She slumped back into her armchair, face glistening from the heat.  Another hot, humid Summer day.  There was no reprieve from the heat.  With no comfort of the air-conditioning she had in her city life, she had to remind herself that A) this was the "frugal farmer" thing to do and B) no A/C was far better for the environment.  Yes, it was her duty as a citizen of the Earth to not use A/C and to find other ways to keep cool in the sweltering heat.

A dip in the lake?  No.  Her back took a beating from the strong rays of the sun at the beach the day before.

A run through the sprinkler?  To be honest, the heat was too intense.  Plus, sprinklers and hoses only invited a certain four year old girl to soak her Mama and the dog.

What could possibly offer some refreshment and momentary comfort in this heat?

Fizzy Strawberry Lemonade!

That was the solution!  With a bumper crop of strawberries, making a cool, refreshing pitcher of strawberry lemonade would quench her family's thirst and keep them cool and refreshed.  With the "special" fizzy water that everyone in the family loved so much, this was absolutely perfect.

Even the four year old was a huge fan of S. Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water. This is not a sponsored post, by the way! We actually really love S. Pellegrino and have a few bottles on hand at all times!

 Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, washed and tops removed
1 cup lemon juice (you can use Real Lemon, but I prefer freshly squeezed lemon juice - for the lemons I get at our grocery store, 1 cup is equaled to 8-10 lemons)
1 (750 mL) bottle of San Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, chilled
Simple Syrup (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water)
Ice

Instructions:
Prepare syrup by boiling sugar and water in a pot. Once sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat and let cool completely.

Puree the strawberries by adding strawberries and simple syrup into blender and "puree". I like a smooth drink, so I press strawberry puree through a strainer to remove the seeds and solids. Only let the strawberry juice through.  You can put the strawberry pureed "pulp" into ice cube trays to use for other recipes later on.

In a pitcher, add lemon juice, strawberry juice (made from your strawberries and simple syrup), and 1 (750 mL) bottle of San Pellegrino.

Serve in a tall glass with ice.  Garnish if you wish, but you're probably just going to want to drink it and forgo the garnishes because it's so tasty!

Enjoy!

I have a confession.  Much to my husband's dismay, I want our old farm house to look like it's right out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  I'm not really winning this battle, but it's my hope to one day have a home worthy of being in Country Living magazine.  *sigh* One of these days, my dream will come true.

To add to our "rustic meets modern" home (that's the look I'm striving for), I love a house that smells wonderfully when you walk through the front door.  Apples and cinnamon, vanilla, and the like are so welcoming. I love pretty things and things that smell good.  Who doesn't, right?  This said, I'm very particular about the pretty, scented things I have in my house.  I'm extremely sensitive to fragrances and anything too overpowering makes me ill. Very, very ill.

A few years ago, I was at the Manitoulin Trade Fair and came across a Scentsy booth. I have been hooked ever since!

I love the Scentsy Bars for a wickless alternative to traditional scented candles.  Such a great way to refresh your home.  We've got the Rustic Star Plug In Warmer and I'm in love with the Taro Plug In Warmer!

What I love is that the Scentsy wickless concept is simply decorative ceramic warmers that are designed to melt scented wax with the heat of a light bulb and not with a traditional wick and flame.  As someone with allergies and doesn't do well with smoke, I can appreciate this.


To peruse the wide array of Scentsy products, visit www.anita.scentsy.ca or check out Anita's Scentsy Facebook Page. 


 Because like me, Anita's Scentsy is as excited about all the Scentsy goodness, she wants to share the love with my Life on Manitoulin readers!

Anita's Scentsy has donated a Scentsy Plug In Warmer and the Scentsy Scent of the Month to be given to one lucky fan! This month on the website, the featured scent is Watermelon Mint!

To enter: Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Open to residents of Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure - This is a sponsored post, however, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

When I lived in Toronto, my canine baby was a pampered pooch.  He got groomed twice yearly and had the royal treatment.  He really was a spoiled boy.

Fast forward a few years and we're no longer living in the city. We're on an island in the middle of one of the Great Lakes and in Northern Ontario!  How on earth did we get here?!

Chance seems to love rural living though.  He gets to run around our farm and be free as a bird.  He is one very happy puppy!  Okay, he's ten years old, but he looks and acts like a pup!

The only drawback of country living is that this once well-groomed city dog is now always covered in gross things and doesn't smell great at all.  I will not mention what he's covered in, but we live on a cattle farm.  You get the picture, right?

