Day Two Hundred and Fifty - Yellow Labrador Puppy

Dear all,

I LOVE DOGS. And especially LABRADORS (Newsflash: Jessie and Saffy Mourant are currently enjoying the balmy tempertures being experienced in Truro, Cornwall)

Anyway, lovely Darla bought in her NEW PUPPY Bella to art class today and consequently I did little more than chase her around the studio, play 'who's got the biscuit' and grab her intermitently for a dog-squish. She is amazing!

She is already very adventurous and keen to get involved with Tuesday night Art Class as seen here below heading straight for the bin liner on a hunt for hidden doggy-treasures [food].

Here is Bella having a moment of madness and thinking she is a beaver. I managed to retrieve her before she used her puppy-needle-teeth to implement an interesting new landscape onto Michelle's easel.

She is adorable and like everyone who meets her, I fell in love pretty much on impact. I just wish Jessie was here to meet her!

And in other news:

1. Some sketches below - for some reason, I am unable to rotate them.. but you get the general gist.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Nine - Venison at Buca

Dear all,

Today was a such a treat: Darren and I met up with Deidre and Vince at the fabulous Buca for a fabulous dinner that was fit for kings!

We had visited Buca once before at Deidre and Vince's engagement party but this was the first time we had attended for dinner and also the first time we had seen D and V since they had returned from their incredible honey moon on the paradise island of Bora Bora!

It was an INCREDIBLE evening. Buca is so fantastic;a blend of rustic Italian with cosmopolitan New York with food so delectable, every morsel was a sensory treat. Darren and I were early and positioned ourselves at the bar in front of a full Pig's leg that was being carved up ready for the many prosciutto and meat platters that were flying out of the kitchen.

I was unable to take too many photos as [sadly] I felt a little out of place flashing away with my camera alongside the most chic and celebrated in Toronto. I looked like a bag of pot pourri in my green maxi next to the many beautiful ladies in urban couture and metro sexual males that made Brad Pitt look positively dowdy.

Vince and Deidre arrived soon after we did and as always it was wonderful to see them. Vince, the perennial host, showered us with drinks and appetizers from the onset including a huge pizza ( that we served ourselves using scissors), meat platter, cheeses, olive oil bread ball, lamb squewers and black fish.. and this was JUST FOR STARTERS.

After a glass [or two] of Prosecco and a fabulous red chosen by Vince, we poured over the entree menu. Darren suggested I get the Venison, as he said it would more than likely be spectacular and I could also use it for the blog ( I love how he prioritizes daily items in terms of being blog worthy).

When it arrived, I was stunned by the presentation, Beautiful and immaculate to the last tiny morsel. Darren had pasta, Vince had a sea food plate and Deidre had Pumkin Ravioli. It was all exceptional. The venison was as tender a meat that i had ever tasted with fantastic flavor and I savored every bite. On finishing our entree's Vince insisted we try at least three of the deserts as he said they were world class. ooooo and guess what - he was right!

It is such a great venue I urge all locals to give it a try. We had a brilliant evening, thank you again so much to Deidre and Vince!

And in other news:

1. I am still deluding myself that it is OK to wear flip flops..

... but finally gave in to a barrage of [loving] concern and treated myself to some new, leather Wanderlust Boots from one of the many shoe outlet stores in the wonderful Cookstown Mall, Barrie. They are AMAZING and as with any drastic life -improving venture, I am now unable to take them off and can't even imagine exposing even a slither of skin to the outside world, let alone wear sandals!

They are even [fake] fur lined!

And here are my glorious new gloves.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Eight - The Cottage Fair

Dear all,

Yes, Today I climbed Mount Everest!

Hmmm, well actually, Darren and I found ourselves at the Cottage Life Fall Fair that was being held at the Toronto International Centre.

