Date Night ~ Dinner on a Sailboat
A lovely dinner for two on a sailboat was all my husband’s idea. Dinner on the boat is not usually a special occasion, but it was so easy and enjoyable to make it into a date night. This dinner became a little celebration for two. Beef Wellington, champagne, some special desserts and a pretty table made for a lovely evening. No paper plates, no hot dogs or hamburgers, this called for classing things up a little bit.
I iced down some champagne and put a lovely sailing themed tablecloth on our little table in the cockpit to begin our evening.
The table was set with blue plates, our blue-handled flatware tied with nautical napkin rings around blue linen napkins.
Individual beef Wellingtons, salad and twice baked potato boats made for a lovely meal for two.
Desserts were berry shortcakes with whipped cream, and a little more Champagne!
Summer for us involves a lot of time on the sailboat. We usually try and make time on the boat relaxing and stress free, which includes very little cooking, which then leads to very little cleaning up! I decided to surprise him this Saturday night with a lovely dinner for two on the back of the boat. I set the table with a pretty nautical cloth I like to use on our table. This was just a small piece of fabric I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics and hemmed to the right size. I bought a yard of trim to tie up our silverware. Pretty linen napkins made this special from the usual ‘back of the boat’ meals. I arranged the pillows in our cockpit into a lovely banquette for the two of us. A Champagne bucket with chilling Champagne also set the mood for a special night. Individual Beef Wellington is one of my husband’s favorite entrees. This is also something easy enough to fix on the boat, or so I thought. While sautéing the mushrooms and onions, I asked my husband (who was washing the boat topsides) if I could open a particular port to let some of the heat escape. “Go right ahead”, he said, he was done hosing that side of the boat. Much to my surprise, suddenly water was pouring in and right into my pan. So much for that batch of mushrooms and onions. No problem, I had enough to start over again! I served up twice-baked potatoes which I topped with a little sail created from our local lakeside newspaper, and tossed some spring-mix greens with a light balsamic dressing. For dessert on this warm summer night, I created mini fruit shortcakes with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and angel food cake, topped with whipped cream.
I plan to make this the first of many “Date Night” dinners, I hope I inspire you to try this too!
Let me know what you plan and serve!
I will be sharing this at the following link parties: BNOTP: Tablescape Thursday
Just love this “entertainment” issue on Independence Day, thank you, thank you, thank you! Love the inspiration, although I lack a husband and boat! xoxoxo
A boat is my favorite place to have any meal, but I must confess that my presentations don’t look quite as wonderful as yours. I liked your FB and would appreciate you doing the same so we can keep up.
That looks like a pretty nice date!! So relaxing and romantic, and the meal looks amazing, especially dessert!! Enjoy the Fourth!
Lory at Designthusiasm.com
Wonderful way to carry out the theme! Love that tablecloth…
Thank you Bev, and thanks for stopping by!
Just breathtaking Chloe! I love you artistic images, and nautical pieces, great pillows~very romantic! I can’t imagine fixing beef wellington on a sailboat, wow! Love your sail in the potatoes!
Thank you Jenna! It was a lovely evening on the boat. My husband wants to know why I don’t entertain on the boat like that every weekend!
Wow what a nice place to dine! That’s funny about the water coming in on your food (well maybe not so funny)! Love the nautical details. Looks like a lovely way to spend an evening!
Okay, it is funny now! Actually, it was kind of funny at the time. It was truly a lovely evening on the boat. Thanks for stopping by!
What a great date night looks like you to had fun!
Thank you Jennifer! It was wonderful! My husband would like every Saturday night on the boat like this!
What a wonderful way to celebrate the Fourth. A date night is always a great idea. It gives you something to look forward to and it gives you a reason to be a little fancier than normal. Everything looks simply marvelous!
Thanks Candy! I am stopping over to check out Plum Creek Place!
Best celebration ideas yet! Thanks!
Each picture just kept getting better Chloe! Now this is how to create a mood.
Oh, thank you Sandra. I always say, real plates, a tablecloth and cloth napkins make an ordinary dinner, extraordinary!
Dang that dinner looks delicious! I love twice baked potatoes. Really any kind of potatoes, but man, I haven’t had twice baked potatoes in a long time. I’ll have to make those soon. What a lucky husband! Your boat decor is so cute too. I love the nautical theme — I’m a Delta Gamma, so that’s kind of our thing. 🙂 And dinner on a boat is definitely a great idea for a date night. When I graduate college and have a “big girl” job, I’m getting myself a dang boat!
I found you through the Social Media blog hop. Thanks for sharing this post!
http://thesassysouthernerblog.blogspot.com
Thanks Nicole. It is always so nice to surprise my husband with something a little special. I was an Alpha Phi, but being sailors, I love anything nautical. You should check out my Pinterest boards on Nautical Style athttp://www.pinterest.com/chloecrabtree/nautical-style/ I will be heading over to The Sassy Southern Blog to check it out! Thanks for stopping by!
What a great table Chloe! and the food looks amazing! I am going to go search your blog for that individual beef wellington recipe! I am going to be making that, no doubt!
Thanks Christine! If you haven’t found it, here is the page with the recipe for the beef wellington:http://celebrateanddecorate.com/recipe-individual-beef-wellington/
Such a great setting for a romantic date night!! Rosie @ The Magic Hutch
Thanks Rosie! It was a lovely evening!
Just stopping by again to say hello from Christine’s Table it Monday party. Have a wonderful evening….. Candy
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I’ll see you over at Plum Creek Place!
Hi, Chloe! This is my first visit to your site via Christine’s “Table It!” blog party.
I like your style! This is really cool, and I love the attention you pay to detail!!! I’m sorry about the mushroom & onion mishap, but at least you were able to quickly recover from it an crank out an outstanding meal for you and your husband. The food all looks beautiful, especially the individual beef Wellington. I have never tried that, but it seems like a logical thing to do when there are just 2 people at dinner.
NEAT touch to add the book page sail to the potatoes!!!
No doubt you were the envy of every other sailor on the water! Kudos to your hubby for suggesting that you do a tablescape along with date night…although that means you’re actually WORKING on date night! 😉
Have a wonderful week!
Forgot to say how much I love the nautical knot on the napkins, too! REALLY great touch!
Thank Alycia!
Looks like the perfect date to me! Thanks for linking up to the Be Awesome Linky, hope you’ll stop by again this week!
What a fun date night! Such a good idea and sounds romantic to me. Pretty tablecloth, I’ll have to keep that idea in mind. We boat every weekend on Kentucky Lake and many weekdays since we are retired so it would be easy to plan for a date night like yours.
Thanks Judy! It just seemed a little more special!