The Fleet Report and Daily for Sunday, December 24th, 2023

Cruising-along · December 24, 2023

30 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Carolyn, I think Lumpia would do well in the air fryer, but I'm not sure what temperature and time to use. The Lumpia recipe my DSIL gave me has ground beef and cabbage in it, and I think I'd cook it at 400F for about 18 minutes, which is the French fry setting on my air fryer. I would also spritz a very light coating of oil on the Lumpia, and it doesn't take very much oil at all. If you are willing to sacrifice a Lumpia or two, and a little time, you could play around with the temperature and time by doing a test one or two. I've found with breaded fish fillets that they need longer than what the directions say. the recipe I have feeds so many, I haven't made Lumpia in about 30 years.

Lenda

Thank you! This helps a lot. Good idea to test one or two first. 🙂

rafinmd · December 24, 2023

3 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

We were in Darwin on October 30, 2002, on the Volendam APEC 64 day cruise. I'll retrieve my pictures soon. @rafinmd Thank you, Roy for coming to my rescue and finding the links. What did you do correctly and what did I do wrong?

I don't think you did anything wrong. Apparently, the search capability in the current CC software is unable to find anything much more than a year old. I used a somewhat organized trial and error method that will not work on all systems but does at least work on Firefox, Edge, and Chrome on my laptops.

I start with a list of HAL threads and then look at the top for a URL ending in something like "/page/6".

I set my cursor between the / and the 6 and add a couple of numbers to something like "/page/306" and see the resulting list of threads (they are listed in the order of the latest post to each thread).

Depending on the dates I see I'll adjust the number up or down to get close to the date we want. The last post will almost always be within a few days of the needed date, and keep going backwards or forwards until I find the desired date and thread. Once in a while, someone has posted to a Daily weeks later which can be a problem.

Since then I think I may have discovered an easier way. While searching in Cruise Critic seems futile, google seems more productive with something like "Monday, December 25, 2023 in Cruise Critic Topics" Looks like there are a lot of false fnds but the right one should be in there.

Roy

summer slope · December 24, 2023

Ok, I'm in shock! DD and DGS wanted to face time for Christmas. We were sitting ready for the call and our doorbell rang. All the way from New Hampshire to surprise. They sure did.

Edited December 24, 2023 by summer slope

dfish · December 24, 2023

15 minutes ago, smitty34877 said:

Messy cookie baking with DGC’s and

Pippin

I'm not sure this qualifies as messy! It looks way too neat to me. @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda, what do you think?

Lenda, on the chicken, you have to put it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the skin. We'll have to discuss a bake off on the way to Hawaii.

1 minute ago, summer slope said:

Ok, I'm in shock! DD and DGS wanted to face time for Christmas. We were sitting ready for the call and our doorbell rang. All the way from New Hampshire to surprise. They sure did.

What a wonderful surprise! I'm happy for you!

grapau27 · December 24, 2023

3 minutes ago, summer slope said:

Ok, I'm in shock! DD and DGS wanted to face time for Christmas. We were sitting ready for the call and our doorbell rang. All the way from New Hampshire to surprise. They sure did.

That is a wonderful surprise.

marshhawk · December 24, 2023

@summer slopethat's the best Christmas present ever!

grapau27 · December 24, 2023

21 minutes ago, smitty34877 said:

Messy cookie baking with DGC’s and

Pippin

2 really nice photos Terry.

durangoscots · December 24, 2023

Good afternoon. Cloudy and cold. Low tonight in the single digits.

@Cruising-alongI had a very restless night last night for exactly the same reason. Today is being spent cleaning and tomorrow will be reviewing and completing a large portion of my short-term to do list. Sent an email to a number of my friends explaining why I am not sending cards this year. Many of them are also not sending but for far less pleasant reasons. We are aging... no doubt about it.

We get a little snow tonight, but the weather is supposed to be dry for the next week or so although they threaten possible snow on New Years Eve. That would be normal for us.

More later maybe back to trying to be productive.

Susan

kochleffel · December 24, 2023

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

I haven't even read all the instructions yet, but do know that Lumpia isn't in the instructions.

