Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[Camillus112]

You and Mr. Spins are an adventurous lot!! Roberto and I fret whenever a donor supplies an accommodation when he has to travel for orchestral music. Although everything has been fine to date, we very much prefer hotels. My son, living in sooth Texas, uses Airbnb when he travels with his family, and they don't mind putting up with what you found in your second experience. They clean and scrub the place, but, I would never do that. I guess I would throw a tantrum. He tells me that "roughing it" is part of the fun. He has always been adventurous, is a great surfer and mountain biker, as well as a sales/marketing manager for a polymer company. So much like me (?)...

[mysty]

Cam....we have NO plans to sail in the near future. Unfortunately! Maybe you're thinking of Miss S? I think she sails in September.

 

It appears that I left out an important word in my post. Resulted in a very confusing set of comments. Sorry! We have no plans to sail in the near future.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lovely send off Spins ......

 

Forgive me, but an excuse to post piccies of Bob and Ben who I really miss. As babies together on arrival in their new doggy room home and one each as pups and when they got a bit more mature! Both born on the same day to different mums.

 

 

 

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[Camillus112]

So cute, Jeff! And, Mysty, I understood what you meant. Sorry, MissS., I could've included you in my confusion and not be totally wrong. Are Spins and MissS. on the same cruise? That would be great! Mysty, you have no idea of other travel mishaps we suffered when returning from Vail, and- therefore- only necessary travel for us from now on.

BTW, after my last cruise in May I submitted a review to the Cruise Review section of CC and it was never published...

[mysty]

Yes...very adorable canines J! Sorely missed I'm sure!

 

Thanks Cam! I really don't like it when I mis-speak (mis-write). Thanks for understanding! So sorry to hear that things got uglier than what you originally described. Travel these days is fraught with hassles and nonsensical problems. I can well understand a reluctance to strike out anywhere without good reason!

 

I wonder why your review was not published. Did you inquire as to the reason? It smells a little like censorship but surely that cannot be the case. Maybe they are dealing with a backlog of reviews and yours will be published shortly?

[spinnaker2]

Yes, Sophia and I on lo mismo crucero.Ay caramba! :-)

 

It's a good thing!

[spinnaker2]

Beautiful pups El jefe

[spinnaker2]

 

 

And this is a picture of Bromley

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Extremely happy and wise looking Spins!

[mysty]

Beautiful Spins! Thanks for sharing that!

[spinnaker2]

An Australian cattle dog...

She could jump from floor to kitchen counter...

[UKCruiseJeff]

An Australian cattle dog...

She could jump from floor to kitchen counter...

 

Perhaps she had a bit of kangeroo in the genes ......:)

 

Thought this bit of trivia might amuse Coolers.

 

http://www.foodandwine.com/news/expedia-food-words-no-english-translation

[Camillus112]

Yes...very adorable canines J! Sorely missed I'm sure!

 

Thanks Cam! I really don't like it when I mis-speak (mis-write). Thanks for understanding! So sorry to hear that things got uglier than what you originally described. Travel these days is fraught with hassles and nonsensical problems. I can well understand a reluctance to strike out anywhere without good reason!

 

I wonder why your review was not published. Did you inquire as to the reason? It smells a little like censorship but surely that cannot be the case. Maybe they are dealing with a backlog of reviews and yours will be published shortly?

 

 

Mysty, there have been published reviews for cruises departing after our cruise; I tend to think somebody decided to skip mine...maybe too many were submitted at the same time and that's good. However, the reason to skip mine, although the cruise was reviewed as very good, was that it was a dormer!! As SS and SB are trying to lure a younger, more active, customer base, this cruise actually belonged to one promoted to nursing homes. The 9:30pm show was scarcely attended, and a 6:30pm unplanned show was set up to cater to the passenger base. Roberto and I are no spring chicken, but we felt very much like we were the younger of the lot. However, the cruise itself was very good and we enjoyed all the ports. However, there was not a happy vibe as there was in our November TA in the Spirit. Now, I published my review!!!!

