Year Two Day Seventy Five - Boat Auction

Dear all, 

Today, with high excitement, we left for Owen Sound on a mission to attend the 'Grew' boat auction. Grew is sadly no longer in business and they were selling off everything in the yard... this sparked a major interest from Darren so off we went.

On arrival at the sight, we couldn't believe how many people were also in in attendance.. there were cars lined up and down the Highway, it was insane! Vince and Ben joined us shortly after we arrived and started to scoot around, looking at what was on offer. http://www.sydenhamauction.com/

Darren was fairly interested in some of the boats but his only concern was that they all came without motors (i.e.**an extra $10000 on top of the buying price) but we were undeterred and continued to look around. There was SO much stuff - they had boat 'parts' as well as an indoor arena filled with everything 'boat' you could imagine including boat grease and boat paint. This auction was going to turn out to be a long day... 

The auctioneer started inside and we soon realized that it would be a long tome before anything of interest would come up onto the plate. They were actioning off bottles of strange liquids [one by one..] and room itself, being filled with what seemed like hundreds of large-ish men was started to resemble a pressure cooker. I stepped out after 5 minutes followed by Vince and Ben and then Darren. We decided to take a break for breakfast before we came back. 

After a lovely breakfast back with Kerry at home, we ventured back to the auction and they were just getting to the 'boat seats', something D was very interested in. D sprung into action while Vince and I watched on from the 'outer ring'. It was fascinating people watching at this event - there were clearly many seasoned professionals and dealers and many remarked when we arrived 'back' into the auction house, everyone is watching everyone else, all the time!

It was also highly exciting for me watching the auctioneers talking their strange 'actioneer-ish' dialect which appears impossible for anyone else to understand merely by the speed and decibels at which they regale their spiel. A favorite on TV at the moment is 'Storage Wars' - it's hilarious and very educational ( think Antiques Roadshow meets Wall Street' and totally representative of a regular auction.  http://www.aetv.com/storage-wars/

Darren started to bid on some seats but was sadly out bid by an opponent. We then moved outside for the boat auction and then the real fun began. Unfortunately, there were clearly some feverish dealers in the group who preceded to clear up with the boats. It was fun to watch though and I was happy as had made friends with a 10 week old Labrador puppy that was also attending the auction. 

Darren was also tempted with this gorgeous mahogany ancient speed boat ( that needed a huge amount of repair) but he thought that his Dad might like it as a restoration project. Again, the dealers got in there quick and it was sold for $2200 (but D mentioned that restored, it could fetch $120,000!!!)

We left without a boat but with happy hearts and I have already caught Darren looking online for the next local auction.... hurray!

Year Two Day Seventy Four - The Green Egg

Dear all, 

We are embracing the final few days of summer *sob* and what better way to do so than with a fabulous feast at Vince and Kerry's with the 'Green Egg'. 

The 'Green Egg' is a smoker, designed to smoke meat (of your choice) for hours on end and is known, in the trade, for producing an incredible flavor in the smokey and tender meat. http://www.biggreenegg.ca/

The temperature is controlled and monitored using the dial on the front of the 'egg' and Vince made sure he checked on the racks (and racks) of ribs that he had started to smoke early that morning. 

Vince and Darren were also careful to 'stoke the coals' to ensure the heat continued to circulate visa the smoke and slowly cook through the delicious ribs. 

The finished ribs were delicious and after a generous coating of BBQ sauce, Vince finished them off on the BBQ. Smokey and succulent. The Green Egg is a winner!

And in other news:

1. And here are some pics from the pool! Ahhhhh summer, I love you!

 Little Paytie can now swim!

Darren and Vince dominate the pool... !!!

Livvy, Darren and Vince take the plunge!

And I couldn't resist this picture of Kristy's 'poolside' Echinacea - such a fabulous colour!

Year Two Day Seventy Three - Gravity Cafe, Minden

Dear all, 

Darren and I were out early this morning and decided to bypass our usual 'large coffee with cream' from Tim Hortons and find a full blown Breakfast joint for an early morning feast. 

We ended up parking in 'down town' Minden ( which is not large) and stumbled across the 'Gravity Cafe' a lovely looking place with an expansive patio and gorgeous Hibiscus outside the entrance ( dix points). 

