Sturgeon Falls - Escape to Nature Part 1

Oh what a fantastic memory this mini trip was! It's a little late coming, but it's worth it, of course. It's really wonderful to be able to keep up a friendship with my best girl Gaeatane and her family. For the second summer in a row Melanie and I drove up to Sturgeon Falls, Ontario and spent a few days up in God's Country in the nature and the 'campagne' relaxing and doing with the 'Sturgeons' do!
It's fun to see the things that capture my heart, and camera's eye now... fresh, naturally grown food. From the Farmer's market in Mitlon to my friends' large and lovely garden in Sturgeon Falls. Check out how we became one with Nature!

Here's Nicolas proudly posing beside his father's garden... I say that because Gaetane is too afraid to go in there and work for fear of coming across snakes, bugs and frogs!

Let me introduce you to the some of their beautiful veggies, an incredible amount of hard work, dedication and perseverance goes out to Paul. So here you have some lettuce, it grows tall up there???

Some string beans.

Giant, and I do mean GIANT, zucchinis.

Some gorgeous purple hot peppers... good for salsa!

More hotties!

Banana peppers!

Now, for the mild ones, sweet green peppers.

Prickly cucumbers.

Some more leaf lettuce.

A boy and his corn!

Sugar snap peas... these were so awesome and fresh!

... now for some wild life... the rooster next door, oooooooooohhhhh, let me tell you about his rooster!!!! Contrary to popular belief, roosters (well at least this one) don't only keep their 'cockle-doo-a-dooing' just for the morning sunrise, nooooooooooooo, this one was talking all day... he was nuts, I don't know how my friends could live beside this guy it was constant and so annoying (ok, maybe for this city girl)!

Now, here's the reason Gaetane won't go in garden... this cuttle little froggy, what is she so worried about??? He's no bigger than a looney!

Now, here's some love- 2 best friends together again, those are genuine smiles of joy!

Now, here's something I've never done... a fish fry! But I was sure willing to give it a try. Here's her recipe.

That's right, Moosehead Beer-battered fish! Gaetane was a pro!

Fish in the batter (some white fish, can't remember the name though).

Some homemade french fries, reminds me of my childhood!

Ok, except my mom never went on a a porch to make dinner. When in Rome!

Look at that happy little sizzling masterpiece!

So while the frying was going on, Paul went to the garden to add a little balance to our Sturgeon Falls Fish Fry! Look at that awesome garden- and that's just 1/3 of it, there is another big garden, twice the size!

Proud farmer and his crops!

Even these interesting looking 'lemon' cucumbers!

Fun shape, same taste!

Now, here's Gaetane's golden and crispy fish masterpiece. Just awesome, what a treat!

Ohhhhh, and these- need I say more?

Our beautiful children! They grew up together- met when they were 4 and 6 and now look at them, grade 7 and 9, how'd that happen???

Posing on the porch with my baby with the sun shining on our faces... or wait, that could be the remnants of the fish fry oil? Amazing food, amazing friends, amazing joy!

How to sneak in fish...

Make an awesome stirfry that'll knock their socks off ... the fussy family members' socks off that is!

 Brent and Melanie don't like fish, but I wanted to have them try it .... again... see if I could change their minds.

So I made a great noodle and veggie stirfry to go with it to show them that it can be fun! All I did was take a bag of broccoli slaw, sliced some sweet peppers and stir-fried in sesame oil, hoisin sauce, garlic and hot red curry paste, once done, just tossed it with some chopped peanuts and cilantro.

After checking out Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meals, I was inspired by his amazing meals... so I bought these quick cooking egg noodles and tossed the saucy veggies with it.

Ok, now, on to the fish. I bought them some sole and breaded them with a mixture of flour, egg and panko breadcrumbs with some salt and pepper so they would come out crispy...

...here you have a piece before it went into an oven. I had high hopes, it looks like chicken, Brent enjoyed it, but Melanie took a bite and went 'yuk, fishy'... oh well, you can't win all the battles.

But here's my beauty fish moment. I made some salmon with just a little teriyaki marinade and the lovely noodles!

Savoury Salmon Dinner

Ity's such a treat to go to my parents house, they just spoil us! Like the las time we were invited and my mom asked what we would like for dinner- I mentioned salmon, because my family doesn't like fish. Well my mom prepared the most delicious dinner for us (the rest had chicken).

A beautiful dill and lemon marinated piece of salmon, some bacon-wrapped scallops , some green and yellow beans, some cucumbers and little oven roasted potatoes.

Ok, close-up shot....my mouth is just watering!

For dessert, some precious little berries in an angel food cake bowl and a little light cool whip... yummo!
Thanks so much Mom for always taking care of us... mind, tummy and soul!

The Food and the Fun in Sturgeon Falls!

Ok, last installement of the Sturgeon Falls Fun Festival!
This time it's the Food and Fun times... I absolutely love fresh strawberries... and even better if someone has picked them for me. So look at what they did just before we got there. They went and picked two giant baskets like this. Ooooh, I was in heaven.

They taste so fresh and sweet like you are bitting into love, and it's perfect that they are shapped like a heart.  I love to eat them just plain and naked like this.

But Paul, Gaetane's husband decided to make some freezer jam which turned out delicious. Here's a photo of some homemade pancakes that Nicolas made with some fresh strawberries and a bit of jam. Can you say 'Berry Heaven'!

Nicolas has always loved cooking and now he is addicted to this cooking show on CBC- In the kitchen with Stefano- and he decided to make a few recipes for us (with the help of his Mom and Dad of course). Here was an absolute decadent bite of love!!!! Bacon wrapped mini potato filled with provolone cheese. I know... crazy, right?

But this is me showing you how to have 'balance' on your plate when these little decadent nuggets come up. See, my vegetables take up half my plate, I have a small scoop of Paul's homemade mac and cheese and then 2 bacon potato explosions!

Next day.... got to work some of that bacon off... so we head off on a boat cruise excursion. It's the Chief Commanda II. It's a beautiful ride on this boat on Lake Nipissing touring the little islands and learning about the history.

We had fun sitting on the very top deck and catching some rays!

... and catching some wind... oooooh, look at the wind in our hair. I promise it wasn't a fan blowing on us.

Melanie and I wandered around the boat and ended up on the second deck and looked down at the water... which made me a little dizzy, so we stopped, turned around and posed... I absolutely love this picture. It was so awesome to be on this adventure with my little girl.

Here she is on the bottom desk checking out the scenery.

And again on the top deck looking over with Nicolas.

Here are the big waves in the back of the boat. So much power... I wonder what the fish think of this....

Oh, I know...the fish wanted to give their life for our dinner that night! That's right... we got some fish and Nicolas and Gaetane made this most delicious walnut crusted fish -another recipe from Stefano. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the best getaway! Your kindness and hospitality was so appreciated. We can't wait to host you at our home... Nicolas, I will have to try and impress you with my recipes this time!