dfish

Great news! We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate.

Oh, my gosh, I am so excited! We are in 6075, a large inside cabin. Cool for you, an aft veranda! You get to host sail away! I'd offer but the view isn't so great from our cabin. I guess we could turn on the bow cam.

My condolences to you on the loss of your friend. I hope you have many great memories to give you comfort. Are you booked for January? We are January 6-28 San Antonio to Buenos Aires. I sure hope you are! He is definitely a one and done. He didn't get his full rate. My middle name is Ann. I always wanted it to be Anne and I thought that looked prettier. Of course, I wanted my first name to be Amy. Or Linda. Or Cathy. Or anything other than what it was.

I never thought I'd be interested in an Amazon cruise, but seeing the pictures posted here and reading about some of the other Dailyites experiences, it has now gone on my bucket list.

Good morning, everyone. Winter is back here in mid-Michigan. It isn't too bad so far which is a blessing as Sue has an 8:00 am appointment for her car and she needs me to pick her up after she drops hers off. I did get the results of my CT scan yesterday on My Chart. It seems everything is the same and I now have an appointment with the endo to discuss next steps. He was leaning towards waiting and watching for a year, but this tumor is functional and spitting out excess amounts of cortisol. I've "watched" it for a year and want to be paroled. I do feel the effects of the excess cortisol and it is time to get rid of the offender. I have an appointment on Monday to duke it out. Za’atar Spice is a blend of savory dried herbs like oregano, marjoram or thyme, and toasted earthy spices like cumin and coriander, with sesame seeds, salt and the most important ingredient of all… sumac! Sumac gives it the delicious unexpected tanginess that is the key to the best zaatar. Here is a recipe for making it at home. You can look for it in Middle Eastern groceries or order it online. https://www.feastingathome.com/zaatar-spice-recipe/ Epicurious let me in last night when I was choosing my recipes. Hopefully, they'll let you in to retrieve it as well. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zaatar-fish-and-chips This one includes a nice lemony mayo sauce. I think that would work for the potatoes as well as the fish! https://endsandstems.com/recipes/oven-roasted-zaatar-fish-chips/ This one looks really good with the coating of breadcrumbs. https://thespicepeople.com.au/recipes/zaatar-fish-and-chips-with-sumac-tartare/ And for our last recipe we have an upgraded version of fish sticks. Mmmmm. https://thecuriousplate.com/baked-zaatar-fish-sticks-and-chips/ While they all look good, I think I'm going with #3. How about you? Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I was really confused with all the Greek Chicken recipes that kept coming up. I knew Greek chicken wasn't the same, but that's what I got. Except for the site that won't let me in cuz I won't pay them money. Thank you so much! I'm hoping the weather is good so we can do this. This is a tremendous help. Today I had the handyman from He double hockey sticks here to install the light fixture in the dining. room. First, he couldn't figure out how to change the wire so we could swag it to middle of the room. He did take the light apart and I think I know how to do it. He was here for 4.5 hours. He broke the light switch, so we had to replace that. Then it took him 30 minutes to put the switch plate back on. Then he wanted $50 an hour. Most of the time was him looking at things and trying to figure out what to do with them. I could have done the job in half the time. But, then, I read directions. Grrrrr. At least the UFO lights are gone.

Good morning, everyone! It is currently a frigid 28F in mid-Michigan. We are supposed to warm up to the mid 30s today. Tonight we get snow. How much? We have a lot to choose from. The TV news said 2-6 inches. The weather advisory said 4 inches, another forecast said 1-3 inches. So, we are getting snow. How much depends on the whim of Mother Nature at that moment. I'm hoping to get the results back on my CT scan today. We are looking for changes in the adrenal mass on my right side. Surgery for my overactive parathyroid glands has been changed again to March 22. First it was March 8, then March 29, and now the 22. I told them no more changes. Prayers that @Vict0riann's DH Pat comes through surgery just fine. Today's meal looks pretty good to me. I only found one recipe that was exact to the description and that was on Delish. Delish has closed their kitchen to me. I have exceeded my free articles for the year. So, I found the ingredient list on Pinterest. Most of us can figure out the directions. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/158259374398336513/ Here's one more that fits the description and it comes with directions! https://pickyeaterskitchen.com/2020/07/chicken-shawarma-with-orzo/ The other recipes that came up were for Greek style chicken with orzo. That sounds good as well. The seasonings are different, but that is ok with me. This one looks really good. I'd have to eat around the orzo, but I might be willing to do that for this dish. https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/one-skillet-greek-chicken-and-orzo/ This one looks pretty good as well. https://www.themediterraneandish.com/greek-baked-chicken-orzo-recipe/ Not to much on today's agenda. I hope all of you have a wonderful day!

