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I like to collect cookbooks from places I've visited and Ireland is no exception! The first time I was in Ireland I mentioned it to our tour director and the bus driver overheard and bought me one of Darina Allen's cookbooks! He thought she was the best at authentic Irish cooking. It would be cool to go to her restaurant someday. I'll get the cookbook out. How old is DM now? That may be part of the issue. I think we'd be a bit cranky, too. Am I right that she is in an assisted living arrangement? If so, would they contact you if they noticed something was really off? It is hard taking care of an elderly parent because in many ways you are the parent and they are the child, but they don't want to be the child and let you know that they aren't! Add my welcome home to the mix.

Dreamy Sparkly Pants here. I like sparkly.

@Sharon in AZ Hugs to you, friend. Feel free to call when you need an ear.

We had one on Zaandam last August when we were on board and also on Koningsdam in February. As @kazu said, the menu is much improved and really quite good!

Good morning, everyone! It is going to be quite a bit colder here in mid-Michigan for the next couple days. Not much we can do about it, so on with life. Bon Voyage to @Scrapnana. @irishjim and Sheila Not much on the agenda for today. I am taking today off from the gym having hit it 6 out of 7 days this week. I'll get back to it tomorrow. I debated between making corned beef and cabbage and decided we were having Beef and Guinness Stew along with homemade soda bread. The ribs last night were a huge success. We have enough left over for dinner on Monday night. My dad loved corned beef and cabbage and mom made it a few times. We kids stuck our noses up at it. On my last trip to Ireland I debated between the bacon and cabbage and the beef and Guinness. I went with the beef and Guinness to see if it was as good as I made at home. Almost! https://www.spendwithpennies.com/corned-beef-and-cabbage-slow-cooker-recipe/ This recipe has you roast the potatoes separately. There is also a horseradish sauce that I know I would love. It still has the carrots in it for @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda and @Cruising-along Carolyn. https://thefoodcharlatan.com/corned-beef-and-cabbage-with-horseradish-sauce/ When I was in Ireland I never found corned beef and cabbage. It was always bacon and cabbage. And the bacon isn't like the stuff we get here. It comes from the back of the pig, not the belly and is much leaner. It is kind of like what we call Canadian bacon. Here is a recipe from Darina Allen, well known in Ireland. https://www.seriouseats.com/traditional-irish-bacon-cabbage-parsley-sauce-recipe Wishing you all a pot of gold!

Goodness! I saw this thread and thought, wow, Jacqui is getting started kind of early on her cruise with a live from thread.

I was lucky and had a Leave It To Beaver childhood. While Mom and Dad weren't perfect and made their mistakes, they always strived to do the right thing. My dad vowed that he would make sure his kids had a stable home and loving parents. They were the Mom and Dad who went to every Little League game, all the Band Concerts, the PTA meetings, Pee Wee Football, and a host of other activities we were involved in. Mom was a Bluebird Mom when there was no one to lead the group and sister Barb wanted to be a Bluebird (older girls were Camp Fire Girls). The band kids built their Homecoming float in our garage several years in a row. And I'll never forget the time Dad took off for family hour swimming at the pool with 22 kids in the back of the car. We were also blessed with the family across the street. Pop Hop was an art teacher and Mom Hop was the neighborhood mother. There was always something cooking on the stove and if you were hungry, you pulled a bowl out of the cupboard, ladled out whatever was in the pot, and sat down and ate. They owned a coney dog stand in town and if Mom Hop was taking the coney sauce down to the store, you went with her and everyone got a coney dog.

@Vict0riann I am so sorry for your daughter. I hope they can set the bone and help with the pain. @richwmn You are way too modest. Yes, Rich does the lion's share of the work. I just look up recipes and put the links and pictures in the thread. But Rich has to compile all that and put up with those of us who are picky. Like me. @Mr. Boston I'm sorry that your DH has come down with the crud. I hope he recovers quickly. And, yes, those threads of people yelling that HAL was criminal for not returning their deposits immediately were a bit too much to take. I stayed away from CC for quite a while until one day when I ventured in and found the Daily. When Sue retired she brought home a huge big box of the trial size toothpastes. We're set for cruising.

Bless you, Joy. My dad was mostly raised by his grandmother as his parents had an on again off again marriage, mostly due to alcohol and my grandfather's roving eye. Actually, I think he was undiagnosed bipolar. It sounds like the family you moved in with acted as your Graham/Pauline, Debbie/Sue. There are so many kids out there that need someone or something to help them find some stability. My dad was always active in Big Brothers as he knew that need from his own experience. We should all have a child we "foster". The teenagers need it a lot, even though they are difficult. I remember one girl I had in class when I was subbing. I was there for several days and called her grandmother because of her behavior in class. She was living with Grandma at the time. She was in 10th grade and had been in 7 school districts. They went to Grandma's because she and her little brother had locked themselves in the bathroom to keep their mom's latest boyfriend at bay. They ended up going out the window and running to a neighbor's house. She and I had a long, long talk at school and I helped her get a counselor she could talk with on an as needed basis. A few weeks later I was subbing in another class and she came in and exclaimed, "You came back to me!" It doesn't take much to make a difference to a child.

So excited for you, Jacqui! I hope you have a fabulous time and no accidents!

