Day Twenty Two - Spring Cleaning and Apple Dumplings

Dear all,

I am officially climbing fast up the domesticity ladder. Today, I not only made Apple Dumplings from scratch, (although major credit to Darren with this one.. he is amazing in virtually all ways, but today also proved that he is a brilliant pastry chef ) and I used an industrial Vacuum cleaner.

The dumplings were a triumph. After significant time spent trying to find 'shortening' ( eventually located next to the fish fingers), I sped over to Darren' to begin the cooking extravaganza. Darren's dad was arriving that evening and I was a little concerned that baking ( or in fact cooking of any sort) was possibly not the best way to show case my talents.. but I put all fears aside and started to peel apples.

Darren stepped in with making the pastry and boy did he excel. He is all knowing. Once in the oven.. nothing exploded, expanded or burnt.. and the end result was delicious! Hurray! It was also an absolute joy to meet D's dad - he is brilliant. Overall a wonderful evening.

Use of the Industrial Vacuum cleaner was certainly a first. Memorable moments include the 'rinse' setting (ingenious) and the fact that I smelt like synthetic lavender for the rest of the day. The carpets look great though.. And I am one step closer to my goal of becoming a domestic goddess.

Note to self: Vacuuming is much easier if you incorporate music and a dance sequence.

Day Twenty One - Kracken Wrangling

Dear all,

Today, after much deliberation, the Kraken was released! Darren, Anna and Vince released it too, in 3D, at the Galaxy Collingwood, one of my favorite hang outs.

The Kraken is a fearsome monstrosity that has been re-born via the latest Hollywood Blockbuster to hit the small screen: 'Clash of the Titans'. All in all, it was a good flick.. I have seen worse (The Land of the Lost... shudder). Despite thinking of all the main characters as the actor's themselves in their respective costumes ( Liam Neeson dressed in kitchen foil, Sam Worthington dressed in a sack etc etc), some of the CGI moments were pretty impressive including the sinister Medusa and of course, The Kraken!

It is worth a watch purely to see the Kracken rise from the 3D ocean in all it glorious and gargantuan form. But still nothing beats the Cheshire Cat...

And in other news:
1. Today, Paul and I administered anti-worming medication to all of our 14 horses. Sounds 'easy', but oh no, it is not. I was unable to get a good photo or video footage to document the task due to problems on site.. squirting a full syringe of anti-worming paste into an extremely activated horse can take quite some time.. especially if said horse weighs over a ton ( i.e. Shorna.. our eating-machine and resident Grey Percheron )

2. Today I found the biggest strawberry in the world.

Day Twenty - Easter Bonnet

Dear all,

Easter, the central religious feast of the Christian Liturgical Year and vehicle for every young fashionista out there to adorn the ultimate in millinery finery: The Easter Bonnet.

I decided to go one step further this year and wear a 'live' Chantecler Chicken Hat as part of my Easter outfit. The Inn is home to five Chantercler Chickens, a rare breed that we house to lay eggs and just pootle around (http://www.cfagrf.com/Chantecler_chicken.htm). They are a delight and very tame (Mac also has a particular fondness for them). We sadly lost two during the winter months.. the rooster ( Franks favorite ) and one of the girls. However, Linda and I are planning to attend the regional 'Bird Auction' in May.. so a good chance there will be a considerable and immediate chicken-population increase on our return..

As you can see from the attached Video, my hat decided to fly away so I didn't get to appreciate it for too long. Needless to say, I am liking that 'Chantecler' look on me.

In other news:

1.A small ceramic pig appeared on the front porch this morning. Most unusual and filled with pansies.

2. My drive to work this morning: breathtaking

Day Nineteen - Ribs

Dear all,

The wonderful Vince and Kerry invited us up for another fabulous BBQ and yet another iconic meal - RIBS!! After a minor incident involving a lost chicken, we burnt it up highway 26 blissfully unaware of the 'high wind' warning until we noticed the sky had gone black and roofing tiles were flying across the road.

Thankfully, we made it up to Owen Sound in one piece and all was forgotten in a sip of Corona in Vince and Kerry's beautiful new home. Vince proved himself once again a master of the BBQ. The ribs were first boiled in coke ( a-cola ) and then sprinkled with 'Bone Dust' and covered in an incredible marinade. They were then popped on the BBQ and devoured over dinner. They were absolutely delicious and served with Kerry's amazing salad and plenty of wine.

The desert was however interesting... Darren excelled, as always, in moving the trifle from our place in Collingwood to Vince and Kerry's without incident or altercation with the egg nog. Over the course of the day however, the trifle had liquified and now resembled egg nog 'soup' not sadly, a desert. The best method of eating the trifle was in fact through a straw.

It has now become one of my life-missions to perfect said recipe and become a trifle-goddess.

I was another amazing evening, thank you again Vince and Kerry!

And in other news:

1. A record was smashed here at the inn... Big Paul gets his shorts out on April 3rd! Virtually unheard of... 29 degrees in the Pretty River Valley and counting! Even the dogs were sunbathing.. Mac needs to watch out for those facial tan lines though

Day Eighteen - Eggs, Wieners and Trifle

Dear all,

Today was a myriad of micro-firsts.. I will endeavor give a brief synopsis of them all:

1. Every Friday I spend the afternoon taught by the fabulous artist Willi Wildman at Wildman studios. Today, being Good Friday meant that I was instructed on arrival at class that ' I must wear an Easter Bonnet' (Which explains the Cowboy hat). After a couple of hours I realized there a lovely lady called Joan had snuck in behind my easel and that the whole time she had been painting me! I have never had anyone paint me before, it was quite wonderful. Thank you Joan!

