Bala Bay Inn

Muskoka is wonderfully scenic. Lakes, the trees, the rocks. I love it. I want to go back. The place we stayed in was called the Bala Bay Inn. Super cute, super old. So old that it has a ghost. Don’t worry, he’s friendly. Luckily for me, I didn’t even notice his was there, because I’m scared…of everything, in general.Located right across the street from a place that you can rent stand up paddle boards, canoes, and kayaks, this makes it a great location. It’s also walking distance from Jasper Park (where the wedding was held). The Inn is know for it’s restaurant, which serves brunch on Sundays, and is open for lunch and dinner on weekends.

The colors inside are bright and fun. Not what’d you expect from an old place. The staff is SUPER friendly, and helpful. And the restaurant is delicious.

Need I say more?

Our room was literally just a room. You get a bed, a desk, a set of drawers and a chair. Well I mean you also get a bathroom, but that is it. Don’t go on a lake vacation and look for technology. The wifi was shotty, if you got any at all. At least it was from our room. But that’s okay. The point of being out here, is to enjoy the break from the busy city life right? Some people had TVs in their room. Which was a tiny box. We didn’t have that. There also isn’t a phone in the room. So get your exercise in and walk downstairs if you want to talk to the front desk.

I’m not complaining though. I really really liked it there. It’s the forced break I really needed. And the exercise! Did I mention how great and helpful the staff is there? I definitely want to go back there, if I need a real BREAK from city life.

Posted on June 30, 2014 by miemo 0

Congratulations Amy & Kyle

They did it! After a year of stressing and planning, its over and now they can live happily ever after. The wedding activities also consisted of a welcome bbq at their cottage.

This included, canoeing, stand up boarding, swimming and fireworks. Yes, they had their own fireworks show.

My darling niece, Avairy, the flower girl who had to quit her job because running around was way better, and her daddy Jordan.

These two are so cute, you wanna barf. But like, a cute barf. The ceremony was headed by Jordan’s father, the pastor. They had seating for 70 guests, in the Jasper Park pavilion. She looked beautiful against the handmade backdrop (good job bridesmaids!)

Goat’s milk soap, and Jones soda (not pictured) with a picture of their furbaby on it.

Each place setting had something fun suggested on it to get to know your table mates.

Love was definitely in the air. I can’t wait to marry my love next week! (Not the wedding just the legal document signing :D)

My gorgeous cousin, glowing on her wedding day!

Another beautiful cousin. Yes I have lots, Annie, Avairy’s (the flower girl) mama.

The first dance. So sweet. And then we broke it dooooooooooooown!It was worth the 12 hour road trip to see family and relax lakeside. The wedding was sweet, simple, beautifully done, and gave me a refreshed outlook on weddings. Maybe I will try harder to plan our wedding. As long as family is there that’s all that matters really. I wish the best for you both Amy & Kyle! See you next year at ours! ENJOY THE FREEDOM of no longer wedding planning <3

Posted on June 27, 2014 by miemo 0

Refreshed

We are back from vacation, and just as I predicted, it was all I needed. After a grueling 12 hours in the car, we made it home. I am happy and ready to tackle my to do list with a new joie de vivre.

The cottage was beautiful. So much bright light reflecting off the lake. The temperature was perfect. The only thing to complain about, if you want me to be realistic, is the mosquitoes. Muskoka Mosquitoes. They are huge, relentless and the boss of this town. Everyone was spraying every 30 minutes just to prevent being eaten alive.

There were lots of water activities to participate in… which I didn’t, because I am terrified by bodies of natural water. However, the honey did get me in a canoe. That didn’t last very long. Luckily he got in with our cousin and they power rowed so far away from us, and caught a fish!

It was so great to be back around family. I feel like all my female relatives are in Canada, while I’m stuck in America with all the boys!

We made a pact to see each other at least once a year. 2 years in a row so far!

There are too many cute babies in this family.

The lake life, is the good life. More posts later! For now, time to catch up with my life! Thank you so much for having us Amy!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by miemo 0

Fried Chicken

Can I tell you something? Deep frying scares me. I know, I’m southern. What’s wrong with me. I’ve been popped in the face by oil before. That’s what happened. However after years of cooking I’ve gotten the key concept down. Hot oil + Water= Death. Simple enough, you would think. It’s not always applied.

When Vina said she wanted a homecooked southern meal, fried chicken is always the first thing to pop up. I had to face my fears and give her want she wanted. After all, she shot beautiful engagement photos for us. She can have whatever she wants.

This recipe is so simple, that I don’t even want to call it a recipe. Just follow the instructions kid, you got this.

First and foremost, you need chicken. Chop up a whole one, or just buy the pieces you like. Make sure they are completely thawed. PAT THEM DRY. This is important. After they are dry. Place them in a baking dish and pour buttermilk over it. Put it in the fridge over night, flip the pieces half way through. I also added a little salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 325F. In a ziplock bag, mix together flour and cornmeal with your favorite seasonings (I like cajun seasoning). Shake it up. Add the chicken pieces a couple at a time if you are doing only wings, or one a time if you are doing whole chicken parts. Let them rest on wax paper for about 15 minutes or while you heat up your oil. This helps the coating stay on better.