[mysty]

Thanks for your review Cam! So glad you enjoyed the cruise and the ports! That is the main thing! Interesting that your review did not "make the cut" though. It seems to me that the more reviews there are the better for potential sailors to get a feel for things. A little short-sighted to "cull the herd" that way.

[MissSophia]

What gorgeous pics of all the furry babies.....no need for apologies Cam......yes Spins and l will be on the same voyage again and will for sure enjoy a cocktail or two!!

''Tis almost time to get the clothes rail up...😉

 

Happy Day 😊

[pf778c]

Beautiful pictures, Spins. They make me homesick! I'll have to make plans to head up and visit my parents soon. Bromley was an adorable pup!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon Coolers ..... and welcome back again Bechs!

 

Well I'd bought this Instant Pot on special offer largely for winter use but I have totally underestimated how wonderful it is and how much I'd be using it. I'd read that others use it daily but this mystified me. But it has been used daily.

 

I'd been finding that one thing that I'd mastered was the flavour of long braised meats but what had eluded me was the texture, but it is now happening in the IP, and in a small fraction of the time. It is far too simplistic to think of the IP as a pressure cooker. It is much more.

 

Today I couldn't decide between loads of choices and options so I made some beef short ribs with veg and a provencale red wine and herb and garlic sauce and a combination of light blends of spice blends of 50/50 ras al hanout and baharat spicing ..... which has quite a lot in common but is a sort of North African / Middle Eastern hue ...

It looks messy but was lovely. I think the Instant Pot is jumping ahead of all of the other kitchen gizmos I have bought and has put the Zoji into a strong second place.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 20, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

That meal looks scrumptious J! Great news that the Pot is proving to be a wonderful addition to your kitchen!

 

Miss S. enjoy the cruise wardrobe planning. One of my most favourite activities.

 

Off to visit daughter and family for the weekend. Her moppets are 5 and 3. Myster will likely spend time in the pool with them. I'll patrol the perimeter. :) Can't swim a stroke and not buoyant. Love being on the water but not in it!

 

Have a great day/weekend all!

[spinnaker2]

Speaking of reviews...I felt that my stay at the second Airbnb warranted contacting the company. After all I was staying in a place where the exposed wiring was in the bathroom, surely dangerous combination of water, moisture and live wires. Long story short, the company encouraged me to write an accurate and honest review of my stay. I did, pointing out the most serious and egregious stuff. According to the Airnbnb support representative, the review would be important for others looking to stay at the place I did. Shortly after sending it off, I saw that what the company did was completely ignore my review and instead printed a single sentence saying that I couldn't write a positive review. HUH? They censored what I said! A culture of misrepresentation!

Lesson for all those who want to use Airbnb, not such an honest company...and those reviews of the places? I guess they pick and choose. They did offer me a small refund and a coupon to use another time. I suppose that is nice, but what is more bothersome is the deceit.

I had even provided them with photos to support my issues of the exposed wiring!

 

 

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[spinnaker2]

El Jefe

I too bought the instant pot on Amazon Prime day. It's still in the box as it arrived when I was in Vermont. I also have a Magfensa pressure cooker, which I did use often when I first purchased it. Then it was relegated to the butlers pantry and gathers dust.

I am eagerly following your culinary efforts and exploits with the IP.

I hope you will share some pointers and pearls regarding its use and any tricks you have learned. As DH does not eat beef, I will need to cook other foods.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi Spins,

 

There has been a fair amount of negative stuff on British TV about airbnb and that has led me to belive it is no substitute for full professional rentals .. ...

 

I also bought an up market and expensive pressure cooker a few years back and like you it was almost instantly relegated ti the garage. Avoiding beef. It is great for cooking lamb shoulder and shanks dishes. Diced lamb shoulder makes a wonderful curry.

 

I have a few things that I'd suggest about the IP. Firstly when doing a dish for the first time I'd google and average out the suggested cook times. The suggestions vary quite a lot. I'd also adjust for meat thickness.

 

I also suggest you make a folder in your browser called Instant Pot and bookmark every relevant recipe you find in it. I'd also keep a spreadsheet record for all your trials so you don 't forget what you did each time you try and add any things you'd adjust for next time. To be honest I keep spreadsheet records for all my cooking initiatives when I'm experimenting until I feel I have mastered something otherwise you cannot progres or replicate it when you eventually get something right. I keep a tab for each dish. I also really like Pininterest.

