A Baby Blanket for a very special baby

There are loads of things I have been looking forward to about my trip "home" to Canada...but I have to say that the thing..or event...I have been looking forward to the most is seeing my friend's big pregnant belly.  When they told me they were expecting...and I realised I would be able to see them before the due date...I immedietly set to work making a special present.

I decided to knit a baby blanket in the classic Hudson's Bay Company stripe pattern.  As a wedding present my brother gave us a double sized wool HBC Point Blanket and it is one of my most favourite possessions...it is my little bit of Canada in the United Kingdom, it ties me to home.  Eventhough my friends are in Canada I thought that it would be a special keepsake. 

The finished blanket.

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It's the little things...the local diner

The local diner is an institution...like a good cafe or chippy back in the UK  here in North America you can judge a community based on its Diner.  Huntsville has a couple of decent local greasy spoons...you know places where you can get an all day breakfast, a grilled cheese and pretty much everything comes with the question "and would you like fries with that?".  It is pretty much my idea of heaven.  On Tuesday my parents and I walked over to Family Place Restaurant  on the main street just over the bridge...close. 

A good selection of jams, honey and peanut butter on the table sure made me happy and temporarily swayed me towards the all day breakfast.  Choices choices...always tough to make...but I did manage in the end.   

Actually,  choosing my drink was no problem...it had to be a large glass of chocolate milk.  The waitress didn't seem to think that it was an odd request coming from a 30-something gal...I'm sure she gets it all the time. Chocolate milk is a diner staple. 

The place was hopping with folk, mostly local I would guess.  In the end I went for the Ruben...rye bread stacked high with smoked meat, saurkraut and ruben sauace and smothered in cheese.  Fries were, of course, with that...and a heap of dill pickles.  The extra special addition, also a diner staple, was gravy on the side (for the fries). 

yum yum and yum



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It's the little things...early morning baking

The town where my parents live played host to a major triathalon on Sunday.  All the action took place, literally, on our door step...which was awesome.  What was not awesome was the MC for the day kicking everything off over the loud speaker at 6am. 

Wide awake with things to do (family meal planned for the evening) mum and I got down to business...the business of pie.  When my brother and I both planned trips to visit our parents at the same time my mum asked us to make a list of things we would like her to make...you know, things from our childhood...things we can't really get where we are in the world...favourites.  We both had Sour Cream Peach Pie at the top of our respective lists. 

This pie is incredible.  Ripe peaches slathered in a sour cream and sugar mixture and topped with a strusel topping.  Once the pastry is made, and the peaches are peeled the pie comes together really quickly.  My smartie pants mum had made the pastry the night before so we took advantage of the early morning wake up call to get the pie into the oven...not only to get it baked before the heat of the Muskoka sun was upon us but also because this pie tastes so much better cold...from the fridge. 

Summer on a plate.

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It's the little things...a taste of "home"

I've hightailed it out of the UK to the sunnier weather in Central Ontario...I can't actually claim this to be an impromptu holiday...but it is sure a welcome one! Three whole weeks in sunny Canada at my parents' new abode in the gorgeous town of Huntsville in the heart of Cottage Country.  This is Canada at its best...heat, nature, cold drinks and the lake. 

Since my poor pale skin is aclimatised to Edinburgh's recent dreary weather I haven't ventured far off the covered portch the last couple of days...and when I did my poor brother took pity on me and bought me a popsicle to cool me down (I was literally melting on main street). 

I need to build up a tolerance to the burning sun, as well as the heat.  And the best way to do that is to...obviously...indulge in all the classic canadian treats I can.  I need to renew the Canadian in me.  First step to this is drinking Tim Hortons coffee and eating as many sour cream glazed doughnuts I can stuff in my face.  The second is to try as many different brands of Butter Tart I can get my hands on in Huntsville.  I started with a mass produced number from a local supermarket, enjoyed with a cup of tea and a cook book on the porch.  It was good as supermarket butter tarts go.  The filling was thick...with a decent number of raisins.  The pastry was alright. 

The thing about butter tarts is that everybody has a different recipe...and everbody has a different idea of what consitutes the perfect butter tart.  The filling can be thick or runny, with or without raisins or nuts, the pastry cane be thick or thin...so many different opinions and options.  I am partial to a runny filling but not fussy about raisins or nuts, and as long as the pastry is short I am happy (I can forgive a soggy bottom). 

A friend of my mum's came to visit today and brought us a pack of butter tarts from Baysville, a town not far from Huntsville.  The pastry was pale, but the filling was perfectly sweet, runny and not a raisin in sight! The difference between these handmade tarts and the store bought ones are immedietly apparent...but I'd happily eat either. 

Two butter tarts and a doughnut in my belly...with Tim Hortons coffee now flowing through my veins I think I am just about ready to brave the sun. 

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An East Anglia Cake-ation...one more for the road

On our last day in Cromer the rain was heavy...we had a few errands to run around town and some food to pick up so when the clouds parted we made our move.  We hadn't planned on stopping for a treat but the rain held off for longer than expected.  

We popped into Dudley's Bakery behind the church. This wasn't our first visit...the bread is pretty good, especially the Norfolk Crunch, and the pasties and sausage rolls are pretty much our lunch staples when visiting Cromer...but this was the first time I had bought anything sweet.  There were plenty of choices, including individually wrapped victoria sponge slices...but in the end I decided to go for a strawberries and cream tart.  

Back home, with a cup of tea and the rain pouring down I tucked into my little treat.  

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An East Anglia Cake-ation...Cake with a View

Fellow Cake Lady Sophia, who moved back to Canada last month, runs a great website called Cake With a View.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity of taking a snap of  "cake with a view" for her website while we were in Cromer.  

Carrot Cake from Waverley Cake Shop with the Cromer Pier in the background...what a view! 

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An East Anglia Cake-ation...Huckleberries

I am spoiled for choice when it comes to cake in Cromer.  There are at least 5 decent cake shops within spitting distance of the house we stay in...and they all offer homemade cakes.  I like to try to visit them all...you know...share my support. One of my favourites is Huckleberries on Church Street.

Not only are the coffee and cakes good here, but the staff is friendly and they have wifi.  I've been a few times with my dad to have a coffee and check the old email, and it has always been busy.  There are a few seats in the windows on the main level, but there is also a large seating area downstairs.  

This trip we were only interested in cake...cake to take home and devour while watching a dvd and drinking tea.  The selection was good...different cupcakes, tray bakes, brownies and danish pastries.  Everything looked fresh, and it was hard to decide...but in the end I chose the gingerbread with lemon icing and David had a brownie.  

With cakes in hand we dashed home avoiding the puddles and snuggled up for a Jason Bourne-a-thon. Perhaps I needed slightly more cake for a 3 disc movie session...lesson learned.  The cake I did have, however, was light and very gingery...the brownie was gobbled up within seconds of the photoshoot.  

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