There isn't a day that I don't thank my lucky stars for Patti McKenzie, Pampered Pet Grooming owner and dog groomer.

No word of a lie, Patti is the most amazing person ever.  She is so good with the animals and has that magic touch.  I say this because my dog won't let anyone touch his paws, and Patti is always able to get him to let her do whatever she wants and needs to do to get him groomed!

You see, when Chance was a pup, an elevator incident had his paw stuck and dewclaw bleeding. Since then, nobody has been able to touch his sensitive paw. Nobody except Patti, that is!

A few years ago, he was run over by a bus and almost died.  For three months, he was pretty much in a vegetative state. Crushed organs, a crushed pelvis, and no mobility, had our canine baby out of commission for a long time.  It was a miracle when he all of a sudden decided to get up and start running around again! He looks and acts just like a pup still.

I thought for sure that no groomer would ever be able to touch him without his protests, but Patti seems to have the magic touch.  She always sends Chance back to us looking like a brand new pup.  Coat clipped down for his "Summer look", smelling fresh (the good kind of fresh, and not the "ripe" kind), and clean!  He's always so happy when he comes back from the groomer's and he looks a lot lighter too!
If you're on Manitoulin Island, I highly recommend Pampered Pet Grooming.  For more info, check out their Facebook page!

Strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream...strawberries straight up! I love strawberry season!

Link up your Wordless Wednesday posts! We'd love to check them out!

On Manitoulin Island, there is a place where friendly faces greet you as you stop off to pick up your eggs and vegetables.  You'll likely find people working in the garden and cultivating produce -- food that nourishes the body. Real food...straight from the garden to your table.  You'll no doubt hear singing coming from the garden too.  It's a magical place.

Have you ever stopped to really look at an egg before?  They're so perfect and so beautiful.  Each one is so unique.

We get our eggs from Hubby's sister, who as chickens.  We also get eggs from Blue Jay Creek Art Farm.  For the most part, we try to grow what we can and eat and buy locally as much as we can.

Link up your Wordless Wednesday posts! We'd love to check them out!

With May being the month my Lola (grandmother) passed away last year, I've found myself making a lot of Filipino dishes. We're now into the beginning of June and I find I'm still cooking a lot of Filipino food. This has totally been done unintentionally.  I think it's perhaps because I really, really miss my grandmother right now.  I've also been missing her cooking and by me cooking up some of the food that remind me of her, it also brings me back to my roots.

My husband and four year old daughter certainly don't mind.  We had Filipino Bistek for supper tonight and it was a hit.

This is a family recipe that has been tweaked.  I didn't have *calamansi (citrus fruit native to the Philippines - looks like a little lime/lemon).  Since I can't get calamansi where I live, I use regular lemons.  It doesn't taste quite the same as the Bistek in the Philippines, but it does the trick!

Filipino Bistek

This is what Little One does when she sleeps over at her grandparents' house. In this pic, she's basting freshly caught fish with maple syrup!

 Grampy  is an avid fisherman and catches fish from the freshwater lakes and brings them home for supper. We got Grampy a smoker for his birthday. He and Little One have been having lots of fun with it!

Link up your Wordless Wednesday posts! We'd love to check them out!

Creamy, buttery, smooth, tasty, delicious, and nutritious. I'm all about the avocado and I'm always looking for new and exciting avocado recipes.

Being married to a farmer, of course we grow a lot of our produce and I support buying local food. What we can grow on our own, we do and what we can buy locally, we do. This said, I absolutely love my guac and will eat it too.

Guacamole was one of Little One's favourite foods as a baby. Before she could really talk, she would say, "GA-KA-MO-YEE!!!" to which we knew was her way of asking, "May I please have some guacamole, Mom?"

Not only is the avocado delicious, but it's one of the best first foods for babies, a great brain booster, and fun finger food!

Avocado Recipes Your Family Will Love

Avocado Recipes for everyone

Want to know more about Avocados from Mexico? Check out their website here! Chat with them on Facebook and on Twitter too!

Disclosure - Though I have been compensated for this post, all the thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

When you live on Manitoulin Island, you quickly become aware of the need (and want) for eating your own fresh vegetables and fresh fruit.  We have fabulous grocery stores on the Island, but being able to buy your produce from local Farmers' Markets or grow your vegetables in your own garden do make a big difference when it comes to taste and treading lighter on the Earth.

I love the fact that our beef comes from our farm. Our chicken, lamb, and pork are local. Grampy catches our fish from the lake. Our eggs come from a local farmer, and most of our fruits and veggies come from our farm.

