A Drive Along the Lighthouse Route

I can't believe it's actually more than an entire week since my Honey and I took a little exploratory drive along the Lighthouse Route. First let me say, that when we lived in Toronto, we'd frequently take a drive along an old, and now rarely used highway looking for some interesting scenery, market, restaurant....whatever. Of course it would take us more than an hour just to leave the city, so a "short" trip to the country would usually take us the entire day.

We're temporarily staying at my daughter and son-in-law's place (that's the view from the kitchen window) who live outside of Halifax just off the Prospect Highway (part of the Lighthouse Route, which actually goes along the Eastern Coast from Halifax all the way to Yarmouth). So we decided to see if we could actually find some lighthouses and some fishermen (I'm obsessed).

Be warned...this is one of the few posts you will ever find on my blog that does NOT have a recipe or pictures of some delicious meal or other.

As for the fishermen (or lobster men), I did find a boat at the pier in Lower Prospect, a cute fishing town of old, but no fishermen.

Although, we did spot someone digging for clams in Lower Prospect.

And we did see these empty lobster traps on the wharf, so I assume there's lobster fishing (actually, they're caught in traps) around.

This is Lower Prospect (I took so many pictures of Terrance Bay, Sandy Cove and Prospect Bay that I could be wrong). The terrain is very stark and yet very peaceful.

And my favorite spot was Prospect Village. It is quaint and lovely and tiny, with no signs of modern living. Think 1800's and you're close. I love it.

That's Prospect Bay and behind it the Atlantic Ocean....just spectacular views everywhere.

But now it's time to head home and make some dinner....and amazing but true - I don't remember what I cooked!

Related links:Nova Scotia

Another Road Trip Along the Lighthouse Route

Before I share my little adventure on the Lighthouse Route that runs along the southern coast of Nova Scotia , I want to mention another random thing about me....I'm a sucker for romantic historical (and mythical) legends. I love King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin and all the Knights of the Roundtable. And one of my all time favorite novels is The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley Zimmer - well actually, the whole series. The High Priestesses live in the mythical, magical land of Avalon that only they can travel to, naturally through the mists.

One thing I truly love about Halifax and all along the coasts of Nova Scotia are the fogs. They are nothing like the thick, smoggy, dark fogs of Toronto. They are light and they seem to move magically in the wind. It's the salt air from the ocean, apparently and it's wonderful. I've been trying to take an early morning shot of the mist on the lake behind the house, but haven't been able to capture it. The photo at the top of the post is of a church in Mahone Bay, by the way. Now, doesn't it say MAGIC to you?

Now that I've set the stage....on with the adventure. We started off on Saturday in the light misty, grey rain and drove along the old highway #3. Roads in Nova Scotia (at least all the ones I've been on) are windy, hilly and for the most part 2 lanes. The views everywhere are spectacular - tons of lakes, large and small, trees of every shade of green (I can't even imagine what Fall will be like, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here), beaches, both rocky and sandy...

We decided to go further along the Lighthouse Route than we've been before. We passed lots of little villages along the way, some in coves with rocky shorelines and peeking in and out of the mist were islands dotting the horizon.

Our first stop was in the town of Hubbard, actually at the Farmer's Market. Like the one in Halifax, it takes place only on Saturday mornings, sells home baked breads, fair trade coffees, local cheeses, meat, local fish & seafood and, of course has Celtic musicians playing. One place we checked out for another trip is The Shore Club . They serve lobster dinners during the summers.

The second town we stopped at was Mahone Bay with quaint shops
and gingerbread homes brilliantly painted.


Check out the misty fog over the water behind this spectacular blue house with gorgeous lawns all decked out in their floral best.

And there were other lovely towns and glorious stretches of beaches we'll have to return to when it's warm and sunny. I can't wait.

But of course we had to have lunch and naturally we had to eat what everyone comes to the Maritimes for....

Lobster Rolls - lobster salad served in a toasted hot dog bun...

and Seafood Chowder with big chunks of lobster, clams, scallops and other lovely local fish. We would have stopped for homemade ice cream, but it was too cold and really raining by this time.

So it was off to Lunenburg, (home of the Bluenose II for you sailing fans), which also is a World Heritage site. So picturesque and charming, that you really do have to see for yourselves. That said, I will share the view from our room...That's the Harbour. What you can't see are all the heritage houses throughout the town. I love the signages..."this house was built for Mr/Dr So-and-so" or "the carpenter". You can take whale watching cruises or go out on a lobster boat or take a ride in a horse drawn carriage to see the historic town close up.

We're planning on going back for the Candlelight Walking Tour...I'll keep you posted.

But, it's time for dinner and we ate at a place my son-in-law's mother told me about. The Magnolia's Grill and it's every bit as good as she said it would be.
Oops, we were so hungry - that salt ocean air, that I forgot to take the photo of these classic local mussels, until after we had eaten them all!

