Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good advice Jeffers......I'm killing the pain right now with a large vodka....;)

 

That will do. Three at a time but no more than four times a day.

[spinnaker2]

Hot toddies, tea with fresh lemon, honey and lots of good scotch until you sweat.

Will help with sleep too.

[specialcruisegirl]

Good Day Coolies,

 

Third day of this dreaded cold so the galley has become self service for the duration..:rolleyes:

 

Am comforting myself by reading various trip reports and having a peek into the New York shops on line...I must however stop you tubing air crashes...:eek:

 

Happy Sunday

 

Sophia :)

[lincslady]

Good Day Coolies,

 

Third day of this dreaded cold so the galley has become self service for the duration..:rolleyes:

 

Am comforting myself by reading various trip reports and having a peek into the New York shops on line...I must however stop you tubing air crashes...:eek:

 

Happy Sunday

 

Sophia :)

 

Happy Sunday Sophia and all coolers

 

The good news Sophia is that you are having your cold now, and by the time you go off for your wonderful trip you will not only have got over it, but also have immunity from the germs lurking around in planes etc.:)

 

LL

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolies,

 

I was unhappy with the amount of tea I was being served at home and it seemed the me that the bottleneck was the size of my mugs. So I ordered eight identical mugs from Amazon. Seven was sent from Milton Keynes on Thursday and arrived here on Friday, but one very lucky mug has taken the following holiday - it has to be read from the bottom up.

 

 

Southampton, United Kingdom 10/13/2014 6:05 A.M. Arrival Scan

 

Castle Donnington, United Kingdom 10/13/2014 2:51 A.M. Departure Scan

 

10/13/2014 2:24 A.M. Import Scan

 

10/13/2014 1:43 A.M. Arrival Scan

 

Koeln, Germany 10/13/2014 1:24 A.M. Departure Scan

 

Koeln, Germany 10/12/2014 9:36 P.M. Export Scan

 

10/12/2014 9:21 P.M. Export Scan

 

Koeln, Germany 10/11/2014 6:05 A.M. Arrival Scan

 

Frankfurt, Germany 10/11/2014 3:07 A.M. Departure Scan

 

10/11/2014 1:02 A.M. Arrival Scan

 

Nurnberg, Germany 10/10/2014 10:05 P.M. Departure Scan

 

10/10/2014 7:33 P.M. Export Scan

 

10/10/2014 7:33 P.M. Origin Scan

 

Germany 10/10/2014 10:42 A.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

 

 

I do so hope it likes tea and it's new home.

 

Jeff

Edited October 13, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Southampton

Out for delivery - 13 October 2014 8:15:00

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

[mw8811]

Been among the missing for approx 2 weeks - just about caught up with the thread - loving those food pix and S do enjoy your trip - hope Bda is there when you get there. They had a very bad storm at the weekend and Gonzalo is due to hit this w/e - one thing I don't miss about living there are hurricanes!

 

Spent the last two weeks painting and now have approx 20% of the pix left to hang so progress is being made. Also spent many hours blowing leaves in the garden - as fast as I blew they fell - just about had it cracked and the silver birch decided to deposit millions of little leaves last night (MAJOR SIGH). Of course we've also had rain and blah for 3 days where it hasn't even got light.

 

We're just getting to the point of thinking there may be time this time next year for another cruise.....

 

Mary

[spinnaker2]

Hi all.

 

Jeff missing, he must be drinking tea out of all those dotty mugs.

S hope you are better and ready for the cruise.

Mary any suggestions on must see in Bermuda?

We will be there in November and again in late April.

Thundering and lightening here is So. Fla.

[specialcruisegirl]

Morning All,

 

Have been off my feet since Monday with this awful chest and cold....Dr prescribed antibiotics which are yet to kick in and all l can do is rest.

 

Have had to re schedule all the appointments l had this week so just hoping I'll get there next week and also make the cruise....so everything crossed!

 

House sale is progressing well, looks like a pre Christmas move...:eek:

 

Happy Day

 

S-:)

[spinnaker2]

Feel better. Rest.

