• 2 mediuam boiled/peeled potatoes
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 2 boiled carrots
• 1 celery stalk (optional)
• 1 apple (optional)
• 2 sour dill pickles (optional)
• 2 cups of green peas (fresh or canned)
• 3 tablespoons of Polish mustard (available in Polish store)
• 0.5 – 1 cup of mayonnaise (depending on taste)
• Salt and pepper

How to make Russian / Polish Salad

1. Dice up all the veggies/fruit into small cubes
2. Add mustard, mayo, salt and pepper and mix together. There is no right amount for these ingredients and it all depends on taste. Some people like a lot of mayo, some like less. Also, pickles, celery and apple are optional and again, depend on taste. My mom sometimes adds ham to this recipe, although I personally like it better vegetarian.

This salad is very versatile and tastes good with just about anything – meats, potatoes, pastas, perogies, even curries!

I had such a pleasant stay at the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott.

Just a 5 minute shuttle bus ride, it is centrally located in front of the three main passenger terminals. What impressed me the most was the top quality and level of customer service provided at this “airport hotel”. I was greeted with a smile. Check-in was processed quickly and I went directly to my spacious room on the executive level. It had great views of the airport operation, perfect for plane spotters! The room had an enormous flat screen television, was decorated in warm attractive colors and had really comfortable beds.

The executive lounge offered an enticing array of hot and cold appetizers during happy hour and an impressive dessert display later in the evening. A variety of tasty breakfast items were available from 6 AM for a quick bite before heading over to the terminal.

After getting settled, I took a quick swim in the indoor pool. I then went to one of two eateries(the bar offers a less formal venue for dining) and enjoyed one of the most satisfying Cesar Salads ever! It had a twist of citrus flavor that made it really stand out. Again, staff was attentive, welcoming and efficient.

Later that evening, a colleague joined me and we went to the Sports Bar for a bite and to enjoy some big screen pro sports broadcasts. He had a juicy hamburger with fries.

My “not spicy” quesadilla was inadvertently delivered to another table and I got their spicy order…Restaurants with “runners” are a pet peeve of mine. No matter how good a restaurant is, having a waiter take orders and then a runner delivering them is a recipe for confusion. The waitress easily corrected the error and we enjoyed the rest of the game. The next morning after the short shuttle ride, we were at the gate in plenty of time even after getting some extra sleep! Nothing like “rolling out of bed” with plenty of time to catch an early flight!

Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott is a top quality property and very convenient for overnight connections, early morning flights or if you are heading to a cruise at close by Port Liberty Cruise Terminal.

For more information visit: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ewrap-newark-liberty-international-airport-marriott/

• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
• cup milk
• cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 bag (16 ounces) frozen vegetable combination (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots), thawed
• 2 cans (4.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
• 1 package (7.5 ounces) refrigerated biscuits (10 biscuits)

How to make Homestyle Chicken & Biscuits

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the soup, milk, cheese and black pepper in a 3-quart shallow baking dish. Stir in the vegetables and chicken.
2. Bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture. Top the chicken mixture with the biscuits.
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Water melon sorbet:

• 1 kg of water melon
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of vodka

Lime ice creams:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (450 grams)
• 1/2 cup of lime juice
• grated zest from 1 lime
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream (36%)

How to make Water melon sorbet and lime ice creams

1. Remove skin from water melon, cut in cubes, remove seeds.
2. Use blender to mix water melon, icing sugar, lime juice and vodka.
3. Use ice cream maker to freeze sorbet.
4. Whip heavy cream.
5. Mix condensed milk, lime juice and zest, add whipped cream and mix gently.
6. Pour mixture into ice cream maker.
7. Serve scoop of water melon with scoop of lime ice cream.

(Courtesy fallbrook50/myBudgetTravel)

Come on, be honest: The all-you-can-eat buffets and huge selection of on-board restaurants and cafes are among the top reasons to head to sea.

A survey published last summer revealed a nugget of info that probably comes as no surprise to seasoned travelers: Cruise passengers like to eat. Nearly three-quarters of travel agents said that their clients look for added choices of unusual and special restaurants when selecting a cruise.

