Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[Camillus112]

Jeff, all this while in flowing traffic! After we were able to veer the car to the edge of the road, and while Roberto inspected the damage, I walked back to see about the deer... wasn't there. I assume it must have been seriously hurt but able to disappear in the woods alongside the road. It was a big smash, I thought the deer had died but apparently it didn't. No roadkill this time, thankfully!

[jpalbny]

Jeepers Cam. They are a real hazard. Something I always worry about. Glad you are all ok.

 

Jeff, nice pizza. I have been thinking about putting the prosciutto on after it cooks instead of before. But I like the crispness. Hm.

 

Not sure what's for dinner tonight - yet. Have to see what inspires us. A little cooler today so we may want to cook for real. 90 degree weather doesn't lend itself to spending time in the kitchen!

 

Safe travels Lois and report back. Mysty, glad your daughter is finally home.

 

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[ShotsnCruises]

Cam, many a car deer accident in my neck of the woods, especially as we get close to Fall and the rut. Glad everyone is okay.

 

Jeff, your pizza oven is the one envy I wish my kitchen has! DH keeps talking about building an outdoor brick, wood-fired oven. I would love one, but that would mean a big outdoor project and we have 3 indoor projects going on right now!

 

Sunday brunch at our house this morning. Southwest style scrambled eggs (ham, jalapeño, and applewood smoked gruyere cheese topped with tomatoes), bacon, fresh fruit and sourdough toast.

 

 

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[mysty]

Thanks JP! :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

JP,

 

You can't win with that conundrum. I firmly believe it should never be cooked. You end up with nothing subtle. And the authorities I most respect on this narrow topic all say afterwards. But today, wifey says "why did you put the speck on ... it adds nothing" and `i agree. It is decorative and adds no real taste. It's scenery. She says if you add meat add a salami that isn't too dry and over dried. I agree. My pizza seems to get less and less.

 

Shot's ....lovely food there. Fwiw .... I have a garden pizza oven ... a Portugese terracota beehive. I feel strongly all this stuff is more in the mind. It is pointless spending several hours getting an outside pizza oven up to 950f (that is what authentic neapolitan requires) to cook a pizza in 90 seconds. And you very often really want to bring a touch of summer for the kitchen in the middle of winter. So I feel that all effort for anything other than an industrial strength kitchen oven is wasted effort that in the end will only frustrate.

 

Sadly my oven is not even available currently in the UK. I was lucky to get it when I could. I had it sent from the factory in Italy directly to me. I am an obsessive. i would work out how you can get pizza in your kitchen, and if he wants to take a punt, look at the counter to- Ferrari ovens that are small and cheap but reach fairly decent temperatures. I started off with these and you really have to experiment. They are unforgiving and need to be learned, but I gather that it is difficult to get industrial level pizza ovens for domestic 110 volts.

[spinnaker2]

Lovely food all.

 

Jeff, you might enjoy reading Maureen Dowd's piece in the op Ed section of the New York Times Sunday edition.

 

Cam, that was one heck of a scary and traumatizing experience...

 

Mysty, glad to hear DD ok.

 

Happy Sunday all.

 

Off to work in the garden and then will swim with Eliose once it reaches 100 F and I won't work in the sun any longer.

[jpalbny]

Jeff. 220-240 volts is readily available here. Power at the main breaker box is 240V through two hot wires and a neutral (each hot wire is +/-120V but they are opposite phase, so they are 240V apart). We just run most appliances off 120V using a circuit between one hot wire and the neutral wire. A circuit breaker that occupies two positions in the box will contact both hot wires and will deliver 240V.

 

Almost all electric ovens, clothes dryers, AC units, etc run on 240V.

 

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[MissSophia]

Hello Coolers ☺️

 

Glad to hear that you had the lucky escape Cam....it's so scary to be involved in any kind of accident.

 

M....what a dreadful experience for DD....so pleased to see that she's home safe now.

 

Trying to catch up with all the foodie posts....so far everything looks quite delish.......

