I am a big fan of eating local in season food. Fresh local fruit just tastes better, especially when I grow it myself. Before you get the wrong idea and imagine me as a farmer tending to my acreage let me explain that we have a few fruit trees on our small postage stamp size yard in the downtown core. In our yard we grow peaches, plums and apples all of which were mature trees when we bought the house 5 years ago. When we made an offer on the house the peach and plum trees looked just like any other tree to me, I honestly had no idea that they were fruit bearing. Imagine my surprise when 4 months later we took possession and found both a peach tree and a rat eating peaches in the yard. Continue reading
Taris on the Water – Welland
I grew up in the small town of Welland Ontario, recently I returned to visit family. During my stay my mother pointed out a new restaurant and suggested that if I had the chance I should try it. When making dinner plans with a long-time friend she also suggested Taris on the Water, although she hadn’t been there she had heard good things.
Currently I live in Victoria, BC and we are really blessed to have an amazing selection of restaurants and a tourist population to support them. But the people in Niagara are also very fortunate that Taris on the Water has opened. In the short two weeks that I was in Ontario I had a chance to dine at Taris twice. It was so amazing that I went back for seconds! Continue reading
Blackberry Jam
Who loves FREE food? I sure do. We have blackberries growing in our yard but after we picked all of the ripe ones my oldest suggested we go in search for more. It’s not hard to find blackberry bushes in our neighbourhood, but it is a little tricky to find the bushes that haven’t been picked over. Did we ever score today though, we went a little off the path and found the mother load of ripe juicy berries. Here are some pics of our berry picking adventures today. Someone was way more interested in eating than picking, but who can blame him. Continue reading
Bursting Bubbles
The other day my son asked if we could paint. My answer to that question is usually an astounding YES. I wanted to switch it up a bit because I am running out of space for their master pieces. I usually let them paint on canvas but the downside is that the paintings aren’t easy to store or recycle. But the upside is that they take their time and are more dedicated than if I give them a piece of paper. These are a few of my favourites that I keep in my office.
Kayaking
When I was young, single and childless I would escape to the cottage frequently stopping along the way to pick up a rental kayak for the weekend. To get my money’s worth I would go for a couple of paddles a day. It has been at least 6 years since I have kayaked. Life got busy with kids, marriage, work, school and a brain tumour. So when a friend suggested that we get a group of people together and go on a kayak tour I was in. I even managed to talk my husband into trying it out, as he had never kayaked before. He has a good sense of adventure and is usually up for trying new things with the exception of sharing a kayak with me.
Cupcake Sliders
If you are heading to a BBQ this weekend, or hosting a BBQ what are you serving for dessert? How about cupcake sliders? These are a great conversation starter, plus you might fool the occasional guest into thinking that they are actually meat burgers.
Use your favourite cake recipe or boxed cake mix for the vanilla buns and chocolate patty. If you happen to have a silicone cupcake tray use it, because it means that there are no paper wrappers to remove.
Color Vibe
We caught the Vibe this past weekend when my 7-year-old and I participated in a Color Vibe 5K run. Color Vibe or for those of us that are Canadian Colour Vibe is a 5K run with a splash of colour. We started the day by throwing handfuls of coloured powder at each other which was a fun experience to share with my son. At the start line you run through a cloud of coloured powder that is blasted at you by a leaf blower, we wore bandanas over our mouths and sunglasses to keep the power out of our eyes. The start line was the only place that we really needed the bandanas, but only because we were on the outside edges. If you were in the middle of the pack, then it probably wasn’t necessary at all.
Dîner en Blanc
Recently I attended Dîner en Blanc in Victoria BC. I didn’t know what Dîner en Blanc was until a friend was looking for a date for the event. I will go on the assumption that many of you don’t know what it is either. Dîner en Blanc is a chic picnic in a public space where all of the attendees wear white. Thousands of people with tables, chairs and white picnic baskets converge on a secret location to wine, dine and dance. The concept began almost 30 years ago in Paris and it has now expanded to five continents so there maybe an event close to you.
Canada Eh!
Canada Day is a special holiday for me aside for the fact that it’s Canada’s birthday, its the holiday that I spent with my Nana. Sure we spent lots of holidays together, but rarely did we have holiday time without a whole pile of other family. On July 1st my grandparents would typically be at their cottage, and once I was able to get there independently I would call up a few days ahead of time to reserve my room. She would always tell me that it was ready and waiting.
Fireworks
Did you go out this year to watch Canada Day, or Independence Day fireworks? What city were you in? I am not sure but I don’t think that I have ever been to the Canada Day fireworks in Victoria, my excuse is young children. Almost the entire time we have lived in Victoria we either had a newborn or a toddler to take care of, and nightfall was way past their bedtime. Never mind the noise which is frightening to me as an adult. This year with a seven and not quite four-year-old we were able to enjoy the fireworks together as a family. Continue reading
Making A Life 