CGTNORMANDIE

11 hours ago, Seamus6 said:

 

I fully understand.  For most of my life I only ate well done steak and burgers.  It's just been the last 6-7 years I started trying medium-well then medium then medium-rare.  I like Medium best but can tolerate medium rare.  I generally don't order medium rare because I can't handle if the under-cook to rare but If I order medium and they under-cook to MR, I can enjoy it.  I still like a  little char on the outside even when pink inside.  I just need some juice inside, if possible.  

 

As I said I also like a wide variety of condiments but enjoy making my own caramelized onion jam when grilling at home. 

What do you like on yours?

 

A medium rare burger does not make the grade.  A medium burger is just right.  Just a little ketchup and cheddar cheese.  I always shake on a little garlic salt and pepper before cooking…charcoal grilled is my favorite.  I prefer a lighter bun or even bread lightly grilled with butter.  

9 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I had a friend who came from Jamaica BWI.His grandmothers specialty dish was pickled pigs feet.

That is also a German delicacy along with pickled lamb tongue.  Both of these were some of my grandfather’s favorites!  

7 hours ago, martincath said:

The absolute pinnacle of fancy food tends to run offal-heavy - foie gras, pate, sweetbreads, ortolan (eat ANY animal whole, and you're eating brains & guts!) Italian and French food is at least as offal-ly as Chinese if not more so - other than Scotland, Italy is the only country I know that deems lungs suitable for human consumption... Whenever I travel anywhere for the first time, I learn local language terms for offal dishes and specifically look for restaurants serving them - this almost perfectly weeds out boring 'focused on tourists' restos and guarantees finding some authentic local recipes!

 

To pull it back onto US foods though - what about chit'lins? Classic American dish! Liver & Onions? Various regional sausages? Boudin is arguably more of a Cajun than French thing these days - and if you've ever eaten a hotdog, you've been guzzling offal (even Kosher dogs might have appropriately-drained-of-blood liver involved) unless you make your own dogs!

 

The only truly horrifying American food is that foul concoction that pretends to be Chocolate - Hershey's especially is gag-inducing if you were raised anywhere else as a kid. I'll take a plate of haggis over that any day of the week 😉

Very good summation!  You mention pate’ and fois gras…some of my favorites.  I love starting a great dinner with pate’ with bread and butter.  Then you mention liver and onions.  I love calf’s liver or lamb liver with bacon and onions.  How about another favorite…lambs kidneys.  Agreed…Chit’lins and Boudin are disgusting!  I must disagree with you on the Hershey Chocolate.  It is an acquired taste.  You see…Milton Hershey made his chocolate with soured milk.  That’s what sets it apart from the rest just as Pennsylvania German Chocolate Cake is made with soured milk.   

On 3/31/2023 at 4:53 PM, coralskygirl said:

Bourbon for me!

By golly I’m going to try the Bourbon in my nog!  I love Bourbon.  A well made Manhattan is my go-to high octane drink .

1 hour ago, George C said:

SS Norway was the biggest cruise ship , then Sovereign of the seas was a little bigger so that added a new deck to Norway that contained the mini suites so it had a larger gross tons. 

Norway was unique…one of a kind.  I sailed on her in 1973 when she was the SS France and also in 1993 when she was the SS Norway.

10 hours ago, George C said:

We did our honeymoon on SS Norway in 1991, in a brand new mini- suite, great ship sailed her 7 times from mid 80’s to 90’s 

Those mini suites were nice…floor to ceiling windows.  We also sailed in one and had a ball.  The service was top notch.  I remember Room Service calling me when we first got onboard.  They told me to call them if I needed anything at all.  Every afternoon they would send a big shrimp cocktail if you wanted it.  Those were the days.

Give me an Asiago bagel grilled with butter!  

Hi Rob and welcome to Cruise Critic.  Your TA should be very enjoyable especially once you have cleared the English Channel and head South by South West.  The farther south the better the sea conditions and temperatures.  Your time in the Caribbean should be ideal.  Stop worrying and start planning to have a great adventure.

4 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Interesting!  When we sail on MSC again I'll have to try them....if I can tear myself away from my daily sticky bun at least once. Oh my, I think I'm drooling a bit here.....

Hey you are on vacation!  Why not have both???  LOL!  Gotta love those sticky buns!

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

I like Asiago too😀

An Asiago bagel…my favorite.

36 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Oh, everybody does in a icy cold glass.......lol....

Right…I always chill the glass first!

1 minute ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Not Cheap, Worth It!

All the highest rated restaurants around here use Berkshire pork.

17 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

NO WAY........................

 

Don't know how to describe them. Our Pork Store gets them flown in from KC.

 

But tender, buttery, tasty. Cut with fork no need to use knife.

 

We panko them which makes them crispy topping.

