Will Work for Tiramisu

We once took care of friends' 5 year old boy (we had a 6 yr old), as parents had family emergency and had to go out of town. They told us he ONLY ate PB&J with apple juice, and pasta butter & cheese. Nothing else. (No food allergies.) We of course thought "forget that noise". By end of the week he had eaten (copiously) steamed clams, roast chicken, grilled tuna, salads, guacamole, curry, granola, fruit salad, everything BUT the two things he "only ate". When parents got him back, they called next day, asking "What did you DO to him?" We said, "he got hungry, we fed him". I always think of that, when I hear parents dancing around what to feed the little dears! Given the special nature of being on a cool cruise ship, out on the water and the fresh air, with a whole crew of professional chefs - it is a GREAT time to introduce your child to a whole 'nother world of good food, from many cultural traditions. Enjoy the trip!

The aerosol cheese has to be one of the triumvirate of American corporate worst foods: Take two pieces of Wonderbread, lay on a couple of slices of Spam, and squirt the Easy Cheese on. Maybe wash down with a Blue Cream Soda, with a Tum chaser!! That was where (at least in popular culture) our food was at in the post-war period. It was a long process, starting in the late 60's and into 70's, to pull at least some of the population out of that hole. Credit to many individuals who did heavy lifting - Julia Child, James Beard, Molly Katzen, Craig Claiborne, Alice Waters, Marcella Hazen, to name a few.

Heavens! Don't even THINK of staying close to either Fiumincino (airport) or Civitavecchia (port). Not that there might not be a few decent places, but Rome beckons. You can taxi from the airport, but I suggest arrange for a transfer in advance, who will be waiting for you with a sign with your name. Ditto going to port. (I would have concierge at hotel arrange for that - minimizes any chance of a no show or confusion.) Before our first (and subsequent trips to Rome), I did a ridiculous amount of general research, getting familiar with the City. So much to see, so is important to not waste time. (Until you're ready to, you know, waste time! Preferably with a Negroni at sunset from a roof top vantage point.) As to hotels, we have two major favorites, although there are many great choices. Portrait Suites is on Via del Condotti, two blocks down from Spanish Steps. It is part of the (Salvatore) Ferragamo organization. At ground floor is their men's shop, but around the corner is the hotel entry. It is not cheap, but the view from the rooftop terrace is spectacular, the rooms are beyond wonderful. Everyone that works there is dressed to the nines, and as helpful as can be. The staff saved my cruise when I couldn't get my bags from the airport - they got on the phone, lots of rapid-fire Italian, bags were delivered shortly thereafter. Impressive. Lots of nearby destinations in walking distance, and restaurants aplenty. The other hotel we also love is now called Bio Hotel Raphael, about 1 block west of the north end of Piazza Navona. Another stellar hotel, incredible rooms (try to get one on top two floors designed by American Architect Richard Meier - wowzer!) Impeccable service, great food, roof top terrace again (gotta have that in Rome), and also a great jumping off place to walk to many features. One piece of advice: Arrange a tour of Vatican in advance (preferably private if you can afford it) - you'll skip the long lines and the expertise of the guide is invaluable. Buy a guide book to Rome, with a map, and study it - you'll be glad to know the lay of the land. Navigating is not hard, with various landmarks visible from most areas. Enjoy!

Last time we sailed out of Venice, we flew from west coast US, SFO to Germany, then down to Venice. Was a long haul, and we had been doing all the stuff you do to get ready to leave. My DW is prone to jet lag, so upon arrival in Venice airport, we rented a car and drove about an hour into the foothills north of Venice, to Asolo, where we had reserved a room for two nights - to rest and recover - at Hotel Villa Cipriani. A small town, known for their Film Festival, and the hotel a small, elegant place, with spectacular view over the Veneto - looking out to the Eugenean Hills far away. We had one of the best meals we have ever had there - Katy bar the door! Lovely outdoor spaces for taking in the view, a pool of course, the American Bar (felt very international!). Food was fabulous. We went there to rest up and be able to go to Venice and spend our time already refreshed and rested, which was in fact an excellent strategy. When we got to Venice, and checked into Hotel Moresco, we were ready to spend all day walking and vaporettoing all over the place. We're big fans of small boutique hotels; not that we don't like the uber bling places, but if you want a time to rest and enjoy the view (with lots of very cool drives to be had in the area), check it out. One of my all time favorite hotel stays.

Do you think Paul Simon heard this song, and it got him thinking?? I remember when this song came out, there was a sort of grab bag of songs that made it to radio, before the British Invasion. Fun stuff!!

