Photolog 2019: Day 288 of 365

Tarts from The Little Tart (clockwise from left): Apple crumble, Booty Call (salted caramel with chocolate), strawberry cheesecake, and lemon
Chelsea went to her cottage in Haliburton over Thanksgiving weekend and brought back a box of tarts from The Little Tart for me so I could have some treats for Thanksgiving 'cause she knows I don't do Thanksgiving dinners. Honestly, I'd have these tarts over pumpkin pie any day.

Photolog 2019: Day 232 of 365

Chelsea's parents went to their cottage in Haliburton over the weekend and brought back some goodies for me! A box of six of my favourite tarts from The Little Tart: Pecan, salted caramel with chocolate, key lime, lemon, butter, and strawberry cheesecake. Between these and my trip to The Ex, I'm gonna have to be extra healthy with all of my other meals for the next couple weeks, but IT'LL BE WORTH IT.

Photolog 2018: Day 181 of 365

Chelsea's parents went up to their cottage near Haliburton and surprised me with my favourite butter tarts from The Little Tart, and now I'm thinking it might be worth the two-hour drive there just to buy some more because, yes, they are just that good.

Summer 2017: Cottaging in Haliburton

Happy Civic Holiday to my fellow Canadians! My friend Chelsea invited me, Ronsee, and Corrado to her family's cottage up in Haliburton for this long weekend, so I basically spent the last three days in nature, grazing, lazing around on the dock, playing games, chain-smoking, and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Here, a photo log of our long weekend (all taken with an iPhone 7 Plus):

Buying out all the tarts at The Little Tart: "Ooey Gooey" butter tarts, strawberry cheesecake tart, "Booty Call" salted caramel and chocolate truffle tarts, blueberry cheesecake tart, pecan butter tarts, lemon tart, and "Sublime" coconut key lime tarts
Breakfast at Wintergreen Maple Syrup and Pancake Barn: A massive pancake, thick French toast, and farmer's sausage with blueberries and maple syrup
On Friday, I had to work and Chelsea and I had to run a bunch of errands for this trip (picking up last-minute groceries and snacks, buying alcohol, etc.) before picking up Ronsee, so we didn't actually get to Chelsea's cottage until well past midnight. But we decided to get an early start on Saturday morning to get first dibs on the most delicious homemade tarts at The Little Tart (they sell some of the best tarts I've ever had in my life). They sell out really fast on a daily basis, but we got there about 30 minutes after they opened to a relatively short line-up, so we managed to grab 12 tarts each. (The people behind us were pissed because we basically bought out all their most popular flavours. You snooze, you lose!) We then drove 15 minutes down to the Wintergreen Maple Syrup and Pancake Barn for breakfast, and all ordered the "Combo," which consists of one of their famous giant fluffy pancakes, a piece of thick-cut French toast made with their homemade bread, and two savoury farmer's sausages with their pure maple syrup and butter. We all got blueberries on top, too, 'cause they were having their "Blueberry Social" (don't know what that entails, but I'm guessing they have an abundance of fresh blueberries because they're in season). It was one of the most delicious, satisfying breakfasts I've had in a long time — far superior in taste and quality than many of the breakfast chains in the city — and all for $11.30 after tax (and that includes coffee, too). Plus, they have a market area where they sell a plethora of jams, jellies, syrups, sauces, and pickles that are all made in-house. Definitely worth a trip if you're in Haliburton.