Local pan fried scallops right off the boat - so good and...I thought I'd still be hungry because usually when I'd order scallops back in Toronto, I'd get maybe six...here, the plate was loaded with the tenderest, sweetest scallops ever...I'm drooling as I write this.

My Honey had this delicious stir fry of sesame peanut shrimps, chicken and crisp snow peas - very tasty indeed!

Shhhhh, don't tell the Diet Police....I had this oh so scrumptious key lime pie topped with whipped cream and he had Coconut Cream Pie.


That's it for now...I wonder where our next adventure will be....

Related links: Nova Scotia travel restaurants

Not Your Average Burger

Supper after a long day in the country - Mushroom Swiss Cheese Burger, makes me drool just writing about it. But first, the day...

Sunday was glorious...a bit windy, but sunny and wonderful and My Honey and I decided to explore a different "route". We love the Lighthouse Route - Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay & Lunenburg to mention just three lovely places on the way (and tons of great eating too, I might add). And we've travelled the Evangeline Trail through the Annapolis Valley-great wines, lush farmlands...Wolfville has some great restaurants (plus that is the "go to" place for us for apple picking, and Grand Pre (my very favorite spot...The Tangled Garden). I could go on and on.

But we've covered those routes so often the car can go on auto-pilot. So this time we decided to explore the Marine Drive...up north past Dartmouth and heading towards Cape Breton. Apparently there are some awesome beaches there that we never made it to this summer. We thought we'd check things out for next year.

Plus the weather was very summery. Look at those waves, no wonder there were so many surfers out even though it's mid-October.

Those tiny dots...kayakers taking advantage of the waves. We were on a cliff watching the action.

It was certainly windy enough for this paraglider/surfer. And just check out the wonderful sandy beach.

I've never been to a moor, but somehow when I saw this...thick grassy breaker before the beach, I saw Heathcliff and Catherine from Wuthering Heights. Okay, maybe I was just hungry and hallucinating....

We got in the car still heading north and looking for a place to eat a late lunch. Not nearly the options of the Lighthouse Route, so if there are any locals out there reading this...please point us to a great spot for the next time. We did see The Lobster Shack at the Salmon River House Country Inn, but my Honey, who hates waiting in line for a meal, equally hates going to a place where there isn't a car in the parking lot. After an hour of driving and finding....nothing, we did a u-turn and headed back to Dartmouth, by this time, we were just really craving a fast food burger. I know it sounds impossible, but we didn't find one (they always seemed to be off on a subsiduary road, teasing us) and so we had a fast food of a different sort - gravely disappointed in the food, so I won't share where.

All that to tell you about our truly super supper....

I recently received a copy of Dana McCauley's cookbook Dana's Top Ten Table. Dana is a food writer who for a long time was food editor for Homemakers Magazine. You can learn all about her here... At Homemakers Dana followed the current food trends and that was the inspiration for her latest cookbook...Dana's Top Ten Table - 200 fresh takes on family-favorite meals. A great book! And what are the "top 10"? (In alphabetical order) Burgers, Casseroles & one-dish meals, Chicken, Fish & seafood, Pasta, Pizza, Pork, Sandwiches, Soup, and Steak. And each category has great recipes to make the ordinary anything BUT!

Burgers on the brain, I flipped through the burger section of the book. It really was difficult to choose...the Gourmet Brie Burger sounded very sophisticated - tasty patties enveloping a chunk of cold Brie or Camembert. Butter basted Bison Burgers? Sweet & Spicy Maple Chicken Burgers? Both sound awesome, but obviously for another day - I only have ground beef on hand. Plus, I was really in a diner mood.

And there it was...perfection....Mushroom Swiss Burgers - sigh! As I write this, I think I have to make them again before the week is out! I made them in buns as traditional diner burgers would be... Swiss Cheese melting just a little on it's way from the kitchen...lots of sauteed mushrooms and onions on top....delicious! But next time I might take Dana's suggestion and serve them sans bun with mashed potatoes and double up on the mushrooms.

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes burgers meat cookbooks Nova Scotia

Good but Crazy Times - Touring, Presto Pasta & BlogHer

It's a crazy...good crazy, but crazy none the less. Our friends are spending a few days in Halifax and I'm playing tourist/tour guide. Talk about the blind leading the blind....although, I'm quite impressed with myself. I haven't even gotten us lost once.

In order to get the car to toodle around I need to get my Honey into town before 7:30 AM - you heard me. No groaning out there - it's a good thing. It's the only time I have to do any writing this week. Thank goodness for Starbucks. And don't you love my laptop's background? That smile puts me in a great mood for the whole day. But I'm off topic, yet again.

