Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[spinnaker2]

Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate, Happy Holidays!

 

Just finished the final preparation of the beef bourguignon and i realized i will not be able to get the le creuset pot out of the oven, as it weighs 36.08 lbs after the last addition of the pearl onions and the mushrooms and carrots. Guess i will be sitting on the kitchen floor ladling it into other vessels to transport it to the holiday events.  No forethought on my part. 

 

 

 

[frantic36]

6 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Oh my goodness.  How’s the humidity?

It is low thankfully at 26%. We have had hot Christmas Days before but this will be the hottest in over 50 years. It is also a hot week with temperatures over 100F everyday starting yesterday. We will get a "cool" day next Friday when we drop down to ~88F.

[jpalbny]

Adding our Merry Christmas wishes as well.

 

We got into DC last night around 11:35 and found the fastest Uber ever. I requested a ride as we deplaned,  and I tracked his position as we scurried through the airport. We both reached the pick-up point simultaneously and we were at our hotel at 11:50. Amazing.

 

Slept in today until 7 then wandered the long way through GWU to the Metro where we headed to the zoo. Here we met my Brother, SIL, and two nieces. Spent a few enjoyable hours with all of the animals.

 

 

Then back to the city for a relaxing lunch. Afterwards we ran around The Mall to try and wear the kids out. 

 

 

 

 

DC is quiet but the weather was nice. 50s and some sun this morning. The monuments were not crowded, but still there were plenty of people. 

 

 

 

Now resting our feet, chilling in the hotel before dinner in 2 hours. We'll head to my brother's place tomorrow morning for lunch before flying home tomorrow afternoon. Glad we did the trip, but as always, a whirlwind.

[TrulyBlonde]

23 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yet another reason to like you!  😂

A very Merry Christmas to you and Mrs. Jazz

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

A very Merry Christmas to you and Mrs. Jazz

Thanks!  And the same to you and Mr. Blonde!  We had a lovely Christmas 'Midnight' Mass at 5 pm, and even though we had to cancel our Christmas Day Open House again this year we will celebrate in a series of careful get-togethers.  I hope you enjoy skiing the snowpack, until it's time to find warmer weather!

[TrulyBlonde]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks!  And the same to you and Mr. Blonde!  We had a lovely Christmas 'Midnight' Mass at 5 pm, and even though we had to cancel our Christmas Day Open House again this year we will celebrate in a series of careful get-togethers.  I hope you enjoy skiing the snowpack, until it's time to find warmer weather!

It is Mr. Blonde's birthday today. Poor guy, his gifts always arrive in Christmas wrap. We had a quiet evening in front of the fire, a steak, ale, mushroom pie, homemade (he loves this stuff), a few glasses of wine, and a great ski day prior.

He wanted to open our Christmas gifts early vs tomorrow morning. Hmmm....I know why! He wants to be on the first chair tomorrow morning for all of the fresh snow. 

After ski season, College March Madness, then we can travel to warm weather. Mr. Blonde has his routine down pat 😉

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

Just now, TrulyBlonde said:

Mr. Blonde has his routine down pat 😉

Sounds like a good routine!

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, TrulyBlonde said:

It is Mr. Blonde's birthday today. Poor guy, his gifts always arrive in Christmas wrap. We had a quiet evening in front of the fire, a steak, ale, mushroom pie, homemade (he loves this stuff), a few glasses of wine, and a great ski day prior.

He wanted to open our Christmas gifts early vs tomorrow morning. Hmmm....I know why! He wants to be on the first chair tomorrow morning for all of the fresh snow. 

After ski season, College March Madness, then we can travel to warm weather. Mr. Blonde has his routine down pat 😉

Tomorrow would have been my mother's 105th birthday – nothing could be worse [present-wise] than being born on Christmas Day!  But she had a good life, almost made her 96th Christmas/Birthday.  I hope Mr. Blonde breaks her record 😀

[silkismom]

We got 2 inches of snow overnight, so I guess it's a "white Christmas". Blue CO. sky today and its melting/evaporating fast even though its only 26. I'm sure our trees are really soaking up the moisture its been so long since we've had any. Our anniversary (56 yrs) is on Dec 23, so it usually gets lost in the holidays, so many times in the past, the restaurants, were full of holiday groups. We've just done take-out the last 2 years to stay away from other people.