I think this is a first for us. We just booked the Oosterdam for January 6, 2025 South America/Antarctica. I don't think I've ever booked anything this far out. We took advantage of the early booking perks and it seems to be a decent deal. We've got a big cruise this summer and then the next one will be the South America one. In 2024 we're doing a road trip we're calling Circle Superior. It is a driving trip around Lake Superior. We're on our own time schedule and take as much or as little time as we want.

But you were a help! Thank you!

I'm so glad you posted these pictures, Lenda. Sue and I want to go up to the top of Signal Hill and hike down. So, I want bus #27. Do you remember where you caught the bus, how much it was and can you do a credit card or does it have to be Canadian currency? @aliaschief Bruce, how wonderful for you! Celebrate!

That is wonderful news. It deserves a party time! Also great news about DH's aorta condition. My walk was wonderful. I was worried I would lose my stamina for distance over the winter and was anxious to get out there again. I can say that I was a bit more tired than I remembered, but I did it with no major problems. I want to work up to longer distances before our cruise this summer. There are some places where I want to do some hiking. We're not doing hiking excursions as I fear holding up the group, but will seek out areas where we can hike independently. I figure if I could make it up 832 steps at Watkins Glen Gorge a few months before my last knee replacement, I'm not quite ready to hang up the hiking poles. @kazu Thanks for checking in and letting us know what's happening. We understand and we're ready to help lift and support when you are. Hugs. @marshhawk Glad you enjoyed sleeping in today. And it sounds like good news about DH's eye. Keep it up! Oh, your pot roast sounds delicious. Ok, time to put the shoes back on and head to the store. Later, all!

Bingo!

Good morning, everyone! It is a bright, sunshiny day here in mid-Michigan with highs reaching 40F. I'm skipping the gym and doing my neighborhood walk route. It has been a long time since I've been able to do that and I'm excited! I'm skipping Be Nasty Day and yes, I can picture Rich thinking, that will get them going. As he tells me, it is to encourage conversation. So, let's turn Be Nasty Day into one where we eliminate it and replace it with kindness and compassion. The other two days are worth celebrating. Ok, on to dinner. As @StLouisCruisers Sandi said, this is from the Cheesecake Factory and nothing from there is low calorie. I'm not sure how to change things up and have it be the same dish. Most recipes were pretty similar. You could use half and half instead of heavy cream. And skip the taters. While this first recipe is 582 calories per serving, it is only 15g of carbohydrate. If you are doing the keto diet, this one is for you! https://natashaskitchen.com/chicken-madeira-recipe/ Oh, that does look good, doesn't it. This next one doesn't use the heavy cream. It has mozzarella instead, bringing the calorie count down to 514 with 8 grams of carbs. Mozzarella might save a few calories, but at this point, why bother? https://copykat.com/cheesecake-factory-chicken-madeira/ This next recipe makes the first two look like amateurs in the calorie and carb department. It provides 730 calories per serving with 39 grams of carbohydrate. I bet it is delicious! https://theforkedspoon.com/chicken-madeira/ This last one is the diet version coming in at only 400 calories per serving and 15 g of carbohydrate. It looks darn good! You can slim it down more by not serving it over potatoes and just serving it with more vegetables. How about some roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts. @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda can even include carrots! https://www.munchkintime.com/easy-chicken-madeira-recipe-with-secret-sauce/ Personally, I think I'm going with the last one. How about you? Wishing you all a wonderful day.

What can you do? I just deal with it as it comes. 30 years in a classroom with teenagers taught me to be stoic. As I told the teenagers, no sense raising my blood pressure because they were being a fool.

