Grilled Shrimp Salad with Corn and Avocado

I wasn't actually expecting much from this salad. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be amazing. Obviously I wouldn't have made it if I didn't think it would be good, but honestly, I tried it out of guilt. I've made quite a few good meals this Summer but not a lot have featured vegetables. So before I ran out to buy groceries Saturday morning I went on to Epicurious looking for a good Summer salad. I found one.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Hash

This weekend featured so many of my favourite things. First, unplanned time. Nowhere to be and nothing to do (besides the usual weekend running around) which was wonderful after a hectic week. Second, a pile of fresh new books waiting to be read. (I just started Beautiful Ruins and I have The Prisoner of Heaven waiting patiently on my bedside table.) Third, lots of time in the kitchen. Spent churning out pancakes with Daniel, making banana cake with caramel sauce for Patrick and discovering the wonders of breakfast hash courtesy of some amazing chorizo sausage.

Fish Fry!

For a few Summers now I've been thinking about making fish and chips at the cottage. At home I'll bake fish in the oven or grill it on the barbecue, but what I've been craving for the cottage is something entirely different. Hand-battered, deep-fried English (as in British) style fish and chips, just like the ones I used to spend my weekends and Summers making at the small-town diner I worked in many, many moons ago. The Summer goes by so quickly and is so full, we knew our last cottage visit for 2012 would be our visit in July. So it was settled. Fish and chips was on the menu.

Chocolate Cream Pie

So David has this thing for McCain Chocolate Cream Pie. He was craving it last weekend but it was nowhere to be found in our local grocer's freezer section. Which I was actually okay with, because while I like Chocolate Cream Pie, the McCain version leaves a lot to be desired. Chocolate Cream Pie is never going to be health food but if you're going to spend those calories they had better be worth it. This pie? Totally worth it.

Weapons. Waffles. Cherry Tarts.

The calendar says that it's July 7th, which means that a full week of Summer fun is already behind us. Our Canada Day long weekend was non-stop activity. We saw You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (thumbs up from all of us) at Stratford, followed by a great family dinner at Bentley's where I am always tempted by so many things on the menu but always order the Coconut-Lime Thai Noodles. Then we woke up early Saturday morning and sold $125 worth of treasures at a community garage sale. We celebrated by taking the boys to the Mandarin for the first time. The dessert buffet was a hit but the meal cost us nearly all our garage sale profits. Sunday David and I ran in the Embro Highland Games 10K and nearly died. Okay. I nearly died. The distance didn't bother me as much as the hills. (Or is it the highlands?) Whatever they were, there were too many of them. But we did it, and a couple of minutes faster than last year. We celebrated our survival by hosting a get-together with the cousins - think water balloon fights and water gun play and lots of other activities featuring water because it is so, so hot in Southwestern Ontario right now. Monday afternoon we went to see Brave, which was deemed scary by some of us (big ol' mean bear) but overall another winner from Pixar. A jam packed weekend, which is why this weekend has been a bit more low key. But still fruitful. (Yes, I'm talking about cherry tarts!)