[mw8811]

Hi Spin - not sure where you'll be docked but if at Dockyard that's well worth a saunter around and the Old Commissioners House. Also take a taxi ride down the south shore and maybe go to St Georges - lovely old town. Not sure what a taxi will cost for that but you can always negotiate. There are the caves (again towards the airport and St Geo). The most beautiful thing about Bda is the vegetation, pretty houses and the blue blue sea and pink beaches.

I'm very worried about all our friends there and their properties etc - this storm looks very nasty. How it will damage the vegetation etc I have no idea. One thing about Bermudians everyone is very resilient and they will soon pick themselves up and carry on.

 

Mary

[TLCOhio]

Terry, please some pictures of where you live, and walk and eat! :)

 

Appreciate this encouragement for where we live, walk, eat, etc. No food pictures today, but below gives some nice examples of the "color' for what I am seeing right now out the windows of my study, where we eat on our screened porch, etc.

 

We are now at exactly 101 days till we will be starting our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back sailing over 26 days on the Silversea Silver Cloud. BUT, all of this ebola stuff is making my wife worried on doing this much time on a cruise ship, flying on commercial airlines. Not fun in the USA to be hearing the media and politicians doing their "war dances" on these issues.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 186,333 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Here are three visuals from our home today on a pretty, mostly sunny fall day in Central Ohio/Midwest. First is the view when we open our front door with a few summer flowers still looking good and below is our driveway down to the twisting road in the ravine setting where we have lived for 26 years. Fortunately, we are in a wooded ravine area with a creek, but still being in the middle of the city five miles from the main downtown and Ohio Statehouse, 2.5 miles to Ohio State University, lots of shopping, dining places, etc., etc., close and nearby. Second are a few of the fall Ohio pumpkins with fall colors in the background. Third is the view from my study main window towards the trees, roadway, etc., on a day with great sunshine. Like the colors of fall in the American midwest?:

 

 

 

 

 

[Travelcat2]

Hello all -- visiting this thread again to get my "food fix". I was wondering how to make stovetop roast potatoes. It looks like only a small amount of oil is put in the frying pan. Are there any other secrets?

 

This thread always makes me hungry:D

[TLCOhio]

Hello all -- visiting this thread again to get my "food fix". I was wondering how to make stovetop roast potatoes. It looks like only a small amount of oil is put in the frying pan. Are there any other secrets? This thread always makes me hungry:D

 

Glad to know from the State of Washington that Travelcat2 likes food. Here's my contribution to the "Cooler" from dinner this evening in Central Ohio. It's called the Iron Grill BBQ and Brew, one of our local favorite. Just a "local" place where know well both of the owners. Husband and wife. Both were originally from Albania. Been in the USA for about 20 years. He was a chef in New York City, including for the NYC Mayor. We took our two visiting members of Parliament in Serbia to the Iron Grill to get a local food flavor when they visited Central Ohio last month.

 

Their website is http://www.bestbbqcolumbus.com. But, sorry, they don't do home delivery, especially to the UK.

 

THANKS! Enjoy your food! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 81,667 views for this fun posting.

 

 

Going to dinner tonight? First, in the car, our good friends and travel partner, Janet and Dennis, picks us up and had a surprise guest in the back seat of their car. It was a life-size skeleton!! Looked totally real!! Kind of spooky!! Yes, don't worry, the skeleton had its seat belt fasted. Pictured second is my wife's grilled chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries. Third is our friend Janet's large salad with a nice portion of BBQ pork on top. Finally, here is my shrimp, fish and steak fries. Good? YES!! That's why we keep coming back to the Iron Grill BBQ and Brew on North High Street in Columbus, Ohio.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolies,

 

Terry, what wonderful pictures! Just such a lovely range of both where you live and the food. And it's clear from one of the pictures that you need to put on a bit of wheight! Liked the food pictures .... is one of them a sort of mini-onion loaf? I use to go to Atlanta regularly and there were a few places that use to do the full sized onion loaves and they are difficult to do at home without them being too greasy. I rarely see onion loaves. Also that batter looks good. Lovely pictures Terry ..... they cheer up a grey day ......