It's also very important to me that my family gets our recommended daily intake of fruits and veggies.  Though I'm guilty of wanting to have produce from overseas or across the border (yes, I love my avocados and we cannot grow them where we live!), I try to 'buy local' as much as I can.  I do purchase pineapple and clementines (and I try not to beat myself up for it) and I try to make sure the bulk of what we eat are grown either on our farm, on the Island or in Ontario.


What vegetables are in season in Ontario?

In the Spring, we can get a variety of produce like:

ASPARAGUS from April through June. We have lots and lots of asparagus on our farm. We love them grilled, sauteed, steamed, and even eaten raw! Picking the asparagus and eating it fresh was something new to this city girl! I was surprised at how sweet the asparagus is raw! It tastes sort of like snowpeas!

ARUGULA from May through September. We love mixing arugula in with salad other greens and tossing it with a nice homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

BEETS from May through October. Beets are one of my absolute favourites. It was only recently that I tried eating beet greens! Love them! I also have a balsamic glazed beet recipe I really love, and of course, pickled beets are an all-time favourite here too!

CHARD from May through September. I make soups and stir-fry recipes with chard. Chard sauteed with garlic is also very tasty.

CARROTS from May through November. They keep well in cold storage. We eat them raw, add them to a variety of recipes, make carrot cake, carrot juice, carrot salad, carrot soup, etc. There are so many ways we use carrots in our cooking. To be honest, I enjoy just eating carrots fresh from the garden (washed).

GARLIC SCAPES in May and June. I never knew that you could eat the long green shoot that springs from garlic! The scapes are so delicious! I first had them at a restaurant as part of the garnish for my dish. I actually thought they were some kind of different string bean! Garlic scapes are now among my favourite things to eat!

GREENS from May to November. There are numerous types of greens you can grow and eat in the Spring that are perfect for mixing together in a salad. I love being able to have fresh salad greens throughout the seasons.

HERBS from May to October. Herbs can be grown or started indoors. It's great having your own personal little herb garden in your kitchen. This makes it easy to add flavour, colour, and freshness to your dishes!

LETTUCE May to October. Lettuce is easy to grow and pick. Great in salads and sandwiches.

LEEKS in the Spring, we go leek picking on our farm. Nothing beats a nice homemade leek and potato soup!

MORELS in the Spring. On the Island, Spring is an exciting time because of the morels and wild leeks!

MUSHROOMS year-round. If you grow mushrooms, you'll enjoy harvesting them! Just make sure you know which mushrooms are edible and which ones can kill you!

PARSNIPS in April and May, and again in October through November.

RADISHES May through October. I'm not really a fan of radishes, because I find their bite a bit too strong. My husband loves picking radishes, giving them a quick wash, and popping them into his mouth. He loves them.

RHUBARB from April through June. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge rhubarb fan before I moved to Manitoulin Island. I actually HATED Rhubarb when I was a kid. Now that I'm married to a farmer, my mother-in-law has taught me how to cook with rhubarb, bake with rhubarb, and learn to love rhubarb. Our rhubarb on our farm is so prolific, that it would be a shame to not use it. I have a rhubarb-strawberry-apple pie and a rhubarb strawberry dessert that I love making.

SPINACH from May through October. Spinach is fabulous eating in a sandwich or in a salad. We also really enjoy spinach in stir-fry or soups. Our latest way of enjoying spinach is in smoothies and vegetable juices! Gotta love the dark leafy greens!



Do you have a garden? What do you grow?

I'm pretty sure friends and family are growing tired of my almost daily Facebook updates on my Grow Your Own Mushrooms! We can't help it! My four year old and I are so excited!  I'm so shocked at how quickly our oyster mushrooms are growing! It's amazing!

Grow Mushrooms! Your very own mushrooms!

Attendees at the Food Bloggers of Canada were all given a Grow Your Own Mushroom Kit. I've always been interested in how mushrooms grow and on our farm (in our hardwood forest), we have mushrooms like morels. Seeing the mushrooms grow each day is incredible though! In just 10 days, you can harvest the mushrooms!

Grow mushrooms with your kids in 3 steps! Open, mist, harvest! 

The kit from Back to the Roots serves as a great science experiment for kids. My four year old waters her mushrooms every day and takes not of the changes. She is looking forward to harvesting them. She's only in Junior Kindergarten, but she describes her mushrooms to friends and family as being "an incredible living organism". I love that! What I also love is that Little One gets to see the growing process and is a part of seeing her food from the beginning to on her plate. This is something I think is very important for children to realize and be familiar with.


