Sugar Celebrations

Well, I did it. I survived 30 days without sugar. That means I had no cookies, cakes, muffins, squares or pie; no ketchup, pizza or barbeque sauce; no soft drinks or specialty coffees; no potato salad, pasta salad or even a typical salad dressing on a veggie salad. And most important, no ice cream during all that hot weather even though one of my sponsors offered to buy me some.

I was one of 6,529 people who took part in this challenge. Together we raised $122,145 for the Canadian Cancer Society so far. People are still free to donate, so if you were putting it off until you knew I'd stay the course, you still have time to add to the total.  Personally, I managed to gather $287.28, and I'm thankful to everyone who donated to my campaign. I'd love to get over that $300 mark though.

As a bonus, along the way, I managed to lose 6 or 8 pounds, but one day of celebrating when it was over likely put half of that back on. It's okay. That wasn't the goal anyway, and I'm sure it will drop back down again over the coming week.

Saturday was the last day to pick up our annual Buttermilk pie from the North Gower Farmers' Market. Even if I couldn't eat it that day, we had to go get it. Franks makes the best baked goods anywhere, and at a more reasonable price than most. I would never consider drinking buttermilk like my Mom did, but it sure makes a great pie. This year I chose one with raspberries in it.

As if that wasn't enough of a reward, my sweet husband thought I deserved to celebrate the end of these self-imposed restrictions. He was impressed with what a good job I did of sticking to my promise to avoid sugar for the month. What better place to indulge in whatever caught my fancy than at Rideau Carleton Raceway. They have a buffet that has something for everyone. It was so nice just to choose to eat whatever I wanted without having to stop and think about how it was made and if any of the ingredients contained sugar when we went out on Sunday, Oct 1st.

My first plateful was from the salad bar, as usual, so I got my potato salad, pasta salad, seafood salad, and a veggie salad with a real creamy dressing. I don't know if it was Ranch or Caesar but I really enjoyed it, sugar and all. I also had some egg rolls with a chicken stir-fry later. Plum sauce definitely has sugar, even if they do call it something else in commercial versions. The third plate was probably safe as it was surf and turf. But of course one never has just one dessert at a buffet. I had four. The butter tart that I'd looked forward to all evening was less interesting than the trifle, blueberry mousse cake or the coffee cheesecake. I'm sure I got a month's worth of sugar all in one meal. And I finally got a butter tart worthy of my craving on Wednesday at Treats in Ottawa. I'll be good for the rest of this week and eat pie with my Thanksgiving dinner. I still have not had any ice cream yet. I will do that soon, before it gets too cold. Really though, I'm likely not to go back to eating quite as much sugar in the future as I have in the past. I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would. I just found I wasn't as hungry as often as usual. Unfortunately, the experiment didn't do anything for my sore joints though.


Near the end, I found a totally sugar free muffin recipe.It was so easy I will definitely make it again. I only wish I'd found it sooner. I didn't even have to share them with my son as he thought they looked funny and was afraid to taste them. They look different because there is no flour in them. They are not only a quick snack but also nice at breakfast time. Here's the recipe:

1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup oatmeal
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of blueberries
I added 1 tsp cinnamon
You can also add nuts if you like, or any other berries

Bake for 5 minutes at 425F and then decrease the temperature to 375F and continue to bake for another 12 minutes.
This makes about 8 muffins. If you only have tins that hold 12, put water in the empty ones.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, but since it was the first baked goods I'd had all month, I highly doubt it.

North Gower Farmer's Market

I can't believe that summer is almost over and we've hardly done any of our usual summer things. We made a point of heading to the North Gower Farmer's Market this morning. It's suppose to rain here tomorrow, so we wouldn't likely make it to the one closer to home.

One of the best reasons to go to the North Gower Farmer's Market is that you can get Frank's Buttermilk pies there.  Now, don't turn your nose up and try to tell me how much you hate buttermilk.  I wouldn't touch that stuff either, but in a pie, it's marvelously creamy and sweet. And to prove it, Frank offers samples.  One little bite will convince you to take one of these amazing treats home.

He sells plain ones, and I've had them with raspberries in them, but today we chose a blueberry one. It only costs $8.50 per pie.  You won't get a better deal for anything so delicious anywhere else. I guarantee it.

