It’s fall in Canada, a traditional time of celebration. From the PEI Shellfish Festival to the Bala Cranberry Festival, fall is a time to get together and share our good fortune. From apples to cranberries, pumpkins to grapes, if we can grow it, harvest it or ferment it, chances are there is a festival somewhere in Canada to honour it.

With the nice cool days and changing landscape, the fall is a great time to get out and go for a drive. There are over 3,000 festivals in the province of Ontario so regardless of where your cottage is located chances are there is something taking place in your community this weekend.

My favourite fair was always the Roseneath Fall Fair. I loved sitting on top of the brightly painted carousel horses, holding the leather reins. I felt like a I was flying a Pegasus. I would ride the carousel two or three times in a row, always begging my parents for “one more ride.” I still love carousels, and luckily, so do my children.

The brown bags of sweet sticky toffee for $0.25 were also a favourite, but not just with me, I would often find my Dad’s stash buried in his sock drawer.

On Vancouver Island, there are several great events taking place the last weekend in September. First there is the Cowichan Wine and Culinary Festival, September 28 to 30, Saturday night is the Cowichan Wine and Chocolate Gala, and Sunday wraps up the weekend with the Salt Spring Island Apple Festival. Mmmmm wine, chocolate and apples, and cheese, does it get any better?

Regardless of where you live, hit the road this weekend and get ready for some great food!

Cheers,

Julie

Have you ever wanted to get away to the cabin and realized it was just too far to go for such a short period of time?

For the past two weeks in Vancouver, the temperature has hovered around 25 degrees Celsius. While most people are enjoying the hot afternoon sun, I am moping. This is the weather we were expecting in July, and then August, but to no avail. Now that our holidays are over and the kids are back in school, we are finally getting a heat wave. Arrrrrrr.

I know I shouldn’t complain; the rain will be here all too soon, but I so wish I was at the cabin. I like the quietness of the lake in later September, when the boat traffic has died down. I torment myself by envisioning flat calm water, perfect for wakeboarding and kayaking. I enjoy the cool crisp mornings, that require the heater, while you wait for the day to slowly warm up.

I’m just not ready for cottage season to be over. I want more, like a child yearning for candy, I want to play on my wakeboard, I want to hang out with my neighbors, or go for a swim. The party is winding down, but I am not ready to go home.

Unfortunately, going to the cabin for the weekend, just isn’t feasible. It takes four hours door to door and the ferry costs close to $200 round trip. We wouldn’t arrive until late Friday night, and then have to leave around 1 pm on Sunday to catch the ferry home. It is a pretty expensive trip for one day, Saturday.

So while the rest of the province soaks up the sun, glorious sun, I will be consoling myself with my most recent edition of CottageLife magazine.

Cheers,

Julie

Now that the soft fruit season is over, peaches, plums, cherries and nectarines, it’s time to make way for some delicious, crunchy apples. With over 7,500 different varieties to chews from, (he he he) deciding which apple to eat can be a little overwhelming.

The three most popular varieties grown in Canada are, McIntosh, Red Delicious and Spartan. But when I asked Mr. Kim, from my local fruit market, what his best selling apples are, he stated it depended on the time of year. The current favourites are Gala and Ambrosia. While Gala apples originated in New Zealand, the Ambrosias were developed in Cawston, B.C.

The Fuji, is Japan’s most popular apple, and the American’s prefer the Red Delicious. It seems people’s tastes are changing as the Fuji and the Gala are becoming increasingly popular.

Regardless of what kind of apple you prefer, that old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” does contain some truth . Apples are very high in vitamin C and antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage.

