Coq au Vin

You might be a little intrigued as to why I entitled this post

 "Coq au Vin"?

Well, with offspring in tow, we started our weekend with a visit to 

The Village of Westport to check out a new winery.......

I know, 'a winery in Westport'????

Let me introduce you to Scheuermann Winery

 It is located at 82 Bedford St, at the end of a gravel road.  We were warmly greeted by the resident chickens....

.......and tasted 3 excellent wines. 

 We were even treated to a Vidal, still in the vat, by the owner Francois.  He is a trained chef and will be serving sharing plates to be enjoyed while sitting in comfortable chairs overlooking 

Westport Sand Lake.

The Riesling paired beautifully with crab cakes...

Our next destination was '66 Gilead Distillery'

in Prince Edward County.  It is located on an old farm, which ironically, also had a welcoming committee.

 The ornate Second Empire house was built in 1874 by a wealthy hops grower, Bert Cooper, during the County’s Barley Days.  Not only do they distill brandy, whiskey, vodka, gin and rum, but leave their maple syrup to age in whiskey barrels.  Yummmmm

  The Hops barn next to the house remains intact

 with it’s drying floors and brick ovens.

 The house serves as the tasting room as well as uses many of its downstairs rooms to showcase items for sale.

Time to head on to Agrarian,

in Bloomfield, for lunch.  The menu changes quite often, 

so there is always something new to try.

 

We sampled the Empire Caramelized Cheddar

 Grilled Cheese on Sourdough...

and a very tasty Wild Leek Ricotta Flatbread

 with Sprouts, Peas and Parmesan

Our last stop for the day was 'By Chadsey's Cairns'.

A lovingly tended Cemetery is at the entrance of the property.

  If only the gravestones could talk.......

We were a little disappointed that the prerequisite chickens 

were not there to greet us!

The vines were just starting to sprout among the twinkling streamers of shiny ribbon hung to scare off the birds.

The property's barn is used as the tasting room

 as old Mr. Chadsey watches over the proceedings.

We are so lucky to live in an area where only an hour's drive takes us to such treats!

March Foodie Tour!

We are extremely lucky to be living in an area where fabulous restaurants abound; some only a short drive downtown and 

others worthy of a day trip.

Our first trip took us to Prince Edward County for lunch at

 Agrarian Bistro in Bloomfield,

to meet up with old friends.

Along our country route, we passed my favourite runoff...

It was so much fun to find our friends in good spirits

 and full of laughter!

We dined on on Fish and Chips

and finished off the meal with butter tarts and creme brule

We had such a fabulous time!

A few weeks later, we joined friends for dinner at Megalos Restaurant in downtown Kingston, before going to the theatre.

Their 'prix fixe' menu had very generous portions and was delicious.

I started with a huge salad...

.....then a 'huge' burger!

Desert was included, but I couldn't eat another bite, so took it home for another day....peanut butter cake.....yummo!

As all good things come in 'threes', 

my honey and I celebrated our recent anniversary at

Le Chien Noir Bistro, also in downtown Kingston.

They also have a 'prix fixe' menu.  The menu has a 'french' slant to it with many surprising additions.

I started with a roasted squash risotto, where instead of rice, the chef used cauliflower, finishing it with shaved pecorino romano.

then on to more traditional french fare, mussels

and, in case you haven't figured it out yet, my favourite desert, creme brule!

As spring is just around the corner, I took a short drive to see how my stream looked today.....almost all the snow gone, 

but still gushing water.

100 kilometer journey

Given that it is a long weekend here, I took the opportunity of an extra day off to travel within a 100 kilometer radius of home.

First up, a trip for lunch to Perth, Ontario.

There are many wonderful restaurants to choose from, but decided on

The Stone Cellar

What caught my attention was the lure of this burger:

A Nutty (Veg) Burger A blend of pecans, peanuts and almonds ground in our kitchen, mixed with fresh herbs and vegetables, crisp Bibb lettuce and tomatoes, then crowned with our house peach jam. Served with fresh greens, fresh fruit, balsamic vinaigrette and sweet potato fries topped with a local maple syrup drizzle.

All washed down with local brew....

Next up, a trip to the village of Westport for a car show at the local church.

There was something for everyone:

For fans of the movie GREASE, a replica of 'Greased Lightning'

Then, back to Kingston for a fabulous dinner at Le Chien Noir

Final outing; off to Prince Edward County for a stroll in Bloomfield
and lunch at Agrarian Market and Speakeasy

A first for me; Eggs Benedict poutine!

Yummy poached eggs with hollandaise, bacon and parmesan sitting atop crispy fries!

The crowning glory of the weekend;
ice cream from Slickers Ice Cream

Happy long weekend!

Lunch in Prince Edward County

After varying temperatures in May, the first weekend in June turned out to be a lovely 20 degrees with sunny, clear skies

 and a warm gentle breeze.

The prior week, a welcome rain brought relief to the parched ground and filled giant mushrooms with tiny drinking fountains.

It was time for another road trip to the 'county'!

My favourite part of the trip is taking the ferry across Adolphus Reach

First stop: Bloomfield, with its quaint shops and charming locally owned restaurants

The last time we were at Agrarian for lunch, there were so many choices we wanted to try, that we knew we had to go back to sample something different

I started with a chilly glass of '8 Man English Pale Ale' from one of our local breweries: 

Mackinnon Brewing

...which helped wash down a crispy local perch sandwich

Delicious!

Our next stop was a visit to Domaine Darius to pick up a few bottles of the delicious Port that I had tasted on my last visit.

The gardens had been planted and were starting to burst with colour

I love their use of different mediums to show off their green thumbs!

We ended this glorious weekend with a trip
 up to Chaffey's Locks to visit
The Opinicon Resort, currently being restored to its former glory......

....to enjoy some home make ice cream

While strolling the lock, I noticed a most fascinating tree.....rings of its history were exposed and weathered making it a lovely tableau!

Ah, Welcome June......