This place is MASSIVE. It is situated next to the airport on Airport Road and resembles a number of gigantic airport hangers that span for miles. The advert for the fair had caught my eye back in the summer when I had read about it in one of the Sunday papers. http://www.cottagelife.com/index.php?ci_id=4344&la_id=1

What had [actually] caught my eye was the 'Explore' show that focuses on nothing but 'adventure travel' (imagine that) but was joining up with the more relevant 'Cottage Life' Show and 'Outdoor Canada' Show, all in big beautiful bonanza of goodness.

This thing was a monster. The doors opened to a vast arena full to the brim of everything you could ever want to do with outdoor activities and cottage life.

They had food and drinks samples ( Below a flight of New Muskoka ales that we sampled as part of a charity stand) and gifts galore.

There was everything from major pieces of working machinery (This Bobcat caught Darren's eye - I even had a go in the cabin)...

... to a wide variety of Cross Bows. I was particularly interested in purchasing a cross bow but Darren 'gently' managed to move me away from the Outdoor Canada section by explaining that 'It would be difficult to find anywhere suitable to fire the cross bow without being arrested' in down town Collingwood.

There was a vast food hall were we picked up a fabulous Falafel Pita and a couple of beers. They had two huge play areas for parents to amuse their young ones who wouldn't necessarily be interested in composting septic systems and antique furniture. A major point of interest for me was a game of 'Crokinole' they had on offer, a game developed in rural Canada in the 1800's whereby players shoot discs across a circular playing surface with the primary objective to have the discs land on the higher scoring regions of the board whilst also knocking off rival discs in the process. http://www.crokinole.com/

They had boats, snow mobiles, jets skis, ATVs, every type of canoe imaginable, a tree house with walk way (advertising the well known brand: Eco-Adventure tours) and arena where you could pet 4 [amazingly docile] huskies.

And last but not least, the new Muskoka chairs made out of recycled Plastic made famous by our favorite TV program, Dragon's Den!

I got away with just buying a pair of fair trade Nepalese gloves although could have easily gone wild and come away with a hack saw, BBQ, new drainage system and a husky. Thank goodness Darren was there to curb my enthusiasm although we will definitely be going back in the Spring armed with notebook and {hee hee] the truck!

Day Two Hundred and Forty Seven - Chilli

Dear all,

This evening, Darren had invited over the tribe for Poker so I took this opportunity to embrace my inner hostess and cook up enough food to feed an army!

I decided to cook up a chili as it seemed like a good idea to fend off the rampant chill and frigid weather that had descended during the last few days and perfect for hungry boys about to embark on an evening of poker.

I started off making with the obligatory Corn Bread. Brits reading will be puzzled by this move as Corn Bread is not something you would find in any bakery aisle at Tesco or even think about making will preparing a Chili Con Carne. Here, it is big news, so I found a recipe and got baking!

I ironically used a recipe found on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cornbread_86386.

• 375g/13oz plain flour

• 225g/8oz cornmeal

• 1 tsp salt

• 4 tsp baking powder

• 110g/4oz sugar

• 480ml/17fl oz milk

• 2 free-range eggs

• 110g/4oz butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

• small tin sweetcorn kernels, drained (or use fresh sweetcorn)

• 

  I have gotta say, it was very straightforward; I just poured everything into a mixing bowl and then popped it in the oven. I did have one stumbling block in that I 'forgot' to grease the baking tins... so upon removal of the bread, instead of neatly disembarking, the insides fell out leaving the outer crust 'glued' to the pan. the classic baking error. It still tasted great thou!
  

  To make amends I cooked up a tray of apple muffins and a cobbler: the classic crowd-pleasers.

  I was going to then head out for a quick 20k run but on skim-reading the Chili recipe and seeing that it took THREE HOURS TO COOK, I immediately went into crisis mode and got busy with the beef!

  The recipe was apparently a 'world class' formula for chili that had won various awards and used a plethora of fabulous 'surprise' ingredients. http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/best-chili-recipe.html

  

  I started out with 7 pounds of beef and 4 pounds of pork ( I was doubling the recipe). I browned the meat and then added the garlic and onions.

