WHO DOESN'T WANT ADVENTURE & A SCAVENGER HUNT WHEN COOKING?

I’m standing in the middle wearing a black and white car coat, holding a glass of wine, at this impromptu outdoor family gathering.

Every November, my brother-in-law, Jim and sister-in-law, Mary Warner (Warner Orchards, Beamsville), organize a week’s stay at Carriage Hills condos in Horseshoe Valley (outskirts of Barrie and Orillia) for me and my husband, his three brothers, and their spouses and his sister and her husband (Rix Farms, Innisfil).  This year marked the 7^th anniversary for our family gathering that brings us together from many parts of Ontario: Guelph, Beamsville, Brighton, Englehart, and Innisfil (outskirts of Barrie).

The women take turns making dinner for ten and the men cook for us one night.  The last night there, we go out to a restaurant. It’s a lovely break from our routines and daily cooking chores with the bonus of good company and fantastic food, in a beautiful resort setting that’s a two-hour drive from our home.

 Joan and Roger Rix surprised us on the evening they hosted dinner in their condo on the top floor. Since the rest of our units were ground floor, we teased them that we would have to start the climb up the 32 steps fifteen minutes before they served dinner and perhaps, they should consider setting some chairs on the first floor landing. As we trudged part way up the first stair case, we were astonished to see a table set with shrimp appetizers and wine from Niagara Region waiting for us.Talk about being considerate hosts!  Hope this hasn't set a new entertaining bar for us to come up with next year.

When it was my evening to host dinner, I had an organizational glitch.  I misplaced the cauliflower bacon casserole I baked at home. I hunted everywhere in our condo, including the veranda in case, on auto-pilot, I set it there to defrost. I opened the French door, looked out at the veranda table. Not there. So either I didn’t store it outside or there was  a very happy racoon leaning against the building with a bulging belly. Fighting panic, and losing, I hauled my husband away from the card game in the condo beside us to help with the search.  He couldn't locate the casserole either. Grabbing my car keys, I was about to make a quick trip to Foodland in Craighurst before hungry family members arrived in 45 minutes when I forced myself to look one more time in kitchen cupboards. Coming up empty again, I leaned over and opened the oven door. My missing 9” x 13” casserole smiled up at me. I had no recollection of storing it there. Feeling more than a little foolish, I then recalled an earlier conversation with one of my sister-in-laws. She made the helpful suggestion to free up counter space by storing the dish in the oven. Seemed like a good idea at the time. That will teach me to not deviate from my usual meal prep routine.

My week's vacation passed all too quickly. While the brothers played bridge afternoons, my sister-in-laws and I were on the loose  to shop in Barrie and Muskoka area stores and enjoy the resort’s inside and outside pool and hot tubs.Walking on and off the trails around the resort property was a lovely way to start each morning. The brothers walked once and sometimes twice each morning. Early in the week, I decided to join the serious walkers' group on a hike that took 1.5 hours up and down hills and covered close to 7 km. Half way back to the resort, I prayed an Uber driver would magically appear in the maple bush to offer me a ride. No such luck. Since I hadn’t trained for this mega walk, muscles that normally went about their daily routine like good little body parts, screamed their displeasure at my overly zealous exercise routine when I rolled out of bed the next morning. I broke from the walking pack after that, vowing to curtail walks to shopping excursions and trips back and forth to the Carriage Hills indoor recreation area.

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