The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[BWIVince]

SO COOL @BEAV!!!  I remember that cutaway well, I can still remember the cover of the first brochure I received from RCCL that included that same cutaway inside...  Before I practically wore it out.  hehe

 

My home office is aviation themed -- no judgement!  😁  

 

Vince

[Roland4]

13 minutes ago, BEAV said:

I was just in our maritime-themed bathroom (true confession!) snapping this photo as you were posting, Vince. 
 

Apologies for the poor photo quality. 
 

It’s an introductory poster of Sovereign announcing the maiden voyage as being January 16, 1988 from Miami. My hubby’s side hustle in that era was in outside sales for the Bay Area-based Emporium-Capwell department store’s travel service. No doubt that’s where/how he obtained the poster. 

I stand corrected! Our first cruise ever was on Song of America in March 1988 and I thought Sovereign came out after that cruise.

[BEAV]

25 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

My home office is aviation themed -- no judgement!  😁  

 

Vince

 

No problem as long as you don’t ask how/why the bathroom was designated as the cruise-themed room in the house....

 

And as this is the Crystal board, I guess I should prove our loyalty with our shower curtain. I can claim to shower daily aboard Symphony with a certain amount of truthfulness! 

 

24 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

I stand corrected! Our first cruise ever was on Song of America in March 1988 and I thought Sovereign came out after that cruise.

 

At the bottom of the poster is listed RCL’s entire fleet at that time!

Sovereign, Song of America, Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, Sun Viking

 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by BEAV

[BWIVince]

18 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

No problem as long as you don’t ask how/why the bathroom was designated as the cruise-themed room in the house....

 

And as this is the Crystal board, I guess I should prove our loyalty with our shower curtain. I can claim to shower daily aboard Symphony with a certain amount of truthfulness! 

 

 

At the bottom of the poster is listed RCL’s entire fleet at that time!

Sovereign, Song of America, Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, Sun Viking

 

 

I’ll get that story out of you sometime over drinks...  I have a Crystal Cruises beach towel  that goes with your shower curtain.  😊

 

Vince

[KenzSailing]

 

Wow, and I thought I was being expressive when I bought the latest Crystal cookbook...

[BEAV]

22 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Wow, and I thought I was being expressive when I bought the latest Crystal cookbook...

 

You keep cookin’ and I’ll keep showerin’. 

 

Win-win. 

[rafinmd]

For today's sunrise I'm returning to my 2016 Seabourn Odyssey transatlantic cruise:

 

 

I haven't sailed Crystal much in December but looks like it will come back early in  the new year.

 

Roy

 

[Roland4]

17 hours ago, BEAV said:

 

No problem as long as you don’t ask how/why the bathroom was designated as the cruise-themed room in the house....

 

And as this is the Crystal board, I guess I should prove our loyalty with our shower curtain. I can claim to shower daily aboard Symphony with a certain amount of truthfulness! 

 

 

At the bottom of the poster is listed RCL’s entire fleet at that time!

Sovereign, Song of America, Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, Sun Viking

 

 

 

My Mom and younger Sister went on Sun Viking in 1990 and somehow wrangled a ship tour on Sovereign when both were in the same port. Found out when they showed us the picture they had taken in Sovereign's Viking Crown Lounge. Needless to say we were very jealous!!!! 😁

[KenzSailing]

17 hours ago, BEAV said:

 

You keep cookin’ and I’ll keep showerin’. 

 

Win-win. 

 

Well in fact I have a three rib beef roast quietly burbling away in its sous vide bath, getting ready for tonight's dinner.  Going to break out the ricer and make some potatoes Robuchon to go with it.  Yum!

[BWIVince]

1 hour ago, Roland4 said:

 

My Mom and younger Sister went on Sun Viking in 1990 and somehow wrangled a ship tour on Sovereign when both were in the same port. Found out when they showed us the picture they had taken in Sovereign's Viking Crown Lounge. Needless to say we were very jealous!!!! 😁

 

That's awesome...  It was so much easier to do that, back in the day.  I was docked in Skagway in 1987 on the former Royal Princess (of 1984), right behind the old Island Princess (1971/1972).  My father and I asked the crew at the gangway if there was any chance to come aboard and see the ship, and we were warmly encouraged to check it out -- I was elated.  Of course back then they didn't keep track of was aboard/ashore and had minimal security, so they checked our Royal Princess cards but didn't log us or give us visitor ID's or anything.  Getting to see Sovereign is much more exciting than the old Island Princess though!  🙂

 

Tying this back to the Crystal board, our head waiter on that Royal Princess sailing was Josef Widmar!  He was one of the few people we knew (and loved) at Crystal from their work at prior lines.

 

Vince

[Coral]

3 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

That's awesome...  It was so much easier to do that, back in the day.  I was docked in Skagway in 1987 on the former Royal Princess (of 1984), right behind the old Island Princess (1971/1972).  My father and I asked the crew at the gangway if there was any chance to come aboard and see the ship, and we were warmly encouraged to check it out -- I was elated.  Of course back then they didn't keep track of was aboard/ashore and had minimal security, so they checked our Royal Princess cards but didn't log us or give us visitor ID's or anything.  Getting to see Sovereign is much more exciting than the old Island Princess though!  🙂

 

Princess used to let you visit other Princess ships when both ships were docked in port. I did this several times in the late 90's. I would go onboard and have lunch on a different ship. They would make an announcement that any guests must leave the ship at a certain time before the ship would sail. I remember seeing the old Regal Princess that way.