On entering the cafe, I was overwhelmed by how fabulous it was - firstly, it was large ( but in the form of a  rabbit warren) and I felt like we had been transported to the (real life) set of Alice inWonderland. Secondly, it was full to the brim with trinkets - tea cups, tea, herbs, jams, cards, antiques, flyers, everything! This place was a treasure trove of goodness  http://www.gravity-cafe.com/

The breakfast menu was small ( but this is often a good size) and we decided on two breakfast Burritos ( highly recommended by the lovely waitress) and took our place inside while sipping on a couple of fabulous coffees. *the cappuccino was superb. 

Our meal arrived after a few minutes and it did not disappoint - it was beautiful constructed with the perfect balance of spicy sausage, beans, scrambled egg and toasted burrito. The salsa was fresh and possibly home made and a perfect accompaniment to the burrito. 

This place is fantastic! I know it is fairly unlikely that many of you will manage to reach the dizzy height of lovely Minden, but if you do, check out the Gravity Cafe! 705-286-4804

Year Two Day Seventy Two - Stew ( with Orange)

Dear all, 

We are having some very variable weather of late and as we awoke to a rather grey day ( which included extreme weather and hurricane warnings) Darren suggested that maybe we cobble together a warming stew to fend off the chill. 

I fired up google and my first port of call was this recipe - inspiration from the original Domestic Goddess, Queen Nigella. http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/1638/comforting-beef-casserole

At this point, I should have consulted D, but instead, I jotted down the required ingredients and made a beeline for the supermarket. 

For this recipe I needed to following:

• Olive oil
• Onions
• Carrots
• Flour
• Salt and pepper
• Dried Sage
• Ground Allspice
• Stewing or chuck steak
• I large Orange zested AND juiced ( I should have seen warning bells here)
• Guinness
• Water
• Bay Leaves

First up, I cooked up the onions and carrots until soft. I then used a great tip mentioned by Nigella to season the meat. I put the flour and all the spices in a zip lock ( plastic ) bag, dropped in chunks of the chuck, shook them around until equally covered and then plopped them in the pan ( with some oil). 

Once the meat was browned, I transferred it to the bowl holding the onions and carrots. In the pan in which I was cooking up the meat, I added the Guinness and *gulp* the orange zest and juice. I had a code-red alarm bell going off simultaneously but ignored it vehemently (I trust Nigella). 

I cooked up the Orangey-Guiness Jus, added the water and then the meat and veg. I then let the stew cook for about 3 hours until the meat was tender ( and our apartment smelt like a bowl of [meaty] pot pourri)

So, after a long cook-off, we dug into the stew ( with some baked potatoes that had been cooking slowly in the oven). I was nice, but damn it tasted of orange. It smelt of orange, tasted like orange and had a orangey-tinge. This stew was fruity! It was okay.. but lets just say that we added a large quantity of Tabasco to neutralize the orange explosion and I have learnt a hard lesson about using citrus fruits in an autumnal stew. Ahhhh I love cooking! 

Year Two Day Seventy One - Batteaux Creek

Dear all, 

Ahhhhh, Batteaux Creek - one of Collingwood's finest and heralds a fabulous reputation as being a splendid golf course frequented by (mostly) extremely good golfers. http://www.batteauxcreek.com/

As duly anticipated, I am still treading the boards of the driving range as a virgin golfer, still struggling with a large majority of my technique  yet teetering on the edge of glory as long as I continue to avoid hitting a human with my ball as opposed to the fairway. I am most certainly not ready for Batteaux Creek but I was intrigued by this hallowed ground do decided to explore the morning of a local Golf Tournament which Darren and Scott had fortuitously entered. 

So, instead of joining the boys, I decided to run to Batteaux Creek ( about 5 miles) and wait for them at the entrance to wish them luck in their tournament.

 I arrived early after a speedy run down Highway 124 but on arrival into the Golf Club Parking Lot, it appeared that no one at Batteaux Creek had ever seen (a) a young girl (b) a runner (c) a young girl running down the drive way in an attempt to wish her boyfriend good luck in the golfing tournament.

 At least 10 different (official looking) people came up to me to ask 'are you lost?', 'do you need help?', 'who are you?', 'are you a TV reporter?' (**not really) which led me to become increasingly more nervous as I waited in the parking lot for Scott and D.

Eventually, I decided to head back and I passed them back on Highway 124 as I was galloping down the hard shoulder. They had a great day and expressed deep appreciation for the fabulous course. One day I will get there! 

And in other news:

1. The Canada Geese are having a (recommended) pause before their big flight down south... which only means one thing... summer is {nearly} over.. 

2. .. Summer may be over but my herb garden is blooming! Check out our Lemon Grass!