A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - Algonquin Park

While we were away at the cottage we ventured into Algonquin Park for some hiking. These pics are from a hike through two spruce bogs.

Ontario Weather . . .

This just about covers the past few weeks . . . (and Ontario weather in general).

Dilled Cucumber and Tomato Salad

On Sunday I stopped by the garden plot for the first time in 10 days. I assumed there would be nothing there since we had abandoned it to go to the cottage . . . surely the critters treating it as an all-you-can-eat buffet would have gone wild?

They hadn't and this was what I brought home:

When planning the menu for the week I was looking for a way to use up those tomatoes.

I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I reminded me a bit of a cucumber salad I made last year but this one used rice vinegar. Rice vinegar is less acidic than regular vinegars so i was curious to see how this would taste.

It was delicious! Even though this serves 8 we ate three quarters of it for dinner. LOL

This salad is perfect for a hot summer's night. Even better it comes together quickly - just make sure that you leave the time needed for the marinating.

Enjoy!

Dilled Cucumber and Tomato Salad

4 medium tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges (about 3 cups)
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup rice vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

In large glass serving bowl, mix tomatoes, cucumbers and onion.

In small bowl, mix all remaining ingredients until blended. Pour vinegar mixture over vegetables; toss to mix. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour to blend flavors. Toss again just before serving. Serve with slotted spoon.

Travel Tuesdays - Dotty Lake

We're back.

We had an amazing time. The cottage we rented was across the lake from where the sun set so we spent every evening relaxing on the dock with a beverage and our cameras watching the sun creep down behind a large hill in the distance.

On the road . . .

See you in a week.

Modern Society

This seems about right these days.

Travel Tuesdays - London

Paul and I are headed off on vacation next week - our first real vacation together since March 2019. We have a cottage booked for a week and we're looking forward to relaxing by the lake.

I thought I'd include shots from our LAST vacation in this week's Travel Tuesdays post.

Garden Plot Update

I haven't posted an update for awhile.

I've been successful in keeping the deer out for a couple of weeks now. Last week they tried to get in - snapped a fence post - but the fence held and the tasty beet leaves they were wanting remained out of reach . . . for now.

The first tomatoes are starting to ripen. The rain is really causing the tomatoes to grow large - so large some of the stakes fell over because of the weight and I had to buy more sturdy ones.

Everything else continues to grow well (particularly the weeds!)

This pic shows a plot that has not been weeded for awhile. This is what our plot would look like if I didn't spend some time each day weeding.

This is what I brought home last Friday. Leaf lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, and a jalapeno pepper.

Italian Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing

This is a great salad to bring out for a crowd in the summer. It comes together relatively quickly, tastes amazing, and well, feeds a crowd! I made this for dinner on Friday and we've been eating the leftovers for four days now.

Most of the pasta salads that I have tried have a mayonnaise based dressing making them somewhat iffy for a summer dish - especially if you want to bring it to an outdoor gathering. This would be a perfect salad to bring to the next BBQ you're invited to - now that people are finally inviting one another to BBQs and stuff.

This is one of those forgiving recipes. I had two types of olives in the refrigerator so I threw both in. You could add some sun dried tomatoes. I'm regretting not adding some diced zucchini (since the garden plot is giving me lots of them!). You get the picture.

You might want to consider doubling the dressing. It really tastes great and there are plenty of other uses I can think of for it.

Enjoy!

Italian Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp sugar
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) (optional)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

300g spiral pasta, or other pasta of choice (I used large shells)
180g/6oz thick sliced salami, cut into 2.5cm/1" batons (I use spicy salami)
200g baby bocconcini, halved
1 red pepper, cut into 3cm/2.2cm strips (note - this salad would be good with roasted red pepper as well)
250g whole olives
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup (tightly packed) fresh basil leaves

Place Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well.

Cook pasta according to packet directions minus 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking further. Shake excess water off well then transfer into large bowl.

Place remaining Pasta Salad ingredients in the bowl. Drizzle over Dressing and toss. Serve at room temperature.

Travel Tuesdays - Toronto

This one is close to home. on Saturday Paul and I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the new Andy Warhol exhibit. I'm not a huge fan of modern art but it was great to get out and about again.