Today was sunny and hot and brilliant so we ended up taking a tall ship tour of Halifax Harbour, enjoyed a lobster crepe while waiting to board and a leisurely stroll before dinner...not sure where we'll end up.

Yesterday we drove along the Lighthouse Route (that's our friends in front of the famouse lighthouse at Peggy's Cove)- yes, you've heard all about the Lighthouse Route several times. This time at least was sunny and hot. Lots of people were swimming at Cleveland and Queenlands salt water beaches in (I think) St Margaret's Bay. Everyone was having a wonderful time in the surf. But we were in a hurry to get to Lunenburg for a lobster sandwich on the Dockside Terrace overlooking the harbour. I know...the photo sucks! but the sandwich was delicious. What a great life!!!

After a leisurely lunch, we wandered a bit and then headed home to pick up my Honey and go out for dinner in Halifax.

I've already said there will be no cooking this week, but Presto Pasta Night Roundup is Friday, so last night we ate on the terrace at The Argyle (on Argyle, naturally) and I had to have some pasta. What can I say...the lovely lobster ravioli in white wine and garlic cream sauce was delicious. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this time, the photo really doesn't do the dish justice. I will have to experiment with this one once I'm really in my own home.

On to crazy, good but crazy number two. I'm off to the BlogHer Conference tomorrow in Chicago and I can't wait. I can't wait to gain new insights and ideas and more importantly...I can't wait to meet some fellow food bloggers whom I've become friends with through our blogs.

If any of you are planning on attending, please let me know. I'd love to hook up with you.

I don't know how much writing I'll be doing over the next few days but I promise to share as much as I can and of course do a Presto Pasta Night Roundup on Friday. You still have a couple of days to make a terrific pasta dish. It's easy to join the fun. Here's how.

I'll catch you when I can and I hope you're all having a crazy - good but crazy week too!

Related links: Food & Drink Nova Scotia pastaBlogHer ConferencePresto Pasta Night

Easy Long Weekends in Nova Scotia

Long weekends are always nice, but particularly wonderful when the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm...and even better if great road trips are only minutes away. The difference between living in Toronto and heading out to for a country-side adventure is all about the time it takes to get there...and the ocean, of course (That's Queensland Beach above).

This weekend was the Annual Indian Point/Mahone Bay Mussel Festival and under an hour from Halifax on the loveliest ocean route, passing quaint fishing villages, artistic centers and lots of beaches (at least 10) along the way. The Lighthouse Route is my favorite day trip, as you can see here. You are in the country, on windy country roads within 15 minutes of downtown Halifax and the views are spectacular - Atlantic Ocean view on the left and lakes and mountains on the right. But I digress and you check out my earlier raves by just doing a search here.

Saturday was an attempt to spend the day at Queensland Beach, but the winds blew us toward a more sheltered picnicking spot down the road.
And yesterday it was a jaunt to Mahone Bay to participate in the Mussel Festival and for a lunch of delicious mussels. Frankly it was hard to choose - every restaurant was selling them and every restaurant had at least three options. We ended up at the Gazebo Cafe (a charming spot with lots of patio space and lots of wonderful dishes) and ate some Spanish styled with Chorizo and, my favorite, these Provencal with shrimp in a Pernod cream sauce.
Today is still a lovely day, and to give us some quick energy...or rather, energy quickly...I made this tasty

Asparagus & Cheese with Spicy Walnut Pesto Omelet

with local asparagus - here at last!

I'm not sure where our adventures will take us today, but I am sure it will be wonderful.

Lobster Dinner at Home

My brother-in-law is visiting from Toronto, so we're naturally doing some touristy things...time checking out the Halifax harbour, heading out to Peggy's Cove and the rest of the lovely Lighthouse Route. We've taken many a visitor on these journeys in the past year and we love doing it. But this is the first time we actually cooked lobster at home. And it was absolutely spectacular.

This is just a short post...because we're heading out to take advantage of a gorgeous day, but I had to share. We bought our lobsters at the massive Clearwater store along the Bedford Basin. So many lobster options...soft shell (with lower percentage of meat), some perfect for canning, to the hard shell variety. Guess which route we chose....no contest....2 lively 1 1/2 lb hard shell primo lobsters went into the bag and we headed home.

I finally got to use the huge pot I bought last summer specifically for this purpose (although it will be used for making large batches of soups, sauces and stews for the freezer...but I digress. And naturally the menfolk reminded me of Woody Allen in the movie Annie Hall, so I had to do the handling.

Here's Clearwater's own recipe for Boiled Lobster and while you're there, check out the other great recipes. My Honey wouldn't let me post the photo of empty shells, so you'll have to trust me when I say there was nothing left. The lobsters were sweet and juicy and the best I've ever eaten. And, by the way...Clearwater has an online store and ships anywhere, so you don't have to live in Halifax to enjoy some of our local lobsters.

