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Fantastic news! Thank you for the update!

Good morning, everyone! It is a balmy 37F here in mid-Michigan with a forecast of mostly sunny and 54F. I am going to try an outdoor walk today so I can report on the effectiveness of the physical therapy. If the old problems persist, then that is more ammunition for the nerve ablation. Nothing else is on the agenda for today. Today's meal should be an interesting one. Berbere spice is Ethiopian in origin. It is a mixture of various spices such as Coriander , Cumin, Green Cardamom , Dried Red Chili Peppers, Allspice, Whole , Fenugreek, Black Peppercorn, Sweet Paprika, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Ground Turmeric, Ground Nutmeg, Salt. Normally, it has quite a bit of heat to it, but you can control that by controlling the amount of red chili peppers you add in. Here is a recipe for making it. It has you roast whole seeds for some of the ingredients first and then grinding them. https://www.daringgourmet.com/berbere-ethiopian-spice-blend/ This recipe calls for 5 tablespoons of the berbere spice mixture, but says you can cut that down if you want it less spicy. I'd start with a small amount and work my way up to the level I want. It is easier to add more than to take out. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250402/berbere-spiced-chicken-lentil-stew/ Food and Wine says you can replace the berbere spice with garam masala for a similar flavor profile. The first comment is telling: she says add the berbere spice slowly and stop when you get to the heat you want. At 3 tablespoons of the mixture she felt the dish was inedible due to the heat. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/slow-cooker-ethiopian-spiced-chicken-and-black-lentil-stew Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I never thought of mustard. Mustard does help rev up the metabolism, so it might be worth a try. Grey Poupon would be good or stadium mustard with the horseradish. I've never been to Livorno, but I have been to Florence and Pisa on land trips. When I was in Florence with mom and dad we stopped in a souvenir t-shirt shop. There was a lovely young woman waiting on us when an older man walked in, puffed up his chest and proclaimed, "This is my daughter." My dad puffed up his chest and said, "And this is my daughter." The man puffed his chest up even more and said, "I have two daughters!" Dad replied, "I have four daughters!" It was kind of nice to hear two men bragging on their daughters. Mom and Dad on the steps of San Lorenzo in Florence.

Hey, no error message today! @marshhawk Annie, try the cottage cheese without the pineapple. I love fresh pineapple, but it spikes me like crazy. I can eat fresh tomatoes, but stewed tomatoes and tomato products will spike me.

Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit! Good morning, everyone! We have a chilly start to the day here in mid-Michigan, but it is supposed to warm up to 50F. And that comes with lots of sun. I'll take that. We all celebrate when babies sleep. I know too well the pain of endometriosis. I also remember the stupid doctors who would just pat my hand and tell me the pain would go away when I had my first baby. I do love peanut butter and have it often. Not in a sandwich with jelly, but on my cereal or in my oatmeal. @aliaschief I hope your day is a happy one! Today's meal is a meat sauce made with turkey instead of ground beef. It is a dish that benefits from long, slow cooking whether in the slow cooker or on the stove top. This first recipe has a link to a more traditional bolognese sauce for potato and butternut squash gnocci. https://www.savoringitaly.com/slow-cooker-turkey-bolognese-sauce/ I have made meat sauce many times, but never put cream in it. This recipe uses white wine and cream. https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/slow-cooker-bolognese/ This last recipe is for the stove top, but it could easily be done in a slow cooker. https://playswellwithbutter.com/turkey-bolognese/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Thanks to all who replied to my question. I'm happy to know it isn't just me. What frustrated me is that it happened two days in a row. Not much happening here. It was a pretty quiet day. Those are nice now and then.

