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Mrs. Bucket's Nautical Buffet & Light Refreshments


mrsadm

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My husband and I have chartered a sailboat for this weekend and are bringing a few guests. I'm looking for suggestions of what would be nice to serve as refreshments - sort of lunch and afternoon snacks. There is a hot plate and small fridge on board, so no elaborate cooking; in fact I'm thinking of having everything cold.

I've thought of lobster rolls or other seafood goodies ... do you have any ideas?

Thanks!

Linda

*****

"Did you see what Julia Child did to that chicken?" ... Howard Borden on "Bob Newhart"

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Linda,

A lot depends on the size of the boat, how many people will be on-board, how long you'll be off-shore, how big the fridge actually is, whether there is an alternate place to chill beverages, and whether $ is not to be considered for the moment. :smile:

I lived on a sailboat for two years. Learned to make puff pastry in a thirty-eight foot wooden boat. :wacko:

Your friendly galley slave,

Karen

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Always bring a nice big cooler filled with ice. Refrig on sailboats often too small and not terribly cold. If you do seafood, serve it first day.

Prep as much as you can ahead of time and just pack it into plastic containers.

Snacks should be plentiful (life on the water builds your appetite!). Good things to bring which tolerate less than ice-cold storage are hummous and crudite; cut up fresh fruit; salsa and chips. For lunch, pasta salad is good (avoid mayo-based if you can) and you can add cooked chicken to it if you like.

Have fun!

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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If the boat has a barbeque on the stern rail then one evening meal is cooked here. If not a hibachi or small gas barbeque on the dock might be an option. There is nothing like eating late into the evening sitting in the cockpit at the cockpit table under the light of a stern anchor light while on a hook (at anchor) in a pretty secluded bay; much wine (which can be cooled in the water in a net over the side) should be at hand for this meal. During the day while sailing I suggest soupcons of liquor on the rocks (with mix if you must) as a libation after the sun is over the yardarm (after 12 noon). or beef in cans (no glass on board a boat please). Breakfast should be brunch and consist of bread, cheeses, fruit, jams etc. Food for the remainder of the day may be sandwiches you make like those you make at home with cold cuts, lettuce (you did mention an icebox), mayonnaise (does not need to be refrigerated otherwise I would have died years ago) and anything else you care to bring. Enjoy.

"Flay your Suffolk bought-this-morning sole with organic hand-cracked pepper and blasted salt. Thrill each side for four minutes at torchmark haut. Interrogate a lemon. Embarrass any tough roots from the samphire. Then bamboozle till it's al dente with that certain je ne sais quoi."

Arabella Weir as Minty Marchmont - Posh Nosh

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Oops. Meant beer in cans. (not beef in cans... hard to drink that). :blink::laugh:

"Flay your Suffolk bought-this-morning sole with organic hand-cracked pepper and blasted salt. Thrill each side for four minutes at torchmark haut. Interrogate a lemon. Embarrass any tough roots from the samphire. Then bamboozle till it's al dente with that certain je ne sais quoi."

Arabella Weir as Minty Marchmont - Posh Nosh

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My husband and I have chartered a sailboat for this weekend and are bringing a few guests.  I'm looking for suggestions of what would be nice to serve as refreshments - sort of lunch and afternoon snacks.  There is a hot plate and small fridge on board, so no elaborate cooking; in fact I'm thinking of having everything cold.

I've thought of lobster rolls or other seafood goodies ... do you have any ideas?

Thanks!

Linda

Oh how I miss the lovely Hyacinth! Here's a few ideas. :biggrin:

Shelley: Would you like some pie?

Gordon: MASSIVE, MASSIVE QUANTITIES AND A GLASS OF WATER, SWEETHEART. MY SOCKS ARE ON FIRE.

Twin Peaks

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Oops. Meant beer in cans. (not beef in cans... hard to drink that). :blink:  :laugh:

Had me wondering there for a moment how long you'd spent at sea. Beef in cans and hardtack, you know. :biggrin:

Oh how I miss the lovely Hyacinth!  Here's a few ideas.  :biggrin:

Wow. For a moment I thought Hyacinth was a boat.

Love those ideas, but yo ho ho and a bottle of rum you know, the open sea has no zipcodes. :raz:

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This one's for FG, if he's reading: How about some wraps? :laugh:

I think anything that could be eaten quickly, preferably with one hand in case you need the other one to hold you steady, would be good.

I'm thinking Summer Rolls (the rice paper will not dry out if you stack them in a long, rectangular tupperware container and place a few damp paper towels and waxed paper in between the layers).

Or Thai curry hummus (recipe below) with pita chips.

1 lbs garbanzo beans soaked and boiled -- about 2.5 lbs cooked beans

2 tbls. chopped garlic

¾ cups tahini

1 tbls Curry paste – Thai curry paste –

¼ cup lemon juice

¾ cup water

½ cup honey

1 tbls. salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 tbls. Madras curry powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ Tsp cumin

¼ tsp nutmeg

I like the Ina Garten idea of packing stuff in chinese take-out containers. How about some Indonesian Rice Salad (from Moosewood).

2 cups short grain brown rice

1/3 cup peanut oil

3 T toasted sesame oil

½ cup orange juice

1 medium clove garlic, crushed

½ t crushed red hot pepper

2 T tamari

1 t salt

2 T honey

2 T cider vinegar

1 cup chopped pineapple

2-3 minced scallions

1 stalk celery, finely minced

½ cup raisins

½ cup chopped roasted peanuts

½ cup toasted cashew pieces

2 T sesame seeds

1 cup mixed red and green bell pepper, diced

Optional:

1 cup thinly sliced water chestnuts

a handful of fresh, raw snow peas

½ lb. fresh mung bean sprouts

One thing that we like to do on the boat is take a whole, ripe pineapple and cut it up into chunks. Put it in a large ziplock bag with a sufficient quantity of good, spiced rum (or Gosling's Black Seal Rum if you can find it). Stick it in the cooler with plenty of ice and when you are out on the high seas, pass the bag around. It's absolutely great on a hot, sunny day. Very cold and refreshing.

I'm sure that the lovely Hyacinth Bucket would be outraged at such crude behavior. :shock:

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I always like to bring Tomato, Watermelon and Cucumber Salad and the Lemon Chicken from the Original Silver Palate Cookbook (even better cold than warm). Recipes available on request ! :rolleyes:

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