Shameless, saucy food porn photo-whoring: (a.k.a. 9 month update)- long, but lots of food...

For those who may not know my background, I was MO thanks to metabolic problems (PCOS, IR, Metabolic Syndrome, and crappy genetics). Thus far the DS has resolved the metabolic weight-loss barrier; I’m down 104 pounds at 9 months post-op and still loosing.

Labs look great, no complications, and other than a few food sensitivities (a few fibrous veggies and dry, tough meats) my stomach seems to like everything I feed it- especially steak and seafood.

I am grateful for my DS not only for the weight lost, it has freed me to enjoy foods that I always denied myself during countless years of “eating right" and exercising myself to exhaustion, which were ironically my heaviest. Instead of veggies and carbs being the focus of my meal with a modest side of lean meat, I’m now a proud carnivore. I do miss veggies, but being able to eat meats and rich sauces turn those longings into an afterthought. If you’re considering the DS please know that it will make eating enjoyable once again, a dramatic improvement to one’s quality of life.

I promised to take my mom on a cruise to Bermuda, so we sailed away on the Celebrity Summit for a 7 night cruise. Honestly the DS did not change anything other than my size, which is exactly the way I wanted it. When I was MO I snorkeled and toured places on foot just as much as I did for this trip, the only difference was that it was easier to move my body around.

So while I have no pictures of my self at this time, I took a lot of pictures of the food I ate during the cruse- it was blissfully good and I lost two pounds that wee****lebrity does a wonderful job keeping passengers well fed, it was difficult getting back to reality once it was over and I asked my husband “Where’s my crème brulee?". Sorry if the pics aren't great, my camera chokes on low light.

Enjoy the food porn, and happy eating my fellow DSers!


First dinner app: Escargot, note I was so enthused that I forgot to take a picture before devouring them.


First entree: medium rare prime rib with roasted veggies, root vegetable mash and horseradish... Mmmmmm, fatty and delicious!



And for dessert, creme brulee... Again I forgot to take a pic before digging in.



Breakfast: fresh squeezed OJ, 6 slices of bacon and bananna pancakes. I finished the bacon and had one of the two pancakes. I normally don't eat this much carbs, but I really love bananna pancakes with fresh OJ and well, dang it I was on vacation!



Lunch: Teiyaki glazed duck breast with cilantro/jalapino lentil salad with glazed pecans and mango.



To give you an idea of how much my stomach will fit, this is a picture of what I left behind on my plate. The lentil salad was wonderful, but after eating the duck breast (protein first!) I didn't have room for more than 4 fork-fulls of the lentils. 



Dinner: had escargots again as my app, main course was mushroom-crusted rack of lamb- medium rare of course- with roasted veg and mint jelly. As usual I was so excited to eat that I mowed through one of the rib chops before I remembered to take a picture. I had an apple tart tatin for dessert but forgot to take a picture of it.



Breakfast: 6 slices of bacon, eggs benedict and grits.



Here's what I actually ate, I left most of the english muffins and the grits.



Lunch: chicken couscous soup



Also lunch: miso poached orange roughy with a divine cold soba salad




Dessert: sugar-free pear tart, it is VERY nice that Celebrity includes sugar-free desserts with every meal- and they're GOOD! I love having alternatives, and this is helpful for those who may have diabetes.



This is how much of the tart I ate, I picked off the fruit and the whipped cream, but left most of the pastry behind. I didn't have room for it. Unfortunately, this was my first time eating pears post-op, and I discovered (a half hour after eating) that pears irritate my stomach, something didn't feel "right" after eating it, I hoped it would pass but it did not. I made it to my cabin and totally lost my lunch.



Since I tossed my cookies thanks to the pear tart (and incidentally lost all the good protein I ate for lunch), I needed to eat again. On every Solstice-Class ship there is a wonderful and swoon-worthy cafe (The Cova Cafe) that serves pastries for breakfast, tea sandwiches for lunch, and tapas late at night. Here is a picture of their tea sandwiches, they look almost too pretty to eat!



The Cova Cafe also serves pots of tea, coffee, espresso drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) to go with the pastries and tea sandwiches. Their tea, coffee and espressos are amazing, it's not like the crap that is sold at Starbucks.  This is a snapshot of the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich on dark rye and the brie and grape sandwich on a slice of french bread. I ate lots more tea sandwiches, but didn't take more pictures of them.



We took a tour around Bermuda and took a break to have English afternoon tea at the Willowbank. They have a charming tea room with adorable teacups and linens, everyone gets a different set of cups.


Here is a tray of sandwiches (salmon and chive + cream cheese, cucumber- those are the ones in ribbons- sandiwches, crab, ham and cheese, curried egg salad) and various cookies and pastries. All of them were excellent, this was one of the best afternoon teas I've enjoyed- it makes the top 4!



Here's another tower of goodies from the Willowbrook afternoon tea.



We ate dinner at the Summit's specialty restaurant called the "SS Normanie", which is a tribute to the fine dining aboard the sunken luxury liner SS Normandie. They actually have salvaged art deco bronzes from the Normandie shipwreck in this restaurant and throught the Summit. My appetizer was pan seared sweetbreads. I cleaned my plate.



