HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOELY FISHER

 

SO.... the party took place in a cool back room of a secret bar/restaurant. The party room had floor to ceiling black leather tufted walls. Loved it.

JOELY AND ME

WITH TRICIA LEIGH FISHER

JOELY, HELEN CAVALLO AND...

AGAIN

 

 

 

 JOELY AND TRICIA

WITH JOELY'S HUSBAND, CHRIS

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, CONNIE STEVENS WATCHING THE WORLD SERIES IN THE BAR!

LIFE IN MY HIDE-OUT--INDULGE ME, PLEASE

MY SECRET PLACE IS A MAGICAL PROPERTY IN THE NORTHWEST ALONG A RIVER.

HERE'S A PEEK:

KIM NOVAK AND PATCHES

 My favorite "corner" of the world

Early morning view

NOT FUNNY--This "Trojan" lost a bet

HERE'S MY LATEST CRUISE ARTICLE ON YAHOO TRAVEL!!!!

Surviving the Cruise Ship Buffet

Sue CameronSeptember 27, 2014

Anchors aweigh! (Photo: kansasphoto/Flicker)

Food, glorious food — it’s one of the top reasons people go on cruises. In one week, the cruise ship the Queen Mary 2 serves 16,000 meals a day, including 50 tons of fruit and vegetables, eight tons of poultry, 13 tons of fish and seafood, two tons of cheese and dairy, two tons of sugar, 5,000 gallons of milk, 32,400 eggs, and more, using 610 miles of plastic wrap and 87,000 pieces of glassware and china.

Though many people love the experience of fine dining in the so-called dress-up dining room, the 24-hour buffet is a great quick, casual option — if you know how to navigate it. When it comes to cruise buffets, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do them. Here are some of my best buffet tips, culled from decades of cruising.

Related: The Most Affordable Way to Cruise Away From It All This Fall (and Beyond)

Breakfast

Get your scrambled eggs from the omelet station. (Photo: Bev Sykes/Flickr)

One of the most important things to know about eating at a cruise buffet is what to stay away from. At breakfast, it’s the static, chafing-dish scrambled eggs. It may seem quick and easy to just scoop some up — after all, they’re already prepared, and really, how bad could they be on a fancy cruise, right? Wrong. They’re made hours before they are put out and are still almost raw even when they hit the buffet. The eggs are scrambled lightly and then left to cook via the heat from the hot station. On the other hand, omelets are one of the things you’ll find made to order at the buffet, so ask the omelet cook to make you a quick scramble instead — he’s already got the eggs. That way you know you’re eating fresh, fully cooked eggs. (Incidentally, eggs Benedict is always done as you order and usually excellent.)

If you’re not an egg person, you can also get fresh pancakes and waffles — again, forget those nasty ones that are somehow simultaneously crusty and soggy from sitting in the serving dish. Butter won’t even melt on them. If you walk over to the cafeteria and nicely ask the cook to give you some pancakes off the griddle, you’ll be much happier with the result. 

Related: From Easy Check-In to Xbox Live, Cruise Ships Are Getting Smarter

Lunch

Don’t let them overly season your stir-fry with soy sauce. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Salads and stir-fry are big at the cruise buffet lunch. Though the stir-fries are made to order, the cooks tend to overuse soy sauce, so ask them to go easy. As for the salads, watch out for the raw onions — the self-serve lettuce always seem to be overloaded with them.

Beware of onions on the salad bar. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Another lunch option to be careful of is the smoked salmon. (It’s on all salad and breakfast buffets.) If the edges are beginning to curl or are slightly brown, stay away. Believe me, I know. There was that time cruising to Turks and Caicos … ew. 

Dinner

Don’t be afraid to speak up at the pasta station. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Important fact: They have the same dinner entrées on the Lido-deck buffet as they do in the dress-up dining room. Same food, supereasy. If you’re not into the chafing-dish options, you can also have a steak cooked to order. But beware: The quality of the meat used at the buffet is not as good as the meat used for the main dining room.

Other important dinner tips? If you’re a fan of fish, stick to whatever fish they’re cooking to order.

And who doesn’t love an all-you-can-eat pasta dinner? You at the cruise buffet if you order correctly. Though the pasta dish is put together in front of you, the pasta itself is precooked. When you order your noodles, the cook will put them in a strainer and submerge them in hot water to warm them while finishing the sauces. The problem is the straining of the noodles: The cook will lift them out, give them a shake, and throw them in the pan with the sauce — and you will end up with a watery mess. If you’re willing to speak up and ask for a better strain or for the sauce to be thickened, then pasta is a good option. If you do choose pasta, do it the day after the sit-down dining room serves meat — they take the leftover high-quality meat and throw it into sauces. And ask the cook to add some marinated veggies from the pizza station rather than the raw ones they use, since they never seem to cook properly.

Dessert

Go wild at the dessert bar. Just avoid the cake. (Photo: Alpha/Flickr)

Sweets are one of the best parts of the buffet (just make sure the plates holding the desserts are on ice). Puff pastries, petits fours, crème brûlée, and the like all hold up better than cake, which dries out quickly. So pile on the goodies — don’t forget the whipped cream! — and you can even take your dessert to your cabin if you like. 

Related: An Inside Look at the New Most Insane Cruise Ship to Hit the Seas

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HELEN REDDY!!!!!

                                               WE LOVE YOU, HELEN



                         (AND SHE'S ALSO AT CATALINA BAR AND GRILL NOV. 1 AND 2)

HELEN'S FAMILY--Yasmina and Helen's son Jordan Sommers and her daughter Tracy Donat
Back-Lucas Donat and Lily Donat, Helen's granddaughter

JANE MONHEIT, HARRY WINSTON AND THE $1,500,000 NECKLACE

JANE MONHEIT sang for a private party at Harry Winston in Beverly Hills and she wore a necklace from the new "Secrets" Collection. It was simply an astounding piece of work, design and quality--both front and back. See for yourself:

 SO BEAUTIFUL

 SO GORGEOUS

HAPPY, HAPPY JANE!

