fly-In, and Sunday service was more akin to a small group meeting, where one community member led and had a short devotional—either what they felt led to teach, or one from a book. Now that we're in the proper season, we have chaplains that come down on six week rotations. From what I gather, chaplains come from the Air Guard or the Naval Reserves. There used to be a partnership with the diocese of Christchurch for Catholic priests, but that has apparently been on hiatus. Our first official chaplain was Chaplain Ben, a Lutheran pastor back home, and the second one down is Chaplain Clark, a Southern Baptist.

With the lack of a proper priest, Sunday services have been noted as "inter-faith" services. I won't even try to comment on certain denominational differences, but down here the most important thing is that we're all believers in Jesus. The chapel is set up to accommodate different expressions of faith, including the Stations of the Cross and a prie-dieu prayer desk. We regularly use the naval hymnal, and on the US Navy's birthday, we sang the naval hymn, including a verse directly referencing those who serve in Antarctica. We also make use of the Worship Book, from A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (ACMNP), which is apparently a thing. I never knew.

While music is a big part of most services back home, here it's a crapshoot based on who happens to be on the Ice at any given time if we'll have music. Surprisingly, Steward, one of the guys I work with, has some background in organ music and can play the weird electric organ in the chapel, so he's been providing the music of late. But before him, it was mostly the awkward acapella that comes with no one knowing how to start a song and have people join in. I believe, in the biz, we call that "making a joyful noise." While there are other instruments available, including an electric keyboard, guitars, and tambourine, we usually default to YouTube worship music videos if the need arises.

The chapel is also a bit of a hub for local activities. While it is a Christian church, it also serves as home to other religious services, including the Jewish Shabbat and various meditation practices. There is an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting there every week, as well as the aforementioned Bible study. It served as the registration booth and finish line for the Antarctic Turkey Trot, and will likely serve again for the Antarctic Marathon. And if you just want to jam out on some of the instruments, I suppose that's allowed as well.

Finally, just a few fun facts for you about the Chapel and service down here:

• The original chapel was built in 1956 by the Seabees and was constructed mostly from scrap.
• It houses the Erebus Chalice, a gift to the National Science Foundation that was thought be aboard the HMS Erebus during the Ross Expedition in 1839, but was later discovered to have been made in 1910.
• Depending on the chaplain, we have plenty of items to go along with the church calendar. For All Saints' Day this year, I "lit" a candle down here for Howard, whom many of you might know from Saint Paul. While he had passed a few years ago now, I thought he would get a hardy chuckle knowing he was honored in Antarctica.
• And when  I say "lit" a candle, I mean turned on a battery operated one, because fire is banned in the chapel. The building has burned down twice since its inception, a feeling I'm sure many in the Epleyanna area might be familiar with.

There's a lot down here that makes you feel comfortable away from home: food, holidays, special events, etc. But for me, something that most keeps me going and like I'm not shut out from the world is connecting with those who share my faith and being a part of the community of believers, even at the ends of the earth.

I'm also really excited for what the Christmas service is going to be like.

Williams Field: Show Up and Improvise

McMurdo might be the big hub for us, but there are many branches that grow off the main base. Field camps, research stations, and temporary operating bases are vital to supporting the research and discovery work that goes on down here. And all of them need to eat. For the past couple of weeks, and for what will be the rest of my season, I've had the good fortune to work at the newly rebuilt Williams Field.

Affectionately known as Willy Field, this is the replacement landing zone for the cargo planes coming down to the Ice. Despite the freezing cold, it does get to warm up in some fashion, and eventually the landing strip that is Phoenix Base gets too soft for the wheeled C-17 cargo planes. But C-130s, which are propeller driven, can be fitted with skis and are thus still able to land. So Williams Field gets set up each season before the snow softens to act as the new runway.

When I say "newly rebuilt" it's not because they made some vast improvements to the structures. Willy is one of those temporary operations bases and is set up and taken down every year. All the buildings are not much more than storage units or trailers. Thin and boxy, they manage to stay pretty warm. Every building is on a heavy-duty trailer with skis on the bottom. Each season the buildings are towed out to the landing strip and set up for habitation. In a week or two, a fully functioning air field is established, with maintenance facilities, fire house, guide towers, and of course, the kitchen.

