The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[KenzSailing]

Here in Chevy Chase, the sun is shining, the birds are singing.  It is a glorious day this seventh of November, 2020.

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is the last I took from the Allure of the Seas as we completed my transatlantic voyage on her.

 

 

 

[rafinmd]

My November 7 sunrise is from my 2006 Blount Intercoastal waterways cruise, Rhode Island to Palm Beach.  On November we were approaching my home city of Baltimore.  My shore excursion for the day was to go home and vote:

 

 

Roy

[BEAV]

2 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Here in Chevy Chase, the sun is shining, the birds are singing.  It is a glorious day this seventh of November, 2020.

 

Welcome back. I’ve missed your home-grown cocktail and culinary adventures! 

[skybluewaters]

On 11/2/2020 at 4:36 AM, rafinmd said:

Today's sunrise is the first from yet another cruise.  I was supposed to be on the ship but wasn't.  I was supposed to board the Crystal Symphony October 31 (2012) in New York but Superstorm Sandy got in the way and I watched the sun come up November 2 in Charleston.

 

 

Roy

This photo makes me nostalgic!  This was our very first Crystal cruise, and I remember being right next to you in line to board that day, near the very front of the line.  Thanks for posting this!

[ChatKat in Ca.]

I learned today that I can "cast" my website to my television and see all my travel photos at 75 inches.

What a fun rainy day we had for a while.  This was from our first Crystal Cruise at Key West

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

I learned today that I can "cast" my website to my television and see all my travel photos at 75 inches.

What a fun rainy day we had for a while.  This was from our first Crystal Cruise at Key West

 

My first Crystal cruise included Key West too! I got off and walked to the Hemingway House to see the polydactyl cats. I'd heard of the feral chickens at Key West, but wasn't thinking about them when a rooster crowed near me and scared me to death! Not to be confused when I heard a great commotion in the next block and discover chicken sex in the doorway. Key West is pretty wild.

 

Patty

[rafinmd]

I'm doing double sunrise photos today.  With all the discussion here on Key West, I'm including the sunrise on November 4, 2012 as we entered Key West.

 

 

My November 8 sunrise is the absolute last one from my 2015 Allure of the Seas transatlantic.  It was taken from the Silver Meteor approaching Washington as we crossed a river, most likely the Rappahanock:

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

19 hours ago, BEAV said:

 

Welcome back. I’ve missed your home-grown cocktail and culinary adventures! 

 

Thanks Beav.  Stay tuned.

[KenzSailing]

15 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

My first Crystal cruise included Key West too! I got off and walked to the Hemingway House to see the polydactyl cats. I'd heard of the feral chickens at Key West, but wasn't thinking about them when a rooster crowed near me and scared me to death! Not to be confused when I heard a great commotion in the next block and discover chicken sex in the doorway. Key West is pretty wild.

 

Patty

 

Why do local tourism boards always leave out the really good stuff?  I'm now so going to Key West when we open back up.

[comas]

7 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Why do local tourism boards always leave out the really good stuff?  I'm now so going to Key West when we open back up.

Be sure to take a tour on the Conch Train whilst you are visiting. It’s great fun. 
I cannot seem to paste a link on here, but just Google ‘Conch Train’. It’s 10 years since we were there, but I believe it’s pronounced ‘Conk’ ?

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my last completed string of cruises, QM2, Crystal Bach, Crystal Serenity, and Crystal Symphony.  On October 9, Crystal Serenity was at sea from Valencia to Malaga.

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is the first for yet another November cruise.  This is my first voyage on Windsatar, a transatlantic out of Lisbon:

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Misadventures in Cooking: Part Two (?)

 

The Tale of the Five Minute Egg

 

(Wait. Are you saying you messed up a 5 minute egg?)

 

Why yes, yes I am.

 

(How does anyone do that?)

 

Well, you’ll just have to read on.  OK, in this age of the Twitter attention span, here’s the TL;DR:

I mistook a 3 minute egg recipe for a 5 minute egg recipe.   Yeah, I failed to RTFM, as we say in technology.   Anyway, you’re mostly cooped up at home and it’s a good yarn.  Stick around.

 

PS: there’s a surprise happy ending.

 

The backstory:

 

Think back to the before times.   Back when we went to the grocer just because we, say, needed a bunch of bananas.  Toilet paper came from Costco in 56 roll packs.  We dined out with abandon.  And we sailed the seven seas with joy in our hearts and a smile on our lips.