@cruising sister Thanks for the picture of Murphy. She certainly is a cute little lass. @Haljo1935 We all need to rant once in a while. Each incident may not seem like much, but they all add up and to occur on the same day? No wonder you want to scream! @irishjim Welcome back! @RMLincoln I'm glad DH's pressures are good! @marshhawk what a great philosophy of life! Thank you for sharing it. @grapau27 When I hear of Sarah and the estrangement with her parents, I think of how lucky she is to have you and Pauline take her in as your own. I hope that Sue and I can have that same effect for River as she has been abandoned by her father and her mother is sitting in jail. And she may be in and out a lot as time goes on. I went back and read a few more Daily threads from April of 2020. What a hard time that was. People were still hoping to cruise that summer. I remember the difficulty people had getting home. I read the book about the Zaandam and it was so sad what happened with some of the crew members and passengers. That reminds me that we never did find out what happened with St. Louis Sal. I know she was having trouble walking the last we heard. We know we lost KK Krazy Kruizers and Sail7Seas posted a few times and then dropped off.

Greetings to all! Here is a link to that first Daily four years ago. I am chuckling at the comments. We were so hopeful Covid would be a quick thing. The First Daily

Good morning, everyone! It is a bit of a chilly start here in mid-Michigan. We're supposed to get up to 53F today with cloudy skies. Sue has a friend coming to visit for a few days, so life should be interesting. Otherwise, the only thing on the agenda today is to hit the gym. Last night the dice were not kind to me in Farkle. I came in last in all three games. We're going to give the slow cooker a rest today and turn to the air fryer for dinner. And, if you don't have an air fryer, no problem. There are directions for achieving the same result in the regular old oven. Now, why make your own rotisserie chicken? First, there is nothing injected in the chicken like you find in some of the ready made ones. Second, you can season it to taste. Have fun with the seasonings and play around a bit. https://www.skinnytaste.com/air-fryer-rotisserie-chicken/ Now doesn't that look all nice and crispy? This one has a different seasoning mix. It is more of a paste that you rub all over the chicken. https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/air-fryer-rotisserie-chicken/ This next recipe stuffs the chicken and uses their own seasoning salt which can be found here: https://thisoldgal.com/this-old-gal-house-seasoning/ Then, the recipe for the chicken can be found here: https://thisoldgal.com/rotisserie-style-whole-chicken-air-fryer/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

They aren't big on vegetables to begin with. Sue had some coleslaw, but I had most of it. Congratulations! I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise! Good for you! When we were kids we had KFC so often I really grew to dislike it. Oh, well, it fills the belly.

Well, sometimes I scrape the skin and coating off. I eat the coleslaw. As I am the only one who eats it, it is all mine. And I don't have potatoes or gravy or biscuits.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda, DB just texted and KFC it is.

Good morning, everyone! @Nickelpenny Congratulations on the casino win! @marshhawk I hope Chuck is feeling better today. @Lady Hudson Bon Voyage! @Crazy For Cats Glad the Jet Blue thing got worked out, but you are going to be dragging later on! @Denise T I'm glad Fiona has perked up and hope Chase does well after surgery. We have a beautiful day promised here in mid-Michigan with a high of 54 and mostly sunny skies. Sue is scheduled to give blood this morning and I'm going to water fitness. DB Bill is supposed to supply dinner tonight so it will either be Little Ceasars pizza or KFC. Kind of yuck on both accounts, but we'll survive. Let's hope the dice are good to me tonight in Farkle. The meal today is more of a side dish and a recipe to tuck away for next Thanksgiving or Christmas. It claims to be diabetic friendly, but has a lot of sugar in it and I would probably skip it for something else. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/260751/slow-cooker-sweet-potato-casserole-with-marshmallows/ This next one has directions to make it more savory than sweet. So, if you are watching carbs or sugar, you might want to check it out. https://www.thecookierookie.com/crockpot-sweet-potato-casserole/ Just two for today as they are all the same. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

@RMLincoln That pie looks darn tasty to me!

Wishing you a fabulous time on your cruise!

Good morning, everyone! @bennybear Also, birthday wishes to @Mr. Boston's DM and @StLouisCruisers DB. It is a rainy day here in mid-Michigan. Rain is supposed to last all day. Sue had a new mattress and box spring delivered yesterday and she is loving her new bed. The old mattress was quite old and had probably passed its prime years ago. Also, yesterday Senior Services (am I really eligible for that???) came out and installed a railing on the stairs to the front porch. We really needed that. Senior Services will do safety work in homes for seniors for free. He's coming back today to install the grab bar in the bathtub. Today's meal is a great one for a cold or cool day. It is full of carrots for @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda. It is a good one as you can dump everything in the slow cooker and come back for dinner. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/277381/slow-cooker-herb-mushroom-braised-beef/ Here is one sans carrots, but if you have to have them, just add them in. This one is done stove top and finished off in the oven. https://momsdish.com/braised-beef-with-mushrooms This one is has simple seasonings, but adds in red wine - almost a whole bottle with a little left over for the chef. The meat and veggies are cooked stove top and then finished in the oven with a slow braise for 2-3 hours. https://themodernproper.com/wine-braised-beef-with-mushrooms Wishing you all a wonderful day!

For some reason, this reminded me of my Daily friends.

@summer slope Ouch! That sounds painful! @Overhead Fred Glad you enjoyed the chicken stroganoff. I think that would be a good meal as well.