Thank you so much for letting us know. I'm glad she is making such good progress. Hugs and continued healing thoughts and wishes sent your way. @JazzyV I am happy to hear of your progress as well. I'm sure it is a relief to you. When you've been down so long with such bad pain it seems like you'll never get back to normal. I hope you continue to make forward progress! @bennybear Those pictures were awesome! Make me think we need to do a land based Hawaiian vacation. @rafinmd Great picture! Thanks for sharing it. @Vict0riann Wonderful pictures of the pink dolphins. Thank you! @Seasick Sailor Welcome back, Joy! @AV8rix and @Quartzsite Cruiser I'm getting a good laugh out of the bean discussion. We certainly don't want either of you in Huntsville, so keep it under wraps, Lenda! Did any of you experience an outage of CC? I tried to get on when I came home from PT and kept getting an error message. The same thing happened yesterday late morning.

Happy Leap Day, everyone! It is a cold 18F here in mid-Michigan this morning. We are supposed to warm up to 35F and then it warms up much more through the weekend. We had a dusting of snow overnight. I imagine that will melt off easily as it is supposed to be sunny today. The really good news is that the heat is still on. Whatever was wrong last weekend seems to have corrected itself. I have PT today and then can either take the day off or get started on taxes. I did have one small victory yesterday. The insurance company reprocessed the claim for my PCP visit in January and removed the incorrect co-pay. MyChart doesn't reflect that yet. I'll give them another week and then risk getting yelled at again by the nasty people in billing. I love jambalaya, but it has too many carbs for me. I could make it without the rice and eat it more as a gumbo. Or replace the rice with riced cauliflower, but it wouldn't have the same consistency. But, it is the flavor we are after in this dish. https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/slow-cooker-jambalaya/ This next recipe also contains a recipe for Creole seasoning if you wish to make your own. The first recipe left out the celery from the Holy Trinity of Creole cooking. This one includes it. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/slow_cooker_jambalaya/ This last one includes collard greens in the jambalaya. That's a little different. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/269214/slow-cooker-jambalaya/ None of these recipes appear to be spicy hot and if there is a hot ingredient, you can always adjust the amount to your tastes. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Thank you for the feedback. It is always nice to know when a recipe is tried and how it turns out. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Last weekend when it wasn't working, the pipes to the family room zone were not warm. That is what is making me think valve issue rather than frozen pipe. It was a coincidence that the heat went off during a cold snap and came back on once it warmed up.

Good morning, everyone! The wind is blowing and we have a high wind alert that lasts all day. We fell from a high yesterday of 73F to a current temp of 31F and it will colder as the day goes on. The heat is currently working. I want to see what happens during this cold snap. I would almost think it was frozen pipe, but they don't run along outside walls to get to the dining room. It is all indoors. The pipes from The Beast leading out weren't warm either, so I do think it was a valve malfunction that has corrected itself for the time being. We shall see. The only thing on my agenda today is going to the gym. Then I need to get back to all my unresolved stuff from last week. @superoma Eva, Happy Anniversary! I loved the wedding picture. Today's meal is a vegetarian version of chili, but you can add ground meat in for the carnivores. Chili is always good on a blustery, cold day like today. This first one is a three bean medley that is low fat and lower calorie and carb than most chilis. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/263231/bean-medley-chili/ Next we have a six bean chili. I like the addition of the avocado. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/six-bean-chili/ This last one has six different kinds of beans, but it also has the meat for the carnivores. https://www.therusticwife.com/single-post/2016-1-10-quick-easy-6-bean-chili Hoping for good news on @cat shepard Ann's DS. Rejoicing in some relief for @JazzyV Vanessa, and wishing @ottahand7 a safe trip to Carmel or South Bend. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I'll continue to hold her close. Peace to you, Ann. You must be exhausted.

@cat shepard Healing thoughts for your DS. I hope they find the problem and have a course of action to correct it. @Quartzsite Cruiser I think you are right about the Noro outbreak on the Koningsdam. We were very lucky.