Friend and l enjoyed a beautiful lunch out today at the favourite Cheshire pub....l had king prawn with garlic, chilli and lime served bruschetta style followed by rare roast beef and a raspberry tiramisu to finish....even managed to bring a doggy bag home for furry!

 

Sunday evening television this eve is showing the Diana documentary 'In her own words' which the powers that be have tried to ban.

Right now l have the movie 'Dirty Dancing' showing and later we have the Patrick Swayze documentary....oh how l would have loved to dance with him....and Travolta........nice to dream sometimes 😉

 

Wishing Lois a huge Bon Voyage......so exciting for her today.........

Some odd posts on the boards at the moment......😯

 

Spins....enjoy your swim with Eloise.......

 

😊

[mysty]

Thanks Spins and Miss S.. Have been on the phone with eldest this morning as she detailed her nightmare. When she found out her flight was cancelled (from me in an email not from the airline) she went online to try to re-book. She was re-booked on a flight leaving Tuesday August 8! At that point she attempted to get the airline on the phone without success. Apparently this airline does not give priority to passengers from cancelled flights. :(

 

Your lunch sounds like it was delicious Miss S. Enjoy your evening television!

 

Spins....enjoy your swim! :)

[mysty]

Very interesting Op Ed piece, Spins! She doesn't pull any punches!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Sounds like a lovely lunch Soapy.

 

M, travel has become so different in just a few years. It use to feel like s smooth process without fear or stress and now it seems to involve varying degrees of both.

 

Tonight is the last Poldark of the series. Am I the only one that needs the sub-titles regularly for many Beeb dramas and almost all American progs?

 

We had a lovely village walk today. No bothersome dog owners, a wedding in the church and the cows with their new seasons calves looking on from the adjacent field chomping away at the grass and looking very bemused by all the bright and garish clothes. Some late comers rushed up to us saying "where's the church, where's the church" you would have thought the tower and all the bells was a bit of a give away. It was a bit annoying seeing some fairly and provocative large trout in the stream and not being able to take them and eat them. Test river trout are wonderful.

 

Prawn sandwiches tonight!

[ShotsnCruises]

Dinner in progress:

 

 

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[Camillus112]

Just finished Roberto's take on stuffed yellow peppers, made with "picadillo". Picadillo entails ground beef being rubbed with adobo and other secret spices, smothered with onions, multi-colored peppers, tomato paste, wine, honey, cilantro, and "alcaparrado"( a marinade of olives, capers and piquillo peppers). The stuffing is topped with an aged cheese. You should eat this with white rice (not Chinese style, but rather loose and somewhat al dente). I wish I could provide a photo but I don't use a camera...and we ate them fast!!!

[ShotsnCruises]

Dinner finished:

 

 

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[Camillus112]

Oh Shots, looks delightful! Just the way I like my filet cooked. I just ate and am drooling already.

[spinnaker2]

yummmmmmmm

[jpalbny]

Wow, Shots! Yummy! And so nicely cooked. What was the wine pairing? Can only see half of the bottle.

 

A rib steak for us tonight. One will feed both of us. With roasted potatoes,

 

 

A nice salad,

 

 

And the wine choice. Didn't want anything too heavy, but obviously this dinner needed a red. So a Zweigelt from a very good Pennsylvania winery fit the bill.

 

 

So much good food on the cooler. Camillus, your description sounded so tasty. I want to try some!

 

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[ShotsnCruises]

JP, the wine is The Franc from Constantino, California. Quite possibly my favorite of all time. This was a 2014, but the 2010 was the best vintage (IMHO).

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning all ....

 

This food ALL looks wonderfull!!

 

Perhaps we should be considering having a whip round and charter Wind for three weeks and hang around in the kitchen and just mess around and grill, and braise, and steam, and fry and drink etc.

 

I feel that if one of us is cooking, then the rest of us should be eating.

