The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2011 Prinsendam North Cape and Arctic cruise.  On August 11 we visited Bergen Norway:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Panomax image is beautiful right now:

 

https://crystal-cruises.panomax.com/

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

14 hours ago, BEAV said:

 

Does the Chez partner with DoorDash?  To California?

 

Sure, but you have to choose their "delivery in 2 to 7 days" option.  And the free green crust on the patties will scrape right off.  It'll be fine, trust me.

[KenzSailing]

7 hours ago, BWIVince said:

Beautiful!
 

Is that a potato roll bun?  I’m minutes away from opening a bag of Martin’s to make breakfast.

 

Vince

 

Absolutely, Martin's is just the best for burgers.  Did you know that's what Shake Shack uses?  Guess they figured if it's good enough for the Chez...  

[BWIVince]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Absolutely, Martin's is just the best for burgers.  Did you know that's what Shake Shack uses?  Guess they figured if it's good enough for the Chez...  

 

I didn't know that!  I wouldn't be surprised if they did...  You're the EF Hutton of most culinary topics!  

 

I love them too, for a lot of uses.  My store stopped carrying the slider size though, which I found really useful.  😞 

 

Vince

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2018 Grand Alaska-Panama trip.  On August 12 Crystal Symphony was at sea from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2018 Grand Alaska/Panama journey.  On August 13 the Crystal Symphony visited Cabo San Lucas:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

This is probably my first and definitely oldest sunrise (I think) photo.  It was taken on the SS Rotterdam on August 14, 1997, my first HAL cruise. I was thinking I had lost the metadata but then realized it was a film camera and there was no such thing.  It was taken after our stop in Ketchikan and before our galley tour on the last sea day so while it was probably sunrise August 14 it might have been sunset August 13.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Kitchen koan:

 

If one has not this skillet

 

Has one really cooked

 

 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from a 2015 Blount Cruise from Portland ME to Saint John NB.  On August 15 Grande Caribe visited Bath, ME.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

12 minutes ago, drib said:

I'm going to answer a question in another topic here because I promised that I wouldn't have the last word there.  @sierrafloridacruiser, I hope you will find me here.

 

 

I think you are certainly correct that a Caribbean cruise is not price gouging in the legal sense.  I was just using those words to express outrage, colorfully ...  although I still think the fares as shown on the Crystal web site could be an error - some kind of -rhythm, because that's happened before on what they now call their legacy system.

 

 

 

 

Took me a sec.  You win all of today's clever points.

[mskatiemae]

18 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Kitchen koan:

 

If one has not this skillet

 

Has one really cooked

 

 

I'm sure you and OLoPP have many happy memories of chops and such having sailed through that pan-port.

[KenzSailing]

One year from right now we plan to be boarding Crystal Serenity in LA.  For us, that constitutes "right around the corner."

 

That's the plan, anyway.

 

TWT.  

[Catlover54]

4 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

One year from right now we plan to be boarding Crystal Serenity in LA.  For us, that constitutes "right around the corner."

 

That's the plan, anyway.

 

TWT.  

The operative definition of "corner" has changed a lot since Covid.

[sierrafloridacruiser]

9 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Took me a sec.  You win all of today's clever points.

He does!! 🙌

[Stickman1990]

10 minutes ago, sierrafloridacruiser said:

Drib, I don’t disagree with you that the pricing seems bizarrely high and could be an error. I’m fresh off the Endeavor’s second cruise and it was fabulous but…it was Iceland.  No way in heck I’d part with that much cash for the Carribean

You did of course also receive an additional effective 25% discount as a FCC in recognition of the lack of some facilities that were advertised as part of the cruise 

[KenzSailing]

 

This is all my fault, but we're veering dangerously close to not being off-topic (IOW, being off-off-topic) on this here thread.  So, to get us back on course (ha!):

 

What's the best ketchup? Well, it's complicated.

 

Heinz is of course the correct (US based) answer. But then I discovered Heinz Organic ketchup.  It does taste better. Difference?  It's sweetened with sugar, not corn syrup. (Commercial ketchup is basically processed tomatoes, sweetener and preservatives.)

 

But I've just discovered Heinz make a product called "Simply Ketchup."  It contains no sweetener. Never tasted it.  But just found out Shake Shack uses it.  I've saved the packets from today's lunch indulgence to do a thorough taste test.  Results to follow.

