Dad's Rotisserie Pork Roast

Dad's love of entertaining and cooking for crowds has always inspired me. My childhood memories from the cabin are full of large dinners with family friends, usually involving a large peice of meat cooked on the rotisserie. I'm lucky that some of dad's cooking creedos have stuck with me: brown everything (sugar, butter, meat), always use the full fat option (cream, butter, cuts of beef), some recipes take time and the one thing I'm still trying to learn: relax in the kitchen!

I realized last weekend as we were grilling up this roast why Dad always chose it for those summer weekends when cooking for crowds: you can prep everything the night before, then by the time you're a few beers deep, all you have to do to get dinner on the table is sit out on the deck in the sun, looking like a hero as your roast sizzles to perfect doneness. I don't often cook pork, but I remeber Dad's pork roast being as good as beef. I picked this one up from Costco, it could easily have served twenty people, and cost me a total of $30! It came out so juicy and flavourful. If you've never tried it before, it's so worth it, and it's not at all like ham.

I had to trust Dad for this recipe, something that doesn't come easily to me! When he brought out the cumin and curry powder I was weary - told him I didn't want an Indian pork rub, but he just laughed and told me to trust him. What resulted was the perfect rub to compliment the pork. Using the rotisserie was easier than I expected, and I feel as though it's a dying method that no one uses anymore. I'm definitely going to bring it back this summer! We were lucky enough to share this roast with dear family and friends after a pretty classic day at Brereton - a bit of work, walking the dogs, and a lot of shooting the shit at the Kippen's picnic table.  

Wild Blueberry Cordial - Part One

I am one lucky lady. At the cabin a few weekends ago my Dad's very thoughtful girlfriend Donna gifted me a ziplock bag full of wild Whiteshell blueberries she hand picked in summer and froze. Last year was a fantastic year for blueberries in our little corner of the Canadian Shield, but with the bumper crop of berries also came a mosquito invasion that made foraging unbearable. Knowing the effort that went into picking those berries made the gift just that much sweeter.

 I brain stormed for a few long weeks about how to honour the blueberries. Plans for pie, muffins or coffee cake crossed my mind. But booze is always the right answer. Cordial takes about two months to develop, so this batch will be ready just in time for Mother's Day and my Dad's birthday. Best way to ensure I will continue to get a cut of Dad's foraged bounty - turn it into booze and share it with him. It helps that last weekend Dave's Oma gave me a box full of stunning antique mason jars.

I considered actually making my own alcohol with the berries, by starting from scratch using yeast. But the risk of wasting the bounty on an experimental recipe freaked me out. Making a cordial using vodka is fool proof. I made a similar recipe last Christmas using over ripe blackberries and loved the results. This time to compliment the blueberries, and jump on the herbal cocktail band wagon, I'm trying one jar with mint and one with rosemary. This is a very loose recipe, you can use any fruit and flavours you can think of, and the ratios are far from strict.

Grilled Chorizo and White Cheddar

Last weekend was glorious. Sparkling fresh fallen snow, bright blue skies, and campfire cooked sausages; I would never tire of winter if every weekend was spent at the cabin. Dave and I cross country skied out to Pine Point Rapids, close to our cabin in the Whiteshell. At the far point of the 6 km loop there's a warm up shack that's usually stocked with fire wood. When we showed up to the rapids one group was just leaving and had already started a nice fire in the grate outside - a perfect spot to cook up our picnic for two.

Admittedly this is another random grouping of ingredients more then it is a recipe. Without question, the most important take away from my Articling year was the patented move of combining grilled chorizo with white cheddar in one mouthful. There's a good chance that if you've been to our house or cabin in the past six years - we've fed you this. It's become quite a staple among our friends. 

Simple Cottage Pizza with Arugula on the BBQ

Disclaimer: This is more of a method of combining a bunch of store-bought items than it is a recipe.

One of my favourtie things about living on the prairies (at least where we are) is the proximity to beautiful Canadian Shield lakes and boreal forrest. This May Long weekend I was lucky enough to make this pizza twice - once for my bestest gal friends at Liz's cabin on Lake of the Woods, and a second time for my family at our cabin on Brereton Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

I love "recipes" like this one for the lake. Generally - we are either starving after arriving on Friday night, or we are more then a few beers deep after a beautiful day on the water. The last thing you want to do at the cottage is spend hours in the kitchen or to have to turn  on your oven. The key to this one is to purchase delicious, high quaility ingredients (preferably from a great Italian Store like Delucca's). With an evening like we had on Saturday (see picture below), I was so thankful to have something so quick and easy to throw together. I sometimes make my own pizza dough and sauce - but who wants to miss out on dock time to go start the rising process - not this sun worshipper!