Year Two Day Two Hundred and One - The Olympics

Dear all, 

ITS THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!

Here we are in Collingwood watching.....(along with the other 3 billion people across the globe). What an incredible opening ceremony! We started watching at around 6:30 (cwood time) - They had the letter 'H', as all the participating countries did their tour of the track in alphabetical order. (I'm sure we will be watching a repeat at a later date..). So exciting! So moving. Brilliant job London!!!!!!!

Here are Vince and Darren looking like Olympians ( and ready for an Olympic feast). It's going to be a fantastic few weeks! Hurray!!!

Year Two Day Two Hundred - The Tremont Studio

Dear all, 

I gave exciting news!!! I am sharing a studio at the wonderful Tremont with amazing artist, Peter Adams! http://www.peteradamsart.com/. 

Lovely Bonnie Dorgelo http://bonniedorgelo.com/ at the Tremont mentioned to me Peter was looking for someone to share the studio for a few months... so I jumped at the opportunity! The Tremont is a fantastic artistic community and one of my favourite places in Cwood. I am honoured to be a part of it. 

Here is the studio, with a fresh lick of paint... walls ready for new paintings!

I painted for around 3 hours today - totally improvised a bowl of apples... I think it turned out okay though. 

The lovely studio... 

(with Elvis singing in the background. FYI - it's that time again... where 200000000 Elvii descend on Cwood...)

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Nine - Pantry Moths

Dear all, 

Uh oh... we have pantry moths! It's awful... pine sol is our new friend (i.e everything is covered in pine sol, smells of pine trees and is 100% disinfected at all times). 

This is what we have dealing with... gross 

The adults fly around, we swat them, and then pine sol the wall. boooo. But check out our super clean/ disinfected/ clean cupboards! 

We have cleaned everything, positioned bay leaved and cedar planks all over the kitchen and sealed all food. ALL food. no exceptions. Apparently pantry moths are common.... FYI they are awful.... bring on the cedar balls ( moths hate cedar!). 

And in other news:

1. Some lovely flowers I found today... (more pretty than moth larvae)

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Eight - The Pepper Mil

Dear all, 

Here is another wonderful find up in cottage country   The Pepper Mill steak house in Carnavon, recommended by Jessie and Don at Stouffer Mill! http://stouffermill.com/

We were excited by the large number of cars in the car park at 6pm... this seemed like a good sign. http://thepeppermill.ca/

The menu was vast! We had no idea about portion control and soon got out on control in the appetiser section, ordered crab dip, shrimp, Cajun shrimp and Thai shrimp... just for the 4 of us...for starters... *warning warning*

The entree menu was also vast - I went for the 'surf and turf' (steak and crabs legs). We started to feel nervous when the lovely server bought us MORE starters after our first starters... yep - we automatically had soup or salad with our main course... I was already full... uh oh, what to do??

Here are Darren's ribs... another small portion. Dad had beef tenderloin and Mum had chicken. Needless to say, we all left VERY full and in need of a lie down. 

I had a paddle after dinner... 

And here is Mutter in Stouffer Mill reading up on the local area.. 

The lovely view from the Mill!

And Chloe with her bear... so cute

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Seven - Trading Bay Dining Company

Dear all, 

I am skipping around a little ( trying to catch up), and so back we are in Cottage Country with my parents ( yes, they have already returned to the UK... I just got a little behind )

We decided to try this new restaurant in the small town of Dorset ( on the Lake of Bays), one evening - the Trading Bat Dining Company. http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g796991-d3165243-Reviews-Trading_Bay_Dining_Company-Dorset_Ontario.html

It was yet another sensational evening - barely a cloud in the sky. We popped into the famous Robinsons http://www.robinsonsgeneralstore.ca/ to buy some home made soap, and then crossed the river over to the restaurant. 

We managed to get a great spot on the deck and started to check our the order. My parents were starting to get a handle on the portion control in Canada (BIG portions here) - so we all decided to 'share' a starter on Nachos. CHECK OUT the plate that arrived... yep, that's a whole lot of food. (FYI the pulled pork was fantastic)

We also ordered some humus and dips (this may have been a tactical error size wise) - needless to say, it was delish. 

And here is my main course - breaded chicken and salad ( please, no more carbs!). It was all fabulous. Dad had a rack ribs, Darren had a HUGE beef submarine and Mum had the burger ( i think - it's all become a bit of a meaty blur). And a pint of Muskoka ale of course, to wash it all down. PHEW. 

It's a great spot and good food. I would highly recommend. 

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Six - Key Lime Pie

Dear all, 

Hurray, I am cooking again! Today, I experimented with a Key Lime Pie ( after having found Key Limes in Wall Mart of all places)

I started off with some graham cracked crumbs and sugar.. mixed them together. Then I added melted, unsalted butter to the mix ( FYI - this smells delish). 

I pressed the mixture into a pan and then backed the shell for about 10/15 mins (or until the smell becomes over powering in the kitchen). 

For the filling, I got together my lime-based ingredients (organic lime juice and key limes)
http://www.lakewoodjuices.com/product_detail/id-63/

As you can see, key limes are super cute and small ( and extremely limey)

I mixed together sweetened condensed milk and 4 egg yolks in a pan. 

I then cut up some key limes and squeezed them into the milk-egg mixture as well as about 1/2 cup of the juice. 

I poured the milk mix into the pie crust ( that I had cooled for a little while) and put the whole thing in the oven. I left it in the oven for around 15 mins.. pulled it out and left it to cool ( it will set eventually... I made this mistake before)

And here it is! Delicious. I popped the pie in the fridge overnight and it was ready to eat in the morning... well that evening really ( Key lime pie seems a little indulgent for breakfast). 

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Five - Beaver Pond

Dear all,

Still at  the wonderful Stouffer Mill (http://stouffermill.com/), we decided to go 'trekking' through the forest. Darren stayed back at the inn (the pool was hard to leave), so we took our map carefully drawn out by owners, Jessie and Don and set out in the forest..

All the 'bear' chat at breakfast was a little unnerving, (especially when Dad asked me 'what do we do if we walk into a bear? uhhhhhh... run? play dead? panic?..apparently with black bears, you make aloud noise, take a whistle and/or bear mace , then run!)

Luckily, we didn't see a bear.. but we did find the beaver pond!

Here are Mum and Dad with the camera and the binoculars. Don had even bought chairs out along the [long] trail which was very impressive. 

It was still pretty warm (30oC)...

But we sadly didn't see any beavers.. 

But certainly knew they had been in the area... *gulp*

It was wonderful - we finally made it home, following the orange and blue markers all the way (and a fleet of bugs!)

Year Two Day One Hundred and Ninety Four - Mum and Dad at The Cottage

Dear all 

After a lovely hot tub at Stouffer Mill with Darren, we set off to the cottage *hurray*. FYI - check out the view from the solarium - amazing!

Mutter managed to find a great seat on the boat (she still hates having her photo taken). So did Dad!

Ahhh.. summer

I tried to impress with my 'coiling' skills - the rope was new and not the best... Here is Darren in the background too. 

Ahhhh... soon relaxing on the dock. 

And on the rock

Mum and Dad in the lake! The water was like a bath! Bliss. 

And here is Mutter doing her 25th lap. 

We even went out on a boat trip around the lake - check out this guy on the Red Jet ski... he has a very cute passenger - his dog, fully equipped with doggy wet suit! So cute!