Vacation Explanation!

Hello everyone, sorry to have been gone so long. I have been very very very busy. While there are explanations for what was going on in August (other than a ton of work), this post will focus on what was going on in September up 'til now.

I went on a two week vacation to Georgian Bay. Yes, two whole weeks of no work, starting Labour Day weekend. I spent Sunday the 6th til the 18th at a cottage on Christian Island, ON. It's a lovely 10,000 acres island around 1.5 hours north of Toronto, and is part of the Beausoleil First Nation reserve.

It's beautiful, as you might be able to tell for the photos below. The view from the cottage beach was pretty.


It's one of the Georgian Bay lighthouse islands from when the bay was part of the trade route.


You have to take a ferry to get to the island.


Now, two folks in a van seems ridiculous, but, after packing it with clothing and basic supplies including bags of food, a cooler of meats, a full box of wine bottles, plus an additional bag of alcohol, it seem like the perfect choice.

The weather was perfect the entire time, sunny not too hot during the day, and cool at night for sleeping (no air conditioning, folks). We spent our days sleeping in, eating wonderful breakfasts, feeding chipmunks, going on walks, reading, and cooking and eating fabulous dinners. We got to star gaze, and all that other wonderful cottage stuff.


I baked and cooked a lot, and of course, I have some photos and general recipes to share. First off, breakfasts at the cottage should generally be hearty and warm (relaxing and fairly healthy). I made fruit and oat pancakes as well as buckwheat pancakes, but by far I loved my strata and fritatta best. Think of a strata as a fritatta with bread in it. Super yummy!




Cottage dinners are usually BBQ style, and this chicken with herb and olive oil new potatoes was fantastic. The chicken was marinated in vodka, paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper and garlic for 40 minutes before grilling. The potatoes are seasoned and grilled in an sac. So tasty!


If you've never tried to make a chocolate sour cream cake, you don't know what you're missing. I use the Food Network's guru Michael Smith's recipe, and topped it here with rum laced strawberries.



Have a wonderful fall, y'all!