The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[BWIVince]

2 hours ago, TxDarlin said:

Thank you, just wanted to know what kind of gear I needed to bring to manage my door key. I hope more ships go with something more like the Ocean Medallions. You just had reach for the cabin door and it was unlocked and ready to enter. Very cool. 😎

 

Definitely...  I enjoy similar arrangements at most hotels these days, either with the NFC cards or my phone.  Serenity will probably be retrofitted with similar hardware, but I expect Symphony has her final set of stateroom door hardware.  😞 

 

Vince

[KenzSailing]

So last night I made tenderloins. Now, the book on the tenderloin cut is it's very tender (go figure) but a little lacking in flavor.   So a little Bearnaise sauce is a good accompaniment.  Problem is, it's a bit of a pain to make.  Most recipes I've seen have you reduce 1/2 cup of white wine or Champagne vinegar (along with some tarragon and shallot) down to about two tbsp, then combine that with what is basically a Hollandaise.

 

That reduction is tedious and time consuming, so I don't bother very often.  Then I came across a recipe with a very interesting short cut: instead of the reduction, add 1 tbsp A-1 steak sauce to the base sauce. And the result is darn good.  Maybe I wouldn't serve it to a paying customer, but it's fine for staff meal.

 

I love lazy-chef recipes.

 

 

[BWIVince]

4 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

So last night I made tenderloins. Now, the book on the tenderloin cut is it's very tender (go figure) but a little lacking in flavor.   So a little Bearnaise sauce is a good accompaniment.  Problem is, it's a bit of a pain to make.  Most recipes I've seen have you reduce 1/2 cup of white wine or Champagne vinegar (along with some tarragon and shallot) down to about two tbsp, then combine that with what is basically a Hollandaise.

 

That reduction is tedious and time consuming, so I don't bother very often.  Then I came across a recipe with a very interesting short cut: instead of the reduction, add 1 tbsp A-1 steak sauce to the base sauce. And the result is darn good.  Maybe I wouldn't serve it to a paying customer, but it's fine for staff meal.

 

I love lazy-chef recipes.

 

 

 

<cough> Knorr. <cough>. Just kidding.  😄

 

I never would have thought of A-1, but that kind of makes sense.  I do love hacks like that though...  I think my first ever "wait, what? 🤨" was watching Natalie Dupree melt French vanilla ice cream to hack a quick creme anglaise, back when I was a kid.  

 

It was amazing how quickly an impressionable kid's proper training from Julia in one hour could be completely undermined by another TV personality/chef in the next hour.  🙂 

 

Vince

[mskatiemae]

31 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

So last night I made tenderloins. Now, the book on the tenderloin cut is it's very tender (go figure) but a little lacking in flavor.   So a little Bearnaise sauce is a good accompaniment.  Problem is, it's a bit of a pain to make.  Most recipes I've seen have you reduce 1/2 cup of white wine or Champagne vinegar (along with some tarragon and shallot) down to about two tbsp, then combine that with what is basically a Hollandaise.

 

That reduction is tedious and time consuming, so I don't bother very often.  Then I came across a recipe with a very interesting short cut: instead of the reduction, add 1 tbsp A-1 steak sauce to the base sauce. And the result is darn good.  Maybe I wouldn't serve it to a paying customer, but it's fine for staff meal.

 

I love lazy-chef recipes.

 

 

Oh that sounds lovely. Is there a shortcut also for the Hollandaise? 

 

I used to serve A-1 sauce when my son Alexander was little. As a teenager he told me he had always read that label as "AL" sauce i.e. his namesake sauce!

[KenzSailing]

1 hour ago, mskatiemae said:

Oh that sounds lovely. Is there a shortcut also for the Hollandaise? 

 

 

 

Absolutely!