My new favourite summer drink: 7UP's Lemon Lemon Sparkling Lemonade
A panorama of Davis Lake on a cloudy afternoon
A BBQ dinner of steak, butter and lemon jumbo shrimp, lime and pepper baby shrimp, garlic toast, buttered cremini mushrooms, and roast potatoes
Observing the full moon over the lake
After a scenic drive around Minden Hills, we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about at the cottage; it was far too cold to go into the water on Saturday, so Chelsea and I plopped down on the dock to drink (7UP Lemon Lemon Sparkling Lemonade is my new favourite), smoke, and listen to music, while the guys went fishing. I've mentioned this before, but time at the cottage seems to run differently — it feels simultaneously slow and fast. Like, you laze about and it seems like you haven't really done anything but it's actually been hours, and then all of the sudden, it's dinner time. Which is always a highlight of going to the cottage. Saturday's dinner was all barbecued deliciousness: huge slabs of juicy steak, grilled jumbo shrimp with lemon and butter, baby shrimp with lime and black pepper, buttery cremini mushrooms, roasted potatoes, and garlic toast. I don't BBQ at home, so I always appreciate it when I can get it. It doesn't make for the most aesthetically pleasing plate, but I assure you it was ultra-pleasing to my tastebuds.
Davis Lake
A lily pad floating along Davis Lake
A lunch spread and sandwich-making ingredients
Sunday morning was spent sitting at the outdoor dining table with coffee and apple caramel sticky buns for breakfast and discussing the news. (We are proper adults like that.) We spent some time walking around the rocks by the water, taking some photos (me), reading on the dock (me and Chelsea), and fishing (the guys). Lunch consisted of a huge spread for an al fresco lunch: Italian bread rolls, black forest ham, spicy chicken, Genoa and spicy Sopressa salami, regular and spicy Havarti cheeses, bocconcini cheese, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, pickles, mustards, hummus, mango salsa, veggies and dip, crackers, chips, and fresh peaches and grapes. This is honestly one of my favourite ways of dining — I can't cook, but I am a master assembler.
Lazing-on-the-dock essentials
Chelsea lounging on the dock with me
Ronsee found me a floating lotus
The aforementioned floating lotus
Corrado doing some fishing
A random flower that I found by some rocks
Ronsee looking really emo sitting by himself on the rocks
Late afternoon by Davis Lake
We spent all of Sunday afternoon lying on the dock, smoking, drinking, reading, and listening to music; floating on water noodles in the lake; and getting really tanned by accident (I say "accident," because I did not intend to get three shades darker). A gloriously lazy day.
Taco night!
A massive cloud during sun set over Davis Lake
Our last dinner at the cottage consisted of tacos (my creation: a soft tortilla with a layer of cheese and hot sauce wrapped around a hard shell stuffed with ground beef, salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes because I am all about that double-decker taco life), sausages, ribs, and garlic toast. Yeah, we eat really well when we're at the cottage. I mean, all that lazing around drains us of so much energy, you know? After dessert (tarts from The Little Tart, obviously), we spent the rest of the evening lounging some more on the dock before the sun set, and then playing Yahtzee! and Heads Up! until midnight. And now, it's back to reality. Le sigh.
Final score — Mosquitoes: 11, Denise: 0.

Summer 2016: Cottaging in Haliburton

If you follow me on Instagram, you might know that I went to my friend Chelsea's cottage over the weekend. It was actually my first time at a cottage, ever (does that make me a bad Canadian?), and I had a surprisingly amazing time. I say "surprisingly" because I'm not exactly the type to enjoy the outdoors. But it's like a whole other world up there in cottage country. Time slows down. Air is purer. Nature is brighter. And also, if someone told me that cottaging was just about eating and being lazy, I would've done this a long time ago. So, here is some proof of me doing some naturing. And eating. In chronological order.

