The departure of First Mate Berkley

Free as a Bird

Berkley, First Mate on Slowdance

January 4, 2011: Well today is a sad day as Berkley returns to Newport Beach after assisting Captain Daz in delivering Slowdance to Puerto Vallarta. We will miss you Berkley and all your expertise in sailing, but I will miss most of all, your talented photography skills, and all the great photos of the meals I cooked and your loving appreciation of each morsel you took delight in consuming. Today dinner will be served at 3:00pm, so we can all sit once more  for a good meal, with good conversations, before you leave for the airport. As the weather will be cooler in Newport Beach, we are having roasted chicken, garlic mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, green apples and fresh green beans.

Ron likes the dark meat

V likes the white meat

Artichokes for an appetizer with butter garlic dip(earth balance, no real butter of course) and vegan mayo dip.

 Roasted Chicken: Rinse the bird and pepper the inside. You can add a little sea salt as well. Rub the bird all over with olive oil and place a few cloves of garlic inside the bird. Rub some pepper and a bit of salt all over the bird and place breast down in a roasting pan or cast iron fry pan. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven and let roast for 30 minutes. Turn the bird with breast up and baste with the juices.Place back in the oven for additional 45 minutes until well browned. We have had some great variations to this method: Mediterranean style would be place lemon halves inside the bird at the start, then remove the bird after 30 minutes and place onto a large roasting pan. Surround the bird with red potatoes (quartered), eggplant (cubed) red peppers (quartered), all basted in the juices. Add a few more lemon halves and return to the oven for 45-60 minutes. Very delicious one pot meal! Serve with feta and pita bread.