There are, of course other pies available, as well as tarts and other goodies.  I understand he also has a shop in Ottawa.

Hubby also made off with a great big date square as a morning treat. While I usually grab a butter tart (there are several varieties), today I couldn't resist a different vendor at the other end of the room that offered huge, and extremely delicious apple fritters. I can't show you those treats as we got into them before we got home, and I actually I forgot to take the camera with me. We likely shouldn't eat the buttermilk pie tonight, after pigging out early in the day, but I'm sure we won't be able to resist.

We brought home corn, and tomatoes too. This assortment of tomatoes cost me a total of $2.  I think that's pretty good as another booth was selling large single tomatoes for that much each. Apparently these are the last of the tomato crop, according to the lady I got them from.  That was rather shocking to hear. It really makes me sad for two reasons. It means the cold weather can't be far off, and it also means my own tomato crop was a total failure this year.  The plants stayed really small, and though they are now producing a few tomatoes, not even one has started to ripen yet.   I love garden fresh tomatoes, so I was really happy I got these today.

The trip was totally worth the effort and made for an enjoyable morning.

Find Something New at a Farmer's Market

At long last spring seems to have finally arrived. The fat robins are pulling worms from the ground, birds are singing, or scolding me, depending on what I'm doing, and the fields are absolutely full of geese.  The crocuses bloomed and now it's daffodil time, and I even see the buds on the trilliums are developing nicely. Nothing says spring like being able to go outside to enjoy nature, without having to bundle up first.

Something else we have had to live with out all winter will also be back soon too.  In fact, I found one at what used to be Landsdowne Park in Ottawa  last weekend.  A Farmer's Market was open inside the Aberdeen Pavilion. That building is just about all I recognized from the old exhibition grounds. All kinds of new, modern buildings have sprung up recently.  I am so glad they didn't tear down the old Cattle Castle.

We discovered there was new parking below ground, just as you turn off Bank Street into this new Landowne project. There was lots of space and while it cost us $6, that isn't bad when you consider what the hospital parking lots in that city dare to charge.

I had discovered there was going to be a maple festival at that location on Sunday, and since we missed attending both the one in Delta and Perth this year due to other commitments, we decided to take this in.  As it turned out, it just meant that several of the vendors at the Farmer's Market were featuring their maple products.

While there I discovered an area tea company  that I never knew about before. DiversiTea has some interesting flavours.  The Salted Toffee one is calling to me. That would be like having dessert without the calories.

The Milkhouse Farm and Dairy from the Smiths Falls area was selling cheese, lamb and wool. Obviously the cheese also came from sheep. We also sampled some buffalo cheese from Canreg Station Farm & Pasture Dairy located in the Finch area. That was a new experience for me. Some of it was really good too. I especially liked the Elderberry Cheese.  I had intended to bring some home but got distracted by one of the most beautiful displays of baking I've ever seen. Savoury Pursuits had so many wonderful choices and well, one cannot go home without a treat of some sort, right? 

We made off with some Strawberry Brownie Cheesecake Squares.  These were the most impressive looking brownies you can imagine and would be perfect for serving to special company. 

As for other Farmer's Markets in the area, Brockville kicks off the season by opening this weekend, on May 2nd.  Carleton Place and Perth follow by opening on May 9th, Carp on May 10th,  Chesterville on May 23rd, Kemptville on May 24 and my favorite market, at North Gower, opens on May 30th.

Take the $10 Challenge this year by visiting your local Farmers Markets and buying from local producers.  It keeps the money in the area, which is good for our economy.  Explore what the vendors have to offer.  I'm sure you will find something special to bring home.

Preparing for Next Year's Tomato Crop

In 1872,  Lewis Carroll wrote, in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--"

Today I want to talk about saving tomato seeds.

It's easy to go and buy new tomato seeds in the spring and start the plants yourself, or just buy the plants already growing, and ready to pop into your garden. But what if someone gives you a tomato that you can't find seeds for in a regular store, and nobody you know sells the plants?  I had this

happen to me a couple of years ago when I was handed a strange looking tomato to take home, and told that it was a heritage tomato called a Bullsheart.  It wasn't round like most tomatoes I was used to seeing, but more elongated, with a pointy bottom.  Kind of like a Roma, but much bigger.  I found it tasted better than any of the other six varieties that I grew that year, and decided to save the seeds.

