Birthday Boat Picnic

Summer is officially here on the California coast this weekend, we spent a glorious few hours on the water in the harbor of Newport Beach. Our family got together to celebrate my husband's birthday, and a boat ride and picnic lunch seemed the perfect way to celebrate. The weather couldn't have been better, sun, with a slight breeze, the perfect boating afternoon. Newport Beach was incorporated in 1906. In 1870 a steamer named "The Vaquero" made its first trip to a marshy lagoon for trading, and ranch owners in the Lower Bay decided from then on that the area should be called "Newport." Pacific Electric Railroad established a southern terminus in Newport connecting the beach with downtown Los Angeles in 1905, which furthered city development. In 1906 with a population of 206 citizens, the scattered settlements were incorporated as the City of Newport Beach. Today, Newport Beach is an upscale, beautiful beach town. The homes that border the water are especially luxurious, and it is always great fun to cruise by on a boat to play "tourist" in our own backyard. All sorts of boats use the harbor, you can see everything from grand yachts, sailboats, little Duffy boats {electric boats}, catamarans and paddle boarders. We rented an electric boat, and brought our own picnic with us in a basket, a huge bag and a insulated bag. It's amazing how, even for nine people {three of whom are under 7!} it takes quite a bit of food and drinks to make a celebration, doesn't it? I kept the menu easy. At first I had illusions of making everything myself, but in the end I ordered sandwiches, and brought a variety of snacks, one of my daughters brought her famous pasta salad and artichoke dip appetizer, the other brought champagne and wine. I packed what I could as attractively as I could {with me, it's all about how it looks and tastes!} in a French wicker basket. I did try to dress up the food service a bit, I tied LifeSavers candies on red twine around the napkins for a nautical theme. I loved them, and thought them so clever, but to be honest, I think it was sort of lost on everyone. I know YOU all appreciate the effort though, right? Easy Boat Picnic Menu Artichoke Dip served with crackers, gluten free flax chips and celery Soppressata and Genoa Salami from Trader Joe's Goldfish crackers and Banana Chips for kids Pasta Salad A variety of sandwiches from Corner Bakery Grapes, Lemon Cookies Champagne, ice tea, waters and apple juice boxes for the kids. Once on the boat, everyone got a blue plastic basket with a red checked paper liner to fill with their sandwich of choice, fruit, and pasta salad. It was actually a bit more difficult to spread the table in an attractive way than I had anticipated, but when your family is hungry, they don't really care how it looks, they just want to eat! The little parchment paper bags were a great addition, I slipped each sandwich in one {you can get them at most large warehouse stores for food service} and they proved to be so handy, especially for the children who weren't used to eating on a moving dining room! We had such a fun, fun afternoon! Afterwards, we had a birthday cake in our garden. Happy, happy birthday John, and thank you for all that you do to support me and FrenchGardenHouse! How do you like to celebrate your family's birthdays?

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