Here we are at the Toronto Zoo posing with the Orangutang, our little one enjoyed watching the live one who picked it's nose and ate it right in front of my two year old, awesome lessons learned! Just today I had to stop her from chowing down on her boogers and her response to me "orangutang"?
But before the Zoo, Jon and I got to spend two glorious days on our own. Jon was sick and it rained most of the time, but there was not one.single.child running around and screaming. Don't get me wrong, I love my job as a home child care provider and being a Mom, but sometimes it's just nice to sit by the pool (indoor), read the latest issue of Food & Drink and just relax.
We headed up to Christie's Mill in Port Severn ,Ontario. On our way up we made a detour to Creemore to have some lunch and take in a tour of Creemore Spring Brewery .
We had a lovely view of the brewery from our patio seats at Creemore Kitchen where Jon and I shared the Crispy Organic Fried Chicken with a biscuit, white thyme gravy, potato puree and carrot slaw. It was a lovely meal, the chicken, was a bit over cooked, had an amaxing flavour and super crispy skin. The potato puree was really creamy and the carrot slaw was wonderful. We finished our meal with a GIGANTIC chocolate chip cookie from the attached bakery. While in the bakery we had an opportunity to speak with the chef (who was being interviewed for an upcoming issue of Food & Drink) and he shared that the cookie recipe was perfected over a number of years while he was living in Ireland. The cookie itself was a unique blend of fluffy, crunchy edges (think pavola) and a chewy center. It was very sweet and lacked in the chocolate chip department, but definitely worth trying.
Included in our stay at Christie's Mill was breakfast everyday and a $50 resort credit which we decided to use for dinner in their dinning room. Located on the water front the dining room offers panoramic views of the water and wooded area that surround the inn. I enjoyed the lobster tails with rice and seasonal steamed vegetable.
We also enjoyed breakfast, a basic buffet of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, homefries, pancakes and pastries. On our last day we had lunch in the dining room and despite our s l o w service I enjoyed their steak sandwich with fries.
On the second night in Port Severn we headed to a local joint The Dam Grill. The clouds had finally parted and we were excited to sit on the patio and enjoy our nachos while looking out over the water at the sunset. You cannot beat this view and the food is pretty good to.
And keeping up with mine and Jon's romantic vacation tradition, we created our own cheese and meat plate for lunch on our second day and enjoyed it while lounging in bed with a glass of wine while it rained outside.
Once we were done with our couple time we headed back to Jon's parent's (they were kind enough to keep our Chipmunk for a few days) where the family fun began.
We started by heading to the local Aurora Farmers Market where I picked up some local Strawberries and Rhubarb to create this yummy pie.
This pie was the dessert portion of an anniversary meal we made for Jon's parents who celebrated 39 years of marriage this past June. This Grilled Caesar Salad was a great accompaniment to BBQ'd Beer Crust Pizza.
When we got home to Kitchener the food fun did not end. We enjoyed a homemade steak dinner on the patio.
Breakfast at our favourtie spot Jack's Family Restaurant, love their Eggs Benny!
Followed by a trip to the St. Jacob's Farmers Market where we went a little hog wild on the abundance of fresh produce.
There was also a foodie field trip with Momstown to Johnny Rocco's where our Chipmunk made her own pizza and then watched it cook in the wood fire oven.
And we finished things off with a little early morning pancake making.
I have to say it wasn't until I sat down and started to write this post that I realized how much food related stuff we did on our holidays. It truly was a Foodie Holiday and summer is just getting started! There are more BBQ's to attend, markets to explore, ribfests, patios etc. etc. etc. I cannot wait to share with all of you the fun food things we do over the next two months.
** Please note all opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own. I was not asked to endorse or given free product by any of the above mentioned businesses.