This is their Maine lobster bisque with leek flan, sauteed leeks and congnac cream. When I ate this, my toes curled, words don't do this dish justice. I finished the entire bowl.


Main couse at the Normandie: Fillet mignon in black tuffle sauce (medium-rare), topped with seared foie gras,with Haricot verts, mushrooms, masked potato and parnip chips. I was only able to eat half of the fillet. I barely touched the side vegetables, which is a shame because they were excellent too, but my stomach only has so much room. The waiters were concerned that I didn't like the dish because I left so much of it untouched, there are times where I really wish I had a larger stomach. This was one of those times.


Dessert, which I barely had room for and also left a lot on my plate. This was a trio of apple desserts, an apple sorbet, a walnut apple cake and a calvados creme brulee.



Champage afternoon tea at the SS Normandie (can you tell that I like this place a lot??), yes I was bad and had some champagne. The pastries were amazing, and they had the best scones I've ever had! While the sandwiches were wonderful the ones at the Willowbrook were a bit better.


I loved all the cute china for the jams and clotted cream. They made their own jam at the Normandie.


Dinner app at the main dining room: French onion soup! I didn't take a picture of the main course, it was cajun blackened ribeye.


Dinner at the Normandie again. This was the appetizer: pan seared foie gras duck croustillant (with a crepe stuffed with duck confit).


As much as it pained me, I wanted to try their forest mushroom "cappucicno" soup even though I wanted the lobster bisque again. I was not disappointed, it was full of porcini goodness.



Main course at the Normandie: Five spice crusted cervena venison (rare, of course!) loin with celery root puree, fried leeks, ligonberry saice and red cabbage marmalade.... Hummina, hummina, hummina, hummina, hummina, hummina, hummina, hummina.... The best venison preparation I've had in my life. I managed to devour two medallions of the venison.



I was in the mood for chocolate mousse for desert. I don't remember the name of this one, but it was wonderful. Not many places know how to prepare chocolate well, the chefs here are masters.



Main dining room dinner appetizer: Duck consomme!



second app: beef tartare- sadly I didn't like this one, but on a ship they refrain from mixing in raw egg because they want to be extra careful of foodborne illnesses. Sadly I think this tartare needed it, but I don't hold it against them. All the rest of the food in the main dining room was very good or excellent throughout the entire trip, so I have nothing but praise for the Summit's kitchen staff.



Main course at the main dining room: fillet mignon (rare!) with seared fois gras- similar to the dinner at the Normandie a few nights before, and well I was on a fois kick and couldn't resist.


Last night in paradise (Normandie again...) This was a spicy gaspacho amuse-bouche (that's just fancy talk for culinary dick-teasing).



Normandie apps: I had the main lobster bisque again, and also the scallop wellington with truffle sauce.



Normandie main course special: seafood meddley (maine lobster tail, sea bass fillet, scallops, shrimp and new zealand mussles) with potato mash, parsnip chips and roasted veggies. It was delightful and I wanted to kiss the chefs, but I was horribly depressed that it was to be the last! I had a pistachio sorbet for dessert since I didn't have room for anything substantial. The next morning we disembarked at Port Liberty and returned to reality.

Bee- These photos are scrumptous and seem to even capture a bit of the delicate, lovely ambience of the dining area.  I'm in love with the afternoon tea.

Thanks, I wish I had a better camera for the task. These pics really don't do the food justice.

I love afternoon tea! It is such a wonderful treat. I try to go to as many places that serve afternoon tea as possible-- it's a great experience.

OMG! I am soooo going on a cruise next year.

YES!

You must go on a cruise! I recommend Celebrity Cruises for the food in the main dining room, cafe and specialty restaurants. I've cruised Celebrity twice and Royal Carib. once. While RC's main dining room was also very good, Celebrity was far better (even though Royal owns Celebrity).

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the buffet dining, so after eating there for breakfast and lunch a couple of times, mom and I decided it was best to stick to the main dining room where the quality was better (and the food was HOT as it was made to order).

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about the food

OMG - this is the most delicious food porn ever.  and lets face it - food is the REASON to go on a cruise!!!

Oh absolutely, at least for me food is the #1 reason.

There's other perks too! What I love about it is that there's no fatigue from plane-hopping or hotel hopping to your destination/s. It's like checking into a giant, floating resort that does all the travelling for you. You embark, enjoy your cabin, the dining, fun activities and then go to sleep in your cabin rocked to sleep by the waves. You wake up and POOF! You're at your destination, well rested and fed, ready to see the sights and have a great time. No plane travel, no red-eyes or missed connections. It is the best way to travel- provided you don't have a storm on the ship's ass (tha did happen to me once)!

WOW, that was fun to read and look at!  Thank you for sharing!  YUM!!!!!!!!!!

You're welcome!

Um, I think I need a moment alone after those pics!!!  I would totally go on that cruise...just for the food!! 

I wonder what happened w/the pear tart?  Could it have been sugar alcohols?  I notice that most sugar-free desserts contain sugar alcohols. 

It looks like you had a lovely time! 

-melissa