Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Lois R]

Hi friends, wishing all of you a Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah/whatever you celebrate may you get all the cruises you want too!

 

[TLCOhio]

Nice holiday greetings from Lois!!   Best to everyone during this important period.  Have some visuals from being in Kansas City to share and help celebrate this great period of "CELEBRATION"!!  Now in central Kansas with my wife's family members.  Tomorrow on Christmas Day in Kansas, it is expected to be a high in the upper 60's!!  Nice winter weather??!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Wonderful scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 238,177

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

At Kansas City's famed Country Club Plaza, here is a small sampling of the 90th year of lighting their Spanish-styled buildings for the holidays in the shopping and dining mecca.  Second is inside their nearby Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with the traditional tree and a nativity scene in their classically-columned building interior.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

From this Kansas City art museum, first in a small sampling of their exhibition area focused on the Impressionist period, my personal favorite.  Second is just one sample from a special exhibit titled "Queen Nefertari: Eternal Egypt". These 3000+ year old history/items brought back memories from a year ago when we were in Luxor, touring the Valley of the Kings, etc.:

 

 

To give an example of the beautiful weather here in Kansas City, this visual shows the perfect blue sky with this traditional dome of this building at their Country Club Plaza.  Second is outside the KC art museum with a mix of Rodin's outside "Thinker" sculpture, a more contemporary art item titled "Shuttlecock" and the traditional building in the background.  Lots of interesting, architecture, art, fountains, etc., in Kansas City.  Plus great food and hospitality!!:

 

[Lois R]

Hi Terry, enjoy the time with your family.  I see in the first picture, "CAPITAL GRILLE" is right there LOL.....always

about the food

[TLCOhio]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Terry, enjoy the time with your family.  I see in the first picture, "CAPITAL GRILLE" is right there LOL.....always about the food

 

Yes, the FOOD is super important.  Glad you connected and mentioned about our dining in Kansas City.  One of their most famous specialities is barbecue!!   Below is some visual evidence for what we enjoyed.  Super wonderful dining.  First was their corn bread baked in a small iron with their special honey butter.  My main choice was a "Kansas City Combo" of burnt ends, sliced beef brisket and baby back ribs.  All super good!!   But, the slides were almost even better than the BBQ.  At the right was the cheesy corn bake.    At the top left was the super star cheesy potato bake.  That side with the sliced potatoes might have the best ever potato dish we have ever enjoyed.  Such wonderful tastes!!! 

  

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 227,192 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

 

At Jack Stack Country Club, here was my barbecue dish with three different meat items, plus two super sides.  AND, lots of their great, tasty sauce!!  Sorry, no room for dessert after this meal.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

Here are a couple more examples of the night lighting in this area of Kansas City.  Second is the botique Raphael Hotel where we stayed for two nights enjoying its character and style going back to the 1920's.:

 

 

Last night, we attended a dinner theater near Kansas City.  It was a Robin Hood story variation that featured famed TV star Hal Linden.  Yes, he's the one going back to the 1970's best-known role as the title character in the television comedy series Barney Miller.  His age now?  It's 88, born in March 1931.  He played a villain and did well, especially for that age.  Recognize him in the middle?:

Edited December 24, 2019 by TLCOhio

[Lois R]

Hi Terry, I have never visited Kansas City but I do know they are known for that BBQ.  The photo looks

delicious! and of course I know Hal Linden! Barney Miller was one of my most favorite shows of all time!!!!

[jpalbny]

Merry Christmas to all of the Coolers!

 

Today was a last-minute federal holiday. And unexpected, but not complaining - they usually only make the extra holiday when it's a Monday or Friday, so we get a long weekend. Usually we don't get two mid-week days off in a row. For instance, next year Christmas is on a Thursday, so it's likely that the 26th will be a holiday.

 

But of course we are both on call this week so we went in for a full day of work while most everyone else stayed home. It's OK; we get a comp day to use later which will work out better as we can use it for our upcoming cruise, and save a vacation day for another time.

 

Over the weekend I found a nice bunch of fresh chanterelle mushrooms. So I made a mushroom sauce for dinner that went nicely with some simply grilled veal chops, and farro. 

 

 

Tomorrow we will make pierogies. Really looking forward to eating them - the preparation, not so much. They take a lot of work, but are so tasty. Think we'll make the sweet cabbage ones, and the sauerkraut ones. We have to resist the urge to make too much of the dough or the filling, because we will be heading south in a week. That will be the challenging part. Pierogie filling is always more than it seems!

Edited December 25, 2019 by jpalbny

[QueSeraSera]

Your meal looks great, salmon here tonight.  Let us know how the pierogies turn out!  One of our daughters married a man from Poland, he is now a US citizen (and a beloved son-in-law).  When we visit them in Chicago there are always excellent pierogies on the table, but sweet cabbage would be new.

[jpalbny]

So, pierogi vs varenyky. Chris and her parents always called them pierogi but that term is more commonly associated with the Polish language these days. They were from Western Ukraine (Lviv) and that was part of Poland until WWI. Varenyky is the more common Ukrainian word that we saw while we were there last May. Whatever you call them, they are a bit of work, but absolutely delicious.

 

In Ukrainian Catholic tradition they are eaten as part of a meatless feast on Christmas Eve. We did not have time to make them last night though, so we had them today.

 

We started in the early afternoon, slicing cabbage and cooking it slowly with butter and onions. Then we made another filling from sauerkraut, also cooked with butter and onions (you will see the theme shortly).

