Pretty little church that is never locked apparently.
Lovely little place…..not necessarily the kind of place you would drive up here to see….but if you are in the area its most certainly worth the side trip to include it in your day. ( bonus…not just the church is open…but there is also an accessible washroom/outhouse onsite).
The stained glass windows all depict local flowers.
We stopped in at a local artists gallery on East Road just for a look….quite lovely prints and cards….lovely spot…
Since one of the themes of this part of the trip seems to be the varied terrains of this part of the country…I could not resist taking some pictures of the rock formations along the road on the way home. Some of them look (I think) like manmade brick walls…..(plus it gave me the excuse to stop for a couple of rests on the road home….don’t tell Scott….!!!!)
We started doing this when we started regularly going to local farmers markets and finding an abundance of top quality fresh produce.
Its a lot of work up front, but a great way to extend the possibilities when you are faced with gorgeous quality garlic at the farmers markets, or roadside vegetable stands ( or if you are lucky enough to have it growing in your backyard..).
Then…when you are busy in the kitchen producing gourmet food…..the work has been done to be sure you have the best ingredients at your fingertips ready to use (without resorting to commercially produced, questionably sourced staples)
We do this in two ways.
We roast large quantities of garlic (either local Amish, Spanish, or California). We have found (to our taste) that Mexican and Chinese is very bitter.
We crush it and preserve it in good quality olive oil. This is ideal for the trailer where we have limited space for storage and don’t always have access to fresh produce, but would prefer not to compromise on the quality of the food we eat.
Roasted Garlic
roasted garlic (local Amish)
We were very lucky last year to be able to buy a large quantity of local garlic from an Amish farmer. (We bought about 30 pounds…!!)
We ( and when I say we….I mean Scott….!!!) roast the garlic in the slow cooker.
These bulbs were large, as you can see, 18 fit in the bottom of our slow cooker ( which was a 6 quart Ninja).
Cut the top off the bulbs and arrange them on the bottom of the slow cooker. Paint a little bit of olive oil on the top of each bulb, and sprinkle a little bit of rosemary (or herb of your preference).
Add 1 cup of cold water to the bottom of the slow cooker.
What Scott always did was then picked out the little cut tops of the cloves and put them in a glass bowl and covered them …to two thirds full of olive oil, with a little bit of herb added also. (seemed like a better idea than discarding them…!!!) and sit it on top of the bulbs in the slow cooker.
Lid on and cook for 4 to 5 hours on low. You can tell when they are done because all of a sudden you have this wonderful roasted garlic smell wafting through the house.
Now it has to cool…….so turn it off and if you have a back porch or somewhere outside secure from animals…..let it cool because the next thing you have to do is handle it.
The next bit is the laborious bit. PUT SOME GLOVES ON…!!! …..and carefully peel the paper off the cloves….we stack them , but don’t pack them too tightly or you will never be able to separate them….into boxes that then go in the freezer.
The little bits…!!
They get pureed and frozen in ice cube trays.
These little cubes are marvelous in soup…….or totally decadent mixed in to cream cheese or goat cheese……( I know this because……YUM..!!)
So any time we need garlic for a recipe we either use the cloves of roasted, or the crushed in oil…..makes life simpler ….and yummier.
Crushed garlic.
We have tried any different garlic tools……and this is by far our favourite. It is both easy to use and easy to clean.
This method uses 8 to 12 bulbs of fresh garlic. Peeled and then crushed.
Yield is about two cups of finished crushed garlic
The freshly crushed garlic is transferred into a box and mixed with olive oil until you cant get any more olive oil in. The garlic needs to be covered in the oil but no pooling of oil on the top.
This mix now sits in the fridge its better to leave it for about a month before using, this will soften the harshness of the garlic without sacrificing the flavour.
When a recipe calls for garlic I would substitute about a teaspoon of this crushed garlic per clove
Canada Day, July first was a recovery day from the slightly challenging bike ride……..but the 2nd …we decided to drive back over to Dyers Bay ( with lots of oooooo’s and aaaaaahhh’s at the “undulations” in the road along the way.)