If you can find air-fryer settings for egg roll, try those.

rafinmd · December 24, 2023

Today's sunrise was taken 2 years ago from the parking deck of the all where I often walk:

IMG_0091.JPG.d6172cc1aa14834266866a925f9b5a7a.JPG

Roy

RedneckBob · December 24, 2023

7 hours ago, kazu said:

Sorry the Daily was a bit late this morning - technical issues. Hoping this helps everyone smile today no matter what spirits they are in:

Once again this year, I've had requests for my Tequila Christmas Cake recipe so here goes: Please read carefully. Please keep in your files as I am beginning to get really tired of typing this up every year!

1 cup sugar
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl; check the tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another shot just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck iin the cup of dried fruit. Pick the fruit up off the floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the tequila to test for tonsisticity. Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something. Check the tequila.

Now shift the lemon ice strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 s and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.

Cherry Mristmas

Ah yes, one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!

RedneckBob · December 24, 2023

7 hours ago, summer slope said:

Happy Christmas Eve

Orangesicle cocktail:

Ingredients
1 part Pinnacle® Whipped Vodka
1 part DeKuyper® Orange Curacao
2 parts Soda

Instructions
Build over ice in a tall glass and fill with soda.

Too many of these and I go Pop

Edited December 24, 2023 by RedneckBob

RedneckBob · December 24, 2023

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

Happy Christmas Eve, Dailyites! I am sort of following Jacqui';s recipe, but I bought the cruit fake, and I'm brousing it with dandy. Having a great time!

Where’s the tree ! 😀

Cruising-along · December 24, 2023

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Carolyn, I think Lumpia would do well in the air fryer, but I'm not sure what temperature and time to use. The Lumpia recipe my DSIL gave me has ground beef and cabbage in it, and I think I'd cook it at 400F for about 18 minutes, which is the French fry setting on my air fryer. I would also spritz a very light coating of oil on the Lumpia, and it doesn't take very much oil at all. If you are willing to sacrifice a Lumpia or two, and a little time, you could play around with the temperature and time by doing a test one or two. I've found with breaded fish fillets that they need longer than what the directions say. the recipe I have feeds so many, I haven't made Lumpia in about 30 years.

Lenda

It has been decades since I've made Lumpia from scratch, but I've found a frozen brand that tastes every bit as good and a fraction of the work!

1 hour ago, marshhawk said:

https://jlcards.com/r9tN2r

this is a test, so if it doesn't work Happy Holidays......make sure your sound is on!

It worked, thank you!

49 minutes ago, summer slope said:

Ok, I'm in shock! DD and DGS wanted to face time for Christmas. We were sitting ready for the call and our doorbell rang. All the way from New Hampshire to surprise. They sure did.

How wonderful!!! It reminds me of when DS and DDIL flew up from CA and surprised us for our 50th. I was talking to DS on the phone, thinking he was home, when he walked into the room.🤣

37 minutes ago, durangoscots said:

Good afternoon. Cloudy and cold. Low tonight in the single digits.

@Cruising-alongI had a very restless night last night for exactly the same reason. Today is being spent cleaning and tomorrow will be reviewing and completing a large portion of my short-term to do list. Sent an email to a number of my friends explaining why I am not sending cards this year. Many of them are also not sending but for far less pleasant reasons. We are aging... no doubt about it.

We get a little snow tonight, but the weather is supposed to be dry for the next week or so although they threaten possible snow on New Years Eve. That would be normal for us.

More later maybe back to trying to be productive.

Susan

I know all of us will rest easier once we're on our way! The last couple weeks are always hard.

33 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

If you can find air-fryer settings for egg roll, try those.

Thank you Paul -- I did Google Lumpia in the air fryer and surprisingly it says 300 degrees for 10 minutes, spritz with a little oil. I'm still going to "test" it with one or two like Lenda suggested. Now my mouth is watering thinking of that Lumpia!

Quartzsite Cruiser · December 24, 2023

1 hour ago, marshhawk said:

https://jlcards.com/r9tN2r

this is a test, so if it doesn't work Happy Holidays......make sure your sound is on!

Annie, thank you for the beautiful and thoughtful Christmas card. I loved it.