AND NOW----I AM DISAPPEARING FOR A FEW DAYS.........TAKE CARE OF THE WORLD FOR ME

BETHENNY FRANKEL TO RETURN TO "REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK"---I CAN FINALLY REST

BETHENNY IS BACK!!!

If you think I'm putting on my delight---I'm not. Finally the show can get its groove back. I'm not ashamed to say how much I like silly TV shows that are candy to relieve a tired brain.
Thanks, Andy!

MARIAH "GIVES" AGAIN

This is a good way to escape your ebola fear.

THE FISH MYTH

FOR MANY YEARS: SHOW A MAN HOW TO FISH AND HE CAN EAT FOREVER.

NOW: GIVE ME MY FISH!

SOON: GIVE ME MY F--KING FISH AND COOK IT AND SERVE ME.

STOP MARIAH BEFORE SHE HURTS SOMEONE........

UPDATE-----IT'S NOT ABOUT THE PARTY, IT'S ABOUT THE PERSON WHO IS PRESIDENT

SOME PRESIDENTS ARE ELECTED AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME IN A MATCH OF THEIR SKILL SETS AND WHAT THE COUNTRY NEEDS. OF COURSE, NO ONE PRESIDENT IS ALL GOOD OR ALL BAD.



HERE ARE SOME TERRIFIC PRESIDENTS, IN MY OPINION:

HARRY TRUMAN

Harry Truman was tremendously underrated as a successor to Franklin Roosevelt. His bravery and honor were never questioned and he made incredibly difficult decisions for the betterment of our country. Go study him.

Bill Clinton: regardless of his sexual stupidity and disregard for the honor of the presidency and the oval office, I'd give anything to have him back as president. Our country was really great then.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

 

Dwight Eisenhower was the right man for the job at the right time. After years of war, we needed calm. We needed a "father" in the White House and he was it. Yes, he was the guy who got us into Viet Nam originally, but overall he was excellent.

BILL CLINTON

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

WHAT A LEADER. Again, right man at the time. Our country was going down the tubes. Despite his socialistic leanings,  our country needed those programs to get us out of trouble. Was it the beginning of the welfare state? Big Daddy Government? Yes. But I think we had no other choice at the time.


Woodrow Wilson was a thoughtful man, way ahead of his time. His anti-isolationist policy ran against popular sentiment, but he was totally correct in starting global thought with the League of Nations. It was our loss that it failed.

WOODROW WILSON

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ENOUGH SAID.

RICHARD NIXON

GEORGE H. W. BUSH

I'll tell you why both men are here. In my opinion, these two men had more foreign policy experience than most presidents combined. They were probably the most prepared and experienced for the job. I realize Nixon had personal problems that ruined his presidency, but his opening to China is one of the most important steps for our current world. And maybe "Daddy George" didn't know how a supermarket functioned, but I don't care. He was an experienced leader and is a very fine gentleman.
I'm not getting into Halliburton, etc. All presidents have issues. I look at the big picture. 

AND RONALD REAGAN----

 

I'm sorry this ran yesterday without him. what was wrong with me?  He was the right man at the right time. After Carter destroyed our reputation around the world by making us look weak, Reagan rode in on his white horse and straightened everybody out. The US regained her strength, and Americans were once again proud of the greatest nation on earth.

LATEST OBAMA POSTERS

I DON'T LIKE HIM. I NEVER DID. I NEVER WILL. WORST PRES SINCE JIMMY CARTER    IT'S MY FREE SPEECH. I'M JUST SAYING WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE THINKING AND FEELING.         -

I LOVE THE "NEW" VIEW...and other TV MUSINGS

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, NICOLLE WALLACE, ROSIE O' AND ROSIE P ARE FANTASTIC TOGETHER.

This combination is exactly what we have wanted...all bright people, not afraid to speak out. You never know what will come out of anyone's mouth. The surprises are there; the politics interesting; great guests. WAY TO GO!

AND THE LAST-MINUTE ADDITION OF ROSIE PEREZ WAS BRILLIANT.

ROSIE PEREZ

ROSIE O' DONNELL

WHOOPI

NICOLLE

I'd also like to add that Elisabeth Hasselbeck is doing great at Fox News and Friends. She's out for two weeks following surgery.


OTHER TV MUSINGS...........

Since My Beloved Joan's passing, I can;t tolerate any tense shows on TV. At least for now, "The Blacklist," "Homeland," and anything of that genre will have to wait.

"Jane the Virgin" is a terrific, original, new show starring Gina Rodriguez. Watch it on the CW.

GINA RODRIGUEZ

And did you know "Bad Judge" was co-created and is produced. by Anne Heche? Good for her.

ANNE HECHE

I hope it catches on. "Cristela" on ABC is also a great showcase for the stand- up comic Cristela. The scripts need work, but her personality carries you through.

 

----------------------------------------------

BUT, BY FAR THE MOST INCREDIBLE SHOW ON THE AIR (SORT OF) IS

"TRANSPARENT" ON AMAZON PRIME.

THE SHOW STARS JEFFREY TAMBOR AS A TRANSGENDERED MAN COMING OUT TO HIS FAMILY. THE FAMILY CONSISTS OF A BI-SEXUAL DAUGHTER, A PORN-LOVING BROTHER WHO SLEEPS WITH UNDER-AGE GIRLS, AND AN EX-WIFE WHO'S IN A STATE OF SHOCK.

YOU MUST SEE THIS SHOW.