A Cruise to Remember

The Royal Caribeean "Mariner of the Seas" Mar -29, 2008 visited St. Marteen, St. Thomas and San Juan, Peurto Rico. This picture may not be our vessel as we saw so many and I took so many pictures, but it will give you an idea of the size. There was a total of 14 decks the top two being only part the size of the whole vessel. We were in the center of the 10th deck and that was just about a perect spot to be. Hardly any motion felt at all.

The service aboard the ship was outstanding. This is a picture of just a few of the waiters and assistant waiters in the dining room. They performed for us a couple of times during the trip. The food was great! We had prime rib, Lamb T-bones, lobster, lamb shanks, chicken, tenderloin, and just about everything you can imagaine inbetween. Breakfast and lunch most days were in the buffet, but dinner (2 formal nights) was in the dining room.

My sister, Margaret and I did a tour of the Is. of St. Martin/St. Marteen, I shopped on St. Thomas and we just took pictures from the ship of San Juan.

Many hours were spent reading on a chaise lounge on the upper deck, a few relaxing turns in the spa, as well as many miles traveled up and down the halls. The ship was huge. There was a parade on the Royal Promenade, an Ice show one night on the skating rink, several musicals, as well as the Casino and bingos. We were kept busy.

This is sunset over San Juan. The color of the water changes as the sun goes down.

Here you can see the true color of the Caribeean. This is a view from a hilltop on the French side of St. Marteen. We did a bus tour of both Dutch and French side.

A 45 min. stop at a small flea mkt. to shop made the trip well worth taking. We saw wildlife (sheep that looked like goats to me) , and the salt lakes that used to supply the island with an industry before tourism became it's mainstay.

It was a week I will not soon forget.

Winter in Florida

Between Valentines Day and now my flowers have stayed beautifully fresh. It is a lovely bouquet. Today I picked my first cherry tomatoes. Feb 24 and gardening, I just love it. It is hard to believe that in just a month+ Don will be heading home already. I have been here already 3 months + a week. and soon will be thinking about packing. I hate the thought of it.

On the bright side, my sister arrives in just 3 days, not counting today (we count get-ups), and one week from today we leave on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. I am so excited.

Don will be well looked after while I am gone. He has many friends in the park and all of them will make sure he is well tended to as far as getting to the store, company, and maybe even an outing on the Treasure Island
Casino cruise. In fact I think he is planning that even before Marg and I sail. That is ok, we are doing the beach that day.

All in all it has been a perfect winter so far, and I have no doubts it will get even better.

Green Iguana

http://www.greeniguana.com/ The Food was excellent and the atmosphere was great. Too bad I forgot my camera. The burgers are to die for.

I had the burger on the bottom right topped with tabosco onions

Black and Bleu Burger
Take a whiff of this! Caribbean spices, bleu cheese, mayo and tabacco onions. $6.95

Winter in St. Petersburg, Florida

We had a near Tornado type rain/wind storm on Saturday, windy yesterday, cold today and tomorrow I will go to the beach. High of 75 F and sunshine all day. That is winter in Florida it changes day to day. So far our winter has been absolutly great. The rain on Sar. was the first of 2008, and not much expected over the next week or so.

I have been busy in the park, also joined Shpaes so go their for water exercise classes 5-6 times per week. Hopefully it will firm me up a bit. Eating out does not help the waistline but I have had lunch out last week at Leverocks in South Pasadena with the Shapes group. Dinner Saturday with the Scarlett Hustlers of Penellas (Red Hat Society) at Sam Seltzer's (See picture, I am on the right). and tomorrow the Crafter's group from our Park are going the the 4th Street Shrimp House for lunch. Oh well, it is a tough life......

Comfort Food

We had 2 days of cooler weather down in St. Peterburg, Florida so it was benificial to use the oven. This is a Cauliflower and ham Impossible Pie. I used the recipe on www.aliciasrecipes.com and just added some ham, sauted red pepper and left-over green beans to the Cauliflower Impossible Pie recipe. It had more volume so it took about 15 minutes longer to bake. Severed with some zesty chili sauce and a salad and we had a nice supper in a warm kitchen. Happy to report that the high today is back up to 22 and by early next week we could hit 30 again.

Merry Christmas

Not sure if I will have another chance for blogging before Christmas Day so I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Don and I are spending Christmas Day with his cousin from New Brunswick that is here in the park, Gerry and his wife Stella. We will be having a traditional turkey dinner. Christmas Eve we are having a couple over for hor'dourves and eggnog and/or tea after early church service. We are going to another cousin from New Brunswick (niece of Gerry McGraw) Marie and her husband Lou for New Year's Eve. I am going to have to have the whole bunch over here for a meal, maybe Ukrainian Christmas Eve. I think that is the 6th of January.

Dinner on Dec 9, 2007

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless skinless chicken Breasts

4 thin slices deli ham (I used black forest)

4 slices Swiss cheese

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1 cup crused corn flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1-2 tsp. Essence (recipe below)

Flatten chicken to 1/4" thickness. Season one side with garlic powder, pepper, and parsley. The other side with Pepper and Essence. On the Essence side place a slice of the ham and the slice of cheese. Roll up, tuck in the ends and secure with toothpicks.

In a small bowl , wish egg and milk. In another bowl put your crumb. Dip chicken in egg mixture then roll in crumbs.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min or until chicken juices run clear.

Discard toothpicks beofre serving

ESSENCE

5 TABLESPOONS SWEET PAPRIKA
¼ CUP SALT
¼ CUP GARLIC POWDER
2 TABLESPOONS FRESH GROUND BLACK PEPPER
2 TABLESPOONS ONION POWDER
2 TABLESPOONS CAYENNE
2 TABLESPOONS DRIED OREGANO
2 TABLESPOONS DRIED THYME

COMBINE WELL AND STORE IN AN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER IN YOUR SPICE CABINET FOR UP TO 3 MONTHS