Apple Facts

• To keep apples crisp, store them in a refrigerator
• Apple sauce can be substituted for butter in a recipe. Substitute half of the butter with the same amount of apple sauce.
• To keep potatoes fresh and prevent sprouting, put an apple in the bag
• Most apples are great for baking, but avoid the Red Delicious.
• Apples should be eaten unpeeled, as the valuable acids and salt are in and just below the skin.
• One gallon of apple cider takes approximately 36 apples
• An apple contains roughly 80 - 85% water

My favourite way to eat apples, other than on its own, is in apple crisp, hot from the oven, with a little dollop of vanilla ice cream. Listed below is a great apple crisp recipe. If you would like more information on apple varieties visit the BC Fruit Growers Website at www.bcfga.com or the Ontario Apple Growers site at www.onapples.com.

I’m going to have an Ambrosia for lunch today.

Cheers,

Julie

Apple Crisp Recipe

Ingredients

• 9 Granny Smith apples about 3 pounds

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 1/3 teaspoon of lemon juice

• 1 1/3 teaspoon of flour

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Topping:

• 3/4 cup of old-fashioned oats

• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Dash of salt

• 1/2 cup of butter

• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 9 x 13 inch baking dish (use glass or stainless steel for best results). Combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well to blend .Transfer to baking dish. Mix old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and rub into mixture until coarse crumbs form Mix in walnuts.Spread topping onto apple mixture. Place in oven and bake until topping is golden brown and apples are tender (about 35-40 minutes). Serve with vanilla ice cream.

If you are still trying to figure out what to do with all those pictures you took this summer, you may want to consider making a photobook or a calendar, and here’s why.

Last Wednesday’s blog, Picture This, talked about putting together photobook. A representative from Chapters Indigo saw the posting and is offering the first three readers a $10 coupon to try their service. Actually he offered them to me, but I am giving them to you, so you can try their service and tell me what you think about it. Send me an email at julie@cottagedaily.com if you are interested.

Calendars

If your family, like ours, is into making calendars with your digital prints, you may be interested in the following offer from Future Shop. This promo is only available to new Future Photo members. Go to www.futureshop.ca to enroll, membership is free, and you can make a calendar for free, a savings worth $19.95. Shipping may cost extra. The only stipulation is, you have to make the calendar within 60 days of signing up.

I like these calendars because I can personalized them with family member’s birthdays and anniversaries.

Fall CottageLife Show

One other item I would like to bring your attention to is, the Fall Cottage Life Show, taking place November 2 - 4, 2007 at the International Centre in Toronto. For those of you who live on the west coast, you may wonder why I am promoting this show. If you are thinking of doing major cottage renovations or are building a new one, the fall show focuses on building, renovating and decorating. It’s the only show of it’s kind in North America, and unlike other home shows, this one is geared to cottage and cabin owners. You can get a coupon for $2.00 off admission in this month’s issue. Besides, spending a weekend in Toronto really isn’t that bad.

Cheers,

Julie

Now that the kids are back in school, I have been bitten by the cleaning bug. First there was the outside, cleaning out flower beds, weeding, trimming, raking and ordering spring bulbs. With the yard straightened up, I am now focused inward.

The kitchen utensils, once a tangled mass fighting for space, are breathing easier in my recently purchased Rubbermaid organizers. My children’s summer clothes have been distributed to their friends’ younger siblings and the goodwill bags are waiting to be picked up.

Next weekend, I will unleash my urge to purge on the cabin.

Fall Housekeeping at the cottage involves a fair bit of work and some planning. Aside from just getting organized, there are also some safety and survival concerns, particularly if you use your cabin in the winter. Neighbors tend to be fewer and farther between in the winter months, and getting in and out of the cottage can be treacherous.

The following suggestions will hopefully help you get organized and keep you safe.