 

There, we're back off topic. 

[sierrafloridacruiser]

34 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

You did of course also receive an additional effective 25% discount as a FCC in recognition of the lack of some facilities that were advertised as part of the cruise 

I did say cash, didn’t I? 😂 Well, I’m not parting with my FCC for the Caribbean either. It’s lovely, but I’m relatively new to the whole “let’s see the world” stage of my life and that’s one of the few areas I’ve been multiple times. I need to see Europe and the Mediterranean! 

[BEAV]

Bless you, Kenz.  We can always count on you to put us back off topic.... 

 

Are you gonna use your new ketchup discovery on your famous Chez burgers? I sure hope so, ‘cause the Original Chez Burger I ordered on DoorDash this past week from MD to CA didn’t fare so well crossing the country. The delivery history on my DoorDash app shows it was handed off to 26 different Dashers before it made it to the Golden (and burning) State, and, eventually, my humble abode. Here’s what it looked like upon arrival...😢

 

Time for a 2nd try with your new found fancy ketchup. I don’t give up easy. 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by BEAV

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from the same cruise as yesterday.  On August 16, 2015 Grande Caribe visited Rockland, Maine.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

20 hours ago, BEAV said:

Bless you, Kenz.  We can always count on you to put us back off topic.... 

 

Are you gonna use your new ketchup discovery on your famous Chez burgers? I sure hope so, ‘cause the Original Chez Burger I ordered on DoorDash this past week from MD to CA didn’t fare so well crossing the country. The delivery history on my DoorDash app shows it was handed off to 26 different Dashers before it made it to the Golden (and burning) State, and, eventually, my humble abode. Here’s what it looked like upon arrival...😢

 

Time for a 2nd try with your new found fancy ketchup. I don’t give up easy. 

 

 

 

Beav,

 

Hmmm, a burger joint called the Grazing Shed.  Sounds like a mixed message to me.

 

Nope, no ketchup on the burgers here at the Chez.  Ketchup is for fries, cocktail sauce and OLoPP's meatloaf.

 

On burgers (and a nice crispy fried chicken sandwich I make) I put Kenji Lopez-Alt's fry sauce:

 

1/2 cup mayo (Duke's if you can get it)

2 tbsp ketchup (OK, there's a little ketchup on the burger. Sue me)

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tbsp dill pickle juice

1/2 tsp sugar

Optional: pinch of cayenne powder

 

Stir to combine and away you go.  It'll keep in the fridge for a couple weeks.  Give it a try.  

[May B]

23 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

This is all my fault, but we're veering dangerously close to not being off-topic (IOW, being off-off-topic) on this here thread.  So, to get us back on course (ha!):

 

What's the best ketchup? Well, it's complicated.

 

Heinz is of course the correct (US based) answer. But then I discovered Heinz Organic ketchup.  It does taste better. Difference?  It's sweetened with sugar, not corn syrup. (Commercial ketchup is basically processed tomatoes, sweetener and preservatives.)

 

But I've just discovered Heinz make a product called "Simply Ketchup."  It contains no sweetener. Never tasted it.  But just found out Shake Shack uses it.  I've saved the packets from today's lunch indulgence to do a thorough taste test.  Results to follow.

 

There, we're back off topic. 

Yikes. I sure wish I’d read this before we went to Shake Shack today! And we did not save ANY packets. We just gobbled up the ketchup with our French fries and nobody said a thing! Now I have to decide … mention it, or wait until the next time we go, and bring it up casually/innocently? 

[Roland4]

4 minutes ago, May B said:

Yikes. I sure wish I’d read this before we went to Shake Shack today! And we did not save ANY packets. We just gobbled up the ketchup with our French fries and nobody said a thing! Now I have to decide … mention it, or wait until the next time we go, and bring it up casually/innocently? 

Actually, we have come to prefer French's Ketchup. Switched to it for purely "jingoistic" purposes when Heinz shut down their ketchup plant here in Ontario, then discovered we liked it better. More tomato taste and less sweetness! And it tastes great on French (Freedom??😉😁) fries too!

[mskatiemae]

You want ketchup with no sweetener, organic, without any (ahem) history i.e. troublesome political inclinations? 

 

Go Paleo! Keto! Whole30! Gluten-free! PrimalKitchen is what's in my fridge.

[Keith1010]

Bistro on Endeavor.

 

How many of you can eat just one?

 

 

Keith