Fill a deep cast iron pot with about 1/2 in of oil. I used avocado oil. You can use criso shortening or peanut oil. Any high heat oil will do. Heat the oil to 350F degrees. Gently place a few pieces of chicken in the hot oil (don’t crowd the pot). Leave it alone for about 2 minutes, until one side is golden. Then flip over until the other side is a deep golden color as well.

Place the chicken on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath it to catch oil drippings. When all the chicken is fried, place the rack on a cooking tray and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Enjoy!

Posted on June 18, 2014 by miemo 0

Gnocchi Pesto with Shrimp

I love pasta. It’s so filling and comforting. And it can be quite a quick meal! Even when you make your sauce from scratch.

Pestos are awesome. You can pretty much make them out of anything. I’ve done it with arugula, you can do it with spinach, and even use pistachios! But for tonight’s dinner we are going classic. Pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, basil, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.

Blend it all up, to your liking. Set aside.

Saute some shrimp in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Boil up some gnocchi according to the package. Then toss everything together. Add more Parmesan, salt and pepper to your liking. EASY RIGHT?

It’s so quick, so easy! Who needs a recipe? You could also buy the pest pre-made if you really don’t have time. Enjoy 😀

Posted on June 13, 2014 by miemo 0

Spatchcock: Favorite way to roast a chicken!

As you probably have noticed, I love roast chicken. I’ve done it a couple different ways here already. Now I’ve found my new go to method. Spatchcocking. Spatchcock. Basically you take a whole bird, cut down the back bone and removed it.

Similar to butterflying the bird actually. Then you open it up and lay it flat so that all the skin is at the top. Then you can season it and roast it. Cooks a little bit faster and you get all crispy skin!

I saved the backbone to make soup with it later. You never know when you’ll need it! Have you tried this method? Do you like it? Or is there something EVEN BETTER to try?

Posted on June 11, 2014 by miemo 0

Make Up Monday: Eye Liner

Okay, lets be girly for a second. I don’t usually wear a lot of makeup. But like most women, I do like it, and the idea of it. I’m more of the lets look like I’m not wearing makeup, make up. That being said, my face usually consists of mascara, and eyeliner only on the water line of the top lashes and tinted sunblock.

I love how some people always wear eye liner. The kind where they have the smooth line, and it’s winged out. I can’t do that. Or at least I don’t have the patience to, to practice. But I like the idea of it. So one day, my felt tip liner from Lorac died. I decided it wasn’t worth it for me to go get a higher end liquid liner. So I just went to target and grabbed one that looked cute. (I’m a graphic designer, I do judge things by its cover).

I knew for sure that I wanted a liquid liner, that would stay put, and I’ve had the best luck with the felt tip. Bring in Covergirl’s Bombshell Intensity Eyeliner in Pitch Black Passion. I was reading some reviews, about how it’s dry, yadda yadda. However, they must have changed the formula, or I am lucky, because mine was wet. It dries quickly enough that it doesn’t get everywhere when you open your eyes but wet enough for you to get a moistened q-tip to clean up your lines.

As you can see, I’m a little uneven, but I really like it, because it’s dummy proof enough for me! I found myself putting it on every day since I’ve gotten it. Barely takes me any time at all! I wanted to share in case you had the same girl troubles I do!

Posted on June 9, 2014 by miemo 0

Dukkha Crusted Pork Chops with Bacon Sprouts

Another recipe for the often asked question of, “What am I going to eat for dinner”. This one is great, because you can pick up the groceries after work, head to the kitchen and start cracking away at it.

Start off with pork chops. Dry them, then rub a little avocado oil on it (or oil of your choice that can cook at high temps)

Crust with Dukkha. I bought mine from trader joes. If you are fancy, you can make it yourself! Be fancy.

In a cast iron skillet, heat some avocado oil, then cook on both sides until done.

As a side, I went for Bacon sprouts. Cook bacon in a pan, remove bacon from pan and reserve the fat. Toss brussels sprouts in the hot pan with leftover bacon fat. Season with black pepper. Let it brown a little bit. Toss them on a cookie sheet then into the oven to finish. When it’s almost done stir in chopped cooked bacon. Serve with pork chops.

Again, no measurements. If you have questions feel free to contact me! ENJOY!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by miemo 0

Sneak Peek: Engagement Photos

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post these yet, since these are just snippets from Vina’s iPhone. I would also link her, but she has so many blogs I wouldn’t even know which one to link to. Maybe Vain Vina. Because I love her face.

I wanted her to do our photos because I love her style. She’s the multimedia maven for the EatGoodFood group. Her posts for the restaurants are so well composed, fun and well basically I feel like if she could make all this food look delicious…she could probably make us look good too?

I don’t really like taking pictures. I feel awkward standing in front of a camera and posing. (There goes my modeling career right?) But I really wanted to capture our little family dynamic and have some good shots. She made us feel very comfortable, and we pretty much just did normal things and she just happened to capture them. WIN!

Bawse was a better sport than I thought he would be. Mostly because he was out playing and swimming and every once in a while he would have to come pretend he loved us.