Our plans for the 4th were to take a couple of extra days off and go to Santa Cruz Island. But when a meeting John was supposed to attend was cancelled we had a couple more free days and when John suggested we go to Catalina I didn't need much convincing. The marine weather predictions were favorable and we left early Wednesday morning. We knew we had made the right decision when we arrived at the anchorage at White's:
On the menu the first night - Grilled Mojo Chicken with Fennel & Orange Slaw and Fried Potatoes:
To make the chicken: Marinate chicken breasts (w/skin and bone) in orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil, fresh minced garlic, ground cumin and salt & pepper for about 6 hours. Remove the breasts from the marinade and bbq on indirect heat. While the chicken is cooking, reduce the marinade in a small saucepan until reduced by half. Use the sauce to baste the chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
To make the salad: Mix together thinly sliced fennel, oranges and green onions. Toss with a olive oil & orange juice vinaigrette.
This was the first time we had been in Catalina for the 4th of July and let me tell you they know how to celebrate. Quite a few of the boaters decorated their dinghies and paraded through the anchorage:
It was great fun and we will be sure to have our boat decked out next year.
We have been anchoring at White's for past twenty years and almost every time we have been there so has Tonina. Tonina is very similar to a boat we almost bought before we found Poseidon and we have always enjoyed seeing them pull into the anchorage. Well after all these years we finally met the owners Rick & Mary and toured their beautiful boat:
And happy to see Tabasco who is also anchored here most times we visit:
We took the dinghy for a ride down to Avalon to take a look around - it was a zoo! More than half of the moorings had two boats tied up side-by-side. This picture was taken several days before the 4th and the harbor was already packed:
We were happy to get back to our peaceful, well peaceful compared to Avalon, anchorage. For dinner - Veal Chops stuffed with spinach, tomatoes and cheese:
To make the chops - saute chopped onion and chopped garlic in olive oil until soft. Add a chopped fresh tomato and cook for another couple of minutes. Toss in some baby spinach and saute for another couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in finely chopped prosciutto, grated fontina cheese and salt & pepper. Make a large slit in the chops and stuff with the spinach mixture. Season the outside of the chops with salt and pepper. Close with toothpicks and grill over direct medium heat. Don't forget to remove the toothpicks!
We heard at the last minute that Avalon was going to have fireworks so we jumped in the dinghy and took another ride down to see the show:
Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!
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