 

TC re your potatos. Yes ... a few ideas.

 

1. Waxy potatos and not floury otherwise you will end up with a mash.

 

2. Par boil them to pretty much completely cooked and then lay them out and let the steam evaporate off and cool. Do not try and stove roast raw potatos, or when they are still hot and/or wet. Waxy will keep the form, floury will break up. I use charlottes. Dry surface also means less oil will be absorbed. A phd student in New Zealand discoverd this!

 

3. Put a large slug of olive oil into a hot pan and add the potatos. Must be a big pan so that all the potatos have surface. Turn the heat down to medium. and let them cook without turning them too often. You can add a nob of butter at some point if you want. This adds richness and more colour but make sure you don't burn it.

 

4. When they are pretty well cooked them put them onto kitchen paper and get excess fat off and then back into the pan for a liberal sprinkling of freshly coursely ground black pepper and course seasalt. Don't bother with parlsey as it will mush.

 

You need to be patient with this and keep an eye on them and I reckon I'm standing over them for around 40 minutes or so.

 

How does that sound?

 

Treated myself to a new travel computer yesterday ... one of these new MS Surface Pro 3s. The smaller they get .... the more expensive!

 

Jeff

Edited October 17, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[lincslady]

Terry - gorgeous pictures, both scenery and food - I was hungry when I looked, and tummy rumbled at the sight of the shrimp, fish and chips!

 

Sophia - hope your bug is improving - I think you were sending your luggage on; has this happened yet?

 

Jeff - my DH would agree with you about smaller things (like smaller women) being more expensive! Not me, of course, I am not small - quite tall and I suspect a bit 'stately' and what is known as a low maintenance woman; do my own hair and prefer the colour of silver to gold, and not potty about diamonds. But I do like nice food and wine, and cruising in luxury!

[TLCOhio]

Terry - gorgeous pictures, both scenery and food - I was hungry when I looked, and tummy rumbled at the sight of the shrimp, fish and chips! I suspect a bit 'stately' and what is known as a low maintenance woman; do my own hair and prefer the colour of silver to gold, and not potty about diamonds. But I do like nice food and wine, and cruising in luxury!

 

UKCruiseJeff: Terry' date=' what [b']wonderful pictures![/b] Just such a lovely range of both where you live and the food. And it's clear from one of the pictures that you need to put on a bit of wheight! Liked the food pictures .... is one of them a sort of mini-onion loaf? I use to go to Atlanta regularly and there were a few places that use to do the full sized onion loaves and they are difficult to do at home without them being too greasy. I rarely see onion loaves. Also that batter looks good. Lovely pictures Terry ..... they cheer up a grey day ......

 

Appreciate these two great follow-ups. Am looking out my study window right now and it is bright with super sunshine on the amazing fall leaf colors. Spectacular day!! Will work on sharing more such pictures in the coming weeks.

 

No, it is not a "mini-onion loaf" shown in the one picture. That is pulled pork that had been cooked via BBQ methods. Great stuff!! It is just put "together" and looks like a "loaf", but is not.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 160,811 views. Nice to be hitting this high of a level for viewership. Appreciate the interest and follow-up questions/comments!!

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[specialcruisegirl]

Terry - gorgeous pictures, both scenery and food - I was hungry when I looked, and tummy rumbled at the sight of the shrimp, fish and chips!

 

Sophia - hope your bug is improving - I think you were sending your luggage on; has this happened yet?

 

Jeff - my DH would agree with you about smaller things (like smaller women) being more expensive! Not me, of course, I am not small - quite tall and I suspect a bit 'stately' and what is known as a low maintenance woman; do my own hair and prefer the colour of silver to gold, and not potty about diamonds. But I do like nice food and wine, and cruising in luxury!