 

I make it in a blender (note: I have a Vitamix (pandemic splurge) which is an absolute beast.)  But this should work in a good Waring-style machine:

 

3 large egg yolks

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch (1/8 tsp) salt

hot sauce (optional, I don't)

 

Blend all that on high for 30 Seconds, then remove plug in lid and slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup melted butter (I just melt it in the microwave).  After adding, continue blending on high for another 30-40 seconds.

 

Note: recipe above is 1/2 the amounts in the original recipe.  My version makes plenty for two, and this stuff doesn't keep. 

 

 

[rafinmd]

In the next 2 or 3 weeks I will have several sunrises from my 2012 roundtrip transatlantics on QM2 and the Crystal Symphony.  August 30 was the second morning on the Eastbound QM2 crossing:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I have a sunset today instead of a sunrise.  It's from my 2016 Crystal Serenity Northwest Passage cruise.  August 31 was a sea day between Cambridge Bay and Pond Inlet:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is another from my 2012 series of Crystal Symphony cruises that started with an Eastbound QM2 crossing.  September 1, 2012 was toward the middle of my QM2 voyage:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

This is my final sunrise from my QM2 transatlantic leading up to the Crystal Symphony weather ravaged return transatlantic in 2012.  September 2 was the penultimate sea day.

 

 

Roy

[ctjon]

Roy,

Ocean certainly didn't look like that on our trip back to the US.   But weather is one of the uncertainties of ocean voyages.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by ctjon

[Roland4]

3 hours ago, ctjon said:

Roy,

Ocean certainly didn't look like that on our trip back to the US.   But weather is one of the uncertainties of ocean voyages.

 

 

Ah yes, the 2012 Symphony Trans-Atlantic From Hell. We were on Deck 10 and had solid water hit our balcony door TWICE!!😲

[Keith1010]

On 8/28/2021 at 6:52 PM, BWIVince said:

According to the trip reports Ive heard from Symphony and Serenity so far, they still are using the mag stripe on your cruise card for the door locks on the staterooms, and the wearable tracking devices are unrelated to the doors, unlike the Ocean Medallions.  
 

According to Keith’s reports, the stateroom doors on Endeavor are using the near-field contactless cards to unlock (that you just hold up near the lock and don’t insert), but it sounded like those were also separate from the tracing wearables as well. 

 

Vince

Vince, you are right.  On Endeavor you have the contactless cards and also traceable wearables.  These are the devices on the doors to guest rooms.

 

 

 

Keith

[rafinmd]

On 9/2/2021 at 12:39 PM, Roland4 said:

Ah yes, the 2012 Symphony Trans-Atlantic From Hell. We were on Deck 10 and had solid water hit our balcony door TWICE!!😲

Funny how vivid the memory is of those days but I actually do have several sunrises from our return transatlantic.

 

I don't have any sunrises from either September 3 or 4.  For today I am going to September 6, 2012.  It's from the return transatlantic on the Crystal Symphony after my Eastbound QM2 transatlantic.

 

 

Roy

[nancygp]

25 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Funny how vivid the memory is of those days but I actually do have several sunrises from our return transatlantic.

 

I don't have any sunrises from either September 3 or 4.  For today I am going to September 6, 2012.  It's from the return transatlantic on the Crystal Symphony after my Eastbound QM2 transatlantic.

 

 

Roy

 

i too have vivid and many great memories from that cruise.  We embarked on September 5th in Dover.

 

Nancy

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Funny how vivid the memory is of those days but I actually do have several sunrises from our return transatlantic.

 

I don't have any sunrises from either September 3 or 4.  For today I am going to September 6, 2012.  It's from the return transatlantic on the Crystal Symphony after my Eastbound QM2 transatlantic.

 

 

Roy

True, we did actually have some nice weather in Dublin, and again the first day in Reykjavik. We sat in the Palm Court that evening watching the sunset into a beautiful clear night, and then hoped we would see the Northern Lights. We didn't!

[mskatiemae]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Funny how vivid the memory is of those days but I actually do have several sunrises from our return transatlantic.