[Stumblefoot]

21 hours ago, frantic36 said:

It is low thankfully at 26%.

Thank goodness for low humidity!  Otherwise, your temps would be unbearable.

[silkismom]

LOL Stumblefoot

[TrulyBlonde]

4 hours ago, silkismom said:

We got 2 inches of snow overnight, so I guess it's a "white Christmas". 

We received 21 inches of snow in the last 48 hrs and more expected tonight (6 to 12 inches). My ski trail maintenance man could not come to pack down our trail and when I walked out to ski this morning it was up to my knees. I like it!

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, TrulyBlonde said:

We received 21 inches of snow in the last 48 hrs and more expected tonight (6 to 12 inches).

Santa found our house.  We’ll be up to play in the powder this week.

[TrulyBlonde]

13 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Santa found our house.  We’ll be up to play in the powder this week.

Nice presents! Are you coming up to our mountain to ski or closer to home? 

[Stumblefoot]

8 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Are you coming up to our mountain to ski or closer to home? 

Epic Pass, so close to home.  Probably Beaver Creek as the lines will be the shortest of the I-70 resorts.

[QueSeraSera]

Happy holidays to all, and merry Christmas to those who observe.  I think we're all missing Mysty but others strive gallantly in her stead.

 

[jpalbny]

Merry Christmas all!

 

We're hanging out in Detroit Airport.  It's another 2h until our flight to Albany...fingers crossed that there are no cancellations. 

 

Had a great time in DC with the family. My SIL made a delicious Christmas feast for lunch today. Jamaican jerk roasted duck and a delicious pork roast took center stage but the sides were amazing too. Salad, lentils, and some amazing greens. Some of the ingredients were unfamiliar to us but yummy all the same.

 

 

Hope all is ok upon our arrival home. The pet sitter messaged this morning saying that she couldn't get in for some reason...wish she'd said something yesterday. Poor hungry cat!

[TrulyBlonde]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

Merry Christmas all!

 

We're hanging out in Detroit Airport.  It's another 2h until our flight to Albany...fingers crossed that there are no cancellations. 

 

Had a great time in DC with the family. My SIL made a delicious Christmas feast for lunch today. Jamaican jerk roasted duck and a delicious pork roast took center stage but the sides were amazing too. Salad, lentils, and some amazing greens. Some of the ingredients were unfamiliar to us but yummy all the same.

 

 

Hope all is ok upon our arrival home. The pet sitter messaged this morning saying that she couldn't get in for some reason...wish she'd said something yesterday. Poor hungry cat!

A cat you say?  Jazz......;-)

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, TrulyBlonde said:

A cat you say?  Jazz......;-)

And on Host Dan's thread someone claimed they get unconditional love from their cat.  As if!!!

[Fletcher]

Today, Boxing Day, at our hotel near Windermere we looked at the terrible weather and thought, to hell with it, and drove 40 miles to magnificent and remote Wast Water. The view in the photo is frequently voted 'Britain's favourite view.'

 

[Stumblefoot]

For those in Seattle in today…

 

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

Well, first our daughter (Thing 2) made cookies for Xmas eve.  On the big day, we started with a cheesy egg frittata with fresh tomatoes and jalapeños, accompanied by mimosa’s for the ladies and a bloody mary for me.  Then, after all the presents were dealt with (and after an ongoing all day cooking event) - a cassoulet.  There are endless variations, but is basically a slow cooked bean and meat affair.  This one, from a 1981 recipe from south of France, has duck confit, roasted pork loin, salt pork (desalted) and garlic sausages.  Lots of other good stuff in there - onions, garlic, tomatoes, wine, bay, thyme.  All topped off with bread crumbs mixed with garlic.  The recipe instructs to serve it with an apple tart (we did) and Fernet Branca, then “go to bed”.  Mission accomplished.  

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

And, of course, a small demonstration broke out during the day...

[frantic36]

` 

2 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

For those in Seattle in today…

 

Oh No!!!

 

My Sister-in-Law and her family live in Seattle. When we FaceTime them later I will check on the destruction wrought.😄

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas/Holiday season!  Myster and I were blessed with the opportunity to celebrate with our children and grandchildren.  Something we valued more than in the before times because we now recognize that we can't take those celebrations for granted in the time of the nasty.

 

Thanks to all the folks who rallied to keep the good humour alive in the Cooler Bar!  You did not miss a beat!  🥰

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!