Photo Review April/May 2015: Disney, Eclipse TA, London

[Lisah101]

This was one of the best crab cakes I've had. It was hot, moist and almost all crab!

 

 

[Lisah101]

Terry had the Caesar salad which is prepared table side. They make it to your taste (asked for only half the anchovy).

 

 

 

It was great - very cold and crisp lettuce with just enough cheese and anchovy for flavor.

[Lisah101]

Terry ( Terry is my DH or husband if you haven't figured that out yet) had a pasta appetizer also. They did a smaller serving of the spaghetti bolognese.

 

 

OK - this requires some comments.

 

My Step mother is Italian and does a wonderful spaghetti sauce. I've also spent 6 years playing with other bolognese recipes since its my husband's favorite food after pot roast. I've done Giada's recipe, my stepmother's, Mario's recipe not to mention many more.

 

This was better than my sauce recipe which is even difficult to type. After dinner we immediately went to the copy of the Celebrity cookbook to find the recipe but it wasn't included. A chef from QSine was there and I asked him. He told me the secret was adding sugar to the sauce but I know the depth of flavor had to be more than just sugar. So........... if anyone knows this recipe, please share! BTW.... I'm firmly against sugar in sauce. I'd rather add 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream to cut the acidity than to add sugar.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Lisah101

[Lisah101]

Terry had the NY Strip which was cooked perfectly and had great flavor. We aren't big eaters but he finished every bite of his steak.

 

[Lisah101]

I had the filet cooked medium. It was like eating butter it was so tender. This was well worth it and our favorite meal of the entire cruise (including Murano).

 

[Lisah101]

For side dishes, Terry ordered the mashed garlic potatoes which surprised me since he doesn't care for garlic. But no worries, the garlic was minimal and he finished them all. It wasn't a large serving which was perfect.

 

[Lisah101]

I ordered the mac and cheese and although it was a healthy size serving and served piping hot..... it wasn't to my taste. There was a very stringy layer of top cheese which was hard to get through, then underneath it was watery without much cheese flavor. I tried a few bites but let it go.... not my thing.

 

[Lisah101]

And then came the desert menu........

 

Terry will almost ALWAYS choose Tiramsu over anything else. For a man's who's heritage is French Canadian, Cherokee Indian and a bit of German..... he sure loves anything Italian!

 

 

He finished every drop, it was so good.

[Lisah101]

I couldn't decide if I wanted creme brulee or panna cotta so I asked for recommendations. The server said both were very good so I went with the Pistachio Creme Brulee. One of the top 10 desserts I've EVER had!

 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Lisah101

[Lisah101]

After we ordered dessert, they were bringing me coffee and Terry some hot tea when I saw a plate go to another table that looked like a dessert sampler. I asked what it was and tried to describe it, but it was gone to the far room before the server saw.

 

So then they bring me one of those also which was a plate with an amazing panna cotta, incredible gelato, flan and a hard candy strawberry. Oh my - I tried at least some of everything but it was all wonderful. I'm not a big flan person so that was good, I did try it but I probably wouldn't order it.

 

[Lisah101]

Close up of some amazing gelato! I don't want to go crazy over a little scoop of vanilla gelato but the vanilla flavor so so pure, you could tell this was not the same stuff they serve in the cafe.

 

[Lisah101]

April 30 - Ponta Delgado, Azores

 

Yeah - solid land!

 

Karen and Les were our CC contacts for our organized tour. Karen is a great organizer. I think she could herd cats if she had to!

 

The tour was through Green Visions I think. The tour guide's name was Hugo Melo. He was both our guide and our driver.

 

So... all I could say about this tour is that it rained and rained and rained. So.... we had umbrellas in hand, our rain gear ready and we were determined to see what the Island had to offer, bad weather withstanding.

 

View of the port from the Ocean View Cafe

 

Hugo spoke with us about the planned tour to drive up and see the views. With the rain and clouds though, he advised you couldn't really see anything. So we changed plans.

 

First stop was a local pottery called Ceramica Vieira. Loved the pottery. Many of the tiles reminded me of Catalina Island off the California coast.

 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Lisah101

[Lisah101]

Pottery tour:

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

 

 

[Lisah101]

 

 

[Lisah101]

Of course we had to go to the gift shop. If only I had room in my luggage!

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

Pictures from outside or around the pottery:

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

We loaded into the van and set off to see more sights. Hugo was wonderful and drove to some photo stops also allowing us to stop along the way when we asked so we could see more of the countryside.

 

[Lisah101]

I'm not sure what this place is called, but we stopped for some ocean pictures.

 

 

Boat Ramp - yes, on vacation I think everything is picture worthy.

 

 

[Lisah101]

At then end of the pier was a swimming pool. Hugo said it was for the children to use.

 

[Lisah101]

Interesting color in the water

 

[Lisah101]

Even in the gloomy rain, I think its beautiful here

 

[Lisah101]

So... back in the van to drive but going slowly behind another vehicle

 

[Lisah101]

We drove to the hot springs and parked. In the parking lot, these 2 were there to greet us. They were not shy.

 

[Lisah101]

This was probably very nice on a sunny day. There was a lake very close, but hard to see in the rain.