Cooking on the Bay

Mirene New Year's Voyage Menu

Chevre Champignon - Goat cheese and bacon stuffed mushrooms

Crab Cakes with Creme Fraiche and Galic Aioli

Pate with toast points

Cheese platter - assortment of domestic and imported cheeses with dried fruit and nuts

Lady Cruz Apples - Baby apples stuffed with dates, pecans, and spice. Topped with scented mascarpone.

Petit Four platter - Assorted cakes, cookies, and chocolates

I did a little New Year's Cocktail Party. 40 Guests, finger food. Easy, except for the location. OUT TO SEA. Aboard the Mirene for a 3-hour tour of the bay.

The hilarious part of cooking on a boat is to be constantly prepared for the potential of getting caught in a wake from one of the passing tanker, and everything you have sliding away. Hours of prep could slam to the floor because you absentmindedly set it on the counter just before a big old boat from China comes by. One hand for the cook, one hand to hold on. I was lucky enough to have a calm day out there.

As I was flipping crab cakes I was occasionally reminded to look up. There I was, under the Golden Gate, or next to Alcatraz. One moment I'm elbows up trying to plate some dessert, then I’m looking out the window trying to see the dolphins. STOP COOKING, TIME FOR A DOLPHIN SIGHTING.

I’ve done a lot of things wrong lately. I have not been as kind, or helpful, or gentle as I should be. But somewhere in my youth or childhood, just like the song says, I must have done something good. Because there I was, drinking wine, cooking crab, and watching the ocean go by.

Pretty darn lucky.