The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[BEAV]

December 24, 2018 aboard Serenity. Time for coffee and treats in the Bistro! 

[BWIVince]

2 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

(PS: I haven't cleaned the oven for far too long so Vince, if you see smoke to the south, well there you go...) 

 

1 hour ago, Texas Tillie said:

Mine needs it, but since my built-in ovens are 45 years old, I think it might be a better idea to do it by hand (or not at all)!

 

I just bought regular old Easy Off for the first time in my life...  I think that's going to be my festive holiday pandemic project for tomorrow.  I haven't even opened my oven since my roommate moved out years ago (it's amazing how far a convection toaster oven can carry a bachelor), and I didn't realize how dirty it was until last week.  Normally I'm a self-clean kind of guy, but this is way too dirty for that now.

 

My front windows face south -- I'll stand fire-watch Ken!

 

Vince

[KenzSailing]

The oven is clean(er).

 

The house is still here.

 

No emergency services had to be called.

 

Think I'll celebrate with a pre-Christmas eve-evening nap.  They don't call me Mr Excitement for...(well, come to think of it, they don't call me Mr Excitement.)

[Coral]

8 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Life during a pandemic:

 

It's Christmas Eve and I've decided to run the self-cleaning cycle on the oven.  I'm rather excited for the change of pace.  

 

Happy Holidays to all.

 

(PS: I haven't cleaned the oven for far too long so Vince, if you see smoke to the south, well there you go...) 

I am familiar with the regular self cleaning ovens and would do that quarterly. My new oven has a steam clean and I have no clue how to do that...... It has been 4 years and I probably need to figure this out.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

9 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Life during a pandemic:

 

It's Christmas Eve and I've decided to run the self-cleaning cycle on the oven.  I'm rather excited for the change of pace.  

 

Happy Holidays to all.

 

(PS: I haven't cleaned the oven for far too long so Vince, if you see smoke to the south, well there you go...) 

My cleaning person used Self Clean when I told her I did it recently so she did not need to clean the oven.  So she pushed the button.

Set off the smoke detector, smoked up the house and melted the silicone shelf edge protector.  The oven was fairly new. We couldn't turn it off until it finished the cycle. The silicone was all over the oven. I  think she tried to remove it and made it worse.  It took six weeks to get a replacement oven. Lucky for me the same model was still being made because I have 2 wall ovens. It's a little updated but close enough.  She is still works for me and everyone on the street because she's mostly good at what she does.

[rafinmd]

Today's photo is neither sunrise nor sunset and I don't think it's actually Christmas (This was film so there's no date on the photo) but it's from my 1999 Christmas trip.  My mother was in a nursing home in Kissimmee, FL at the time and this is the Space Shuttle, viewed from the big lakefront in Kissimmee.

 

 

Roy

[BEAV]

Merry Christmas from all the festive creatures aboard Serenity, December 25, 2018! 

 

 

[TER777]

[wearesiamese]

Thank you Mark Farris for your Christmas 2020 edition of Mark's Quarantine Cabaret! I have not finished watching it, but it has put a much needed smile on my face today! 🙂

https://fb.watch/2CfqxlZSZJ/

Edited December 26, 2020 by wearesiamese

[mskatiemae]

On 12/24/2020 at 1:20 PM, KenzSailing said:

The oven is clean(er).

 

The house is still here.

 

No emergency services had to be called.

 

Think I'll celebrate with a pre-Christmas eve-evening nap.  They don't call me Mr Excitement for...(well, come to think of it, they don't call me Mr Excitement.)

Hey Mr Excitement - I love your idea of a self clean and should do that soon. I was a bit distracted as I had my 22 yr old furnace finally fail on Dec 23 and luckily got new one installed first thing on the morning of Dec 24. Good for me since we had an actual blizzard and zero degrees F over the night of Dec 23. Best Christmas present ever!

[KenzSailing]

Well it's a nice quiet morning after Christmas here at the Chez.  That means there's three lbs of yellow onions in the slow cooker being turned into a winter's worth of french onion soup.  I even own some of those little crockery bowls every mediocre bistro serves onion soup in.

 

BTW, the alternative name for the Chez is "Mediocre Bistro."  Bet you didn't know that.

[Roland4]

58 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

Well it's a nice quiet morning after Christmas here at the Chez.  That means there's three lbs of yellow onions in the slow cooker being turned into a winter's worth of french onion soup.  I even own some of those little crockery bowls every mediocre bistro serves onion soup in.

 

BTW, the alternative name for the Chez is "Mediocre Bistro."  Bet you didn't know that.

 

We got a set of those crockery bowls, complete with little weaved straw "coasters", as a wedding shower present 'lo those almost 40 years ago!! Still use them to this day, but mostly for serving chili!! 🙂

[BWIVince]

19 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

 

We got a set of those crockery bowls, complete with little weaved straw "coasters", as a wedding shower present 'lo those almost 40 years ago!! Still use them to this day, but mostly for serving chili!! 🙂

 

I think mine are stacked next to a set of escargot plates, if that says anything.  They'd be the dustiest of any member's on here for sure.  😕

 

Vince

[Roland4]

12 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

I think mine are stacked next to a set of escargot plates, if that says anything.  They'd be the dustiest of any member's on here for sure.  😕

 

Vince

Ah yes, those 70s vintage escargot plates. We inherited a set of those and even escargot serving SHELLS from the in-laws when we purchased the old family home in 2016. My Father-in-Law loved to cook and introduced escargot, lobster and rare beef (among many other things) to the "well-done-meat and potatoes" palate of my upbringing.

