Ahoy, mateys! This week, Bootstrap Ginny is preparing to sail the Caribbean in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced video game. So, while we’re sailin’ and wreaking havoc across the waters, I’ll be leavin’ ye with a few recipes and “food for thought”…

The Lantern Wraith has an amazing cook, Old Tom Candlewick. He’s the the one who guards the Sea‑Witch Stew recipe and swears the marsh whispers the seasoning ratios. He’s half‑legend, half‑liar, and all heart. Rumor says he once traded a ghost for a jar of smoked paprika and hasn’t slept sober since.

Sea‑Witch Stew (Lantern Wraith Galley Version)

Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced thick
• 1 lb potatoes, diced (skins on, because the sea witch “likes the dirt”)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (14 oz)
• 4 cups chicken or seafood broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp cayenne (or more, if you want the dead to sit up and pay attention)
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• A splash of dark rum (non‑negotiable)
• Fresh parsley or green onion for garnish

Instructions

1. Brown the sausage in a heavy pot until it smells like a dockside cookfire.
2. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté until the onions go translucent “like a ghost in moonlight.”
3. Stir in paprika, pepper, cayenne, and let them bloom.
4. Add potatoes, crushed tomatoes, broth, and the bay leaf.
5. Simmer until the potatoes soften and the stew thickens — about 25–30 minutes.
6. Lower the heat and stir in the heavy cream.
7. Add a splash of dark rum and whisper something you’d never admit out loud.
8. Taste, adjust salt, and serve hot with crusty bread or rum‑soaked hardtack.

Galley Notes

• If the stew bubbles too hard, Old Tom says the sea witch is angry.
• If it tastes perfect on the first try, Black Mel says someone on board is lying.
• If the lantern flickers while you stir it… Bootstrap Ginny says that’s just the marsh saying hello.

Now, go and enjoy!

To the ghosts that guide us, the storms that test us, and the gold that waits for those who dare — may our ink never run dry and our courage never fade. Raise your tankards, mates… for the sea still remembers our names.