A lonely maple leaf floating on the lake
Views from the dock
Davis Lake at dusk
Dinner: Striploin steak, garlic butter shrimp, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and roasted parmesan potatoes
We arrived at Chelsea's cottage in the early afternoon on Thursday. It wasn't a particularly sunny day so no one wanted to go into the water, but it was still warm so we spent the rest of the day hanging out on the dock, feet in the water, listening to music, drinking (orange soda for me, beer for everyone else), snacking, chatting, and smoking. Time is a funny thing when you're at the cottage. It seems like it's slower, but then hours pass and you have no idea where the time went. We had a splendid dinner of steak, shrimp, and potatoes, and then spent the evening hanging out on the deck and playing Cards Against Humanity until midnight.
Tarts from The Little Tart: Blueberry cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, lemon, classic butter, blueberry crumble, salted caramel custard, and pecan
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, sausages, bacon, and fresh strawberries
We woke up early on Friday morning to drive 30 minutes to to The Little Tart in Haliburton. It's a tiny little shop specializing in old fashioned home baked goods. It's become extremely popular and because everything is made fresh and by hand, there is a limited amount of each item and a lot of their offerings are sold out within the first two hours of opening (in fact, the owner told us that there were already three people waiting on the porch before he even opened the store). But we got there about 15 minutes after they opened and managed to get all the things we wanted. I picked up fourteen tarts (my favourite is the "Booty Call," a salted caramel custard tart with a chocolate base) and two lemon squares so I had enough to bring back home to share. When we got back to Chelsea's cottage, we tucked into breakfast and then set about our day by the water.
Panoramic view of Davis Lake (taken with my iPhone 6!)
Paddle boat views of Davis Lake
Paddle boat views of Davis Lake
Paddle boat views of Davis Lake
Paddle boat views of Davis Lake
Yes, for the first time in nearly two decades, I got into a bathing suit and shorts and went swimming (well, wading, really, because I had my contacts in and didn't want to go underwater for fear of losing one or both). My legs literally hadn't seen the sun in over 15 years. It was a very surreal experience. I didn't think I'd have fun because, again, I don't really do the outdoors, but I had a surprisingly fantastic time helped by the stunningly beautiful weather. It was sunny but not too hot or humid, the sky was the bluest of blues, and the water so clear that you could see to the bottom of the lake. We had a nice lunch spread on the patio consisting of freshly baked cheesy bread (picked up from the local bakery that morning), prosciutto, figs, various crackers and cheeses, pickles, hummus and red pepper jelly, strawberries, grapes, and cucumbers. I didn't take any photos, but trust me when I say we were eating like royalty. Chelsea and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon paddle-boating around the lake and actually got quite far (I even brought my camera for proof). I haven't gotten this much exercise in years but, you know, we had to burn off all the food somehow. 
Dinner: Grilled prime rib beef burgers with cheddar and hot dogs
After being exhausted from paddle-boating, we lay on the dock for a couple hours (I got quite the savage sandal tan) and then went in to shower. Dinner consisted of prime rib beef burgers and hot dogs from the charcoal barbecue, plus heirloom tomatoes and bocconcini on the side. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the deck and playing more Cards Against Humanity (as it turns out, we are terrible, terrible people).
Breakfast: pancakes with butter and homemade strawberry jam, parmesan scrambled eggs, bacon, and strawberries

Panoramic view of Davis Lake (also taken with my iPhone 6)
Views from the dock
It was a cold, gloomy day on Saturday with periods of rain, so we slept in, had a lovely breakfast inside, and then spent the day having a serious Yahtzee! competition. I do remember spending a couple hours on the deck just smoking and drinking and chatting when it wasn't raining, but we spent the majority of the day indoors.

Dinner: Tenderloin steak, grilled shrimp, corn on the cob, roasted garlic potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and tomatoes
The rain didn't deter us from barbecuing, though, and we had an early dinner of grilled steak and shrimp and corn on the cob before heading out to watch War Dogs at Highlands Cinemas, an old independent movie theatre with a movie paraphernalia museum. Highlands is old-school, the way theatres were before multiplexes. They display movie times with retro dimensional letters on an old marquee sign. It has a very kitschy, vintage feel and even smells like an old thrift store, which some will like and some won't, but it is definitely a very cool small-town experience and anyone going up to the Haliburton area needs to check the place out at least once. And as for the movie? I'd give it a solid 8/10 (on its own, War Dogs would probably get maybe a 6 or 6.5, but Jonah Hill is really, truly spectacular in that film — as Wendy Ide of The Guardian says, "Jonah Hill is so repellent — all swagger, sweat and unapologetic sexism — in War Dogs, that for a while, you don't immediately realise what a blitzkrieg of a performance he delivers.").
Morning views of Davis Lake
Morning views from the dock
Yahtzee! and strawberry cheesecake
On our last morning at the cottage, we got up early to pack, had warm apple strudel and bacon scramble on English muffins for breakfast, hung out by the dock for a bit (despite the sun, it was actually pretty cold), and then spent a couple hours eating cheesecake and playing more Yahtzee! (seriously, it got really addictive) on the patio before finally hitting the road in the early afternoon. And just like that, vacation was over. But despite the many mosquito bites and the slight sunburn on my legs, I would do it over again in a heartbeat. Consider my cottage cherry popped.