1. Have an emergency kit that consists of water, food - canned or dehydrated, battery-powered radio, flash lights, first aid kit and candles. Fall winds and winter ice storms can wreak havoc on power lines.
2. Check to make sure you have winter coats, rain gear, boots, gloves and hats.
3. Organize your clothes drawers - before you pack away your summer clothes, make sure they still fit, otherwise donate, sell or turn them into rags.
4. Clean and defrost the refrigerator. Put in a box of baking soda. If you’re turning off the fridge for the winter, tape it open so it doesn’t mold.
5. Wipe down the cupboards that store food. Bring home any food that is not in a can or jar. Mice are attracted to food sources - empty clean cupboards are the best deterrent for rodents.
6. Make sure your boat house has shovels, sand and salt if you’re planning on using it in the winter.
7. Check your heating sources
   1. Stack your firewood and make sure it’s in a dry location
   2. Check your propane tank
   3. Have your chimney inspected and cleaned
8. Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and change their batteries.
9. Organize a fall raking party - many hands make light work
10. Clean out and store planters, especially if they are terra cotta or ceramic. If water gets into the planters, they will crack once the temperature drops below freezing.

If I’ve missed anything, or you have some organizing tips, please leave me a comment.

Cheers,

Julie

Fall is slowly making it’s presence known. The mornings are cooler, red and yellow maple leaves can be found on the ground , and our neighbor’s vines are loaded with ripening tomatoes. Growing up on a farm, fall signaled the beginning of the pickling season. The sweet aroma of stewing tomatoes filled our kitchen while my mother peeled, stewed and canned bushel after bushel of juicy red tomatoes.

Below is our family’s favourite tomato sauce recipe, Tomato Butter. It is too sweet for pasta, but it is a beautiful accompaniment to roast beef or a spicy sausage. The Chili sauce is also sweet and goes nicely with meat loaf. The Tomato Chutney can be served as a BBQ glaze or with grilled fish.

I am not sure where the urge to preserve is coming from, but I have decided to go with it and get into the sauce.

Cheers,

Julie

Tomato Butter

Ingredients

• 10 lb. Tomatoes (6 quart basket or 2 three litre baskets)

• 2 T. (tablespoons) whole cinnamon

• 1 T. allspice

• 1 T. cloves

• 5 C. Brown sugar

• 2 C. vinegar

• 3 T. salt

Directions

Scald tomatoes in boiling water and removed the skins and slice.

Add vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to a boil with the spices tied in a muslin cloth bag. (I use doubled cheesecloth which I buy at the bulk store).

Cook at least 3 hours or until mixture is thick. It burns easily so use a heavy bottomed pan and stir frequently. It will thicken a little more after it cools.

Pour into small sterilized jars, leaving a ¼ inch from the top. Clean any excess of the lip of the jars. Don’t tighten the lids until the butter has cooled, then tighten them. Keep jars upright.

Sterilizing

*Sterilize using a large pan such as a roaster on the stove burner with an inch of water in it and boiling for five minutes. Sterilize the lids in a smaller pot. Use tongs to remove them. You can reuse Mason jars, but buy new lids but make sure you sterilize them first.

Chili Sauce

Ingredients

• 20 ripe tomatoes

• 6 onions chopped finely

• 2 green peppers chopped

• 1 ½ cups white vinegar

• 4 cups white sugar

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. ground cloves

• 1 tsp. ground ginger

• ½ tsp. pepper

• ¼ to ½ salt

Directions

Cut out the stem end of the tomatoes and peel. Cook and skim off excess water. Add salt, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until thick. Ladle the sauce into hot, sterilized jars. Cover and seal.

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar

• 3 cups cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh gingerroot

• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed lightly

• 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

• 3 pounds plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and quartered

• 3 onions, chopped

• 1 cup golden raisins

Directions

In a large heavy saucepan combine the sugar, the vinegar, the gingerroot, the salt, the coriander seeds, and the red pepper flakes and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the tomatoes, the onions, and the raisins and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until it is thickened. Let the chutney cool and transfer it to a bowl or jars. The chutney keeps, covered and chilled, for 3 weeks.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

It’s the end of the summer and like most people, I have 100’s of photos trapped on my digital camera and even more on my computer’s hard drive. I like the instant gratification I get from my digital cameras; I no longer need to print off pictures to see what they look like, but if my hard drive crashes, so do all our family memories.

Organizing my family photos has become an onerous task. I am really good at emailing them, but when it comes to printing them off and actually placing them in an album, I am at least five years behind.

