Vacation Cookies

One tradition (along with many others, probably) that I didn't mention in my Canada post is that the dessert of choice after our delicious meal of fried fresh fish is an assortment of cookies and fruit. It's a good way to finish the meal and, even after eating all that fish, there's always a little room for a cookie or two. And another nice perk is that we don't usually eat all the cookies for dessert - this means there are lots left for snacking throughout the week!

Leslie went all out in preparation for Canada and took making cookies (and brownies) seriously. She make four different recipes and they all turned out wonderfully. These are our 11th - 14th recipes of the year (that we've published on here, at least). So yay for that too!

The Recipes

Since there are four recipes for this post... I don't feel like typing them all up here. So just click on the links below for the recipes and whatnot. (And sorry for not taking many pictures... I was too busy "helping" Leslie by doing a little... quality control... to snap many photos. Oops.)

Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

End Results and Final Thoughts

These were all very good. Very very good. Leslie did an amazing job with each recipe and they all turned out really well. My favorites were the cake batter cookies - they were moist, sweet, and had sprinkles! They're also nice and light, which was a nice contrast to the brownie bars. The bars were really good too, but there's a lot going on in them. They have good texture from the nuts and cereal, but it's almost too much for me in one bite. The applesauce cookies were a huge hit with everyone on the trip, which was good because the recipe as-is is more like a double recipe. It could easily be halved to make a more manageable batch (instead of the cornucopia of cookies we had... and yes, I love alliteration). They seem like they'd be a great cookie for the fall. I can definitely imagine sitting in the cool autumn breeze with a few of these cookies and a mug of warm cider - that's the magic of a little cinnamon and cloves. And, of course, the cranberry cookies. These were good, but not my favorite. The tartness of the berries made the whole cookie seem a little too savory for me. These cookies, I think, would be better featured in a spread of different desserts (and could easily be the start of a Christmas cookie spread) so the tartness could present a nice contrast to a bunch of other sweeter, richer desserts. I guess we'll have to keep that in mind before the next Christmas party we go to.


And that'll do it for us today, dear readers. Thanks for following along and see you next week!

A Most Joyful Wedding

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of serving as bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings. It was such a great day full of joy, love, and celebration. The newlyweds have been apart much of their relationship; I am so glad that those days are over for them! The whole day long they both had the biggest smiles on their faces!

The rehearsal the night before

Jeremy and I had a great time at the reception; we experienced our first photo booth ever and made fools of ourselves on the dance floor (typical). We enjoyed some pretty great BBQ for dinner and cute little pies for dessert!

It was especially great getting to know the bride's and groom's families. They are all great people, and it is very clear to see why the bride and groom are so wonderful! Congratulations you two and God bless!

O Canada!

It would be wrong to start a post about Canada with anything other than an apology. So sorry we abandoned you all last week, postless and sad. We were on vacation this past week (in Canada... duh) and didn't think it wise to say anything on here about our upcoming trip (much in the same way we didn't post a sign in front of our house saying, "We're not home! Come on in and take whatever you want!") So yes, sorry for the abrupt departure. But we're back now! Back to tell you about our lovely journey north. (Feel free to just scroll through the pictures - this will be a long post!)

This trip is an old tradition in my family. In fact, this year's trip marked 40 years since my family's first Canadian fishing excursion back in 1974. My first time up was in 2000, so I'm familiar with all the traditions the trip entails, but I've been out of the mix for awhile. I haven't been up to Canada with my family since 2008, I hadn't been back to this particular lake since 2004, and I had never been to this camp at all. So this vacation brought some new experiences even to me, a seasoned veteran of sorts.

Our destination was Oba Lake, located in the Algoma District of Ontario. We used to go to a different camp on the same lake, but it closed and we tried out another lake for a few years before returning to our good old Oba (I clearly missed this triumphant return, since I haven't been there since '04). It's a long ways up there and we have to take a Martin/Candy movie's worth of transportation options to get there.