Calling it a kitchen is being rather generous. I toured the USS Drum submarine a while back and having seen the kitchen on that, I think working at Willy is preparing me for life as an undersea cook. We're not equipped with much out there. We've got two ovens that are maybe a step or two above an Easy-Bake Oven, we've got a two burner hot pad that can almost boil water, two induction burners that only work with specific outlets (one that is located in the dining room) and don't work on aluminum pots (the only large one we have), and two table-top fryers that take twenty minutes to crisp up a batch of tater tots. All the same, we put out meals at all four meal times and lunch is our busiest time with upwards of sixty people coming through.

The way out to Willy is by the shuttles. Every day at the start of my shift, I catch the Willy shuttle with the front of house steward working that day and pile in as much of the boxes and trays of food we have to bring as we can. Storage is pretty limited at the Willy kitchen, and while we have a walk-in cooler and a standing freezer, it's hard to keep it stocked. So we have to be in constant communication back with the main kitchen and to each other each shift to know what we're missing and what will need to come out on the shuttle with us. Technology makes this...challenging, but even if we can't match the menu perfectly, as long as people are getting fed, that's the important part. That's the "improvise" part. If we don't have the material to make char siu pork for an Asian night, figure out what you can make with the little bit of leftovers and sauces you do have. Very often I don't know what I'm going to cook until I get there. It's some pressure, but I enjoy the opportunity to try.

But the real interest for me is not the work itself. Cooking is cooking at the end of the day. But the location is so fascinating. The shuttle takes us off the main land and onto the ice shelf. By the time we get to Willy, a whole section of the horizon just stretches into nothing. From behind you can see Mount Erebus and Castle Rock, and way off in the distance are more mountains. But when you imagine Antarctica as this flat wasteland of ice and wind, this place pretty well encapsulates that image.

Willy is probably not the place to work if you're a social butterfly—especially not on the midrats shift. I see next to no one on the regular, and even after work for me, most people are grabbing breakfast and heading off to work, so getting to talk with people is a limited opportunity. But for me, a hermit at heart, the freedom to do things your own way and reside mostly in solitude at the edge of the world, it fits perfectly.

A Happy McMurdo Thanksgiving

On a station that will take any reason they can find to throw a party, you have to know we're celebrating Thanksgiving. This is one of two major holidays that the galley goes all out for—the other being Arbor Day. No, it's Christmas, obviously. I'll keep saying this: food is morale. And while we're all probably the furthest away from family you can be, those touches of home are important for mental health and just enjoying the season.

(The Williams Field crew)

Part of getting into the season is getting the galley decked out in properly fancy attire. And by that I mean table cloths. Nice black or red ones with floral embroidery, but tablecloths nonetheless. And I guess some additional vacuuming. But holidays are only as much fun as you make them, and for some of the stewards and cooks, the traditional black Antarctica logo hats were replaced with some festive and some straight loony hats. Professionalism can be a bit lax on holidays; I think that's fair.

What also makes this a different meal is that it isn't so casual. You don't just blow in and take what you can get during the dinner rush. We're set up for three services over the afternoon, and you need to sign up for a time slot before the meal. Luckily I'm on the night schedule, so the midnight meal sign up is sparsely populated. As far as I can tell, this is to help the front and back of house keep the entire galley in working order and not have to feed the full 850 staff a fine meal in the first three minutes.

But separating out the service times also allows for something I wasn't aware of. See, for the past two weeks, front and back of house have been preparing for this meal. The kitchen has been prepping ingredients and setting up pans and containers so that once the cooking begins, they can take whatever they need and quickly send it into the ovens or steamers. The front of house has been setting up decorations, cleaning extra spaces, and stockpiling drinks, napkins, utensils, and everything else needed to actually eat the meal. A lot of work goes into serving this many people. But then the question comes: when do galley staff get to celebrate the holiday? Turns out we had set up a separate meal time at noon for the galley to be able to enjoy the meal just like anyone else. I had not realized this was a thing until I was hanging in the galley on my holiday day off (more on that later) and was told to come join. I think I missed a memo somewhere.

So that lets me talk about the most important part of the day: food. Now I'm sure some of you have large families. If you have to cook for more than seven people, it can be a bit of a challenge. Thus you might expect that some sacrifices would have to be made in terms of quality to feed 850 people. Nah. Everything was excellent and I don't imagine it would have been better at home. We had everything you would expect: stuffing, dinner rolls, green bean casserole, all kinds of veggies, real mashed potatoes, and of course the stars of the show, full roast turkey and glazed ham, carved right on the line. And also plenty of sugar with pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies. The real surprise to me was that wine was available, red and white. There was a whole table set up with wine glasses and someone distributing a (reasonable) glass of wine to anyone.

It didn't take too long for the first galley people with their plates to start shifting the nicely made up tables into one long table for as many of us to sit at as possible.