Fortunately, there are some really great online solutions for preserving our cottage holiday.

Photo Books are hard cover photo albums that you design online. I can transfer my digital copies directly to the book all from the comfort of my home. I can insert captions or comments, design the layout and chose the theme. It’s kinda like on-line scrap booking, only you end up with a nice coffee table style photo album. I can even put a title on the front of the book, i.e. Horne Lake 2007’s Summer Adventures. The best part - I can order as many of these as I like. One for my collection, one for the kid’s and their grandparents (a nice Christmas present).

The cost to create an 8X8 book starts at $29.99 US. Soft cover ones are cheaper and start at $24.99 Cdn. I would like to do one of these at the end of every summer for our cabin and include all the events and visitors for that season.

There are a number of companies who provide this service: Future Shop Photo, Chapters.Indigo.Photobook, but my favourite company is Shutterfly. They are based in the US but they offer a greater variety of photo books, and I prefer their style selections.

Another option for my photos other than the traditional album is a calendar. Traditionally calendars go from January to December, but I can design one that starts anytime and include lots of cottage photos.

I can also set up my photo album online Flickr.com is probably the best known and most popular online photo sharing site.

I am excited about creating a photo book of our family. If anyone has done one, or has other ideas for storing your digital pictures I would love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Julie

The loud high-pitched beeping can be heard all over the lake. It starts as soon as the key is inserted into the ignition. The beeping is caused by the oil indicator. Despite having a full tank of oil, it’s still trying to warn us. Lifting up the white vinyl seat cushion to store the boat cover, the white piping tears off into my hand; the seats are disintegrating. The gray carpet has come unglued from the boat’s sides and the bar holding up the glass windshield has come unhinged. Our boat is not aging gracefully.

We have held off buying a new boat every year, in an attempt to save money. But the money we are trying to save, is getting spent on repairs. Picture a dog chasing its tail and you’ve got the idea.

So before we pay a whole lot of money to winterize and store our sinking ship for the season, I thought I would look around to see if now might be a good time to buy a new boat. It turns out it just might be - depending on the economy, interest rates and the dealer’s inventory.

According to Paul McKeown, owner of Big Lake Boats, located in Cobourg, Ontario, the economy, interest rates and the dealer ‘s inventory all affect the price you are going to pay on your new boat. If interest rates are high and the dealer has a lot of inventory, he is going to be motivated to sell you a boat, rather than pay the cost of carrying it over the winter.

If you have a trade-in, you will likely get a better price for it in the spring, because the dealer has a better chance of selling it in the upcoming months. If they have to store it through the winter, they will likely offer you less money.

The Toronto Boat Show, held in January, is another good place to buy a new boat, as manufacturers will often provide show-only incentives ranging from $500 to $1,500.

If you’re worried about the high cost of buying a brand new boat, there is some good news. While boats depreciate 25% in the first year, they tend to hold their value for the next five years. A 10-year-old bowrider, provided it has been well maintained, is still worth 50% of what it was brand new.

Regardless of when you buy your boat, you need to do your homework, especially if you are buying a used boat or looking to sell yours. The dealers have a Boat Value Book, which tells them what a used boat is worth. This is not available to the public, but going online to boattrader.com or boats.com is a good place to start.

If you are buying a boat in the US and bringing it into Canada, be sure to visit Registar of Imported Vehicles website for a list of the fees and documentation required by Canada Customs Agents. There are deals to be had in the US, see Wednesday’s blog, but buyer beware. Make sure you have the boat inspected before you buy it, especially if you are not buying it from a marina.

I still haven’t decided on what boat buy, but I will be looking for a marina that has a lot of inventory and I will try to sell our boat privately.

Anyone interested in a well used bowrider? I am definitely motivated!

Cheers,

Julie

When it comes to making decisions I tend to follow the masses. For example, I will seldom buy a book that’s not a New York Times Best Seller. It’s the same with restaurants. I like to know what I am getting into, or at least have a pretty good idea.