We loaded up my parents' van on Friday morning and headed to Angola to meet with the rest of the convoy. The whole troop consisted of my grandparents, my grandaunt, my cousin and his wife, my cousin's friend and his little brother, my dad, my sister, and of course Leslie and me. The first day was the drive up through Michigan, the U.P., and Sault Sainte Marie with our customary stop at a sporting goods store in Michigan for some last minute fishing supplies and a night spent at the Voyageurs' Lodge a little ways north of the border. The Voyageur is a cute little hotel featuring a restaurant, gift shop, and sandy beach on Lake Superior. We browsed the store (and purchased a little dessert), got our feet wet at the beach, and had breakfast the next morning at the hotel restaurant. The place is also a big draw for the locals with events like live music and a great event (the beginning of which we managed to catch before heading out) called Art on the Bay, featuring local artists and crafters with booths set up to sell their wares. It's a great little place and it's always a pleasure to stay there on our way north.

Crossing the border

Leslie and the moose at the casino where we exchange currency

Welcome to Voyageurs' Lodge

The hotel restaurant

My lovely wife dipping her toes in Superior

A beautiful evening in Batchawana Bay

My grandaunt Irma

Even Grandpa took his shoes off and got in the water

The water was a little cold...

Sunset on the bay

Dessert - Canadian Butter Tarts!

After our breakfast at the Voyageur we were back on the road. We hit up a few more stops (as 40 years of tradition dictates), the Canadian Carver and Young's General Store, to get fishing licenses and check out what souvenirs we want to buy on the way back. We also stop at a lovely scenic lookout where we skip rocks and stretch our legs. After those stops we make our final stop in the car at Hawk Junction. From here we take a train to the lake, where we climb aboard a boat to take us around the bend and south a bit to the sandy shores of our camp at Woods Cabins.

Breakfast at the Voyageur

Leslie liked the peanut butter package - there are bears on it

Busy place on a Friday morning

I think that bear could prevent forest fires all by himself

The Canadian Carver

A quick scenic stop to stretch our legs

All our equipment waiting for the train

The Algoma Central Railroad ready to take us to the lake

The camp is pretty remote and is one of only two working camps on the whole (14 miles long by 2 miles wide) lake. But that's part of the charm. It's rustic (no electricity, outhouses) but comfy (beds with warm blankets, propane fridges and wood-fired stoves). And you know what? You don't need no fancy electricity to catch fish.

Another tradition - Sunday morning church on a rock overlooking the lake

Clearly thrilled to have this picture taken...

America! Err, I mean bald eagle...

Loon calls at night are the best thing ever

The fish cleaning house

Lots of time spent reading

And catch fish we did. The majority of our group spends the majority of their time fishing. This provides us with fresh fish to eat daily, fish to take home and consume later, and lots and lots of funny stories about lost lures, broken rods, and "the one that got away." We had some cold, rainy days this year, so only a few people went out on those days. But even with contentious weather systems we managed to eat well and bring home a total of 95 fish (we've got 18 in my freezer right now!). We fish for northern pike and walleye, both of which are fun to catch and delicious to eat. Leslie did an excellent job considering this was her first fishing trip. She caught some big ones and now her arm is sore from all that fishing!

My dad taking Leslie and me out fishing

Leslie and her second fish! But is she more happy or scared?

Tyler's 34" pike

Leslie's 30" pike

Chris and Lyle's impressive morning catch

My evening catch - 7 walleye and a 30" pike

My grandpa and Irma landing another walleye

My 34" pike

Leslie and her little perch

I think that stringer of fish weighs more than her!

My dad cleaning fish for dinner

Leslie did the breading...

...and I did the frying.

Wrapping fish for us to freeze and take home

Northern pike ready to take home

Walleye ready to take home

We arrived at camp on Saturday afternoon and then headed back to Indiana on Friday morning. Leslie and I picked up a few souvenirs on our way back - a smoked summer sausage, some art prints, and a jar of red pepper jelly. And, of course, got some ice cream for the road!

Awkward family photo

Michael, the camp owner, taking us to the train tracks in the boat

The moose standing guard over the summer sausage

Ice cream time!

We arrived in Fort Wayne around 2:30am on Saturday morning, stayed the night at my parents' house, and then got back to our house on Saturday. Vacation is always fun, but it's nice to be back in our own place with our pets (and electricity). We had a great time fishing and are really looking forward to trying out a few new recipes with our fish. This is a yearly tradition in my family, but I'm not sure we're ready to sign up for next year. I have a limited amount of vacation, so this might have to be an every other or every third year type of thing for us, at least for now. But we'll be back - so watch out, fishies! We're coming for you. Eventually.

Thanks for reading (or at least looking at pictures) and we'll be back on Friday!