Created in Cuban, enjoyed by Hemingway, the Mojito (pronounced moh-hee-toh) has finally made it’s way to Horne lake. A minty, slightly sweet drink originally from La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba, seems to be making a big splash here in Canada.

Loaded with mint leaves and lime juice, this Cuban cocktail is a refreshing and deceptively healthy drink (it also contains sugar and alcohol - but then again so does red wine and it’s healthy isn’t it?).

Listed below is the authentic Mojito recipe according to TasteofCuba.com. The drink is served in “collins” glasses, but authentic Mojito glass sets are available online. I’m currently in the process of trying to track down a wooden muddler to smash the mint leaves, but the back of a spoon will also do the trick.

Mojitos

• 1 tsp white sugar
• juice froom 1 lime ( 2 ounces)
• 4 mint leaves
• white rum ( 2 ounces)
• 2 ounces of club soda

Place the mint leaves into a tall collins glass and squeeze the juice from a cut lime into it ( 2 ounces). Add white sugar, then gently mash the mint into the lime juice and sugar with the muddler. Add crushed ice, stirring in rum. Top with club soda and garnish with a sprig of mint.

To see a video of how it’s made click on www.bacardimojito.com. Don’t get sucked into buying the $12 muddler online at this website - they charge $15 just for shipping alone.

This is a great cocktail for happy hour at the cabin!

Cheers,

Julie

It’s Tuesday morning and our home looks like a bomb has gone off. Garbage bags full of dirty laundry are toppling over onto the floor. The grass, now tall enough to support a small herd of goats, desperately needs cutting. My pink geraniums, once vibrant and flush, are bent over- gasping for water.

Yes, it’s mid-summer and my life is in chaos. It happens every summer. It began when we purchased our cabin. From Tuesday until Friday I tear around the house trying to pick up here, throw-out there all in a vain attempt to maintain some semblance of order before skipping off to the cabin every weekend.

Food in another matter. I keep forgetting what we have and what we’re out of. I often get the two places mixed-up. The result? I now have 36 eggs and four quarts of milk in my fridge at home - none at the cabin - opps.

In an attempt to rid my life of some of the eggs I’ve started stockpiling in the fridge, I’m going to make Fairholme’s Eggs Benedict tonight for dinner. This recipe is fairly straightforward and surprisingly my family (including a very picky eater) love it.

Fairholme’s Eggs Benedict

Blender Hollandaise Sauce (this is soo easy to make and it turns out perfectly every time)

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch cayenne
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 butter

Melt butter in microwave. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne and salt in blender and turn on high for about 10 minutes.

With blender running, pour the melted butter into the egg mixture in a slow steady stream.

Allow the butter to fully incorporate and blend for 30 more seconds. The sauce should be light, creamy and smooth. Serve immediately.

• 8 large poached eggs
• 4 English muffins
• 8 slices Canadian bacon
• 8 slices tomato or cooked spinach
• 2 tbsp chives or parsley, finely chopped
• cayenne
• butter

Poached Eggs

Fill a skillet almost to the brim with cold water. Bring water to boil over high heat and reduce to medium or gentle simmer. Crack eggs one at a time into a small teacup. Pour each egg slowly into the gently simmering water. Allow the whites to start coagulating before dropping in the entire egg. Bring the water back up to temperature between each egg.

Allow eggs to lightly simmer in poaching water for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes or until whites are completely cooked. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain excess liquid.

Putting it all Together

Lightly toast and butter English muffins, keep warm in oven. Heat Canadian bacon in skillet with a little butter, do not brown. Place in oven with English muffins.

Place English muffins on plate. Top with Canadian bacon, tomato slice and poached egg. Pour 1-2 tablespoons Hollandaise Sauce over each egg. Garnish with chopped herbs and a pinch of cayenne.

I’m off to cut the grass and do some laundry.

Cheers,

Julie

Last year cottagers in the Kawartha Lakes area of southern Ontario, particularly Shamong Lake, started finding 100’s of dead carp rotting on their shoreline.   