Mmm...just thinking of all the delicious recipes to make with our mushrooms!

We're posting this photo to the Back on the Roots Facebook page.

If you post a photo of your fully grown mushrooms from the kit, Back to the Roots will donate a kit and sustainability curriculum to an elementary classroom of your choice!

Back to the Roots on Twitter and Facebook. Mushrooms Canada on Twitter and Facebook.

Why Buy Local

The Reward 
From May 1^st to May 5^th 2013, Egg Farmers of Canada will be rewarding Canadian moms who in many cases do the hard graft of grocery-buying and preparing meals for their families.  Visitors to the Egg Farmers of Canada Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/eggs) during this period will be able to claim a discount voucher for eggs, and get ideas for treating their moms to the perfect Mother’s Day brunch – both the recipe, and how to prepare it.

Here's a great recipe/video for you! 






What percentage of your groceries are locally produced?
Disclosure - This is not a sponsored post. This is just a topic I am passionate about.

Look what we found on the farm!  I'm guessing (and hoping) the arrival of Slimy Sally the Salamander is a sign that Spring is actually here to stay?

I also learned that she (or he?) is not really slimy, but his/her skin secretes mucus to keep her/him moist when on land and maintain salt balance when in water. Hubs also told me that they secrete poison from their glands in their skin.

I need to keep on top of all these facts since we have a four year old who asks a lot of questions about everything!

Link up your Wordless Wednesday posts! We love checking them out and commenting!

Earth Day for Kids and some little things we can do at home to teach our kids about taking care of our planet.

Some fun Earth Day activities for Kids

How Energy Efficient are you? (Game - kids find out how much they know about reducing energy and greenhouse gases). Source: EcoKids.ca

Plant a tree or garden - Source: Toronto4Kids

Bring a litterless lunch to school! Actually, Little One brings a litterless lunch to school every day. It's something we think is important to practice in order to tread a little lighter on the planet. For our family, this is important every day and not just on Earth Day.

Lunch ideas for Earth Day for Kids

Earth Day for Kids and MyFunkins

Another thing that helps with our litterless lunches are MyFunkins! Last year, I happened to cross paths with MyFunkins on Twitter and instantly fell in love. With Little One about to start Junior Kindergarten, I wanted to make sure her lunches were going to be as litterless as possible.

Below are some of the latest designs MyFunkins has to offer. My little girl is all about ballerinas and mermaids these days, so these are perfect! I've never seen a kid get so excited over fabric before! Love it!

Little One gets a different Funkin in her lunchbox every day and she's always tickled pink when she sees which one she gets! It's a surprise every day!

I love that we reduce our disposable paper napkin use this way too. It's not just Little One who loves Funkins! I even carry one in my handbag! They come in handy when eating an orange while waiting for your child's school bus to arrive! They also double as a place mat when out and about and grabbing a bite to eat!

For more ways to use Funkins, check out their site.

MyFunkins are a great idea for reducing classroom lunch waste. To see how your child's school can use MyFunkins as part of Earth Day for Kids or for every day lunchtime, visit the Funkins website.

If you're passionate about food and writing, the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference is the perfect event for you. 

This may sound crazy to some, but this conference was an awakening of sorts for me.

I've been to several Social Media conferences and events in the past few years as both an attendee and as a Brand Ambassador for several brands. Though I learned a lot from each event and really enjoyed all of them, the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference had me very, very excited.

The Food Bloggers of Canada Conference has Canadian food bloggers covered.

I have to admit that I felt a bit like a school girl does when she sees her favourite stars/celebrities/idols in person.  Anyone who is a foodie follows Dana McCauley, Heather Travis, Mairlyn Smith, Aimee Wimbush-Bourque, Mardi Michels, Julie Van Rosendaal, David Leite, Adell Shneer, Dianne Jacob, Mary Luz Mejia, Corey Mintz, Jan Scott and all the other foodie superstars present at FBC2013.

Dana McCauley is the person to follow for food innovation and food trends. I met her for the first time at the ShesConnected Conference two years ago and then when I was an official food blogger for Food Network Canada's Recipe to Riches, our paths crossed again - this time in the Twitterverse!


Heather Travis has got to be one of my absolute favourite people in the world. Why? She represents the many beef farming families in Canada like my own family. I've been done guest posts on the Canadian Beef blog for Heather and am now a Canadian Beef Ambassador. This means a lot to me, as beef farming is my family's livelihood. Being able to bridge both worlds of farming and the every day consumer and showing consumers that we are the faces behind the food people eat really is important to me.


