Anna N

Not a chance.

Never to be outdone ... Kerry with the makings of Tepache. and for all you caramel lovers.

I am the wrong person to give you wine tasting notes. White wine needs to be cold, wet and not too sweet! I bought the cans because they don't take up much room in the fridge and they don't contain more wine then I can possibly finish in a single sitting.

After we gassed up the car and exchanged the propane tank for one that actually had propane in it, we went over to a place called The Trough. This is a food truck attached to a craft brewery. It is hugely popular with the residents of Little Current. they were out of menus {water} and so I am sharing this one with you. It was given to me by one of the rugrat's carers and it had been in her car forheaven only knows how long. We ate on this patio. It is still a work in progress as is the bar. Kerry had a loaded philly. And I had the Kickin' Chicken Poutine. After lunch we drove out to Pike Lake Farm under the pretense of needing strawberries and eggs. Really though we wanted to see Otis the pup. We got the eggs. She had not yet picked strawberries for the day but we did get to see Otis who wanted to just sleep.

But of course.

To finish breakfast: more cherries with some quintessentially Canadian reading matter. The reading matter is especially for @JohnT who at one time wondered about the rustic appearance of butter tarts!

Good morning. It's a cool morning for July. The temperature right now is only about 18°C and the forecast is for 20° as the high. I enjoyed one of Kerry's muffins with my coffee so I'm not sure yet if I'm going to have anything else for breakfast. I don't usually enjoy sweet things in the morning but these were darn good muffins. Kerry has gone off to finish up at the hospital and when she returns we will be heading out somewhere to refill the propane tank for the outdoor barbecue. The Little Green Egg is not up to all the tasks we throw at it. We have a giant pack of romaine lettuce from Costco and we both enjoy it grilled but it is too big for the baby egg. Without being sure how the day will play out I'm reluctant to make any serious dinner plans. I was contemplating a recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem but it requires quite an investment of time which I may not have today. Perhaps I will plan on it for tomorrow and see what Kerry thinks about trying the rib cap which I threw in the freezer after I had sous vided it. That and some grilled romaine would you make a fast and easy dinner. Stay tuned for further developments.

If we could deep six all of the other stuff and just have the potato chips I'd be right in there.

Not exactly the most attractive meal you have ever seen. Shepherd's Cottage pie with cauliflower mash. Looked even less attractive dished up!

Thoroughly enjoyed.

No worries. Your fans will wait patiently knowing the reward will be worth it.

You whetted my curiosity. I don't know a thing about it but my research suggests that the only common denominator is bread of some sort. Hoping the experts will chime in.

So Kerry managed to rush home with my shopping, throw together a grilled cheese sandwich and rush out the door with the sandwich on a plate! I have been hearing sirens and horns blasting away right outside all morning and thinking poor Kerry must be really busy in emerg. Turns out the local fire department is putting on some kind of do for the kids over in the park! She is still really busy but it is pretty much routine walk ins. So with cauliflower, carrots and peas in hand I am out of excuses for not getting on with dinner preparations. I am going to use the Instant Pot to cook the cauliflower for cauliflower mash. You just gotta love a vacation kitchen that is fully equipped.

Thank you, thank you. I knew somebody would get it.

So here is how the day is shaping up for us on Manitoulin Island. Kerry has gone up to the hospital. She is on call today so she may be gone for 10 minutes or 10 hours. I have asked her to pick up groceries if she has an opportunity on her way back. I know you are wondering how could I possibly need more groceries. But there is a little leftover lamb and a little leftover beef and it occurred to me that I could turn them into a Shepherd's Cottage pie. And since one of us is still kinda low carbing then a cauliflower mash for the top would be a good idea. But there is neither cauliflower, nor carrots, nor peas in the house. I managed to harvest about 250g combined of leftover beef and lamb. With some vegetables and some cheese added to the cauliflower mash I think we can make a meal out of it. See how little logic exists here. Yesterday I spent all sorts of money on silly gadgets and today I am behaving as my grandmother would have. I'm trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Frugality and excess seem to be natural partners in my questionably sane existence. I wanted to show you a little more about the silly gadget that captured my imagination. There are three units in the package. Each unit consists of a small cutting board and a cover. The covers can be expanded. For me it seems like a great idea. For instance right now I have chopped up an onion and put it in the refrigerator ready to use later. Often that is as much as I can do before I need to rest. So on some days my food prep can spread over many hours. This gadget might be a good solution for me but not likely for everyone. But I also think it's perfect for a bar when you need a twist of lemon or so and want to save the rest of the lemon. Anyway I'm having fun with it and that is as far as I'm concerned all that really matters.

So the fun of being up here is definitely not about efficiency it's about doing things just because you can. And in a way that would drive many sensible people to distraction. so there!

Yes they are the micro plane edges and very sharp. I think there is much more likelihood I will do some damage to my person with these than with a knife!

Definitely each greater locks in place as does the one not in use.Definitely each greater locks in place as does the one not in use.

Oh wait I think I know what textiles you're referring to. They are just two little bags for things like make up or phones or whatever.

Cookbooks are remainders and/or thrift shop finds. The red thing is an ice sphere maker. There are no textiles perhaps you are noticing the cute notebooks. The backdrop happens to be the spread on my bed which was the only place I could really use to get that many photographs.

And the last photograph of our loot. Click here for an amusing discussion of the knife in the photograph.

The penultimate photo of our loot.

So here we have two lids one of which we hope will fit the Instant Pot. A very large lid which we hope will fit our big skillet. Two of the things you see are pure indulgence on my part : the mini griddle and the mini prep boards. We both have copies of Flat Breads and Flavors down south but it's nice to have one up here.

Kerry is still sleeping so I am creeping around in my room taking photos of some of our loot from yesterday. I was like a small child last night too excited to sleep because I wanted to open all the packages we brought home. It is extra special fun for me because I get to enjoy Kerry's purchases as well as my own. Because you can never have too many bowls or too many sponges. And who can resist yet another cocktail glass. The garlic and herb chopper is my admission that sometimes I need help with even the smallest tasks. There was a time not long ago when I would have scorned such an item. But you do what you have to do to keep on trucking. More photos to come.

We will share some of our loot with you tonight but we're both exhausted so some of it is going to wait until tomorrow I am afraid. Here are the groceries thatv needed to go into the fridge, freezer or pantry.