 

I don't have any sunrises from either September 3 or 4.  For today I am going to September 6, 2012.  It's from the return transatlantic on the Crystal Symphony after my Eastbound QM2 transatlantic.

 

 

Roy

Does this reflect as evidence that "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is a truthful aphorism?

Edited September 4, 2021 by mskatiemae

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, mskatiemae said:

Does this reflect as evidence that "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is a truthful aphorism?

Actually, in this case no. We had a couple of nice days, the sea day to Dublin, and the day in Dublin. We lost Akuyeri to a snow squall, but had a nice first day in Reykjavik. Then the **** hit the fan for most of the rest of the crossing!!😲 

[BEAV]

6 hours ago, nancygp said:

 

i too have vivid and many great memories from that cruise.  We embarked on September 5th in Dover.

 

Nancy

 

I remember going aboard in Halifax and meeting you and Larry (and Jim Brochu and Steve!) on the 2007 crossing! Was that a rough one as well? 

[nancygp]

8 hours ago, BEAV said:

 

I remember going aboard in Halifax and meeting you and Larry (and Jim Brochu and Steve!) on the 2007 crossing! Was that a rough one as well? 

I remember that great cruise and finally meeting you like it was yesterday.

 

we had some very rough weather on the 2007 crossing.

 

Nancy

[ctjon]

12 hours ago, Roland4 said:

Actually, in this case no. We had a couple of nice days, the sea day to Dublin, and the day in Dublin. We lost Akuyeri to a snow squall, but had a nice first day in Reykjavik. Then the **** hit the fan for most of the rest of the crossing!!😲 

You mean things such as not getting out of dock because the winds were too strong and Crystal hadn't arranged for tugs - sat for 5 hours waiting for tugs.   Or missing Halifax because of the delay leaving Iceland but having actually passed Halifax hours before we were to land.  Or getting to NY and waiting for hours to get ship cleared, etc. 

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, nancygp said:

I remember that great cruise and finally meeting you like it was yesterday.

 

we had some very rough weather on the 2007 crossing.

 

Nancy

I guess I was lucky.  My first cruise ship transatlantic was the Symphony the same time frame in 2006 and I don't remember any problems that time. 2012 was actually relatively tame for me after being caught between 2 cyclones on the Symphony enroute to Australia in 2010 and being stranded in New York in 2012 waiting for the Symphony as Sandy came through.

 

I don't have a sunrise for September 4.  Today's comes from that 2006 Crystal Symphony transatlantic from Dover to New York.  On September 6 we arrived for a stay in Reykjavik.

 

Roy

[mskatiemae]

Just caught a rainbow on the Panomax camera - Serenity docked in Nassau.

 

[KenzSailing]

So, the International Pizza Expo just ended in Las Vegas (because, when you think Vegas, you think pizza.)  And the big event was the International Pizza Challenge, a taste-off to find the best pizza in all the land.

 

The winner in the "traditional" category was Andy's Pizza of...Washington, DC ?!!!!!!!!!!!  Guess all the pizza purists will now be streaming down I95 for a slice of the good stuff.

 

As everybody know, it's the water.

[BWIVince]

9 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

So, the International Pizza Expo just ended in Las Vegas (because, when you think Vegas, you think pizza.)  And the big event was the International Pizza Challenge, a taste-off to find the best pizza in all the land.

 

The winner in the "traditional" category was Andy's Pizza of...Washington, DC ?!!!!!!!!!!!  Guess all the pizza purists will now be streaming down I95 for a slice of the good stuff.

 

As everybody know, it's the water.

Im proud to say I know the producers of that event!  😀

 

Congrats to Andy’s!  I’m also always proud to see more accomplishments by the DC culinary world, though I try not to think much about DC’s water.

 

Vince

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2016Northwest Passage cruise.  On September 5 we visited Pond Inlet.

 

 

Roy