Wednesday, August 20, 2014

A Week of Fine Dining at Lake Powell


We have spent two of the three
weeks in August at Lake Powell
and of all of our trips to Lake Powell,
this one was out of this world!

We asked our friends' daughters to
be the chefs on the boat.  The Harkness
twins have gone to Culinary Art school
and jumped at the chance, creating themed
menus for each day.

Unfortunately Grace broke her collar
bone so she wasn't able to come but her
older sister Hannah stepped in to 
assist Esther.

I am going to start you off with
Caribbean Night.


The girls posted menus for
lunch and dinners on the fridge
each day, each one cleverly themed.


Let me introduce you to our chefs
and wait staff.

For Caribbean Night I
asked everyone to dress as pirates
so our waitress for the evening
was Tinkerbell with her scabby chef Essy.


The girls set the table each night with
attention to the theme.
Tonight the table was set with a pirate flag
and pirate napkins


Even the houseboat was decked
out for the theme of the day.


Imagine how thrilled I was to 
see everyone dressed in their
pirate costumes!!

They win extra points for going the
extra mile!!!
This is a dinner group that
we belong to that is
called FIRM
(Friends In Retirement Mode
although no one is retired yet!)


Even the parrot came to dinner.


I applied these fun temporary
tattoos that I got at 
Partyland.

Dinner started with an appetizer of 
a deconstructed crab wonton.
Wow, the flavors were incredible!
Mahi mahi with a pineapple and
mango salsa with coconut rice
was the main dish and a
Pavlova with berries on a bed
of sweetened whipped cream
finished the meal.

This menacing pirate provided
the fun blinking goblets for everyone.



You can get these from
They really added to the
festive table.





We also had American night.


Each evening meal began with what they
called their
Pre-Appetizer.

Each person received a Sees Chocolate for
their Pre-Appetizer.  Yum.


Marinated and grilled fresh
garden squash began the meal.


The star of this meal was the bacon-wrapped
filets with home made Bearnaise sauce.
It was accompanied by creamed corn
and cheesy potatoes.


Dessert for American Night 
were cake push pops with
red white and blue cake and
blue frosting.


Our waitress for American Night
was Stacy from Georgia.
(Hannah had gone the extra mile and
studied different accents on the internet
to play her roles.)



The girls set the table every night
choosing different plates and placemats.
Their service was incredible.

 Captain Kirk had shown up in
costume starting the week off 
with lots of fun.

 We had originally asked the girls
to make only dinner, but they got 
so excited about it that they also 
made us lunch.

Top left and going clockwise,
Steak and Blue Cheese Sliders,
Wedge Salad with Poached Egg,
Grilled Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella.


Gigi was our waitress for 
Italian Night.
It was everyone's favorite.

Chef Essy had prepared six homemade
pastas at home for this fabulous night.


After our pre-appetizer of a chocolate,
we had these fun
Caprese Salad Skewers.
We got the cute plates and dishes
from Partyland 
and Webstaurant for petite 
plastic dinnerware
(scroll down to find smaller packages).


This was the perfect menu to
try out these wonderful mini
dishes that we had used for my
daughter's wedding reception.

The first plate was three pastas,
Spinach Lasagna,
Goat Cheese Tortellini
and Butternut Squash Ravioli.



The next plate was three more
dishes - 
Buccatini Carbonara, Gnocchi
in a Pepper Sauce and Home Made Meatballs.

All of these recipes came from
Williams Sonoma Pasta cookbook.


Wow, how can you 
ever repeat a meal like this?


 Dessert was freshly made 
Mango Sorbet with
a Double Chocolate Brownie.


There was a little quiz that 
we were given each night that
went with the theme while
we waited for the girls to
plate the meals.  All of these
fun little extras made the week
out of this world.



We really enjoyed our
waitresses.  They were another huge
surprise and
we never got to see her before dinner
so that when she came upstairs
it was really fun.  


Oriental night was skewered tenderloin
with green onions on fried rice.
Love the happy face made with
the veggies!


A commercially prepared 
Oriental spongecake with fresh
cream and berries was our dessert.


It is hard to conceive 
their boundless energy 
and their skill of planning
and preparation.


 Our final night brought
Salome 
and Indian food.

The big hit were the potsticker
where the chefs made the 
dough by hand and rolled it out.
There is no comparison.


I don't think this table will ever
see such food or such service
ever again as Chef Essy is heading
off to college and Waitress Hannah
is finishing college.


We had to regale them with kisses
in gratitude for the most amazing
week at Lake Powell EVER!!

Blondie asked if I had done a post
on the kitchen on the boat,
I will have to do that in the 
future, but for the meantime
I am adding a picture of
the girls working in the kitchen.


Sources
Plates - Target
Flatware - Casablanca from Dillards
I will be posting with


18 comments:

  1. You and your family and friends have so much fun - no matter where you are or what you do. Love the costumes and all the food looks delicious!

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  2. Fun food and costumes! I am retired but never thought about getting into the mode with a group beforehand. Smart! LOL

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  3. Jacqueline, you certainly know how to entertain guests. The week sounds like a professional cruise line, but only better. Fun party themes and the menus look delicious!

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  4. OMGoodness, this is all FABULOUS!!! The themes, the menus, the presentation; it is all perfection!!! Sounds like a fabulous week!

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  5. This is incredible, J! And I know you and all of your guests had the time of your lives...the chefs as well. I am starving looking at all these fascinating meals. And the themes and costumes! I know your houseboat is huge...have you shared pics of the kitchen? I can only imagine... it must be pretty deluxe. And the shopping...did you stop to get fresh food everyday? Just curious! lol!

    So enjoyed this! :)

    Jane xx

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  6. No we are out on the lake, so all the food is purchased ahead of time. I will have to check on pictures of the kitchen. I don't know if they are in a post or not.

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  7. Jacqueline, how on Earth did you guys find the costumes and the decor? This looks like SO much fun!
    Sending love...

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  8. What a charming adventure.

    Everyone is gorgeous with their costumes.

    Great fun.

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  9. That week must have been a wonderful treat for everyone aboard! I just love how everyone got into the spirit of fun.

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  10. Jacquelin may I be invited as one of your guests for next summer at Lake Powell? what a fabulous idea of different themed meals what great ways to use imagination between the costumes and the variety of the meals. wow what a magnificent trip please invite me?Susie

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  11. STARS, Child! What won't you think of next? You're such a breath of original air to enjoy FOR FREE!

    What great fun, and that's EXACTLY what I'd have done in my younger days of catering, had the opportunity arisen. I DO love cooking and planning and getting all the details right for a crowd of appreciative diners.

    We're having country-fried pork steaks, red beans and rice, fresh corn, some glorious sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and mocha cheesecake for supper in a bit.

    Pooh. I coulda saved the heat in the kitchen, cause it's gonna feel like McDonald's now.

    rachel

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  12. HOly Wow Jacqueline, that's it, I've decided, I'm moving to Utah so I can hang our with you!!! This is the most amazing trip, and you didn't have to cook or plan...how totally brilliant!! What fun to see such total creativity!! You are spoiled forever!
    Jenna

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  13. You guys seriously know how to have fun!

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  14. The tables, the costumes, and the food were all presented beautifully! Looks like you all ate very well that week. Such fun! I really enjoyed your post! :)

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  16. Jackie, this all looks like so much fun. How wonderful the girls love to cook and entertain you. The costumes and the fabulous food are so beautifully done. What an amazing journey and so much fun too. xo

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  17. This vacation would be hard to top! I bet your two chefs had a blast too! You sure know how to entertain! :)

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