 

I even got of our restaurant to get them on the menu.

Sounds like a high quality chop!

59 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

We enjoy Kansas City Pork Chop from our local butcher.

 

Like butter the taste and slicing..

What is a Kansas City pork chop???  Is it anything like Berkshire pork?

Unless they are making the bagels on site you are not getting a good bagel.  Frozen bagels just don’t cut it.  

I recall that I really enjoyed my lox and bagel on MSC.  It was the best I have ever had at sea.  I suspect that they were making their own as all their bread products were outstanding.  

56 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

When I was in my teens I would go with friends nearly every Sunday night to an ice cream parlor for an ice cream soda which cost a quarter and a seltzer which was free.

Love the seltzer chaser!  When I was a kid you could go to any soda fountain and get a milk shake for a quarter.  If you added a scoop of ice cream the shake became a frappe and it cost ten cents more.  Imagine…an ice cream frappe for 35 cents!  Those were the days…sighhhhh.  

On 3/23/2023 at 4:57 PM, JSR said:

My husband did numerous crossings on the SS United States as a child in the 60s. The last one the family was moving back from Germany, they had the dog in the kennel, the car in the hold, and the hamster in the cabin. It took 3 days. 

Last summer he really wanted me to try and have a crossing experience again. We did 9 nights from Hamburg to NYC on the QM2. He expected it to be a one and done. Much to our surprise I really enjoyed it despite turbulent seas and a lot of gloomy weather. We are doing the QM2 crossing again after our Arctic/Europe vacation this summer. It sure beats flying. 

Great to hear you enjoyed your Cunard experience.  We have done the Cunard TA 4 times.  My first crossing was on the original Queen Elizabeth in 1965…😳. Crossing on the QM2 certainly beats flying.

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

In 2006 I was in a very small town in Texas on a very hot day.I went into a restaurant just looking for a cold drink.The waitress said I have just the thing and she brought out a delicious egg cream.I never saw that on a menu outside the NY,NY,CT and PA area.

They are out there and very satisfying on a hot day.  We had a deli with a soda fountain, now gone, just down the street from my house.  They introduced me to the joys of egg creams and ice cream sodas long ago.  They always served them with a cold seltzer chaser on the side.  As Commander Schweppes once said, “Curiously refreshing!” We always called them “New York egg creams”.  

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have been drinking Chocolate Egg Creams since Snaider’s began selling Chocolate Syrup.

I love these…2 ounces of half and half, 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee, 1 ounce of good chocolate syrup, 1 packet of Sweet and Low and stir well.  Top off with chilled black cherry seltzer and stir gently.  Sometimes, in the warmer weather, I even put in a scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream to make an outstanding ice cream soda.

A mocha egg cream made with dark cherry seltzer!  Also classic Coke on ice and definitively root beer…A&W in a frosted mug is just fine.

4 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

I loved the eggs benedict that I ordered many mornings on our Diamond Princess cruise to Hawaii.  For lunch one day I decided to get a chili dog from the Trident Grill.  I had to wonder who in their right mind would call this a chili dog?  

 

LOL LOL 😂 a chili dog??  All you can do is laugh!  

4 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Not familiar with that one.  I was going to splurge now and again on a Veuve, but doubt it now if the new menus are in place with the higher prices. 

Hi Bea!

Lanson is very good…it was a favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth.  
 

On 3/23/2023 at 6:47 AM, Invicta1948 said:

Just noticed this thread and thought that Azamara's misspelling of the Faroe Islands in the itinerary for our Iceland Intensive cruise on 7 August was quite amusing.:

 

Wed	9-Aug-23	Lerwick, Shetland Islands	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Thu	10-Aug-23	Torshavn, Farce Islands	8:00 AM	3:00 PM
Fri	11-Aug-23	Seydisfjordur, Iceland	11:00 AM	6:00 PM

Auto Spell get ‘‘em” every time!

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Food is never boring unless it is something you were given by a parent that was horrible tasting like tongue.

I like tongue…even pickled lamb tongue!  

23 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

What hotel do you like?

WOW!  There are so many great hotels in Barcelona!  I prefer hotels with classic architecture and not the usual Hiltons, Continentals, etc.  I always try to find a hotel with local flavor.  Barcelona has great Belle Epoque architecture.  There are some magnificent examples on or near Las Ramblas…the main pedestrian friendly thoroughfare in Barcelona.  These are the ones you should look for as Barcelona is a great city to explore on foot.  The Hotel Continental Palacete is a grand classic but make sure you book one of the suites…very palatial…very reasonable.  The El Avenida Palace is another beautiful hotel…also reasonable.  There are many modern hotels with great amenities and reasonable prices.  The hotels that are slightly off the Ramblas are the best value.  Make sure you get a room with breakfast included.  The hotel breakfasts are not to be missed!