My accounting problems started on Nieuw Amsterdam in 2021. I had reservations in the Pinnacle for 3, but needed to cancel one. That was done. Somehow, I ended up with reservations for 5. We cancelled 3 of those. Next, I had reservations for 11. I gave up at that time because I would have ended up with 17 reservations. At the end of the cruise they reimbursed me for all those unused reservations. That was an interesting phone call. On the Rotterdam they charged me the wrong rate for the Crew Incentive. We were being charged for the non suite rate and it should have been suite rate. I reported that and was assured that the night auditor would take care of it. Nope. After trying to pay them more money on several occasions, I gave up. On the Nieuw Statendam the first problem was that they reimbursed me for an excursion I never bought. I had that fixed at the front desk. Then, I changed excursions for one port. Instead of reimbursing me for the cancelled one, they charged me again and for the new excursion. That took a few days to figure out. Lastly, I had pre-purchased a dinner at the Pinnacle Grill and they charged me for it. When I asked to have the charge removed they acted amazed that I would want to use the pre-purchased dinner. It was the last day of the cruise. I wasn't going to eat there again. Yes, I wanted to use the pre-purchased dinner. So, they took the charge off and then they reimbursed me for the charge again. One more trip to the front desk before I left the ship that morning. I noted in my evaluation that the accounting department was going to do them in. If it was up to me, I'd start over from scratch.

Good morning, everyone! It is supposed to be sunny and 40F here in mid-Michigan today. Sounds good to me! I slept much better last night and don't recall any wakeup periods during the night. I'm heading to the gym this morning and then I have a CT scan this afternoon for the mass on my right adrenal gland. @summer slope wonderful news about Bailey! May he continue to thrive. @RedneckBob Happy Birthday! Today's meal is supposed to be an easy one. But, easy is dependent on point of view. This first one claims to come together in under 30 minutes. @Crazy For Cats Jake, just leave the shrimp out. You could substitute chicken. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/pad-thai/ This recipe says you can even use steak instead of shrimp, @Crazy For Cats Jake. It also says it comes together in 20 minutes, but I suspect that is after you have done all the chopping and whisking. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a53823/easy-pad-thai-recipe/ And this claims to be the easiest pad thai of them all. https://therecipecritic.com/pad-thai/ This next one says definitely do not add ketchup or peanut butter, something the previous recipes do recommend. Try it both ways and do it the way you like best. https://www.feastingathome.com/15-minute-pad-thai/ And, in honor of Crown Roast of Pork day, here is a recipe from Tyler Florence and the Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-pork-crown-roast-recipe-1943670 Wishing you all a wonderful day!

And it happened on the Nieuw Statendam as well.

Good morning, everyone. It is a gray start to the day here in mid-Michigan. Not much on the agenda besides the gym this morning and a Zoom meeting this afternoon. Last night was a rough night. I was very tired and went to bed at 10 pm, but woke at midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. My back ached and my knees ached and my ankles ached. I tried the Aspercreme and it did nothing. I got up and did exercises on the floor for my back. No help. Finally I resorted to the medicine cabinet and that did the trick. I do like to exhaust all other aids before I do that, but last night it was needed. The George Burns quote is amusing and was probably true for me when I was in my 20s and 30s, striking out for independence. However, at this point in life, I want that family close. The perfect fried rice is the one you like best. What is perfect for one is not necessarily perfect for another. But, there are some that claim that perfection. Here's our first recipe: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/fried-rice-recipe/ This could be a meal as it has scrambled egg in it for protein. For those who want more, add some shrimp or chicken. Easy peasy! I'd take out the carrots and add in broccoli. Peas and carrots are the traditional vegetables in fried rice, but this next recipe says use what you have on hand. And always use cold cooked rice. https://chefsavvy.com/the-best-fried-rice/ This next recipe also encourages you to make the dish to your preferences. In addition to, or substitution for the peas and carrots you can use broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, sweet corn, red peppers and bell peppers. You can also use a vegetable mix full of colorful vegetables in this recipe. https://spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/better-than-take-out-fried-rice/ I liked the looks of this one. They are all very similar and perhaps just vary by a seasoning used. https://themodernproper.com/homemade-fried-rice Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I think a lot of us used this one. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/rustic-tomato-pie/ We went back out to the Gardens and had a lovely time today.

It was a no brainer to join the Gardens. Next door to the Gardens is the Center for the Arts. We plan to join that as well. And then there is the Nature Center. Yep, we're joining. Sue is excited about the possibility of taking some art classes at the Center for the Arts. She wants to get back into art in a big way. I want to get working on my next quilt. I've only had the fabric for a year.