 

I made some dough - very simply, white flour mixed with water until the texture feels right. It can't be too sticky, but if it's too dry it won't stick together and the pierogi will fall apart when you boil them. The easiest way is to go by weight, about 55% hydration (6 oz flour and about 3.3 oz water) then mix, knead a bit until it comes together, wrap with plastic wrap and let it sit. Then go do something else - we went and did some walking on the treadmill to pre-emptively burn calories.

 

Next I roll the dough out with a pasta maker. By far, the easiest way to get nice uniformly thin dough.

 

 

Cut it with a glass into rounds.

 

 

It really helps if your partner can make pierogi like a champion. When I get a little ahead and have a bunch of rounds cut, I make a few, but Chris does most of the work. Here they are, ready for boiling. We managed to make a reasonable amount - only about 30 in all.

 

 

The dough gets super sticky once it sits for a while so even a Silpat is not enough to prevent sticking and tearing. You have to flour it so they don't tear apart when you pick them up and put them in the water. Wax paper will also work in a pinch.

 

They boil 2 or 3 minutes after they start floating. Not too vigorously, unless you are very confident that they will not pop!

 

 

Serve on a warmed plate, with butter and sauteed onions. Some add sour cream, depending on what the filling is. It would taste weird with cabbage, but it's divine with potato pierogi.

 

 

So after we'd made the dinner pierogi, we still had some dough left over. Luckily, we had some extra raspberries and blackberries in the fridge. Round 2, coming up!

 

I rolled out the rest of the dough and we made a dozen dessert pierogi. Those got served with butter, sugar, and sour cream. 

 

 

Now my belly is a bowlful of jelly, but I am happy. We served dinner with a red wine that we'd brought back from Ukraine in May. It went very well.

 

Hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful!

Edited December 26, 2019 by jpalbny

[spinnaker2]

Hope all who celebrate it enjoyed a Merry Christmas!

I made pastistio in the spirit of my newly found Greek ancestors.

Yummy.

DS made a peppermint bark cheesecake topped with chocolate ganache and two apple pies. Decadence meets tradition.

DD made a salad. Healthy alternatives!

After eating tons of nibbles beforehand we then filled the remaining space.

We had a great time celebrating at DS new house, his first Christmas there.

Passing the torch!🌲

 

[Lois R]

Hi friends, JP...wow, you made a lot of food!.....and Spins, sounds like good stuff too!  Peppermint Bark

Cheesecake? YUMMY!

[Lois R]

Happy Friday, a shoutout to Mysty…….your images are usually very cute and make us all smile.

Hope you had a great Christmas with your family!

[jpalbny]

Happy Friday indeed! Only three more nights of being on call this weekend, then two days of work before vacation! 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Thanks for the shout out Lois!

Have a great day all!

[FlyingScotSailors]

We just returned from our first Silversea cruise, on the Silver Galapagos.  It was wonderful, and we will write a review soon.

 

We cannot let the season go by without noting that great song, "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie".

 

[jpalbny]

Welcome back, Scots! Glad you had fun on your cruise. We are both working this weekend. And in between, hopefully we will finish packing. Less than a week to go!

 

Have to make an Exit 9 run at some point, so we have some good stuff in the house for the 31st. We are staying in and celebrating alone this year. Or maybe we will drink the special bottle of Dom rosé that we've been saving. Decisions, decisions...

 

The Christmas tree has to come down this weekend, sadly. And one last fish tank cleaning on the 31st before we leave. Lots to do.

[Lois R]

Hi folks.....2 more work days!

 

JP, question for you.....do you happen to know if feeling something behind the scar is normal? Sort of hardness but

not "STIFF".....just wondering if this is normal or not.  I have a Dr appt with my Oncologist 1 week from today and

will have him look at it but just wondering if you knew anything about this type of thing.

(seeing him to discuss the upcoming radiation treatments).

[jpalbny]

Lois, by "behind the scar" do you mean deeper below the surface? If so that sounds normal. They may have used some buried sutures which will cause some inflammation as they dissolve. That can cause some tenderness and some "induration" (a medical term for firmness). Sometimes the swelling is diffuse and sometimes it's in a tiny spot just where the suture is. But by all means if it feels funny, have it looked at. 

[Lois R]

Hi, it definitely below the surface.....I can feel something that is not smooth.....and If I say a lump that would seem

too weird...…..since that is what they look for with cancer to begin with

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[Stumblefoot]

On 12/27/2019 at 11:16 AM, jpalbny said:

Have to make an Exit 9 run at some point, so we have some good stuff in the house for the 31st. We are staying in and celebrating alone this year. Or maybe we will drink the special bottle of Dom rosé that we've been saving. Decisions, decisions...

You know what my vote is for!

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

You know what my vote is for!

 

I do, but I'm not going to lug it all the way back to South America to share it with you! 🤣

 

(We actually did buy this bottle of Dom Rosé in Mendoza, at Terrazas de los Andes. They are affiliated with Moet & Chandon, so they also sell Dom) So that bottle has already made an extra plane trip from South America to our home.

 

Just kidding. I would share it with you if you were here. But since you'll be in BA, we'll have a toast in your honor.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

...since you'll be in BA, we'll have a toast in your honor.

Sounds perfect!  Enjoy!!!

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[jpalbny]

Thanks, M. You just know I'm going to be watching tonight when I brush my teeth! 😆🍮

 

After all of those pierogies last week, and a SS cruise coming up soon, it's a losing proposition, I'm afraid. Or is it a gaining proposition?  I'm so confused! 

Edited December 30, 2019 by jpalbny