This year cottagers on Rice Lake and Lake Simcoe are also starting to find the dead carcases dotting their shoreline.

Between 12,000 to 24,000 carp have died, at least 1,200 of them were found on Rice Lake and the canal between Trent University and Little Lake.

The virus, one of the factors being attributed to their death, is called the koi herpes virus.  The koi virus, new to Ontario, is believed to have been introduced to the water when hobby fish for backyard ponds, such as carp or koi fish imported from Asia, were thrown into the lakes according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The virus is weakening the fishes’ immune system, leaving them more susceptible to bacteria.  Spawning and higher water temperatures are also putting the fish under increased stress.

While the virus poses no threat to human health, continually bagging and removing the dead fish carcuses has angered cottagers in the Peterborough area to the point where they have staged a protest at the Ministry of Natural Resources local office. 

If you have a cottage that is connected to the Trent Severn Waterway system and are starting to notice dead carp washing up on your shoreline, you’re asked to to call 1-866-929-0884.

Cheers,

Julie

Regardless of what the rest of Canada thinks about Ontario, there are actually some compelling reasons for buying a cottage in the “centre of the universe” province.

Here are just a few:

1. There are over 250,000 lakes (B.C. and Alberta have approx. 1,000, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have 100,000 respectively) which translates to more cottages for sale
2. Gas sells for $1.25 a litre in Ontario largely due to all the refineries (BC - $1.50, Alberta slightly less - gas gets cheaper the closer you get to Ontario)
3. Good airport - three to be exact
4. Tim Hortons with drive- through windows - the highways are dotted with them
5. Webbers - awesome burgers and malt milkshakes
6. It’s culturally acceptable to leave work early on Friday in order to beat the “cottage traffic”
7. Better odds of getting invited to a cottage, especially if you don’t have one
8. The Spring and Fall Cottage Life Shows - a trade show devoted entirely to the art of cottaging
9. Hot sunny weather in the summer (with the exception of this summer)
10. What’s your reason for owning a cottage in Ontario?

I think it’s also important to set the record straight. Ontario is not the centre of the universe or the centre of Canada for that matter. This honour goes to Manitoba.

Cheers,

Julie

Some things are worth repeating especially if you have a dog with a bad memory.

Despite getting sprayed by a skunk last year, on Sunday night Daisy managed to come under fire again.  I smelt the first whiffs come through the window and as it gradually got stronger I knew we’d been hit.  The little stinker sprayed the back of the house.  Of course all the windows were open and within minutes our house was filled with the pungent aroma of burning tires.  While there is nothing I could do about the house, other than leaving the windows open to air out, I happen to have a great de-skunking recipe for the dog.  I highly recommend printing this off and taking it with you to the cabin.  These three simple ingredients quickly restored Daisy to her former glory in no time.  They are:De-Skunking Recipe

• 600 mls of hydrogen peroxide
• 1/4 cup of baking soda
• Scented kids shampoo or Sunlight liquid soap

I mixed them all together in a bucket, donned a pair of latex gloves and went to work with an old rag and scrubbed her from tip to tail.  Afterwards I hosed her down with cold water. While Daisy did not enjoy the process, she was grateful to be relieved of the eau de skunk.

This recipe actually works better than some of the store bought varieties I’ve tried.If you have any other remedies that worked please leave me a comment.Cheers,Julie

Nothing says ‘I Love You’ like a homemade pie. It’s no secret that I tricked my husband into marrying me by passing off one of my mother’s homemade apple pies as my own. An often over-looked dessert, I’ve learned that pie is one way to a man’s heart.

Today’s recipe, Coconut Cream pie, is one of my favourite pies to make for friends. It’s rich, decedent and a joy to receive.

Creamy Coconut Custard Pie

You can use a pre-packaged Tenderflake pie crust or see How to Make Pie Pastry if you’re making it from scratch.