Good morning, everyone! Right now it is overcast and 32F but the sun is supposed to come out later and the temp is supposed to get into the 40s. That is good enough to take advantage of and we will find a place for a nice hike/walk. We may end up back at Dow Gardens because they do such a great job clearing the paths. I think today's meal would be good if done in a slow cooker, the oven, or the instant pot. The instant pot is for those late afternoons when you hit on pot roast as dinner for the day. The slow cooker and oven are for when you plan ahead. I think this one looks the best. It is really a dish for @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda with all the carrots. https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/instant-pot-pot-roast-potatoes/ This next one would create a wonderful aroma with the tomato paste, garlic, and worcestershire sauce along with the meat. https://kristineskitchenblog.com/instant-pot-pot-roast/ This next recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/classic-pot-roast-and-potatoes/ Here is the Yorkshire pudding recipe. https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-yorkshire-pudding-popover-recipe This last recipe has a touch of horseradish in it. That sounds really interesting to me. https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-pot-roast/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Unfortunately, flights and hotels no longer show up on the online itinerary. Why HAL decided to take those out, I don't know. It made sense to have them there and it made it easy for their "valued guests" to find information.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I laughed out loud at that one. @StLouisCruisers Yes, the snow went south. We were quite thankful. Our visit to Dow Gardens and the butterfly exhibit was delightful. I'm glad we got the annual membership last week when we did the canopy walk. We've already gotten our money's worth out of it. We decided that we are going to take advantage of as many activities and programs offered as we can. We don't want to just be sitting home in our recliners, not that we have recliners. We also got in a visit with Ellamary. She is proudly Irish so we took her a shamrock plant. She was thrilled and excited when we explained that we were adopting her.

Good morning, everyone! Originally we were supposed to get 6-10 inches of fluffy stuff, but it turned out to be maybe an inch. It is already melting off the driveway. I have a Zoom meeting this morning and then we are going to the butterfly exhibit at Dow Gardens. We'll work in a visit with our adoptee, Ellamary. And also to our favorite store, Peel and Pare, for coffee. I am honored to be part of such a great group here on the Daily. @richwmn Rich, the originator, @StLouisCruisers for keeping it going in Rich's absence, @rafinmd Roy, who originated our care and celebration list, @JazzyV for taking over when Roy fell ill, @summer slope Dixie, who gives us the recipe for the day's drink, @cat shepard, Ann, who reviews the wine of the day and let's us know how much it will set us back, @grapau27 Graham, who often gives us an explanation of what the daily celebration really means, @0106 Tina, who has stepped in to do the Meal of the Day when I couldn't, @kazu Jacqui, who has also stepped up to the plate to make sure you were fed while I was away, and all those who contribute to the Daily with news and tidbits. We are all thankful that Dixie's kitty can be treated for the mass in the colon. We all cheered when @luvteaching Karen's DH came home yesterday. I heard the mass shouting of Hallelujah when @Cruzin Terri Terri's tilers showed up yesterday, although there was some communal grumbling when Wayfair did not show. We are happy that @smitty34877 Terry's DH can treat his condition and we all hope for the best for Tana and salute Terry and family for their unconditional caregiving. I know I could keep going, but all of you have come together to make this what it is. Posting a daily recipe is a small thing. @marshhawk Annie's stories of daily life have us all hooked. And, we love the memes that so many of you post. Thank you to all of you for making this the home we all have needed through the pandemic and beyond. Chili sure sounds good to me. I may save it for the next Farkle Friday. Last night we had a favorite from childhood, chicken liver casserole. It is kind of like a stroganoff with ground beef, chicken livers, mushrooms, sour cream, and noodles. You saute the chicken livers in sherry and that gives it a great flavor. I think we all have a "best" chili ever recipe. After all, that is why we keep making it! If you have a favorite, feel free to post it! I found three recipes that sound good and claim to be the best. The first one claims to be just like Mom used to make. https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-best-classic-chili/ I've never put corn in my chili, but it looked good in this one. https://www.theseasonedmom.com/beef-chili-recipe/ When this one gave the direction to chop the vegetables, I held my breath. Fortunately, none of them were carrots. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/classic-beef-chili.html I'm hoping this finds all of you doing well. Healing thoughts and warm wishes to those who are ailing and cheers to those who are celebrating. Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Thank you so much! This looks pretty easy to do. How precious! Thank you for sharing! I'm sorry this isn't a happy time for you. We all wish we could wave our magic wands.