We had spotted another couple of side trails off the Bruce trail….so the mission for the day was Juniper Flats. The variation in terrains from one section to the next is both fascinating, and quite exciting…….it might take a very long time to get bored of the various walks and hikes in this area.
Warning……there will be lots of pictures in this post…..both because of the encouragement I have been receiving with some very positive feedback (thank you..)..and how fantastically beautiful the landscape is.
Starting off at the Bruce trail access 100 yards up the road from Dyers Bay.
Bruce leads onto the side trail. Another interesting aspect of these trails….aside from the challenging surface underfoot……is how winding the trail often is…..you cant see the next bit til you walk forward another 5 feet……and very often you stop and look up….momentarily convinced you have strayed from the path…..and see another ..very well placed blue or white flash ahead of you.
Bugs were not as bad today….either we figured out the frequency of re-application of the bug repellent….or it was just a bit windier today…!!
Yes….he found some sweet peas………!!!!
….and …of course….an abundance of juniper berries………
Finale to the day was another bit of a first with the airstream….
The outdoor shower
Just have to say….this is pretty cool……….just one more thing to love about our new home.
We thought it would fun (!!!) to ride the bikes from here at Cape Chin down to Dyers Bay…..where the public boat launch is. Google maps said the route was fairly flat……let me just say…..google maps lied. The overall result may have been that we finished at the approximate elevation we started at……but flat……..it was NOT…!!! (LOL)
At least my phone was impressed…ie multiple trophies….what ever that means !!!
That little figure out there on the end of the pier is Scott on his bike..!!
Dyers Bay boat launch…its hard to really see how blue the water is….
Georgian Bay Side…..Dyers BayClear blue and beautifulA little further north…we cycled up the road a little ….cos it was so pretty ( and it was easier than the enormous hill back out of the bay…..did I mention I think he was trying to kill me today…!!!….and that’s me….munching my granola bar….drinking my water and contemplating the torturous ride home….
I’m realising that we did not actually take any pictures along the route today……but take my word for it…….the undulation (!) of the road was …..well it was challenging……
We are planning a return trip ( in a motor vehicle next time to hit a couple of the side trails of the ruce from Dyers Bay……watch this space….
Setting off on the other side of the road…..Otter Lake side trail…..just off Cape Chin North road.
So the walk today was to the other side of the road. Otter Lake side trail promised a 6.5 km walk. It was quite a bit flatter than the other side (Bard side trail) and about half the walk is exposed…through meadow and marsh, while the other half is in cover through birch and cedar.
Beautiful……..but the past couple of days we have had some pretty heavy rain……and while it is not nearly as warm as southern Ontario….the humidity is definitely quite high.
The moisture in the air contributes to the North Bruce extreme weight loss program…!!!!1. You are walking….which is burning some calories……2. I am quite sure none of the exercise apps have a measurement for how many calories you burn as you constantly brush your arms and head, swat your legs and generally flail your arms around to combat the seemingly coordinated attacks of first the deerflies which attack in the open terrain….mercilessly…….second…as soon as you enter shade….the deerflies stop (probably fly over the trees to wait for you on the other side..!!!)..and their best mates…the helicopter sized mosquitos take their turn….
The third part of the weight loss being the chunks of flesh and blood the aforementioned beasties butcher out of your arms, head, neck….or heck…they just plain bite you through your jeans…..
I was astonished there were not a million little holes incised out of the fabric of our clothing when we got back…!!!
Pretty terrain that is very reminiscent of parts of the highlands of Scotland..Had to include the Monarch on the milkweed….Surprising that you cant actually see the blooming blinking deerflies…..!!!Electric blue dragonfly……hard to get pictures but these things were so prolific ….and pretty
These little electric blue dragonflies were everywhere…….apparently they prey on deerflies….I knew I loved these things…!!!
