CRUISING WITH MAREN

Maren was going on a Mexican Riveria Cruise with her friends in May that got canceled because of the swine flue. The cruise line would only give her a credit and the girls couldn’t come up with a date to go together so Maren took me on a shorter version last week.

We went to Catalina Island for a day, where we snorkeled—not the best place for fish but it was fun anyway. The island is quaint and charming. I would go there again.

Then we sailed to Ensenada Mexico for a day. I have been there before but never to shop like Maren and I did. She bought trinkets. I mostly checked prices on Retin-A at all the farmacias—Mexico is a gold mine for Retin-A. No prescription is needed and it is less than a third of the US price. The Retin A was for friends. I stocked up last time I was there.

The third day I think the ship mostly floated around in circles. The food was good and there is lots of it everywhere all day. We tried to be good and eat reasonably. We even worked out in the gym. The evening meal is a very nice sit down, order off the menu, dinner. We had some very enjoyable table-mates every evening. The yummiest thing all week was the Warm Chocolate Cake baked in ramekins with a soft fudgy bottom. I ate one every night after dinner. I got on line for the recipe when I returned. I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe you would like to try it first. (Can you see the butter in this? 35 grams of fat! No wonder I liked it.)

CARNIVAL CRUISE CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
7 eggs, divided use
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter; cool 10 minutes.
In separate bowl, mix 4 eggs with sugar. Whisk. Add flour and whisk. Add remaining 3 eggs. Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture. Pour in individual baking cups or ramekins.
Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting, not set).
Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings. Approximate nutritional values per serving: 460 calories (64.7 percent calories from fat), 8 g protein, 35 g carbohydrate, 27 g sugar, 2 g dietary fiber, 35 g fat, 250 mg cholesterol, 60 mg sodium.
Source: Carnival Cruises/bb.affordabletours.com

What did we mostly do? -- Sit on the adult deck in a lounge chair and read novels. It was a very relaxing vacation. Maren was the mom on this trip and I was her little girl. She took good care of me. I enjoyed these 4 days with her very much. This was our first cruise. We will do it again.