1 hour ago, smitty34877 said:

Messy cookie baking with DGC’s and

Pippin

Terri, it looks like a lot of fun. Great pictures.

56 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I don't think you did anything wrong. Apparently, the search capability in the current CC software is unable to find anything much more than a year old. I used a somewhat organized trial and error method that will not work on all systems but does at least work on Firefox, Edge, and Chrome on my laptops.

I start with a list of HAL threads and then look at the top for a URL ending in something like "/page/6".

I set my cursor between the / and the 6 and add a couple of numbers to something like "/page/306" and see the resulting list of threads (they are listed in the order of the latest post to each thread).

Depending on the dates I see I'll adjust the number up or down to get close to the date we want. The last post will almost always be within a few days of the needed date, and keep going backwards or forwards until I find the desired date and thread. Once in a while, someone has posted to a Daily weeks later which can be a problem.

Since then I think I may have discovered an easier way. While searching in Cruise Critic seems futile, google seems more productive with something like "Monday, December 25, 2023 in Cruise Critic Topics" Looks like there are a lot of false fnds but the right one should be in there.

Roy

Thank you so much for the information, Roy. Now I don't feel like such a dummy. I have Chrome on my laptop. I tried a Google search, but maybe I was either to specific or not specific enough. I plan to do a few test runs before Sandi @StLouisCruisers starts their drive home. All I'll say about the CC search is I hope it can be changed to include older threads and posts. Just to be safe, I'm going to print out your methods.

55 minutes ago, summer slope said:

Ok, I'm in shock! DD and DGS wanted to face time for Christmas. We were sitting ready for the call and our doorbell rang. All the way from New Hampshire to surprise. They sure did.

Dixie, what a wonderful Christmas gift. Enjoy your time with your DD and DGS.

52 minutes ago, dfish said:

I'm not sure this qualifies as messy! It looks way too neat to me. @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda, what do you think?

Lenda, on the chicken, you have to put it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the skin. We'll have to discuss a bake off on the way to Hawaii.

Debbie, it could qualify for messy depending on your standards for messy. I did see a bit of flour on the countertop. But in truth, I don't think it comes up the standards of exploding butter, pie crust falling into the oven and needing to be vacuumed out, or spilling a glass of Dr. Pepper all over the work area. That last one I forgot to mention earlier. We'll need to not only discuss a bake off, but who will be the judges and more importantly, who will clean up the mess. I suspect we'd try to out do each other in the mess department.

39 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

If you can find air-fryer settings for egg roll, try those.

Paul, that is a good suggestion too. I thought about eggrolls, but went off in a tangent and forgot to mention them. Thanks for making the suggestion.

11 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

It has been decades since I've made Lumpia from scratch, but I've found a frozen brand that tastes every bit as good and a fraction of the work!

It worked, thank you!

How wonderful!!! It reminds me of when DS and DDIL flew up from CA and surprised us for our 50th. I was talking to DS on the phone, thinking he was home, when he walked into the room.🤣

I know all of us will rest easier once we're on our way! The last couple weeks are always hard.

Thank you Paul -- I did Google Lumpia in the air fryer and surprisingly it says 300 degrees for 10 minutes, spritz with a little oil. I'm still going to "test" it with one or two like Lenda suggested. Now my mouth is watering thinking of that Lumpia!

Carolyn, I think it will depend on the filling and size, too.

Lenda

StLouisCruisers · December 24, 2023

Hi all, we arrived with no problems at all today. Weather is great compared to last year. Sadie and Milo are excited to have us here. DD has made a lot of changes around the house so has been showing me all the different decor, etc. Hope all are enjoying their family time so far. Late birthday wishes to Sarah, Graham @grapau27. 🎂

Time for some Darwin photos!

If you don't like heat and humidity, be glad that you haven't been to Darwin! 🥵 I was there twice, in Nov. of 2013 on Diamond Princess and in October of 2017 on Sun Princess. And even though I hate heat and humidity I'm not sorry I was there because I love seeing Australia.

When you arrive in Darwin, you walk off the ship and head through a park-like area towards an ELEVATOR so that you can head into the downtown area. Yes, an elevator. It's a very unique place.