Orange peel mushroom.
I had seen these on the websites as I was trying to identify the hedgehog mushrooms that we found on the Bard side trail…….it looked just like someone had peeled a clementine and left it sitting on the log….
Thursday 24th was a loooooong day. It was our second vax day (yay..we are both now fully vaccinated..!!) which meant a return to civilisation……for a day…!!!
After our foray onto the Georgian Bluffs last week , one of the necessary side trips in Brantford was to Al’s Shoes to purchase proper hiking boots…(Many thanks Al’s Shoes….good job well done…we are both super happy with our new footwear).
Friday was the next move…….
The new set up at Cape Chin.
I discovered that we are not actually a half mile from the Bruce trail….we are actually right on the Bruce trail.
About a 200 meter walk down the road gives us the option of a couple of side trail also. One is the Bard trail and the other is the Otter Lake side trail.
Bard Side trailYes I know its another picture of Georgian Bay….but its sooooo pretty…!!!This is actually the trail……we think this is a hedgehog or sweet tooth mushroom…….not sure enough to try eating it tho……LOLSuch a pretty trail.
Bruce trail , Georgian BluffsBruce trail …walking/hiking Georgian BluffsDevils monument, Bruce Trail
Switching it up for the first look at the Bruce trail today…….not quite what I expected to tell the truth. I think I was expecting nicely manicured flat gravel or grit paths ….anyone who has been on the Bruce trail is now holding their splitting sides from laughter …..!!!
What a wonderful resource, not for the faint of heart for sure ( both body and spirit..!!!) For anyone who has not been here…..you literally have to stop to enjoy the view……the path underfoot…is a path…and it is marked along the way…….but flat and manicured it is not. We walked out for an hour and then turned around (seemed sensible having paid for 2 hours parking ). The “walk” involved much clambering up and down rocks and weaving your foot treads through tree roots and rocks all the way………99 percent looking down..which is also interesting.
Looking up involves finding a relatively flat spot, standing still, and not moving your feet as you look around.
Maybe thats just how it is on the Georgian Bluffs portion…I look forward to finding out.
Friday we move the airstream up to Cape Chin where we will be about a half mile from several trail access points.
The other end of the day saw Scott , who has been quite determined to swim in Lake Huron, do just that……
Apparently it was cold….!!!!! That was one of the descriptive terms that were used…!!!!
We find ourselves here , still in North Bruce , having uncovered a camping hazard I’m quite sure I have never heard anyone mention before….
The discovery at the end of Scotts shoe after finding a very “gummy” sock at the end of the day…
second visitor discovered…same shoe
It would appear…that after one has left their shoes tucked under the edge of the trailer for a couple of days unattended…….it would be a good idea to tap them out and make sure no opportunistic locals have made themselves at home…!!!
Yup…they should add it to the tourist warnings…..slugs in your shoes….its a thing….!!!!
Apologies for the false start on this post…….newbie that I am I published before all of the pictures properly uploaded….so I’ll try again.
Saturday 12th saw our first weekend in North Bruce…so we popped over to the Lionshead farmers market..
Paris Brew/Tagwerk
We came over to help out our friends from the Paris Brew/Tagwerk from the Wincey Mills in Paris and Cape Chin farm here in North Bruce.
The beer (which is exceptional..!!) is brewed at the Wincey Mills in Paris in collaboration with the masterbrewer who lives up here in North Bruce.
Also at this market (as well as many other vendors.)..Crepetown…organic buckwheat crepes………delicious….
Green crepe
This turned in to a marvelous breakfast…cant wait for my next one next Saturday…..yum
me at the waters edge…
This is me one Tuesday night trying to find a strong enough connection to upload pictures from Saturday….freezing my butt off sitting at the very edge of the water on Huron….it looks (and is) beautiful……but you cant see the wind…..or the crashing waves splashing my feet..
Ill try and do the next one from Starbucks I think……
OsteoPraxis on the road 