 

Back in those heady days, there were a thousand million things that went into our enjoyment of a Crystal cruise.  Some elements were massively large, like service, some so small as to almost pass by without notice.  For Laurel, (Our Lady of Perpetual Patience), one of those things was a 5 minute egg, served in one of those silly little egg cups in Marketplace.  She loves a good 5 minute egg, the server is a luxury signifier for her, and it always puts a smile on her face.

 

So, in my ongoing pursuit of an existence that captures some of the simple happiness of sitting out on the fantail and having breakfast, I set out to make 5 minute eggs.  Now you’re thinking this is utterly simple.  HA!  In this age of recipes all over the internet, I assure you this is surprisingly complex.  And I am drawn to the complex, probably a character defect on my part.

 

First, I went online and acquired a set of those silly egg cups.  Then I went in search of the perfect recipe (remember, I’ve already given away the ending to our little mystery).  I pulled a recipe from a trusted source and one Sunday morning, I was off to the (egg) races.

 

The recipe I followed was deliciously complex.  I don’t recall the exact details (painful memory), but it was a multi-step process something like this:

 

Cook the eggs sous vide (sue-veed) for 40 minutes.  Transfer the eggs to a pot of boiling water and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Then I think there was an ice water bath for an additional 2 minutes.  Then serve. Yes, all this in pursuit of the perfect 5 minute egg.  I am the Indiana Jones of the kitchen.

 

 I presented these labored-over eggs in their little cups to OLoPP (a surprise, I love surprising her) and watched as she cracked into them (oh yeah, I had even bought some of those cute little spoons. We are not philistines.)  

 

Now, for the non-dairy crowd: a 5 minute egg should have a cooked white with a runny yolk. These were not that.  The completely runny white ran down the side of the shell along with the yolk.  Total fail, as the kidz would say. But the egg cups were cute.

 

OLoPP pronounced them perfect.  Get you someone who looks at you like she did me when she said that. And we proceeded on with a perfectly pleasant Sunday.

 

Surprise ending:  I continued my quest for the perfect 5 minute egg recipe.  And I found it.  And there ensued many happy Sunday mornings, with solid whites, runny yolks, and those silly little cups.

 

The moral: the difference between despair and happiness can be (or feel like) 2 minutes.  And these current 2 minutes we find ourselves in shall pass. So be of good cheer, and dream of eggs, and egg cups, and the high seas, and all those silly little things which make you happy.

 

 

 

[rafinmd]

I think today's sunrise is the first of a 2013 combination, the Crystal Symphony New York to Miami, and the Prinsendam continuing to the Amazon.  November 11 the Symphony was at sea from Grand Turk to Curacao;

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Great photo Roy.

[BEAV]

3 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Misadventures in Cooking: Part Two (?)

 

The Tale of the Five Minute Egg

 

(Wait. Are you saying you messed up a 5 minute egg?)

 

Why yes, yes I am.

THANK YOU, Kenz!  Your temporary absence has been well worth the wait. 
 

And bless dear OLoPP for her never-ending patience and endurance! 

[nancygp]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I think today's sunrise is the first of a 2013 combination, the Crystal Symphony New York to Miami, and the Prinsendam continuing to the Amazon.  November 11 the Symphony was at sea from Grand Turk to Curacao;

 

 

Roy

I have fond memories from the New York to Miami cruise 

 

Nancy

[rafinmd]

4 hours ago, nancygp said:

I have fond memories from the New York to Miami cruise 

 

Nancy

Me too.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

For sunrise today I'm returning to my 2006 Blount  Intracostal Waterway cruise.  On November 12 we were in Georgetown, SC.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

20 hours ago, BEAV said:

THANK YOU, Kenz!  Your temporary absence has been well worth the wait. 
 

And bless dear OLoPP for her never-ending patience and endurance! 

 

You're welcome Beav.  Your encouragement the other other day motivated me to get off the dime.  That plus my disposition has been sunnier the past week or so.  Not sure why...thinking...thinking... 

[travelberlin]

It is nice when long time posters post again after a break. I am wondering if somebody knows where is Vince. His posts were quite informative.

Ivi

[rafinmd]

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

It is nice when long time posters post again after a break. I am wondering if somebody knows where is Vince. His posts were quite informative.

Ivi

I'm shocked!  I just checked his profile and his last post was 2 months ago today.  He surely is missed.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is actually a sunset.  It's from my 2014 Wind Star Transatlantic and was taken after leaving Agadir, Morocco.

 

 

Roy

[ChatKat in Ca.]

On 11/11/2020 at 1:20 PM, nancygp said:

I have fond memories from the New York to Miami cruise 

 

Nancy

Me too but sadly it was a different one than you sailed.