Boston Chowda

Finally made it to Boston.  Although this was a last minute trip, I'm glad we decided to go.  For those who don't know, this is the "year of the yes...with moderation"  So basically, I try to say yes to everything that comes my way and this was one of them.  So, I normally would not have driven there myself, but if i'm sitting in the back seat, I'm good to go :)

We made a little stop to the market where we got to have a taste of awesome chowder.  Well, they actually spell it "Chowda".  It wasn't better than some of the chowder I've had in my home province but still pretty good.

The famous Boston Chowda... sooo good.

Breakfast on the road to Boston

On the road again.  This week has been a pretty busy week.  We started off to Jost Vineyard in Nova Scotia for a little taste of great wine, then to Alma New-Brunswick for some Lobster and finally to Boston for a concert.

Just relax

There she is, relaxing with a glass of wine at Jost Vineyard.  We have been waiting for this vacation to drive down.  Let's just say that this is the only place Eliz can get her favorite wine "Marble Mountain".  Enjoy !!

Breakfast of champions

When you're on the road early in the morning and looking forward to reaching your final destination, a bag of honey BBQ chips will do the trick.  Will have to wait until we get to Boston for lunch.  I hear there's great seafood over there also.  Until then,

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane

Moncton Farmers Market

What to do on an early Saturday morning, hungry, slightly rainy.... Go to the market! It is good to venture outside of Dieppe for more than just work and the occasional movie. Yay team!

So first it was pretty relaxed this morning thanks to being an hour away from packed house time. Give it an hour and it becomes 3/4ths social hour and 1/4th ticked off people wishing people would stop talking and get out of their way because they need to find their cheese guy. Or whatever it is they desperately need. Personally, my favourite stop would be the soap lady, who sells the best soap and is not overpriced. The Soap Shack.

But today was all about food and nothing but. Our first absolute-must stop is for coffee. No good decisions can be made before the first sip of dark roast. Today Stephane went for a medium roast from Bolivar; mine a dark roast from someplace rich (or I assume, didn't actually look at the canister at time.) And in a spontaneous feeling patriotism, a shot of maple syrup. I hate sugar in my coffee but I can make an exception for boiled down tree sap. 

The next important stop, breakfast. After a walk around and a stop to pick up a homemade, baked on site, cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing, we hit the breakfast booth. I don't know what the booth is called but it the one with Tammy's famous breakfast sandwich and is the original famous breakfast sandwich. It is crunchy in all the right places and soft and savoury and on my list of things that make me happy. Can you tell?

...likely shouldn't be allowed to play with others...

Stephane was good and stuck with the eggs (minus the yolks) and ham breakfast. It comes with beans and apparently, beans is what makes Stephane happy.  

Stephane's "got beans" face...

On our way out, we stopped at Tony's Pastries and picked up some treats for later.  

...happiness on a plate...

Stephane's millefeuille is snuggling a little too close to my lemon flan. Looks like future happiness. 

Sunday Frittata

Sunday morning and hungry ?  Why not create your own version of the Frittata (more or less of a scrambled eggs in this case but still pretty good) ?  This is my favorite breakfast but only have the time to make this during the weekend.  You chop up veggies (in this case corn on the cob), couple of eggs (only one yolk because you still want to eat healthy), add a little maple syrup in the frittata mixture (just because I like it) mix it all up, put in on the frying pan for a couple of minutes, add shredded cheese and VOILA !!! You have yourself a Sunday brunch frittata.

After eating this monster of a breakfast, I guarantee you will not need to eat anything else until supper has arrived.  Oh, and yes, that is a salade you see in there.  That's just in there because I had leftover salad I didn't want to go bad, but hey, It was pretty good :)

Frittata a la Stephane

Check out the below link
Frittata recipe


Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane

We are on vacation! In Grand Turk!

It was a great way to end our ports of call. Grand Turk is a beautiful island, great beach, wonderful people and the best of all, snorkelling!

On the cruise last year, we tried to snorkel with our brand new gear but the weather was not to be. This time, we had our fill. Stephane didn't quite get the hang of it but I was floating for so long, I developed a touch of a sunburn on the backs of my legs. The trick is a good grip on the ventilation tube and stop breathing through your nose. Once you relax, it is fish city!

Fish City

That is an example of the number of different types of fish you can see 50yrds from the dock.

Nemo & Friends

We are calling that guy Nemo even though he is nothing like a clown fish. Just one of the most colourful I was able to get a pic of. 

Freaky Fish

And these were freaky little fish that would swim really close and not care at all that I had invaded their territory. Their friendliness was a bit freaky. 

And here is Aquaman!

How do you feel about going to Puerto Rico for the day ?

Well,
that's what we (Eliz and I) did on Wednesday May 20th while traveling aboard the Carnival Sunshine.  I have to say that this stop was definitely one of my favorite spot.  It doesn't beat the beautiful St. Kitts but is a close second.  We got to walk around old San Juan and take a little trip to the Bacardi distillery where we learned how to make lots of different rum based drinks (not really) but we did get to learn the different stages of transformation up to the final great tasting bacardi product.

That's right...we were in this building

Below, what you see are the rum barrels representing a different type of rum favored by each individual family member.  Granted, these barrels are now empty, but they still display the type of rum that was once inside them.

Bacardi liquor barrels.

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane

First BBQ of season 2015...Yes it finally happened.

Well, it's finally here.  That's right, BBQ season.  After this crazy stupid winter, we can finally crack open the lid off the charcoal BBQ and cook up some good food.  On the menu tonight is, Corn on the Cob, Roasted Potatoes, Asparagus, Salmon, scallops in clam shells, and two types of salads (Macaroni and Coleslaw).  Maybe we over did it, but what can you say, we were just happy the snow was finally gone.  Oh, did I mention Apple Crumble Pie ?

BBQ and Sides

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane

Dieppe Farmers Market

Yummy yummy breakfast sandwich found at today's market...

And here is Stephane enjoying his chicken veggie sandwich called a chapatie...

The Sugar Shack 2015

E enjoying some maple syrup on a stick

Every year, it's the same thing. Me saying that I want to go get some maple syrup along with those little cones with maple butter inside, but every year we keep forgetting to go and it ends up being too late. Well, not this year. This Saturday was a perfect day for a little drive outside the city. A couple of hours later, there we were, eating those sugary treats alongside all the other sugar addicted Monctonians who crave that little rush and at the same time, this gave us a reason to get out of the house and enjoy a little fresh air after that horrible winter we've just been through. Well, we can say one thing, there is always something a little sweet after the end of winter and this allowed to spend some quality time outside the house eating one of my favourite snack....yes you guessed it "MAPLE SUGAR".

E. Waiting in line for her turn

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane

Home Made Pasta and Sauce

Pasta by Stephane and Sauce by Elizabeth

A christmas present given to me by Eliz that is being well used.  Above is the first type of pasta I learned to make.  Simple, but so very good.  Little did I know that all you needed to make pasta was Eggs and Flower.  Well, now we are calling Saturday Night "Pasta Saturday".

The sauce you see right next to the pasta was made by Eliz.  This is one of her best sauces.  This one isn't completely from scratch, but still very tasty.  Next time you invite Eliz over for supper, ask her to make her signature pasta sauce, she will enjoy making it :)

Bear Flag Wine...What can I say other the awesome

As for the Bear Flag wine, "It goes down smooth" haha, that's Eliz contribution to this post.  All that was missing in this meal was cheeze.

Bon Appetit and Bon Voyage from Eliz and Stephane