My wife and I stayed at Hotel Moresco, in Dorsoduro area, last time we were there. Small elegant boutique hotel, with lovely little outdoor garden, on a canal, and a short walk to either San Basilio (vaporetto stop) to south, or to Piazzale Roma to north. Our room had a view down the canal, quite roomy, lovely bath, and all for a reasonable price. This is a quiet area, but a short walk to plenty of restaurants, shops, etc.. Everything was spotless, everything worked, and staff was as nice as could be.

Occasionally, some of these football fans go just a tad overboard....

Reminds me of this cartoon:

Only the Shadow knows!! Silverfish? Centipedes? Cockroaches?

I'd love to see the aurora b in full glory on a clear, cold night, preferably on the poop deck of a cruise ship with a warming beverage in hand, and beloved spouse nearby. In the mid 60's, during July in New Brunswick, Canada, presumably during a major solar storm, we saw a pretty nice display very late at night - all the locals said it was most unusual. Nothing quite like it. Meanwhile, a man's gotta eat. We've always thought Christmas eves was the real magic moment of Xmas - perhaps this comes from my childhood days, with compulsory attendance at church services, on Christmas eve with all the candles, hymns and carols, staying up later than bedtime, etc.. I told my DW this year we should keep the food thing simple, but good, for that magic night. So, in the fall we attended local farmers market, and bought a bunch of beef bones, which went in the freezer. In November I got them out, defrosted, and following JC's (Julia, not Jesus) teachings, roasted them with onions, celery, garlic & carrots, until well browned. Slid all that good stuff into a big stock pot, deglazed the pan with vodka (works better than wine - it is the alcohol that cuts the congealed juices), added a bouquet garni, and simmered for 10 hours or so. Degreased, and saved a whole bunch of wonderful beef broth in the freezer. On the big day (24th), thawed the broth, sautéed a bunch of onions (yellow & red) after slicing on mandoline (all finger tips still intact), in oil and butter, later added the broth and more long simmering, then added cognac & vermouth. Finally, showtime! Cut pieces of sourdough baguette, toasted and rubbed with garlic, covered with grated gruyere, and broiled until melted. (Yes, this is a little different from bread on top and melted cheese seals the top. Sorry.) Bowls from wife's parents, used for this purpose for many years. Finally, ladled the hot soup over and served, with simple salad greens (frisée) with oil & vinegar, and a bottle of nice pinot noir, or three. A splendid time was had by all. Then opened a few small gifts, and had nice chocolate with the pinot. Then off to bed, with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads! Photos below: Bones ready to roast, beef stock in the pot with aromatic vegetables, onions in the pot doing the very long, slow browning process, and finally, the finished soup. A labor of love, worth all the trouble for those you care about. Hope you all have a wonderful New Years, and indulge those you love, and give generously to those who aren't so lucky to be as comfortable as you/we are.

The floor over the living/dining room is framed with glulam beams at 40" on center; the beams project down from the ceiling - we like the look, and the layout of beams is aligned with windows and other things. "Chust for nice", as they say. Just happens that one of them is in a good place for Christmas tree clamping. I resisted the urge to include a photo, recently sent to me, of a C clamp applied to a ham, which was sent to me, with the note "If you're happy and you know it...."

Some folks take this dog stuff just a tad too far, know whutta mean?? And yes, that is the traditional family C clamp with a wire affixed to the tree, an annual installation ever since dogs, cats & children in years of yore pulled over several trees, causing much breakage and inappropriate utterances. Haven't lost one since!

It's not too early to be getting your jewelry in order for New Years...

Sadly, when I got to high school, they no longer taught Latin, and I didn't pursue it later. I shall forthwith stop making lame attempts to use Latin (well, maybe Pig Latin...), unless I can find it in my slim reference volume. I should stick with my native language, which is Southern California surfer-dude speak. I still stand by the august-ness of this forum. And to update, the pictured dinner was good, the football - not so much. Our team (Ducks) got a little bit too cute (tried another onside kick mid-game, which failed spectactularly). This despite the home field advantage of a very loud stadium full of crazies screaming and quacking. My wife and I remind each other at such times - it is only football. Not like a national election!

Since food porn seems to be a recurrent theme in this august forae , I thought I'd slip in today's football watching food - kind of lasagna, with Italian sausage from local pig farm, tomatoes & garlic from our garden, EVOO from the olde country, cheese from Parma, It, locally made ricotta from happy Oregon coastal cows, plus provolone from Wisconsin (sorry, purists), topped with roasted eggplant from Central Valley, California, slathered with Costco's quite decent pesto, and more parma. When you make something like this, if you are familiar with world history of trade, you realize that every thing in here used to be had at great expense - like black pepper, oregano & basil probably local, but pasta made from wheat grown in the Po River delta. Regarding football (I'm talking about the weird American version,) NCAA (college) Oregon Ducks playing Washington Huskies - a traditional grudge match. Ducks in contention for the Natty, perhaps. When considering the US version of football versus proper football (soccer) the rest of the world plays, I'm reminded of the Rolling Stones song - "It's Only Rock & Roll, But I Like It."