  2 1/2 lb. lean chuck, ground (Beef?)
  1 lb. lean pork, ground
  4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  1 cup finely chopped onion
  8 oz. hunt's tomato sauce
  1 cup water
  1 can beer (12 oz.)
  3 Tablespoons chili powder
  2 Tablespoons instant beef bouillon (or 6 cubes)
  2 Tablespoons cumin, ground
  2 teaspoons paprika
  2 teaspoons oregano leaves
  2 teaspoons sugar
  1/2 teaspoon coriander, ground
  1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
  1/2 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
  1 teaspoon cornmeal
  1 teaspoon flour
  1 teaspoon warm water

I used a couple of bottles of Moosehead's Cracked Canoe [http://crackedcanoe.ca] and Metro Chopped Tomatoes as opposed to the specified 'Hunts'.

I added everything apart from the cornmeal to the meat, mixed well and then simmered for 2 hours! Darren had come home in the meantime and stepped in with a few tips including draining off a little of the fat and turning the heat down. He was however, already very impressed with the chili and its flavor!

What a triumph! The chili was a total success and everyone loved it. Dave was particularly complimentary with glazed eyes ( after his fourth portion) waxed lyrical about the perfect combination of the hot chili and the sweet corn bread. A momentous occasion for the Domestic Goddess in training!

And in other news:

1. A great website for browsing if you have a spare moment: found by Darren this morning whilst surfing through Reddit. http://www.ted.com/

Day Two Hundred and Forty Six - Star Car Wash

Dear all,

Today, Darren was on a mission to clean his car so of course, I jumped at the chance to help with a glimmer of hope that it would also provide some good blog-fodder.

Darren wanted to take me to his 'secret car washing spot' just out of Collingwood on Macdonald Road off Hume Street.

It's an awesome, self-serve facility that you purchase tokens for and are then let lose on a variety of car-washing options that cater to your every need.


I was in charge of token-processing and the soap jet. The funnel had an extensive cord that meant I could cover the entire perimeter of the car in soap without getting tangled in tubing and/or Darren.

Darren was hard at work scrubbing and after the first pass, I changed the soap setting to 'power soap' which was luminous green in colour and smelt of pine trees.

Here is D hard at work on the wheels.

After a good 8 minutes of car washing and waxing ( the wax also came out of the funnel in the form of a fine spray in the final stages of the washing cycle), we went outside ( in minus 1 with considerable wind chill) to vacuum the car from bonnet to boot with the most, hilariously high powered vac i have ever seen. I am surprised we didn't lose anything of note to the vacuum, it took no prisoners!

It was hard work, but worth it and now D's car is shining new and ready for winter!

And in other news:
1. One of my favorite restaurants in Collingwood, Tresoro, has expanded and it looks wonderful!
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/tesoro-restaurant-collingwood

Day Two Hundred and Forty Five - Pure

Dear all,

I have a couple of extra days holiday this week and am using the time to throw myself into getting my portfolio together but as with any time off it is important to take regular coffee breaks.

I felt very pleased with a pepper I had painted this morning so decided to reward myself with a trip to the new organic juice and espresso bar just around the corner in the new Cranberry Mews.

Pure appeared in a puff of wheat grass and now stands proud in what is going to be an impressive new strip of stores on Keith Avenue http://www.purefoodbar.com/




Pure boasts a totally organic menu including Raw food options, smoothies and a long list of various supplements including Bee Pollen and Mylk ( Milk made from Almonds... now there's a thought!)

It's beautifully furnished in a clean fresh style that could easily find a home in London, UK but is just as happy here in Collingwood.


Instead of branching out and experimenting with a Sparkling Apple Kombucha drink, I plumped for a Mylk Latte and it was delcious. The presentation was a delight with gorgeous white china and a classy final touch of goji berry decoration. A wonderful mid-afternoon break with Heather and Linda in our new Herbal Haven!