Tomato seeds are coated in a gelatinous substance and you have to go through a little procedure before you can dry them out for the
following year.  I cut the tomato in half, around the equator, not end to end, so that it was easy to get at the seeds. I scooped them into a jar, and added an inch of water, then covered the jar, and waited a few days.  The gel dissolved and the good seeds sank to the bottom of the jar. Then I carefully scooped all the stuff that was floating on top out of the jar, and drained what was left through a fine siv. I rinsed the seeds with fresh water until they were nice and clean.  They were then dumped out onto a coffee filter and left to dry several days.

I have planted the seeds I've saved for the past couple of years and am happy to report that this year these plants produced better than any of my other varieties, and I still like their flavour best of all.

Last year I got them planted a bit late, and ended up with a tomato that wasn't ripe by the time the frost came along. I brought it in and kept it until it ripened, holding my breath, afraid it wouldn't or that the seeds would not be viable.  This year I made sure I got them planted in plenty of time, and I'm quite pleased with my self and the results.  I have already started to save the seeds from this years crop, and thought perhaps, even if you didn't get some strange tomato from a friend or a farmer's market, you might like to try it too.

Hmmmm......one of the vendors at a local farmer's market does seem to have a variety of heritage tomatoes.  I should go see if there is something else there I'd like to try this process with.

I may need to dig a large garden next year.

Summer Weekends

My favorite thing about summer is that there are so many places to go and things to do, and most of it is free.

This weekend we were out looking for another art show but stopped to explore the Stewart Park Festival in Perth.  There were two stages with musical performances going on at the same time, plus other assorted things to amuse young and old alike. 

The weather was fantastic, so families were also enjoying the stream that runs through the park.  We never did find the art show we were looking for, but we've already been to a couple this summer, so we'll try for that one again next year.

Then, of course, there are the farmer's markets. Kemptville has eliminated the competition by holding theirs on Sunday afternoons, instead of using the usual Saturday morning time slot.  One of the great things about that is that our favorite vendor is now available much closer to home. I'm sure we will both gain some weight by the end of the summer because Frank's Buttermilk Pie is entirely too good to resist!  It is available with or without various berries in it, and only costs $8.50 per pie.  You won't get a better deal for anything so delicious anywhere else. I guarantee it.

Today we brought home some scones from another vendor, as we can eat them in one sitting, and not be tempted to get carried away.  I do need to fit into that new bathing suit, you know.  Scrummy Scones have some interesting varieties, and are available for taste testing first, as are Grammie's Jams.  Actually they go very well together. 

Now that I've had a perfect weekend, my garden can stand a bit of rain. I'm so glad it didn't come in time to spoil our fun.

Budding Artist Goes Touring

As some of you may know, J.J. Clarke is the CTV Ottawa weatherman who often presents the art work of children from around the region.  It seems that my 7 year old grandson's Grade 2 teacher sent in one of his pictures, and it was chosen from among 50 others to appear on TV last week.  Unfortunately I didn't see that broadcast, but my brother did, and so did his other grandmother.  Thanks to social media and a little help from one of my grandson's great aunts, I was able to track down this particular art display.

Sunday was Grandparents Day, or so I learned on the internet.  So, when the above mentioned grandson phoned and wanted to come spend some time with us, it was hard to say no.  We had plans though, to go on an artist studio tour. I told him that, and he informed me, "I like art," so we picked him up on our way through his town. 

At our first stop, he took a good look at some of the watercolours, telling me which ones he liked.  I pointed out a simpler one, with just layers of land and sky and suggested he could try something like that with my watercolours sometime.  He said he didn't like that one.  Didn't "get it at all" was more like the phrase used., which once again proves art appreciation is an individual thing.

He was thrilled to be allowed to enter the draw though, and took the time to fill out the entry form himself. Everyone on the tour could fill out a form at each of the locations they visited, and have a chance for a $50 certificate to buy something from any of the artists along the way.  I think, by the end of the day, he had decided it would be nice to have one of those soft fluffy bears from the Magpie Hill Alpaca farm.  We only found where to fill the entries out at a couple of locations though.  I'm not sure if that cut down on our chances, or increased them. If others had as  much trouble finding the draw slips, there won't be much competition.

