Forgive me, reader, for I have sinned. I've been away. I've been delinquent. I've been having a few problems with blogspot. But it's solved now. I'm back. And it's summer time!!!!!!!
Today is the longest day of the year, and I'm going to make this a brief post so that I can go out and spend as much time in the sun as possible. To make things short and sweet, here's a recap of what has gone on since my last post, which in early April feels like AGES ago!
The snow melted and didn't return. Finally. It seemed like the battle might never be won, but the sun did overthrow winter. For now.
We took some vacation time and went back to Southern Ontario to visit family and friends. Crazy people that we are, we drove and took the dogs with us. Here's Nanuq reflecting on what he's gotten himself into in a hotel mirror.
Ontario in the Spring is a magical time. We took many long walks in the woods by the cottage, near Barrie. The trilliums were already fading but still looked spectacular. Unfortunately, the flowers were not the only populous force in the forest: wood ticks also abounded by the hundreds (thousands? millions?) and Reina caught more than her share. Yuck.
Nanuq didn't attract any ticks but he was enticed by the luring honks of the Canada Geese swimming by the cottage. He swam out pretty far and caught them off guard but didn't manage to catch one. Maybe next time!
Having a drink and cooling off at Ye Ol' Watering Hole, a.k.a. the Mud Pit. It is truly a dogs life, I think.
Speaking of dogs, this is a stray that was brought to our place. He was found on the side of the highway leading up to our Northern Town (we returned home earlier this month). We thought momentarily of keeping him, but three dogs does seem a little extreme so he's on his way to a shelter in Saskatoon. So cute!
Now on to a recipe. I often lament the fact that it's hard to have lovely fresh greens when we only go for groceries once every 2-3 weeks, and even then the choices at our grocery store are often less than appetizing. Browsing through some random food sites, I came across an idea for a great salad using guaranteed fresh greens. I know because I have them growing in my yard. Yep, you guessed it...Dandelion Salad! The recipe that inspired the above salad can be found by following this link. Because dandelion greens are bitter, the vinaigrette and accompanying ingredients need to be bold in flavour. Bacon and maple syrup helped here. Also if you have dogs, pick a spot in the yard where you never see them doing their business (or even better, harvest from somewhere other than your yard!) and wash thoroughly. Very thoroughly.
Lastly, some dessert to finish us off. As a heads up, if you ask someone with an upcoming birthday what kind of cake they like, make sure you are prepared for the answer! Luckily, I had a jar of cherries begging to be used in my pantry, so when "Black Forest Cake" was the answer, I was pleased. It was my first layered cake, and thanks to a great recipe from an oft-consulted site called Allrecipes, making it was a breeze. Check it out on this link. Follow the instructions and you'll have a great cake, guaranteed.
Aside from eating cake, what's fun about using a jar of sour cherries is finding a way to use the leftover syrup. I had a great drink at a restaurant in Saskatoon using sour cherry juice, whiskey and I'm not sure what else, so I tried to duplicate it. I failed, but did come up with something tasty anyway, a Cherry Brandy Cocktail. I mulled the leftover cherry juice on medium heat with honey, cloves, lemon peel and ginger. Then I poured it over ice with brandy. It was nice and refreshing and not too sweet. I think next time I'll be more daring with the ginger, or perhaps mix a bit of gingerale into the drink as well. The nice thing is that you can taste as you go and mull a cherry concoction that is perfect for you!
There you have it. A final nod to Reina, who is turning 1 today!
Happy Birthday and Happy Summer!
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