Senior Sea Kayaker

Thanks for taking us along and especially for the snorkeling photos.

I'd like to add to this. My garden is on a much smaller scale than @Shelby's so I go in for a lot of companion planting and intermixing. I use either white or red onion 'sets' and plant them on the borders of the beds and interspaced with tomato and pepper plants. They are invaluable for pest control, utilize space I'd otherwise have to weed, when thinned provide a season long source of 'green onions' and you get whatever is left at the end of the season to cure and have as storage onions.

@Ann_T I have to disagree with you on those oxtails. They always taste better the next day. Salmon 'tail', egg, first of the season beet green and red lettuce, dill, chives, Italian parsley and a shot of sriracha to wake things up on a toasted WW bagel. With tomatoes and mini cucumber.

Now that's a really good friend. If those were sitting in front of me I would dehydrate most of them for future use. Try using some in a risotto. Good sauteed them incorporated into scrambled eggs. They can also be stuffed. Just make sure you clean them well to remove any grit. Lots of possibilities.

If you're familiar with lobsters it's the tomalley which is green (and yellow in crabs) that some eat and some don't. I do. Great mixed with melted butter and spread on bread.

Good advice from all. Let us know how things turn out. I'm curious to how scaling up affects the end result.

I'll weigh in on this although I'm not sure what's being made and why. When you say pickled vegetables are these meant to be refrigerated and eaten as is or processed via canning? If they're meant to be refrigerated small amounts that can be consumed in a relatively short time is best. I had to do a conversion with volume however that's close to 4 liters volume so does consumption rate that amount? These can get pretty old in the frig unless you keep repackaging them in smaller containers. Yes you have to scale up the vinegar and salt and probably get away with less spices. Just my $0.02.

Simple breakfast of chorizo, pepper jack and green onion quesadilla with tomatoes, olives and quick pickled cucumber. Pear in yogurt and V8.

This is one of the easiest cured products to make at home. I'm planning on doing some in the near future and will post the procedure and results.

Something you won't regret if you can obtain octopus.

I woke up to 4 C. and misty this morning. Quite a change from yesterday. A spicy shakshuka seemed appropriate.

Rice noodles pan fried with chili crisp oil (with a splash of habanero lime sauce) green onion, cilantro, pan fried shrimp, blistered shishitos and hosta shoots. Surprisingly summery day yesterday so this hit the spot.

Seedlings spending the night indoors and ready for another hardening session. There's still another two weeks until transplanting outdoors (weather dependent). Four determinate tomato varieties (Scotia and Golden Nugget) with another two of each started four weeks later. Two cucumber varieties, two zucchini varieties and mouse melons (aka as Mexican gherkins). Habanero and serrano peppers and finally five indeterminate tomato varieties.

I would not care to visit that grocery store hungry and with my credit card 🙃

A brat grilling lesson from Charlie Berens. Bonus point if you recognize his advice giving neighbor.

Welcome. Hope you're a breakfast person.

Breakfast wrap of eggs scrambled with finger and shishito peppers, green onion and cilantro. I've been playing around with various ways of making these wraps so this one starts with a WW tortilla in a dry pan, flip and apply pepper jack and sauteed mushrooms, and remove when cheese melted. A layer of shredded romaine, eggs added and rolled. Pear on the side.

What is the wrapping on the 'St. John sushi wrap'?

Gravlax with dill and horseradish mustard, green onion 'pancake', cucumber with chives and a dash of lime habanero sauce. With a pear in yogurt and a V8.

Egg, lobster and arugula on toasted croissants with mixed fruit and a shot of V8. It pays to pick all those little crannies clean.

Frozen Food aisle. Weston Loblaw's stores. Superstore, No Frills.... FreshCo.

Early dinner featuring the first of the season's lobster. Lenny weighted in at 525 gm. and served with a dill, Italian parsley and chive butter. Dandelion green and tomato salad, steamed hosta shoots and oven fries with sriracha on the side. An extra spicy Caesar to accompany.

I made a batch of gravlax this week (something I do about every two months). Five day cure with salt, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, black pepper and dill. I tried @TicTac's roasted crispy skin idea (which I'm sad to say I usually toss in the compost) and WOW. Rubbed with olive oil. Crispy, salty and lots of flavour. A keeper.

My SIL's recommendations for ready to eat are Annie's individual gluten free meals from the frozen food section. She likes the burritos, mac and cheese with cauliflower and the mushroom risotto. She's a fan of Promise for bread products and also likes desserts as well as their lemon, poppyseed and chocolate loaves. Bob's Red Mill for their mixes. They have access to a Foodland and an Independent (Weston Loblaws) so a lot of these products are carried by Superstore and No Frills. FreshCo is owned by Sobey's so they carry a lot of their products at a significant lower price. Hope this helps.

I've asked, via email, my SIL who lives in the Haliburton area for her recommendations. She and her sister both suffer from celiac disease and could be a good source. I'll post any of her recommendations.