Good morning, everyone. It is nice and warm out here in mid-Michigan with promised temperatures up in the 60s. The heat went out early last evening in the family room zone, but came back on and it is toasty warm in there now. I don't know what to make of it, but the on again, off again suggests a faulty zone valve to me. I'm not sure where it is on the beast or what to do about it. I have PT this morning, then I'm stopping by the polls to vote in the primary. Then home for a zoom meeting. Busy morning, but the afternoon is all mine. I'm not sure about today's meal. I like lamb when seasoned well, but most of the time I would give it a pass. I would definitely have to substitute riced cauliflower for the rice. The first recipe uses ground lamb. https://thehealthyfoodie.com/lebanese-lamb-rice/ This next recipe boils the lamb to make lamb stock and then bakes the same lamb with rice in the oven, using the lamb stock for the rice. https://mediterraneanlatinloveaffair.com/oven-baked-lamb-and-rice-dish/ This last recipe is a well seasoned dish and made for the instant pot. You can easily adapt it for stove top, I am sure. If I was going to make this dish, I would go with version 3 even though it has carrots in it. It seems the most flavorful. https://www.craftycookingbyanna.com/instant-pot-lamb-rice-plov/ @Cruzin Terri I hope you get some answers and help today! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I agree that the new format is a horrible idea. In addition to all the unnecessary additions, mine is missing two ports. They are still selling excursions for those ports, but they aren't listed on the itinerary. @Shmoo here You have a good idea, but that is a lot of work for something that should be readily available. I think they could have a web version and a print version. Many sites do that.

Fantastic! So glad for you, Dixie! I'm not even sure where the valves are! I need someone to just give me a beginner's lesson in boilers. But, once I find out, I will keep a spare on hand. If it isn't hard to swap out, I should be able to do it. Well, the system came on late last night apparently and the whole house is up to temperature. I am waiting to call the repair people until the problem re-presents. If it does. If it is a valve, it is likely to do so. Welcome home! We've missed you !

Good morning, everyone! It is a chilly start to the day here in mid-Michigan, but it is supposed to warm up to the mid 50s. The family room level didn't get as cold last night since it is warmer than it has been lately. I'm still calling the repair service. A friend who has a similar system says it is probably a bad valve. Hopefully, that isn't too much to repair. Other than the plumber, I have the gym and a Zoom meeting this afternoon. Sue reports that she is enjoying her time with the grand kids. @summer slope Hoping all goes well with your Mohs surgery today, Dixie. Today's recipe includes fennel, an important ingredient for health. It is a member of the carrot family, so the carrot lovers should embrace it. While it is described as having an anise flavor, it is not overwhelmingly licorice tasting and is quite mild. Adding them to your diet may improve heart health, reduce inflammation, suppress appetite, and even provide anticancer effects. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fennel-and-fennel-seed-benefits#3.-Fennel-seeds-may-suppress-appetite This first recipe is low carb and low calorie. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250410/fennel-pork-stew/ I would like the addition of olives to the recipe as seen here. I would take the advice and make sure my olives were pitted. https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/provenal-pork-stew-with-olives-fennel I could not resist this recipe as it includes butternut squash in the mix. It has been a while since we've had butternut squash. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pork-stew-with-fennel-and-butternut-squash-107648 Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Wishing all the cruisers a wonderful time.

Caribbean Princess is on the move.

Happy Cruising to Rotterdam!

Are we looking for anyone on the Rotterdam?

Rotterdam is on the move.

Checking in.

Good morning, everyone! I really slept in today. I couldn't get to sleep last night, but once I did, I stayed there. I hope no one went hungry because the meal of the day is late! These egg muffins are quick and easy. You can really use anything you want in them, not just broccoli. You can also store them in the fridge for a few days and just have them on hand. https://www.skinnytaste.com/broccoli-and-cheese-mini-egg-omelets-2/ While the last one was mainly egg white, this one uses the whole egg. There are also suggestions for variations. https://lifemadesweeter.com/broccoli-cheese-egg-muffins/ I like the seasonings in this one. https://thehealthyepicurean.com/broccoli-cheese-egg-muffins/ Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Wishing all the cruisers a wonderful time.