(The never ending table of food service.)

I heard more than a few people say that it was nice to be able to casually sit down with everyone for what might have been the first time. More often than not, we're all busy and our breaks are the only time we have to unwind. And front and back of house usually don't have overlapping breaks. So all of us together for a meal was a new experience.

While food is the main attraction, there were a few other Thanksgiving activities that were planned. We had our very own 5K Turkey Trot, with a track leading around the base, out and back again. The weather was cold(er) and with some slight snowfall, which is a rarity, so I commend any of the runners who even attempted it, let alone completed it. Other activities include weekly karaoke being moved back a day to coincide with the holiday, and many of the clubs and social groups getting together to do fun, Thanksgiving related activities.

Speaking of the holidays, most people had Saturday off, as well as the usual Sunday off. This is known as Town Hours and is the most common schedule: six days on with Sunday off. For the galley staff, we have to adjust. Everyone has to eat, so the kitchen can't close for a day off. Everyone in the galley has a certain day off in the week so that we mostly have a full staff every service. And so that they don't miss any holidays, they get floating holiday time for every time Town Hours has one off. So people in the galley were getting their Thanksgiving holiday throughout the month of November, and the same will be true for Christmas, New Years, and any other federally recognized holidays. For me, since I've been working at Williams Field of late and my schedule is a bit odd, I get normal Town Hours, so I was able to enjoy most of the Thanksgiving activities.

The holiday has been something that I think everyone was looking forward to, and even now that it's passed, the good will that it brought us isn't likely to fade for a while. Being away from home is tough for many of us, so coming together like this and feeling like a part of a community, even in a small way, is comforting. And we all have things to be thankful for. Myself? I'm thankful for Starlink Internet. And I mean that mostly seriously (mostly...). McMurdo in the digital age like it let's me share these stories with all of you. And more importantly, it lets me take part in my family's weekly Zoom call and stay connected with my parents and brother. That means a lot to me, and without that family connection, I think life would have been much harder down here.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

The Past, Frozen in Time

The wild, untamed nature of Antarctica is part of its charm, but it's also underlined by the history that covers it. Explorers have been coming to the edge of the world for a long time, with the first landing on the main continent of Antarctica probably taking place in 1821. A lot of dedication and lives went into making all this possible, and it's something that everyone here feels in some regard. From the various historical artifacts on display, to the pictures on the walls, to the names of mountains and landmarks, my daily experience is steeped in the history of this place. And is most clearly shown in the Discovery Hut.

Viewable from most places on station, Discovery Hut on Hut Point is a moment in history that stands to this day. With careful tending from those who came before, this historic structure reminds everyone of who came before and what they had to go through. Now over a hundred years later, having the chance to look inside and get a feel for what life was life is pretty amazing.

(Zoomed in view of the hut from the chapel in town.)

I'm not a historian, so I won't try and give you the full details of everything that surrounded the hut and the expedition that allowed it to be built. As a short overview, Discovery Hut was built in 1902 by Robert Falcon Scott and his expedition team during the Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904. While it was supposed to serve as a land main base and living quarters, it was hard to keep warm and mostly used for storage; the crew that would use it spent most of their living on the ship. It was used by a few more exploration parties during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration before being left behind and buried under snow. It was found again in 1956, remarkably well-preserved, (we'll get to that later), and was
eventually declared a historic monument under the Antarctic Treaty.

The Wikipedia article can give you just as much context if your curiosity has been sufficiently whet. So let me just tell you about what it's like to actually see the hut and go inside it.

But before we head inside, let me introduce you to Nigel. I don't know if there's an official name for this seal, but I'm calling him Nigel.

(Nigel has had a rough few decades.)

Nigel here is a great example of what happens to life out here. He's basically totally mummified. While it's doubtful he was there during the 1902 exploration, Nigel has been around for a long time. There are a number of places around where you can come across similarly mummified penguins and skuas. Because of the freezing temperatures, most things that die and don't get immediately eaten tend to just end up preserved. The same is true for things like rations and leathers (foreshadowing).

Now one interesting thing about the modern buildings is that they all have double entrances. The door you enter typically leads into a smaller space with another door that opens into the building. The first door is almost always unlocked, even if the entrance door is locked. I've had to duck into a building before just to generate some warmth before heading back out. I bring this up because the hut has the same feature, an entrance to the facility and an indoor entrance to the main building. Off to the side is a room where hung seal blubber and some skulls sit, still mostly intact and preserved.

(Reminds me of my closet back home. Need to clean that....)