I think the highlight of the day, and a big surprise,  was walking through Herman Ruhland's Enchanted Gnome Forest.  The man has gone to a lot of work clearing trails, hanging rocks and sticks from trees, setting up stone mushrooms and gnome homes and populating the forest with hundreds of little gnomes and fairies, and even fish in the "underwater garden in the shade" (which isn't  underwater, but has some mermaids and singing fish). 

Our budding artist had a good day seeing what others do.  He learned you could make statues using wire and t-shirts, that alpaca wool is very soft, and so is deer hide. He saw how moccasins are cut out and stitched together, and how a block of stone can be filed into a bear.  He declared that he'd like to paint but never gets to do that, so I promised that next time he comes to visit, he could. 

To top off the day, we stopped in North Gower at Steven's Creek Country Market and had some absolutely marvelous ice cream.  The lady said it comes from Tracy's Dairy in Renfrew.  While we frequently come to the North Gower Farmer's Market, which is just across the street from this location, we now have another reason to make a little trip out that way.

To Market, To Market

As I've mentioned before, I really like going to the Kemptville Farmers Market.  This time of year there are a lot of excellent stalls with wonderful veggies to choose from. We got there earlier than usual and found some stalls have become very popular. I really don't want to have to stand in a long line only to discover the thing that caught my eye in the first place has been sold off by the time I get to the front of that line. I did came home with a couple heads of really nice lettuce though.  I'll definitely be eating a wonderful salad for supper tonight. 

There are always several bakers there too, and one of those also had a long line up.  I peeked to see what they were selling and things really did look delicious, but once again, I opted for a less crowed booth and got some very delicious brownies. They were large enough to share, and only 50 cents each.  Beaconholme Farm.  I'll remember that name.

Speaking of names, look also for the Dippy Darlings.  Do stop and chat with them.  They are delightful.  Their maiden name was Darling and they sell dip.

Kemptville Market is open on Sundays from 2pm to 4pm, and is well worth the visit.

Muskoka Geocaching Holiday

We have just come back from our holidays. This year we decided to go on a geocaching adventure so I picked an area that I thought would be nice to explore. Then I downloaded the maps and the geocaches within 5 km of our planned route onto my Garmin Dakota 20 GPS.  That gave me 500 caches to choose from when we hit the area.  The route I chose was between Huntsville and Orillia, Ontario but that doesn't mean we necessarily intended to cover all of it.

We stopped for breakfast at a place called The Cupboard, in Arnprior.  I highly recommend that place. The food was plentiful and tasty, and very reasonably priced. I'm sure we'll go back there again sometime.

We saw two deer on the road before we got to Algonquin Park, but no wildlife as we drove through. I had booked a room at the Comfort Inn at Huntsville before we left home, and it was definitely a good place to land when we finally arrived.  We had only ever  been to Huntsville once before and that had to be about 15 years ago.  It's a pretty little town with lots of hills and a river running through it.  After a bit of a rest, we turned on the GPS and checked to see where the nearest caches were, then off we went.  I wasn't so determined to pick up all the caches as I was to see the sites the listings brought us to, so it didn't bother me that we drove by some and didn't find some of the others.

One of the ones we didn't find was up at the Lion's Club lookout point.  Heck, it was hard enough to just find that!  We had been up there on our previous visit, but the road was much better marked at that time. This time we had to ask numerous people before we found someone who actually knew where we should turn off to get t here.  There was a lady from England up there reading. She was really enjoying our Canadian weather, she said. 

Geocaching helps you find all the interesting spots the locals want to point out that may not be in the tourist brochures. Huntsville  not only has a river, but it also has locks.  A pretty place, much like home.  But unlike at home, there were no boats as the locks had not been opened for the season yet. We found that strange as there are certainly a lot of boats on the Rideau at this time of year.

Then there was the boardwalk over the bay, creating a short cut for the waterside trail.  We never would have found this if it had not been for geocaching.

As we were driving to our next location along highway 11, I noticed there was a clump of geocaches off the main road, near some water. I mentioned that, and my hubby said that here was an exit coming up. I suggested he take that exit, and I'm so glad he did.  That's how we discovered Port Sydney.  Now, if I were to build a cottage somewhere, this would be the perfect spot.  We found caches along a roadside trail, at the beach, and on a woodland trail. We also found kids in a tree near the beach.  We had to be careful that they didn't see us looking for the cache nearby.