The picture of me in my lobster bib is still on my brother-in-law's camera and we're off to explore....see you all tomorrow for the Presto Pasta Night Roundup.

Canada Day Fun in Nova Scotia

The Canada Day weekend here in Nova Scotia was wonderul, although we actually didn't catch any Canada Day festivities (we somehow were always a little too late or a little too early!) but the weather was awesome. For those of you who want to get straight to the food....you'll have to scroll down a ways.

It started out with another trip to the Halifax Farmer's Market on Saturday. This time I was insistent that we arrive by 8am. Because my family loves me (and are tired of my whining about it) they humored me. Last time we got there at 9am and it was already too crowded and, once again I didn't get my crepes...that's time number 2!!! or the ruby red rhubarb I saw....but enough whining, because this time was different...

The crepe line up was still long, even at 8:15 am, but we waited and the hardest part was choosing...savory or sweet (I decided on sweet) and then the long list of sweet options...

Sharron and I shared nutella & banana and honey, lemon & toasted almonds (my fave). They both were delicious.

Because I was disappointed at missing out on the ruby red rhubarb the week before, we snatched some locally grown (in the Annapolis Valley) strawberries (3 quarts that are already gone)

and rhubarb (waiting for a recipe) before we even went inside. Actually I bought some asparagus too. They are now standing like soldiers in some water until I'm ready. By 9 am it was too crowded, so just some quick purchases of mixed greens, baby beet greens, lots of mint, basil and parsley and more olive & rosemary bread plus 9 grain loaf at the baker (near the creperie) that I like best at the market...we headed out.

It was warm and sunny and perfect for a stroll and a coffee at the waterfront. Then it was off to find our new car and wonderfully got lost in Dartmouth. I say wonderfully because it was a beautiful "short cut" that obviously took us much longer than it should have, but we passed lovely lakes (in fact, it's called the "City of Lakes") and parks. Sorry no photos...I'll just have to go back.

Saturday evening was lovely - a barbecue at our in-laws to meet some of their friends. We had way too much food served along with the laughter on their beautiful deck. M&M Meats provided the marinated chicken that Marty so expertly grilled. Pasta salads were from Pete's Frootique and very tasty. And I whipped up a few myself....

Couscous Tabbouleh


Mixed Greens & Mango with an Asian Vinaigrette

Sliced Tomatoes & Goat Cheese

You'd think we were feeding an army, but...variety IS the spice of life, isn't it?

Dessert was great too....Joanne brought a fantastic strawberry chocolate cheesecake one of her students (she's a kindergarten teacher) parents made (Is that proper English? Probably not, but you know what I mean) M&M provided an apple crumble cake and I brought...

Strawberries (naturally) with Balsamic Vinegar & Basil

Yesterday was even better, as lovely as Saturday was....my Honey and I went up to camp to visit the family and play with Boaz who is as cute as ever, don't you think?

After a lovely visit, we left camp and headed out to Lunenburg to pick up Sharron...

Lunenburg is a charming town with lots of excellent gingerbread houses, but I love this building on the waterfront the best. Naturally we had to have some more ice cream before getting in the car and heading along the lighthouse route back home. The idea was to stop at some lovely restaurant for something lobster (hard to believe, but I've been here for more than 2 months and I still have only had one small lobster fix...a lobster sandwich ). But I digress...

The old highway itself is windy and beautiful at every turn and I think that no matter how many times you see it, it's always fresh and new. Truthfully, you could get from Lunenberg to Peggy's Cove in about 30 minutes, but it took us about 3 hours on the scenic route...stopping at one of the umpteen beaches to collect shells. It was glorious...the smells and sounds of the ocean and taste of salt on my fingers ...perfect!

By the time we were closing in on Peggy's Cove, I had given up the notion of lobster and now we all wanted some good home-style cooking...a diner that would serve things like hot turkey sandwiches with gravy and mashed potatoes, or fish cakes, or old fashioned grilled cheese sandwiches. And lo and behold....

...we saw The Finer Diner which has only been open for 10 days, and is run by the sweetest husband and wife team. They're locals who decided to open a diner because there were no family style restaurants in the area. He's a carpenter by trade and did an amazing job with the place (I saw the "before" photo - yikes!) and she's an artist and the place is as pretty as can be. It was a little too chilly to sit outside and watch the gorgeous sunset on the terrace overlooking the water, but we'll be back for lunch. By the way, I had liver and onions with mashed potatoes and vegetables, Shar had a roast beef dip and my Honey had a club sandwich - everything was perfect...especially the pecan pie we shared.

So, the sun set on a perfect day... you'll have to come back to find out how we spent our Monday!

Related links: Nova Scotia travel restaurants recipes salad chicken strawberries dessert