 

The other thing is that I only use manual mode not the presets. I prefer to have the full control. So far I seem to always follow the same process. Step one saute. Step two pressure cook on high for the time and then natural vent. Then I turn off and on and switch on saute ..... I do this when I'm using a Campbells Condensed soup to thicken the thin broth I have used for pressure cooking. When it starts to bubble I switch off and switch back on to slow cook to keep warm until required.

 

Many recipes imply a thick sauce or searing floured meat prior to pressure ie "quick cook" which I think is wrong I think thick would compromise the pressure cook. So I always burnoff the alcohol if using wine whilst sauteing and use powder boullon rather than fresh veg to flavour ... it is a great compromise and I thicken after it has cooked and I love the idea of using Campbell condensed soups. That give s the dilution required when mixing with the cooking broth. There's only two or three to keep in stock. Tomato, mushroom, and celery.

 

The pressure cooker doesn't make any noise at all and I think you almost have to unthink of it as being what we have both abandoned.

 

Anyway that's my starter, I hope it' helpful and I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on. The falvours and textures are awesome. The biggy is to forget it being something just for winter. This weekend I'm doing a doner kebab in a tin can (a pork and mince mix) a beef curry and a beouf bourgignon. Wifey isn't tiring yet thankfully.

Edited July 20, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

Hi Coolers, busy week here. Barely keeping afloat at work, but still managed to eat a few good meals. Yesterday I grilled some tuna steaks medium-rare and served them with tabbouleh and a few greens. It was almost 90 degrees so no indoor cooking!

 

 

 

Gearing up for more busyness... My Dad decided to come up for the weekend to see my Sister and her kids who are visiting my brother in Lansing. Since we decided we're too tired to go see them, they are all descending on our house Saturday night. That's six kids and four adults. No idea where we're putting all of them... or what we're feeding them! My sister's husband has the right idea; he ran away to Prague for the weekend. Maybe we should join him!

 

We were looking forward to a weekend off, before we head off to San Francisco for a 24-hour stay the next weekend. My grandmother passed in May (at age 98, amazing life) so we're all going there for a brief memorial service. We leave Friday after work, arrive there 11PM SFO time, go to the memorial Saturday afternoon, and come home Saturday night on the red-eye. Ugh. So much for a restful weekend!

 

But it will be nice to see everyone this weekend too, especially my Dad who's in Florida. We don't go there very much. I guess relaxation is overrated! ;p

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi JP,

 

For some reason .... and it is pointless trying to rationalise irrational thought processes, your post immediately conjured up National Lampoons Christmas Vacation sans Christmas.

 

The fickle finger of fate always manages to take you back to exactly what you tried to avoid but magnifies it in order to punish and teach lessons. Thankfully we never learn. Otherwise lives wouldn't be as interesting as it is.

 

I hope plan b is not worst than avoided plan a would have been. :D

[jpalbny]

Hi JP,

 

For some reason .... and it is pointless trying to rationalise irrational thought processes, your post immediately conjured up National Lampoons Christmas Vacation sans Christmas.

 

The fickle finger of fate always manages to take you back to exactly what you tried to avoid but magnifies it in order to punish and teach lessons. Thankfully we never learn. Otherwise lives wouldn't be as interesting as it is.

 

I hope plan b is not worst than avoided plan a would have been. :D

 

Christmas Vacation...LOL! That's tame compared to what happens when a critical mass of my siblings accumulates.

 

We were mainly avoiding the drive back and forth to the Ithaca area. So we had no excuse to not welcome them when they decided to come visit us; it was a nice gesture. When it was just my Dad, sister, and her two kids - that seemed reasonable. My brother, wife, and four more kids added themselves to the party this morning. :loudcry:

 

Memories. :D

[UKCruiseJeff]

:D

 

Buy a Christmas Tree, plug it in and light it up. Hire an artificial snow blower.

 

That will so confuse them it wll be just like an anaesthetic. :D

 

Good luck, I'm sure it'll go fine. Just take a vacation aferwards ....