We went to the dam to look for another one, but there was too much metal and it kept screwing up the headings on the GPS.  That's okay as the site was the best treasure we found on the entire trip. 

Below the dam we saw some kids climb a pine tree, walk out along the branches while clinging to the branch above them and then plunging into the water below.  After they swam around in the deep water there, they went a bit downstream and used the rushing water to slide over the rocks.  I could have sat there all day and just watched them.

We went on to Gravenhurst for the night.  There we found the docks at one end of town and a beach with a bandstand at the other side of town.  The main problem with Gravenhurst is that it needs more decent places to eat. 

After visiting their farmer's market the next morning, we headed for for Bracebridge.  On our first trip to this area we managed to find a huge rocky lookout that I had seen in a brochure. We had to ask many people where that was, but finally found it. The trail across the rock back then was marked with painted arrows. We had to stand on one to see the next one. We were not sure if that "trail" made a loop, or how far it went. As it was late in the day and very difficult to see the arrows for a reverse trip, since some of them where on the downside of a dip, we decided it was not a good time to venture too far.  I doubt that it would be good to be caught up there at night, or in a storm.

This time I saw at least 4 mentions of Huckleberry Rock in the brochures. I was not sure if it was the same rock, but figured it would at least be similar. Think of the Group of Seven and the paintings or wind blown pines on a rocky surface done by Tom Thomson. I'm sure he sat up there and did those.

It was the same rock. We just came at it from a different angle. There is now a canyon cut through this rock, and you can walk up to the edge of that and look down if you like.  This rock is the oldest on the planet, and absolutely huge.  I'm so glad we were able to find it more easily this time. 

When we were finished walking around on the rock we went back to Bracebridge. There are a number of caches along trails leading to the waterfall in the middle of town.  I know we never saw that last time we were there, so once again, geocaching is a great way to find the local sites. 

If you are looking at a map you may notice we are backtracking. We had decided to go back to Huntsville for another night, before heading home.  While there a waiter asked if we had been up to the Dorset Lookout Tower. We hadn't heard about that, but it was not far off our route on the way home, so we did make the scenic side trip.  This tower is 100 feet tall, and because it stands on another rocky outcrop, it looms 365 feet above the Lake of the Bays.  Not everyone makes it to the very top.  You have to climb the stairs, and while the ones closer to the bottom go up the centre of the tower, the upper flights spiral around the outside of it, which can feel a little spooky. 

It was a long trip home but we did stop in Eganville for our final meal on the road.  It was a  nice trip and we certainly picked a great area to go exploring.

Vendors Everywhere I Go

Sunday we spent a few minutes at Merrickville's Canalfest.  There were the usual craft vendors, silent auction, Voyageur Canoe Race and, of course, musical entertainment. 

One thing I notice, at all the craft fair events, is that there are an over abundance of jewelry makers out there this year.  The only interest I have in those stalls is to see if anybody has come up with something different that I might like to try making myself.

A few of them sell interesting beads and pendants, as well as jewelry. It's just a good thing I have enough stuff around the house waiting to be strung up as it is, as I've seen some interesting ones over the past few days. I have been able to resist, however.  Next year, when I'm looking for such things, there won't likely be any.

It was too hot to stay long, and I had grocery shopping to do, so we set off to Kemptville.

First stop on a Sunday is always the Kemptville Farmer's Market.  There are a lot of different farmer's markets in the area, and I like to visit them, when I can.  I think the Kemptville one is the best though.  There is always a wide variety of vendors there, and there seems to be a lot of good sampling to be had too.  I experienced pickled jalapeno peppers (I saw "Pickle" and it was green, so I got a surprise when I tasted that!), a couple of different shortbreads (I liked the one with the toffee bits), and a few different kinds of strange looking cucumbers and tomatoes.

The highlight of this market trip was these interesting vegetables are grown in Oxford Mills by Luke Swale.  I was told that they plan to grow something new and different every year.  Check out their website at http://www.earthsharvestfarm.ca/ . Personally, I'm bookmarking that one.

I came home with a nice loaf of bread and an assortment of freshly dug potatoes.  I likely should have made off with a few of those cute cucumbers too.  Oh well, maybe next time.....