So when it comes to holidaying, I consult those who have gone before me. Friends are my first and favourite source for information. One friend in particular, who travels extensively with her children, ages five and eight, has proven to be a great source for travel advice. Her, and her husband, have been coming to Tofino for close to 20 years, and have owned a home on Chesterman Beach for the past 9 years. So when it comes to Tofino, she is a resident expert.

During our recent visit to their seaside home, I asked her to list her favourite Tofino activities, starting with a beach walk. After all, Tofino is all about the surf and the sand.

Florencia Bay is one of their favourite beaches to walk.  Gold River runs into the beach, where her kids and their dad love to build damns.

Hiking in the old growth rainforest is another popular activity. Their favourite hikes are ones that lead to the ocean. South Beach Trail is one of these, and the great big rocks found here are great for climbing. They like to spend the day here and will often have a late lunch at the Wickaninnish Restaurant, located in the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre, adjacent to the beach.

Eating is a big part of any trip and finding good restaurants that are kid friendly is pretty easy in Tofino. Here are some of their favourite haunts.

SoBo’s – this trailer serves the best polenta French fries I have ever tasted.  It is located in the Tofino Botanical Gardens, which is also a great place to visit. They serve good food in a picnic style atmosphere. (250-725-2341)

Rain Coast Café (250-725-2215)

Long Beach Lodge – the Great Room (250-725-2442)

Blue Heron – If you go between 6 and 6:30 pm, you might see sea lions feeding on the fish scraps (250-725-3277)

Shelters is also a favourite restaurant, but this one is better suited for adults (250-725-3353)

The Wickaninnish Restaurant has a kid’s menu, beautiful views, and pretty decent food (try their salads, but avoid the fish and chips). (250-726-7706)

Of course there is always surfing and Chesterman Beach is a mecca for surfers. There is a parking lot directly across the street from the beach and it is a popular spot for lessons. Surf Sisters with their pink shirts can be spotted on the beach beginning at 8 a.m.

Another activity they enjoy is kayaking. Several companies come highly recommended, they are: Tofino Kayaking and Remote Passages Kayaking.

I hope these help you with your trip planning and if there are any activities your family enjoys in Tofino, please leave me a comment.

Cheers,

Julie

The orange glow of campfires light up the night sky. Along the long sandy beach, surf boards are propped against logs, waiting for their owners to take them home. It’s Labour Day weekend, the last long weekend of the summer, and we are not at the cabin. We are visiting our friends in Tofino, the surf capital of Canada. I have deferred this visit the whole summer and now I am wondering why.

You see, I am the type of cottager who can’t wait to get to the cabin. Once I arrive, I do not want to leave, not even to get groceries. I froth at the mouth when Bill insists on stopping at Canadian Tire, or worse, Home Depot, to pick up supplies. I clock our travel time from door-to-door, anything more than four and a half hours and I start to get fidgety.

When summer rolls around, I am pretty much parked at the lake every weekend until Labour Day. My only exception is family commitments, they get first priority, but even then I try to arrange them around my precious cottage time.

While most people would kill to hang out on Chesterman Beach in Tofino, I struggle. Ocean versus lake. When it comes to ocean activities I am pretty much a spectator, lake activities I am an instigator. Horne lake is cold, but here on the west coast, the Pacific is a cool 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

But as I stand on this long flat sandy beach, with not even a pebble in sight, I can’t help wonder why I resisted. It is absolutely beautiful here. The waves crashing over the jagged rocks, the flock of sandpipers sweeping over the water in perfect unison, and the old growth rain forests with their boardwalk trails are nothing short of spectacular. This is nature at it’s finest and while it is slowly becoming developed, there are still vast tracks of untainted wilderness.

Tomorrow I am even going to join the masses and try surfing - who knows, maybe there is a surf dude in me dying to get out.

Regardless of where your spending your weekend, I hope you are making the most of it - it’s the last one of the summer.

Cheers,

Julie