2. I also had to opportunity to paint eggs ready for Willi's epic Easter Egg hunt she has in her garden for her family on Easter Sunday. My source material was a collection of Russian Baboushka eggs. I realized quickly that I was not going to match the beauty and quality of these eggs in the alloted time frame so painted an egg 'lady-bird' instead. Much easier and greater margin for error.

3. After the 'Mount Vanilla' incident, I had to redeem myself and rolled up my sleeves ready to make, from scratch, the world famous 'Egg Nog' Trifle. Despite my mum and sister sending multiple texts voicing their concerns about (a) me cooking and (b) me cooking egg nog trifle... with the help of the wonderful D, we made the most magnificent bowl of goodness which is now sitting in the fridge waiting to be transported to Owen Sound for tomorrow's Easter BBQ. Points of interest were Darren's superb 'slicing' machine [perfection in kiwi slicing] and making the egg nog from the raw ingredients after trailing around every supermarket in The Georgian Triangle in attempt to buy some. (http://www.eggnogrecipe.net/indulgent-eggnog-recipe.html)

Note to self: Wine helps when cooking.

4. Wieners. Chicken Wieners. 10 for $3.90. My first official hot dog.

Day Seventeen - Mount Vanilla

Dear all,

Today all credit goes to Darren in his ingenuity and creativity in helping me with my task. Unbeknown to me, today was 'Holy Thursday' so therefore appropriate to spend the day making cake. It seemed like everyone else in Collingwood wanted to make cake and/or spend the day shopping ( after all... the shops will be closed for one whole day therefore imperative to stock up on all essential items).

Darren pulled out the ultimate recipe bible; a book hand written by his mum and full of the best recipes known to mankind. Feeling adventurous, three recipes were selected. There were several early flaws in our planning. Firstly, we were both very hungry and food shopping on an empty stomach is both dangerous and costly. Secondly, we needed a large pudding bowl. This may 'sound' like an easily rectifiable problem... but I kid you not, 7pm on Holy Thursday in Collingwood is the Canadian equivalent of shopping on Christmas eve in Hamleys. Wall Mart eventually came up with the goods, and chilli- almonds on hand, we burnt it down to The Dam Pub for dinner (now a haven and home to one the best shepherds pies known to man).

Back home, and it was clear that we were not going to meet the original goal of three recipes. We had been thwarted in the final stages of shopping... whilst D waited in the 'A and P' parking lot (similar to being parked on a rally-driving course), I raced around to find our missing ingredients. Sadly, I was unable to pick up Egg Nog but did find green tea ice cream.. a great alternative)

The next 2 hours were interesting. I created what will now be known as 'mount vanilla'. Mount vanilla decided to 'erupt' in the oven.. causing 'molten vanilla magma' to shoot out from the cake for almost 20 minutes.

D saved the day and the end result actually tasted quite good. Tomorrow I will be making Trifle.

Day Sixteen - McDonalds

Dear all,

Today was a big, big day for me and will be forever ingrained in ketchup as the day I strode through the golden arches and ordered a Big Mac. It was the perfect evening.. The sun was setting over Blue Mountain and I was accompanied by the wonderful Darren, who, as always, embraced my challenge with gusto. According to 'Urban Spoon' we are rather lucky to have a McDonalds in Collingwood (With only twelve locations in Ontario..although I find this very hard to believe: http://www.urbanspoon.com/ch/242/281009/Ontario/McDonalds.html )

In the first instance, I was struck by the luminescence of the restaurant.. for a food group that is known for its benefits in curing a hangover.. it seemed waaaay too bright in there to be therapeutic after a night on the source.


Darren suggested that in order to fulfill my objective, I should really start with the hallowed 'Big Mac' meal with pie for desert ( important to include all major food groups in every meal). The nice lady behind the till even offered me two pies for the price of one which I accepted graciously. Three minutes later we received our lovely big bag of food and hot-footed over to the park where we were greeted by a very attentive flock of seagulls (who I am thinking may have sampled the McDonalds fare before)

I was very intrigued by this experience. The Big Mac tasted great... however I soon started to struggle.. Darren charged through his meal whilst I was starting to wane on the fries... On finishing my meal and in true 'Super-Size-Me' Style.. I developed almost immediate stomach cramps.. it really was quite bizarre. I felt tipsy getting into my car.. and without realizing started driving home rather than towards trivia ( an obvious yet sub-conscious need to lie down... also called the 'McDonald's Crash' ). On arrival at the Admiral's Post, gearing up for Trivia.. the thought of beer made me feel quite traumatized ( VERY unusual ) so on D's advice I opted for tea... very beneficial.. but the cramps didn't really go away until about 2AM when I developed an advanced state of hyper-activity... all very odd.
Thank you D for being so supportive throughout ( and remember there is still a pie in your glove compartment... who knows the capabilities of such a thing if left unattended )






And in other news:
1. CONGRATULATIONS to Dave on buying his fabulous new place - looking forward to the 'sushi-and-wall-paper-stripping' party... an event not to be missed!

2. For those intrepid Trivia fans out there....
A free Big Mac to the first person who knows:
- What a 'group of whales is known as'?
- If you stick them together, what Male thing and Female thing make a donkey?