I just want to say, that if you are ever in the Elk Lake area on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, please go straight to the Elk Lake Eco Centre for the best brunch I’ve had in perhaps my life. It’s a beautiful room, the dining room at the Eco Centre. And the food is really pretty. There was a toast station with homemade breads, bagels, english muffins, local fruit homemade jams and preserves. A griddle with perfectly done sunnyside eggs and baguette french toasts. A crock pot full of maple syrup baked beans. Then: breakfast potatoes with arugula (see Mike’s Ode to a Fried Potato), mennonite pork sausages with roasted apples, local bacon and ham with pineapple. Freshly made waffles with real whipped cream, mixed local berry coulis and real maple syrup. Yogurt and fruit salad with homemade granola. A cheese tray with local cheeses and fresh fruits. Apple, orange, cranberry, grapefruit juice. Fresh coffee and tea with all the dressings. AND DESSERT: banana bread, pecan squares, nanaimo bars, carrot cake. And I don’t want to seem particular, here, but it was $12.95! I want to do it again.
When we had everything digested and could move again, we piled in the truck and headed out to visit AJ Acres, a local family cattle farm in Kerns Township. We visited with Allan Aitchison and his wife Joanne, and their son Jody and his wife Tammy, to talk about farming in the area. The family has been farming that property for several generations, raising Charolais and Angus for beef and some bulls for breeding.
The cows cooperated and moved in for their close-up.
Then it started to pour with rain so we headed home to the Eco Lodge to have another delicious meal of homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes with Pamela, before heading out on a bear hunt! (A photographic bear hunt from inside a moving vehicle. I stayed home and did the laundry).
Tomorrow–the buffalo farm on highway 560 and a visit to Thornloe Cheese on highway 11, then off to Timmins for a private spa at Cedar Meadows Resort & Spa! So excited.
Photos by Alexandra Sawicki
delicious sounds!