It seems as if cruisers’ appetite for more and more on-board food options is endless. Here are three new developments that they may find tempting:

On the “Waterfront”

One of the most exciting features on Norwegian’s new ship, the Breakaway , is simply called the Waterfront. It’s an open-air boardwalk similar to what one might expect at a seaside resort town, lined with shops, restaurants, and bars that are perfect for al fresco dining, as well as just browsing and strolling. The options at the Waterfront will include a steakhouse, cocktail bar, spots for seafood and Italian cuisine, a gelato station, and a Brazilian-style churrascaria. Speaking of which…

More Meat, Please!

When Norwegian introduced the Epic in 2010 , it was the first ship to offer an authentic churrascaria, a Brazilian-style restaurant in which passadors walk from table to table serving generous slices of beef, lamb, pork, chicken and sausage. The Moderno Churrascaria restaurant concept has since been added to a few other Norwegian ships, and last month the cruise line announced that it would be rolled out fleetwide this year. The experience is a “specialty restaurant,” and an added cover charge of $20 per person is required.

Southern Cruise, Southern Cuisine

When revamped steamboats start cruising the Mississippi this spring, they’ll take to the river with an appropriately local take on food. The Great American Steamboat Company has tapped Regina Charboneau, a Southern chef and cookbook author who runs Twin Oaks Plantation B&B in Natchez, Mississippi, to be in charge of the food on board. CruiseCritic reports:

As much as possible, the line will be sourcing local ingredients — like farm-raised poultry, sustainable seafood, pecans and produce — from the ports on American Queen ‘s route. A jazz brunch, offered once per cruise, will showcase baked goods, salads, roasted meats (Andouille-stuffed pork loin? Yes, please) and savory dishes like grits in a smoked tomato cream sauce, one of the decadent entrees we sampled. You also won’t want to miss Charboneau’s special captain’s dinner. The Mark Twain-themed meal features a menu of delicacies believed to be the Missouri-raised author and food lover’s favorites, including a “mock” turtle soup (don’t worry, it’s beef).

Looking for a relaxing read en route to your cruise? Then don’t buy Fatal Voyage, The Wrecking of the Costa Concordia, a Kindle Singles e-book that takes an in-depth look at the modern day Titanic.

Written by journalist John Hooper, the e-book covers one of the worst passenger ship disaster since the Titanic in engaging detail. Numerous interviews with survivors describe plates falling as the ship’s two-story dining room listed, the dark passageways where passengers crawled to reach an outside deck, the confusion around the lifeboats as the crew, acting without clear orders from above, tried to maintain control.

Hooper’s experience as a Rome-based reporter for the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper stands him in good stead. The book contains details about the sinking that never made the U.S. coverage, including the Italians’ collective embarrassment around one of their own, Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino.

As you’d expect, much of the story does center around Schettino, and his unbelievable series of bad decisions. Hooper notes that the call to “salute” the island of Giglio came out of nowhere, as the retired captain that Schettino meant to fete wasn’t even there at the time. And he also captures the feeling of pride that Italians felt when transcripts revealed that Coast Guard Captain Gregorio De Falco had ordered Schettino to get back on his boat. No wonder that T-shirts reading “Vada a bordo, cazzo!” (get on board, dick) became top sellers.

The rush to publish does highlight the e-book’s faults. Hooper’s e-book, which reads more like a long-form magazine article, came out on Feb. 15, just a little over a month from the Jan. 13 sinking. As a reader, I wanted even more details from the survivors than Hooper collected. Every passenger who lived through that night has a chilling tale to tell, and while the examples that Hooper picked were jaw-dropping, I had more questions than answers when I finished the book.

But hey, what do you expect for $1.99? Hooper continues to cover the fallout from the Costa Concordia tragedy for the Guardian. If and when he releases a longer, more detailed version of what exactly happened on the ship that night, I’ll be hitting the download button.

• 1/4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups spinach boil
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1 cup pasta (boiled)
• 2 big eggs
• 1 lemon juice
• 1/2 cup cheddar shredded cheese

How to make Spinach With Pasta

1. Put the oil, spinach, black pepper and pasta in a pot, leave it on low heat for four minutes.
2. Scramble the egg and mix it with the spinach, leave it until cooked.
3. Sprinkle lemon juice and the cheese and leave it for two minutes on the low heat.
4. Move to the serving dish.