Mairlyn Smith just blows me away by her amazing presence. I was a bit caught off guard when I met her at Food Bloggers of Canada. I wanted to tell her that I really love seeing her on BT Toronto and CityLine. I'm not sure, but the words conveyed may or may not have come out as something like "OMG. I love you. I can't even talk right now because I'm such a big fan!"  You know...things that people in Mairlyn's position probably hate hearing all the time.

One of the highlights of Day 1 of the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference for me was meeting Aimee Wimbush-Bourque! I follow her blog, Simple Bites religiously. In truth, I aspire to be like her some day. Aimee is able to tell a story with her stunning photographs. Her posts are beautifully written. She makes food blogging an art form. She creates beauty with her cooking, her writing and her photographs. You know when a writer's words "move" you? That's exactly what Aimee's posts do. They tell a story while weaving together a beautiful tapestry of words and photographs...and these images stay with you. Her love of food and of creating beautiful, healthy meals for her family really inspires me.

This also applies to Mardi Michels and Jan Scott. Both are food writers I am a huge fan of. Mardi's talent extends to more than just making macarons, though she had me at macarons! Mardi is a woman of many talents. Visit her blog, Eat.Live.Travel.Write.

I sat at the same table as Jan at dinner on the first night of FBC2013. I was amazed at how personable, helpful, and humble she was. Not to sound like a total blog stalker, but you have no idea how amazed I am by such talented ladies like Jan. I guess it's safe to say that the recipes, food photography and and just the way my food blogging heroes tell a story = recipe for success and inspiration. Read Jan's posts over at Family Bites.

My roommate, SoberJulie sat on her bed in the hotel listening to me gush about all the amazing food bloggers  and food personalities present at Hockley Valley Resort. I couldn't contain my excitement and she probably thought I was nuts. Honestly, because I love blogging about food so much and I love following the above mentioned food writers, this is a big deal to me.

I remember calling my husband from my hotel room and whispering, "Oh. My. Gosh. Julie Van Rosendaal is here at Hockley Valley Resort! Julie from Dinner with Julie! You don't even understand! I can't even talk to her...I'm so starstruck!"

Of course, my husband's response was, "That's great, hun. Just remember, they're just regular people in the end." Is he kidding?! It's Julie from Dinner with Julie!

Keynote speaker, David Leite's words will stay with me for a long time.

1. "No comment left behind."
2. "Find out what you stand for and don't waver."
3. "Be ethical to other bloggers. Be ethical to the people you write about. You have responsibility esp when it comes to Children" @davidleite
4. @DavidLeite keynote speaker at @foodbloggersca #FBC2013 "Be authentic. Be ethical...to each other."

I could have probably retweeted everything he said. I was just wowed by his words. Total and utter respect.  If you don't already follow David, check out Leite's Culinaria.

What caught my attention this weekend at the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference:

• Bloggers and Brands - best practices for a happy partnership 
• Making Dough - earning a living with your words
• Publishing - the many chapters of writing a book
• Recipe Development 101
• Food Photography and Styling for your blog
• Bookkeeping for Canadian bloggers
• Future trends in Canadian food blogging

Highlights of the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference:

•   Meeting and chatting with Mairlyn Smith!
•   Hanging out with some of my favourite tweeps (bloggers I've been friends with for ages now) - @SoberJulie @MapleLeafMommy @MBAMamaMusings @Sherriemae23 
•   Being able to get to know friends better - had a blast with @GreatMealIdeas 
• Having a little #LoveCDNBeef @CanadianBeef Ambassador reunion with @HeatherTravis @AlexaClark @neilfaba @FoodMuser
• Catching up with some special people @MBosc @JanesFamilyFd  @BurnbraeFarms (I love meeting up with these folks at events like this! It's nice to see familiar faces)
• Having the opportunity to speak with brands I love and would love to work with more @summerfresh @mushroomscanada @NordicWare @KitchenAidUSA @KraftCanada @CampbellCanada @deltafaucet @CdnLentils @TastyTurkey, +EatInEatOut Magazine, Tree of Life and more.

The Food Bloggers of Canada Conference inspired me to take my blog in a new direction.

A big thank you goes out to Ethan, Mardi and Melissa for putting together an event of such greatness! You have absolutely no idea how you have inspired and cultivated change. Many thanks for all you have done.