Bay Day

Last weekend, on just about the prettiest day of the year, when the air was warm and the winds were light, My Beloved was invited for a day of sailing on a nifty little boat called Elska, one of his birthday treats from his younger daughter and her main squeeze who owns the boat.

My Beloved grew up in a family of sailors. His parents met while crewing on a friend's boat and all three of their children were introduced to sailing at a very early age. In his teens, My Beloved with his Dad and brother sailed competitively and were very successful. His brother is a passionate sailor still and his sister and her husband have been mainstays of the sailing program in their town. Only MB wasn't bitten by the bug, but he does enjoy the occasional day out on the water with the wind in his hair and the sun on his shoulders.

I got to tag along, my first sail on the bay in the thirteen years I have lived here. I have crossed the bay on ferries and even enjoyed it from the deck of the USS Potomac, but this was my first trip on a sailboat.

Katie packed a lovely lunch of salami and cornichon sandwiches on buttered baguettes and blanched green beans with olive oil and lemon zest, as well as cheese and nibbles of olives, cherry tomatoes and Persian cucumber spears. Well supplied, we put-putted down the Oakland estuary past Jack London Square and enormous cranes loading and unloading giant freighters, and out into the bay.

The captain killed the engine, raised the sails and away we went, wafted on gentle breezes. When asked where in the bay he'd like to go, My Beloved chose to inspect the progress on the new Bay bridge being built with huge cost and long delays to replace twenty years later the rickety section that fell down in the Loma Prieta earthquake. We sailed under the new span, awed by the size of the engineering feat that it represents and thrilled by the sweep of the part already completed. Eventually, it will look like this. They seem poised to begin the suspension part of the span.

We sailed on around Treasure Island, enjoying music floating out over the water from a concert being held on the island. Rounding the north end of the island, we spotted porpoises and seals in the water and enjoyed watching pelicans and terns plunging headfirst into the water to catch fish for lunch. The wind through the Golden Gate picked up and we heeled over, wetting the rail and relishing the increased speed. We sailed back under the bridge on the west side, marveling again at the sheer size of these links to San Francisco.

On the way back, the wind died completely and we bobbed on a glassy bay where just a short distance away we could see the water dancing with wind-whipped waves. I think we experienced just about every kind and direction of wind that day.

Thanks to our Captain and his lovely Elska for a day on the water, and to Katie for a delicious lunch. We will remember with pleasure our bay day.

Salami Sammy

I really shouldn't be as excited as I am about this sandwich - after all, it's just grilled cheese on white bread. Ho-hum, should be a snore. I made myself the plain cheese version but My Beloved opted to try a slice or two of salami in his. The addition of a spicy salami made all the difference between plain old comfort food (note: I adore plain old comfort food!) and something a little bit special.

The Swiss cheese gentled the bite of the salami and the salami sparked the mellow cheese - truly a match made in heaven. In the past, I haven't been a big consumer of salami; isn't it great how things can change overnight? Or over a single bite?

Salt and Pepper Soup

Here in northern California, we usually don't see rain from late March to late October. Brides can confidently plan garden weddings and barbecues are safe from washouts. I forget the actual count, but the San Francisco Giants can count on two hands the total number of rained out home games since they moved here from New York in the 1950s. So, why am I talking about hot soup in what should rightly be our sunniest, hottest month? Well, go figure - we've had rain for the past two days.

Low pressure weather systems tend to mellow me out. I get sleepy and want to snuggle back under the covers in the morning. My afternoon naps lengthen. Energy being low, I also look for easy dinners. Rooting around in the lowest drawer of my freezer, I discovered some butternut squash soup that I squirreled away back when the rains stopped sometime in March.

It seemed a little dull all by itself, although it was layered with the flavor of leeks and corned beef stock, so I decided to add a couple of ears of fresh corn to it and, in a moment of inspired creativity, the rest of a package of spicy salami that had languished in the fridge since the pizza party last weekend. I cut the corn from the cob and made little triangles out of the salami circles and dropped both into the soup for the last five minutes of heating, ladled it into bowls and rang the dinner bell.

The corn added sweetness and a light crunch, the salami contributed both salt and peppery liveliness, plus just a little richness from the fat in the meat. My Beloved finished his bowl in a single inhale, then looked to see if there was more in the pot. There was. Almost enough to make us NOCAs look forward the rains.