Filling

• 1 - small can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk
• 1 - 14 oz can Coconut Milk
• 3/4 cup of whole milk
• 1/4 tsp coconut extract
• 1 tsp tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 4 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Preparation:

Whisk condensed milk, eggs and flour in a medium bowl. Bring milk and coconut milk to simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture , whisking constantly. Return to heat and cook until cream thickens and boils. Stir constantly for about four minutes. Remove from heat, mix vanilla and coconut extract. Pour into medium bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface to prevent skin from forming. Chill until cold, and then transfer filling to a cooked pie crust. Cover; chill overnight.

Topping

• 2 cups of fresh whipping cream
• 2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp coconut extract

Toast coconut in heavy skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Cool completely.

Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar and coconut extract in medium bowl until peaks form. Spread whipped cream over top of filling. Sprinkle evenly with toasted coconut. Serve cold.

Cheers,

Julie

Our cottage neigbours, Ted and Maria, have lost their wooden retaining wall. The stacked wooded poles that held their infill lawn in place gave way this spring; the result of too much rain and poor construction. Their buckled front lawn is pouring into the lake.

It seems the previous owner wanted a level lawn, so he poured dump truck after dump truck of fill onto his lot and secured it with a round wooden poles stacked on top of one another. This lush green lawn is now a crumbling mass.

The cost to fix the mess is pegged at $10,000 - the cost to bring in a bobcat to move the dirt and secure the wall.

For many cottagers, managing erosion takes time and money. And then there are the environmental regulations. Ted and Maria won’t be able to restore their lawn to it’s original structure, but with the help of a product called, Deltalok, they can build a sloping lawn for about one third of the cost to bring in a bobcat.

The Deltalok system uses a GTX soil bag filled with dirt held in place by metal connectors. Over time, the bags allow vegetation to grow, and the structure becomes even stronger as plant and tree root systems grow throughout.
It is used extensively on banks, slopes and walls.

This product is fairly new to Canada, but due to it’s low cost, ease of installation and ability to protect the environment, it will no doubt be a popular alternative for cottagers seeking bank, slope and wall protection.

Cheers,

Julie

Penny Caldwell, the editor of Cottage Life magazine is pondering a TV for the cottage. In this month’s summer edition she writes:

“The cottage is not a place where you take a TV set. TVs lead to unsightly towers and moral degradation (they don’t call them idiot boxes and boob tubes for nothing). Bringing one to the cottage is the first tumble on the slippery slope toward unstoppable development on our shoreline. In effect, TV at the cottage signals the decline of cottage country as we know it…”

While it is true that your brain uses less activity watching television than it does sleeping thereby earning it the title, “Boob Tube,” I’m not sure watching an occasional movie at the cabin is going to destroy cottage life as we know it.

Penny’s tongue-in-cheek article is part of our Canadian psyche which states, “You should be outside playing on a sunny day not watching TV,” a sentiment echoed by Chritian Lander, author and blogger of StuffWhitePeopleLike.com.

There is no doubt that once I turn on the boob tube I have a hard time turning it off even though there is absolutely nothing worth watching, but according to Penny’s editorial, her sole reason for wanting a TV at the cottage is to watch movies. Never once does she mention missing Peter Mansbridge or Rex Murphy- who incidentally are the only two things you’re going to be watching without a satellite dish in cottage country.

Is there anything wrong with watching movies at the cabin? A bowl of popcorn, a blanket and a good movie is a very enjoyable evening. I think we’re loathe to change traditions at the cabin. It’s our rituals that hold us hostage. Old rocking chairs, lumpy mattress and no dishwashers might be the way my parents cottaged, but I’m not sure I want that to be part of my experience.

Penny, I strongly urge you to break down and buy a DVD player. They’re lightweight and portable. Technically, you’re not watching TV, and more importantly, you’ll be able to watch movies in your hammock!

Cheers,

Julie

We recently celebrated our 12 wedding anniversary, and despite our ups and downs, Bill and I have a good marriage, or at least we did until this past weekend.

The issue - laminate flooring. OK I confess, it was my idea to rip up the old dog stained carpet and put down oak laminate flooring. Every body I spoke to said how easy it was to install. Clearly they’ve either paid someone install it for them, or they’ve actually know how to operated a maitre saw.