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Coral

[KenzSailing]

10 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Well in fact I have a three rib beef roast quietly burbling away in its sous vide bath, getting ready for tonight's dinner.  Going to break out the ricer and make some potatoes Robuchon to go with it.  Yum!

 

The roast was magnificent (just buy a good piece of meat, which OLoPP did, and don't mess it up.) The potatoes, however, were a little stiff.  Which, given the work involved (including clean up) cheeses me off.  Oh well, next time.

 

But the bones are going into the bag for the beef broth.  Which will eventually go into the French onion soup. The heck with those potatoes.

[Coral]

19 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Well in fact I have a three rib beef roast quietly burbling away in its sous vide bath, getting ready for tonight's dinner.  Going to break out the ricer and make some potatoes Robuchon to go with it.  Yum!

I will do a rib roast over Christmas. I usually do a reverse sear method and it works for me. I have to do my popovers then!

 

I have never done it sous vide - do you brown it after in an oven, frying pan? Just curious. I think I would need to have it browned and crusty on the outside after. Actually I have never ventured to try anything sous vide. I have a device that will allow it but probably not ideal.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Coral

[Coral]

8 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

The potatoes, however, were a little stiff.  Which, given the work involved (including clean up) cheeses me off.  Oh well, next time.

So I looked up the potatoes. What type of potatoes did you use. I have never made them that way. I think I need to add more butter to my mashed potatoes than how I normally do! Not sure if I want to peel them hot.... Learn something new every day.

[Roland4]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

IActually I have never ventured to try anything sous vide. I have a device that will allow it but probably not ideal.

We have found sous vide to be a great way to cook steak during a cold, dark Toronto winter when the BBQ is either put away for the season or buried in a snowdrift!!! Set the water temperature for a couple of degrees less than desired doneness, then when it is up to temp, and you are ready, toss into a hot cast iron frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side to desired crust, and voila!!

[KenzSailing]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I will do a rib roast over Christmas. I usually do a reverse sear method and it works for me. I have to do my popovers then!

 

I have never done it sous vide - do you brown it after in an oven, frying pan? Just curious. I think I would need to have it browned and crusty on the outside after. Actually I have never ventured to try anything sous vide. I have a device that will allow it but probably not ideal.

 

When I'm making a steak or chop I use the reverse sear method Roland outlined below, but when I make a 6-7 lbs rib roast(especially bone-in) things get a little more involved:

 

Liberally salt the roast using kosher salt

 

Put it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight or up to 24 hours  

 

When ready to cook, heat the SV bath to desired temp (we like our steaks at 132F, but a roast, because the bone and fat are insulators, I'll go to 134F)

 

Sear the roast over high heat on all sides except the bone side (put just a little, like 2 tsp, oil in the pan to promote the sear)

 

Season with pepper

 

Bag it and into the water it goes for 16-24 hours(I cooked the last one about 23 hours)

 

Pull it(save the juice!) let it rest for 10 min. Pat dry w/ paper towels.  Put it under the broiler, fat side up, until the fat starts to crisp (5-10 minutes)

 

Let it rest for 5 minutes, slice and enjoy! 

[KenzSailing]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

So I looked up the potatoes. What type of potatoes did you use. I have never made them that way. I think I need to add more butter to my mashed potatoes than how I normally do! Not sure if I want to peel them hot.... Learn something new every day.

 

I use Yukon Gold potatoes.

 

OK, small confession: I don't make the exact Robuchon recipe, but one that gets me to about the same place.  I peel and cut up the raw potatoes.  The trick is, I then cook them in a milk and butter mixture.  This prevents the potatoes from absorbing water(which is what cooking them skin-on in water is also designed to prevent) without any burned pinkies from peeling hot potatoes.

 

I mean, I'll do anything for spuds, but I won't do that.

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is the second half of my December 2012 group featuring my nephew's wedding.  December 16 was the sea day on the Celebrity Summit:

 

 

Roy

[BWIVince]

39 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

I mean, I'll do anything for spuds, but I won't do that.

 

The first one that pivots on that from potatoes to meatloaf wins.  😁

[Junelovestocruise]

40 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

The first one that pivots on that from potatoes to meatloaf wins.  😁

Funny that you should suggest that. I was looking for recipes to cook meatloaf in an Instant Pot and almost everything that I found told me how to cook the potatoes for mashed potatoes in the same pot as the meatloaf. I had my heart set on a baked potato so just did the meatloaf in the oven as usual. 🙂

[KenzSailing]

1 hour ago, BWIVince said:

 

The first one that pivots on that from potatoes to meatloaf wins.  😁

 

I knew you'd get that.

[BWIVince]

17 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 

I knew you'd get that.

I needed the laugh...  Before I face shoveling.  We’re getting nailed up here, for the first time in years.

 

Vince

[Junelovestocruise]

Cold but no snow in Montreal. 

[rafinmd]

24 minutes ago, Junelovestocruise said:

Cold but no snow in Montreal. 

I think Vince and I would be happy to send some your way.

 

Roy

[Roland4]

22 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I think Vince and I would be happy to send some your way.

 

Roy

That would be a switch!! It's usually us volunteering to send it down to you!! We were supposed to get 5 to 10 CM in snowsqualls off Lake Ontario due to strong east winds, but the winds never materialized, so we still have a green yard with a couple of piles from the plow at the end of the driveway. Cold though at -7 C (15 F).