My good friend has been fired because he slept with one of his patients. After 7 years of medical school, what a waste of time, effort, training & money. This just goes to show one mistake can ruin your life. It's sad for him. He is a great guy & was a brilliant veterinarian.🤔

This looks rather invigorating! I don't suppose they do the traditional "Keel Hauling", wherein they pass a rope under the ship, and you are dragged from port side to starboard side. This was done, as I understand, when a new sailor crossed the equator for the first time. (Warmer water!) I have a sailor's log from my great grandfather, recounting his initiation into this fine tradition back in 1850 or so, as an able bodied seaman on a sail driven vessel trading from Boston to the west coast - pre Panama canal, obviously.

What is REALLY bad is when your order features piled up food, all glued together with assorted gravies & foams other poultices, served on weird non-plates (cedar shingles, floor tiles, old magazines), and carried to your table by servers supplied by the Ministry of Silly Walks! A man can only take so much - I might have to drain my stemless wine glass!!

All those in favor of a second nap, please raise your paw....

For those interested in such things, here is a recent photo of our 5th Old English Sheepdog, Tiramisu, now 6 months old, a female, and a real sweetheart. Photo taken just after she emerged from the doggy spa. Faithful readers of this august forae may recall seeing earlier photos of her asleep in the water dish, or covered in dirt after helping in the garden. Please note: there are in fact eyeballs behind all that hair, and they can see pretty well. Sort of the Rod Stewarts of the K9 world.

Well, it seems to me that i you can still fit into your old military uniform, without any buttons popping off like so many bullets - good for you! I was never in the service, but I would have a hard time fitting into those old paisley bell bottoms from back in the day!

This is the link for the National Hurricane Center: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov Named storms have their own box if you scroll down, and you can click the various boxes to see info on their projected routes, and when it will be where. All is subject to the hurricane changing its mind, of course. Looks like landfall around Halifax with hurricane force winds, but the whole eastern seaboard is going to a bumpy ride for the next few days. Good time for ships to stay in a safe harbor!

Uh, wait a minute - we can now get sedan chairs to carry us around the ship?? Does this include people with ostrich feather fans walking alongside, fanning the flies away?? There is an amenities race amongst the luxury lines, but this takes it up a notch. Ideally, we would have Jainist folks with brooms sweeping the way in front of the procession, and hopefully young persons strewing rose petals in front of the procession. I'm liking these new efforts to attract business - will there be an extra charge for the fellows with trumpets announcing that Mr McGillicuddy, of Suite 738, is coming through - make way!! He needs to get to his appointed deck chair stat!!

A few years back we did a road trip in France (a big loop starting in Paris, down the Seine, Normandy coast, St Malo, then up the Loire Valley back to Paris). Driving through the rural farming area south of Normandy, we stopped in a little town at intersection of two roads (famous for 1000 year old oak with TWO shrines built into tree hollows), and a lady in a dusty old store directed us to her brothers' butcher shop. He had fresh, small baguettes (made by his cousin in next town over), cut in half and slathered some Normandy butter on them, and a thin slice of local ham. As we drove away we unwrapped and tore into them, and we were all smitten by how anything could taste so good. Normandy is a great place for cows, lots of rich grass, and the pigs are fed on chestnuts and apple pomace and God knows what else (lost tourists??). I never looked at butter the same way again, and we still try to have some of the good stuff on hand, and just use the American commodity butter for baking and general slathering. Which, given our ages, we should really be out of the slathering business!

There is an old American saying, "You don't miss your water 'til your well runs dry." A lot of people on both sides of the Atlantic, & elsewhere in the world, will be missing the presence of this quiet, remarkable woman. Yes, she was a carryover from times of the British Empire, and critics can certainly make some hay regarding the British role during those times (when many other European countries were establishing wide-flung empires, with all that goes with that). However, setting all that aside - she was not responsible for policies and actions that predated her ascension to being Queen. As a somewhat disinterested observer, (born in the year she became queen), I didn't have to be an authority in world history to see that this capable young woman - called to serve as an accident of birth - fully rose to the occasion, and aged into a highly respected member of the world community. In the many decades since, while the world was awash in stormy seas of war, revolution and an ever-increasing lack of civility, she has been a bastion of steady statespersonship, and the embodiment of common decency. No, you won't see her equal anytime soon. We all knew she wasn't long for this world, but I join all her subjects and fans around the world in saluting her long years of service to her country, and wishing her family and country the best during a sad time. Hail Britannia!!