Canada Day

    Yesterday, July 1st., was Canada Day and I had my flag hanging at my front door to celebrate. Shortly after breakfast I headed to my other tennis club to play a round robin until it started raining. Following a BBQ lunch  there were speeches and prizes (I won a can of tennis balls - very welcome) and we all sang "O, Canada" our national anthem.

     I didn't do much in the afternoon and had a light dinner as lunch was pretty hearty. There were fireworks in the evening which I watched on my back deck but one annoying fellow was still setting them off after midnight which was not very neighbourly!

   Today, as it was still quite cool in the morning, I had a long walk before breakfast and have been watching Wimbledon ever since. Things are getting interesting! More of the same tomorrow so it has been a very pleasant long weekend so far.

   

Butter Tarts

      "Sparkling Merlot" asked about butter tarts - I thought they were a thing in most Commonwealth countries. This is all that's left of the half dozen I bought at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday and I'm surprised there are even three left. I have to keep them in the freezer so as to limit myself to one a day!

    They are actually quite easy to make although I have never been able to reproduce the proper pastry. The filling is basically melted butter, brown sugar and eggs but the big controversy is whether to leave them plain or add nuts or raisins. These have pecans although I am partial to raisins too. These just looked the most scrumptious! To make them truly Canadian (it is Canada Day today) you can add maple syrup to the filling. 

   In our part of Ontario you can follow the "Butter Tart Route" where different towns and villages claim to have the best butter tarts around. Now following that tour would be my idea of heaven!

Strawberry Fields Forever

    Last day to get to the Pick-Your-Own strawberries before school is out so I booked an early slot for this morning. Unfortunately rain was forecast and I was lucky to get half my basket filled before it began to drizzle. I managed to (mostly) fill my basket before it changed to a heavy downpour - I could have squeezed in a few more berries but decided to sprint to the car instead! 

    The farm is quite a ways out of the city and has a market as well so I popped in for a bag of new potatoes and some of their fabulous butter tarts. I stopped off at a coffee shop on the way home and ate one of the tarts with a big cup of decaf. My treat for enduring the damp conditions. Then picked up extra sugar for making jam.

    The berries were quite big and juicy but I was disappointed that the basket was smaller than last year - and cost more! I will just make one batch of jam, strawberry rhubarb this year - I still have several jars from last summer - and eat the rest. A strawberry rhubarb crumble is on my list of ways to use them up.

     I got quite soaked running a few more errands on the way home (trying to conserve fuel by doing everything in one trip) but once I was dried off and changed into dry clothes I got cracking on the jam making. Here's the result.

   I was surprised how many jars I managed to fill - and had some surplus. I may not have boiled it for long enough so it will remain to be seen whether it sets properly.

   Now everything is cleaned up and the kitchen is back to rights so I can relax knowing I am well supplied with jam for the coming year!

Out To Lunch

     I went to the tennis social at my other courts this morning but didn't play, just ran the Round Robin for a while. The reason for that was that Cathy had invited us over for lunch and I was in charge of salad!

   Too bad I didn't take a photo of it as it was rather yummy if I do say so myself. Romaine lettuce, red pepper and avocado slices, olives and bacon bits with some homemade dressing involving lots of garlic and grated parmesan cheese. Of course that was just the side dish as Cathy had barbecued burgers with all the fixings, Kathy had made her speciality, devilled eggs, and Susan had baked scones which she served with home made jam and clotted cream. There was also Prosecco and, for afters, Lemoncello liqueur! I needed a nap when I finally rolled home.

    Another two swims day - the water was lovely and refreshing at 77F and I am gradually increasing the lengths to see if I can get some serious exercise. We are headed for some more heat this weekend then it cools off a bit on Monday but at least the nights are cool enough to get a good sleep. I have seen people blog about opening all the windows during the day to try to stay comfortable. Here the windows are all open wide overnight then closed up first thing in the morning. At least that's how I handle the heat. The A/C doesn't usually click on until late in the afternoon.

   Only a light snack for dinner tonight - my stomach needs a rest too!