[BWIVince]

25 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

Ah yes, those 70s vintage escargot plates. We inherited a set of those and even escargot serving SHELLS from the in-laws when we purchased the old family home in 2016. My Father-in-Law loved to cook and introduced escargot, lobster and rare beef (among many other things) to the "well-done-meat and potatoes" palate of my upbringing.

 

I can relate!  My mother tried to get me to take her shells when she sold her house years ago, and although my basement looks like an obscure culinary service museum as it is, that was a bridge too far even for me.  More than anything, I don't think she had the tongs guests use to hold the shells, and I wasn't about to buy anything just to enable other more stuff I'd never use to inevitably just sit there anyway.  😀

 

Vince

[Roland4]

47 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

I can relate!  My mother tried to get me to take her shells when she sold her house years ago, and although my basement looks like an obscure culinary service museum as it is, that was a bridge too far even for me.  More than anything, I don't think she had the tongs guests use to hold the shells, and I wasn't about to buy anything just to enable other more stuff I'd never use to inevitably just sit there anyway.  😀

 

Vince

 

Oh, we even have those tongs!!!😁

 

"Exotic" spices were not common when I was growing up. First time I had future Dad-in-Law's escargot, we also had garlic bread and ceasar salad. Next night, at the home dinner table, my Dad says to me "What in the name of God did you have with garlic in it last night??" 😁😁

 

Larry

[crickette]

3 hours ago, Roland4 said:

 

We got a set of those crockery bowls, complete with little weaved straw "coasters", as a wedding shower present 'lo those almost 40 years ago!! Still use them to this day, but mostly for serving chili!! 🙂

Mine even have the lids, and durned is not even one has broken yet!  To add to the insult, they are harvest gold.

Edited December 26, 2020 by crickette

[Roland4]

20 minutes ago, crickette said:

Mine even have the lids, and durned is not even one has broken yet!  To add to the insult, they are harvest gold.

 

We were married in 1981, so we still have a few things kicking around the kitchen in "unusual" colours!! Ours are brown, with painted rims that I have always assumed were supposed to resemble the melted cheese!! We have rarely used them for onion soup, but as I mentioned earlier, they are perfect for chili!

[rafinmd]

My next couple of photos are from the trip I took for the new millennium.  After Christmas with my mom in Florida I chose a private train trip deep into Mexico's Copper Canyon where there was little technology to be upset by the feared change in date and the trip also was not wildly overpriced, as were many of the special millennium celebrations.  I was still using film so am not really sure I have the date right but it's close.

 

 

Roy

 

 

[Texas Tillie]

4 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

I think mine are stacked next to a set of escargot plates, if that says anything.  They'd be the dustiest of any member's on here for sure.  😕

 

Vince

 

Don't be so sure of that. I can't get to the top shelf in my kitchen cabinets, even with a stool. I can see glasses up there that are greasy looking with dust on top of that!! 😜

 

Patty

Edited December 26, 2020 by Texas Tillie

[BEAV]

24 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

I can't get to the top shelf in my kitchen cabinets, even with a stool. I can see glasses up there that are greasy looking with dust on top of that!! 

 

Sadly, I relate, Patty. 🙄

 

I could elaborate, but that’s the short version......

[KenzSailing]

7 hours ago, Roland4 said:

 

We got a set of those crockery bowls, complete with little weaved straw "coasters", as a wedding shower present 'lo those almost 40 years ago!! Still use them to this day, but mostly for serving chili!! 🙂

 

Chili, you say? Chili?

 

Well, prepare to step into the arena:

 

Protein: ground or chunks? (And get that veggie chili stuff right outta here)

 

And the biggie: beans or no?

 

(And if Patty doesn't chime in on this, well, I shall fear for her well being.)  

[BEAV]

45 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 (And get that veggie chili stuff right outta here)

 

9.9999 out of every 10 Californians polled don't like you no more. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by BEAV
spellin'

[Coral]

1 hour ago, BEAV said:

 

9.9999 out of every 10 Californians polled don't like you no more. 

The people in my state have never heard of Vegetarian Chili 🙂

[Texas Tillie]

8 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Chili, you say? Chili?

 

Well, prepare to step into the arena:

 

Protein: ground or chunks? (And get that veggie chili stuff right outta here)

 

And the biggie: beans or no?

 

(And if Patty doesn't chime in on this, well, I shall fear for her well being.)  

 

I think you mentioned me because Texans are "supposed" to be opposed to beans in chili, but I have no real opposition to beans in chili!! I can trace my Texas roots back to about 1850, too. 😲

 

Patty

 

P.S. Just looked in my pantry, I have 2 cans of Wolf Brand Chili, turkey chili, no beans. The brand is now owned by Con Agra, but the address on the label is still Fort Worth, Texas!

 

 

 

 

 

Patty

Edited December 27, 2020 by Texas Tillie