 

 

My luggage went on Monday but it's looking unlikely that l will follow it as my health became worse today and I'm on some very harsh medication.

Unless l miraculously recover by Monday it looks like I will have to cancel this voyage.

 

Sophia :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

My luggage went on Monday but it's looking unlikely that l will follow it as my health became worse today and I'm on some very harsh medication.

Unless l miraculously recover by Monday it looks like I will have to cancel this voyage.

 

Sophia :)

 

How rotten for you. Terrible news and so unfair. When will you decide?

 

jeff

Edited October 17, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[Travelcat2]

Jeff, thank you every so much for taking the time to explain how to make pan roasted potatoes. The first thing I had to do (after printing your instructions) was to figure out what "Charlotte" potatoes were. In the U.S. they are called "new" or "fingerling" potatoes. I find the differences in our languages so interesting. I will definitely try them as soon as possible.

 

Terry, the restaurant link that you provided made my mouth water. While we rarely eat ribs, I would love to order them "by the bone" (had not heard of this before). Those of us in northern Washington state do not have many dining choices -- we need to go to Vancouver, British Columbia for really good food.

 

Just love this thread.

[lincslady]

My luggage went on Monday but it's looking unlikely that l will follow it as my health became worse today and I'm on some very harsh medication.

Unless l miraculously recover by Monday it looks like I will have to cancel this voyage.

 

Sophia :)

 

Sophia - please please get better enough in time to go! We have had similar situations, and so far got away with it.

 

Lots of thoughts winging your way.

 

LL:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jeff, thank you every so much for taking the time to explain how to make pan roasted potatoes. The first thing I had to do (after printing your instructions) was to figure out what "Charlotte" potatoes were. In the U.S. they are called "new" or "fingerling" potatoes. I find the differences in our languages so interesting. I will definitely try them as soon as possible.

 

Just love this thread.

 

Happy to help.

 

To be honest, this is one of my favourite meals. I know I'm a peasant. Any waxy potatos the deeper yellow they are the better. A good waxy red may do.

 

If the potatos are cut smaller and if you add some sliced bacon, onion and perhaps sliced bratwurst of frankfurter and an egg or two on top to ooze, lots of salt and pepper and you have a Gröstl. This is one for the most comforting meals ever devised .... originating in the Tyrol it is said but now favoured by students all over Austria.

 

I think I might have posted a picture of mine earlier in the thread butit's too long to check ... and here is a decent interweb one.

 

 

 

Thoughts are with you Soapy Gal.

 

:(

[UKCruiseJeff]

TC .... one after thought. Don't presume all new potatoes are waxy ..... new just means early crop and they have not been stored. Both waxy and floury can be new.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

Terry, the restaurant link that you provided made my mouth water. While we rarely eat ribs, I would love to order them "by the bone" (had not heard of this before). Those of us in northern Washington state do not have many dining choices -- we need to go to Vancouver, British Columbia for really good food. Just love this thread.

 

specialcruisegirl: My luggage went on Monday but it's looking unlikely that l will follow it as my health became worse today and I'm on some very harsh medication. Unless l miraculously recover by Monday it looks like I will have to cancel this voyage. Sophia

 

Glad that Travelcat2 liked the Iron Grill BBQ website. Actually here in Central Ohio' date=' we super love City Barbeque even more for their beef brisket, super side dishes, ribs, etc., etc. Great food, including their ribs, etc. On some Tuesdays, they have "Buck a Bone" specials for their ribs. Their website: http://www.citybbq.com. They will ship their award-winning bbq anywhere in the continental United States. Sorry for those in the UK. You'll have to visit Ohio to enjoy it here.

 

Hope for the best with Sophia and her travel plans/needs.

 

Off this afternoon for tail-gating and attending the [b']Ohio State University Homecoming football game versus Rutgers[/b] from New Jersey. Our OSU team is now 13th ranked nationally. Lots of great college football happening today. How many will be at this game today? About 108,000 fans!! Is that big enough? Will try to take and share some pictures and fun visuals.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 81,894 views for this fun posting.