Inside is not much more than a large box, still full of many of the supplies and items that the team left behind. The room is sectioned off with heavy curtains, a tradition that lives on here at McMurdo to keep your bed private from your roommates. And while I can't imagine it provided much protection, anything that helps keep the wind at bay was likely a welcome addition.

We still see the provisions they left behind, including some hard tack you could probably still eat. But why would you, honestly? Off to the side is some additional seal blubber and skins, again well-preserved and fascinating to see.

(Basically a chocolate chip cookie....)

There are really only three rooms: the central storage room, the living space with the stove and sleeping pallets, and what was apparently a lab.

(Gift Shop)

(Home Sweet Frostbite)

(Mad Science Lab)

Admittedly, even after seeing it in person, there's not much spectacle to it. But the weight of the history it represents can't be overstated. I'd have regretted it had I not taken the time to tour it, and even with my poor photography skills, I think it's a memory I'll hold on to for a long time.

For Today's Menu

One question I hear often is: what do you actually cook? Everyone might be expecting MREs and freeze-dried everything. But something that one of the winter chefs told me is that it apparently takes more effort and energy to rehydrate and reassemble a meal than it does to do what we do. We don't have astronaut food here; most of our freezer looks just like any frozen food warehouse. And the menu here is surprisingly robust.

Much of what we have down here will be familiar to those of you in food service. Names like US Foods, Sysco, and Rich's are well represented on our packaging. And boy do we have boxes. Thursday is our food pull day and when I come in for my mid-rat shift, the coolers and freezers are stacked to the ceiling with boxes of frozen foods. You might be surprised to learn that while we might get three hundred pounds of fresh oranges in a fresh delivery, we'll go through that before they even have a chance to think of going green. The fresh product—known as "freshies" to those in the know, and also to the insufferable—is very much a highlight for everyone down here. When we have real salad on the line and fruit readily available, you can almost feel the atmosphere liven up. And you know we've got too many millennials on base when we put out a huge bowl of avocados and they're all gone by the end of lunch. Green grapes are my poison and it's hard to be restrained when I'm grabbing a bowl of them.

Of course we have a lot of canned and shelf stable product—what kitchen doesn't? Things like pastas and legumes will live forever down here, but we also have many sauces and canned items that give us more options when the fresh stock is dwindling. While you won't be finding any A5 wagyu or white alba truffles, everything that we have can be turned into some pretty excellent dishes. We have a five-week rotation on our menu, so hopefully everyone down here won't get too sick of what we're having. (Having worked at a place with a one-week menu rotation, let me tell you that peanut butter and jelly very quickly became the only option.)

Let me just list some things that we've had on the line:

• Jerk chicken
• Italian beef
• Homemade mac and cheese
• Taco Tuesday (every Tuesday....)
• Philly cheese steak sandwiches
• Lentil Bolognese
• Jambalaya with mussels
• Steak (New York Strip, Ribeye, Sirloin, and more)
• Seared tuna
• Roasted Brussel sprouts
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Beef mole
• Pork vindaloo
• Blackened salmon
• Pulled pork
• Chorizo paella
• Leg of lamb
• Crab cakes
• Sauerbraten
• Char siu pork
• And a lot more.

Quite the list right? And certainly more intricate than you might expect. Most of the other cooks and chefs down here have a pretty robust knowledge of the work and lots of experience. It's not just cafeteria food or whatever we have lying around. A lot of work and pride goes into the food. I've heard from others who have worked in similar remote locations that the food we provide is leagues better than what they've had to live on. I don't say that just to toot our horn—although that is a bonus—but to show that we're able to do so much more at the edge of the world than you might think.

I'll say this a lot, but food is morale. For those working down here—thousands of miles from home and loved ones, in the harshest climate, and only a few luxuries—they need to find the good things where they can get them, and food is one of those. We keep all kinds of things stacked here. Do you want chocolate chip cookies 24/7 (I'm looking at you, Dad)? We got it. A bunch of cereal all day (Froot Loops included)? Better get it fast, it goes out quick. A virtual waterfall of orange juice? As long as the machine is working, absolutely (so like 50% of the time). Our bakers turn out fantastic desserts at every meal: trifles, cakes, pastries, the works. While we can't meet every demand, and some things are just not realistic given our situation, everyone should be able to find a few things that they like and keeps them going.

I'm not much of a trained chef, but I'm learning a lot down here from people with loads of experience. And if we can all put that together to make the rest of staff's time on the Ice a bit easier, I think that's a win for everyone.