[UKCruiseJeff]

....... JP, what are the white strips in the salad? Endive? Mooli?

[jpalbny]

Good Morning all ....

 

This food ALL looks wonderfull!!

 

Perhaps we should be considering having a whip round and charter Wind for three weeks and hang around in the kitchen and just mess around and grill, and braise, and steam, and fry and drink etc.

 

I feel that if one of us is cooking, then the rest of us should be eating.

 

Yes! what fun.

 

Jeff, the white strips are pieces of Vidalia onion. Sweeter than regular onions and excellent for eating raw.

 

Shots, is the winery Cosentino? Did autocorrect change it to Constantino? I had a look at their website and they are right next door to a place we've visited (Del Dotto, with the caves). Sounds like a place to visit next time!

[Joc123]

Once again I'm way behind with the cooler news due to the time difference.

 

Just read about your mishap with the deer Camillus, so sorry and a terrible inconvenience. We have a similar problem here with kangaroos. They come out at dusk and it's not uncommon for the car to be a write off.

 

On Saturday we are going on a Ponant cruise - Darwin to Broome. People are very happy to tell us how bad Ponant are but I think we know what to expect. It is an expedition cruise so it's not going to be as luxurious as other lines we have sailed on. At least we will escape the awful winter weather and have 10 days in the mid 30c so it can't be all bad.

 

Love all the food photos - I think you all serve better meals than I have had on ships! Am I the only one with a husband who doesn't know where the kitchen is?

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good morning All,

 

Joc, send him along to us. We have had bread lessons, pizza lessons, smoking lessons ..... and all the piccies to get people wanting to cook.

 

Today, I worked out how to get NordVPN on my Fire TV, so we have the full Netflix and Amazon US lists. And at good speeds. What a joy. :)

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

To be clear….this post is not intended as a slur or insult to anyone! It is not political in nature. It is an honest attempt to understand a current concern regarding a potential issue with travel to the U.S..

 

There is currently a Bill C-23 awaiting approval by our Senate which is causing some discomfort for a number of Canadians. It was passed by our House of Commons and moved on for Senate approval. That has not happened yet.

 

Bill C-23 would enshrine in law a reciprocal agreement for customs and immigration pre-clearance signed by the governments of Stephen Harper and Barack Obama in 2015. Both houses of Congress passed the U.S. version of the bill.

 

 

Pre-clearance allows Canadian visitors to the U.S. to clear U.S. Customs and Immigration while still in Canada at a Canadian port of departure.

 

Eight Canadian airports offer pre-clearance, and it will expand to two more later this year. They also exist at the Port of Vancouver, at Vancouver's train station and on some B.C.-Washington ferry routes. Later this year, pre-clearance is expected to be introduced at Montreal's train station for Amtrak's Montreal-New York City route.

 

Canadians are expressing concern about parts of the bill that grant new powers to U.S. border agents working in Canada. Those include the right to bear arms and, most controversially, the discretionary power to detain Canadians for further questioning if the U.S. agent is unhappy with their answers.

 

Until now, Canadians passing through U.S. Customs pre-clearance in a Canadian airport have had the right to simply withdraw their request to enter the U.S. if the encounter goes badly, and leave the pre-clearance area.

 

Section 31 of Bill C-23 takes away that right.

 

The U.S. legislation passed last December does extend the same powers to agents of the Canada Border Services Agency in the U.S. But there are no Canadian pre-clearance facilities at U.S. airports, since it is easier for Canada to screen arrivals at the smaller number of Canadian airports.

 

I fully understand and support the U.S.’s right to refuse admission to the country. What I have trouble understanding is the right and authority to detain a Canadian for further questioning while that person is in Canada. If that person is a potential “problem” that person would remain a “problem” in Canada and not in the U.S. Am I missing something here?

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pre-clearance-u-s-travellers-bill-c-23-reaction-1.4213797

 

 

Have a great day all!

[ShotsnCruises]

Jeff, yes, you are right. Stupid auto correct!!!

 

 

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