I knew we were in trouble when Bill came home with the biggest saw I’ve ever seen, along with a few other ones. Grinning from ear-to-ear, he looked like the cat who’d just swallowed the canary.

I personally find renovations take patience and more patience. Two things I’m sorely lacking.

We started ripping apart out the basement flooring first thing Saturday morning. By Sunday at 10 a.m. I was ready to call the flooring guy back, the one who quoted us $1,600 dollars, and beg him to complete the job. It wasn’t that we weren’t progressing quickly enough - we honestly didn’t have a clue how to install laminate flooring. Call me pragmatic, but I didn’t want to waste a square foot - even if it only cost $0.79.

Our luck took a turn for the better when I ran into my friend’s husband. Lucky for us, he’d actually installed several laminate floors. Pleading my case, he took pity on us and gave us a hands- on tutorial. Thank God he did. Bill confessed he was feeling overwhelmed and didn’t have a clue how to tackle it. With our his help we cut, hammered and butted our new flooring into place in almost a day.

Yes, laminate flooring is easy to install, but if your a novice like we were, here’s a list of things I found useful:

1. The plastic covering or underlay should be placed with the sticky tape side facing up (not down - wasted a whole roll on that mistake)
2. Either rent, borrow or buy a compound sliding mitre saw and a laminate flooring blade (the blades cost $80). A jig saw also comes in handy.
3. You will need a work bench, ruler and a pencil
4. Invest in a Flooring Installation Kit that includes: tapping block (do not use directly on the flooring you’re tapping into place - it will chip it - use a spare piece of wood in front of the actual piece you are installing), pull bar and spacers
5. Have a broom, dust pan and garbage bags standing by.
6. A sense of humour - good if you both have one.
7. Extra flooring for mistakes
8. Good quality flooring - you pay for what you get - ours kept chipping when we tried butting it together

It took us a day to prep the room which included:removing the furniture, ripping out the old carpet and underlay, removing the carpet nails and installing the plastic sheeting.

We also found it really helpful to have someone standing by to get us started - a flooring coach if you will. It gave us the confidence we needed and prevented us from wasting a lot of wood.

Fortunately our marriage has survived another renovation, and the new flooring looks awesome. Personally, I think Bill was just looking for an excuse to buy some new toys, if you could call a maitre saw a toy…..

Cheers,

Julie

When it comes to cooking fish, there are four ingredients that no kitchen should be without:

• Limes
• Sea Salt
• Cracked Pepper
• Corriander

Marinating and grilling any white fish using the above combination can bring any fish hater to their knees, myself included. We’ve used it on tuna, snapper and halibut. The result? We now eat more fish.

If you’re entertaining a gang at the cottage and are looking for something unique, consider making fish fajitas. It’s a simple, straightforward meal that can be prepped in advance leaving you free to enjoy a drink with your guests. I like to serve them with corn on the cob and Spanish rice.

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• juice from one lime
• dash of hot pepper sauce

Mix all ingredients in a bowl; refrigerate.

Fish

• 1 3/4 pounds of halibut (or any white fish)
• juice from 3 limes
• course sea salt
• cracked pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

Squeeze lime juice over fish (front and back). Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh corriander. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Tortillas

• 12 large white tortillas
• spicy fresh salsa

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Heat skillet over medium heat. Stack 2 tortillas. Sprinkle top with water. Place in skillet, wet side down. Heat 1 minute. Sprinkle top with water. Turn stack over, heat 1 minute. Transfer stack to large sheet of foil. Repeat. Enclose tortillas in foil. Place in over to keep warm.

Grill Fish

Place fish on a clean, lightly oiled preheated barbecue grill (I use a wire fish basket). Cook at medium heat approx. 4 minutes per each side depending on the thickness of the fish. Fish is cooked when flesh just flakes when tested. Cut into pieces.

Spread a teaspoon of sauce on each warm tortilla. Place several small chunks of fish on top. Add a teaspoon of fresh salsa and roll together, folding in the corners.

Serve with corn on the cob, nachos and cold Coronas.

Cheers,

Julie