House Success & Prince Edward County

Oh oh...Giz has moved from gentle requests, "gee, it would be nice if you posted..." and "are you going to post tonight?" to "are you going to blog ever again?" and "why are you taking pictures of food if you don't blog anymore?" (ouch...the last one stung).

Ok mom -- I'm going to post.

Things have been busy. We found a house! We've got a couple of months until we move in. But, we're slowly making a dent in the things (e.g., trying to sort out an attic that is currently reminiscent of the "before" pictures on Clean Sweep).

I'm looking forward to being into a home of my own and am particularly excited about the amount of cupboard space in the kitchen.

**No, Giz, this isn't a covert way of me saying that you should go out and buy me more kitchen items**

I can see myself being busy with little projects for quite a long time. The current owners love antiques. Like this chandelier...


I think I'm going to be replacing the light fixtures pretty quickly.

I'm also interested in moving this island...or more accurately, penninsula, to the far wall.


I don't really understand their choice of configuration, nor the bum-shaped counter top. Does anyone know anything about these bum-shaped counter tops and whether there is something positive about them that I am missing?

How difficult is it to move an island that is stuck to the floor? It just doesn't make sense to me to have this space. I guess it's supposed to make it an eat-in kitchen. Ideally, I would like to move the penninsula and put on a new counter top that doesn't hang over the cupboards very much.


So, as I was saying, a number of projects for me to stay up at night thinking about. But, the house is in good condition. The lady that lives there is clearly a very tidy (read: obsessive) person, who hasn't skimped on repairs. Here's just one of her 3 closets that are all filled with clothes wrapped in clothing bags.


I'm very relieved to be done the house search process.

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R and I went to Prince Edward County last weekend. You may remember Giz and I blogging about our trip to that region last year around this time.

This time, we went to visit the very popular Sandbanks Provincial Park. It's so popular, that when we knew we wanted to go camp there during Labour Day weekend, R woke up 5 months to the date at 8 am (the earliest you can make your camping booking) to make the reservation.

The campsites are about average, as far as Ontario provincial parks go. But, the big draw is the beach, which is one of the nicest beaches in the province. The sand is very fine and the water crystal clear.


Beautiful sunsets too!


Because the weather was so beautiful, we spent most of our time at the beach. But we did take some time to go around the county on our last day in the region.

Last time Giz and I were in the county, we didn't get a chance to buy any cheese. So, R and I stopped in to the Black River Cheese shop.


The website explains that this company was started in 1901 by local farmers and is still a small production facility dedicated to preserving a tradition of making superior cheese.


We stopped off at County Cider. Unfortunately, they were sold out of their Waupoos Premium Cider that we like (the LCBO in town was sold out too). We bought a bottle of the County Premium Cider, but its flavour is much weaker.


We also visited Black Prince Winery. The winery markets itself as being dedicated to crafting fine, accessible wines showcasing what the area has to offer. I've only sampling the wine, so far. But, was actually quite impressed with the taste. Usually, when I sample wine the thought in my wine-novice head is, "yup, tastes like wine". But, when I sampled this wine, I immediately wanted to taste some more.



The 3 hour car ride home gave also gave me the opportunity to finish up a knitting project (Entrelac Cloth) I had started quite a while ago. With summer coming to an end, I'm starting to get the itch to knit again.



I do have actual food posts to share -- but, I'll leave it there for now.

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NOTE for Kelly Blechertas -- I don't have access to your blog and, therefore, have no way to contact you regarding your Random Acts of Kindness gift. Please email me at bloggingwagon(at)hotmail(dot)com

Georgia Peach Upside Down Cake

Can I just say how much I don't like multiple offer situations?

Yesterday, we entered into our first bidding war and lost. We weren't outbidded...we were outkidded. After waiting outside of the seller's house for what seemed like FOREVER, it came down to us and another couple. Our bids were exactly the same and the sellers were going to just make their decision. I knew at that point that we had lost. The other buyers had two kids with them, the same age as the sellers' kids. I quickly looked around for things I could shove under my shirt to make a case for being pregnant with triplets (the only thing that may have helped at that point).

So...the search continues. I'm not sure what's more disappointing -- losing a house I really liked or having to continue searching for a new home.

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On to something happier...Random Acts of Kindness!

Watch the video below to see how I picked the 3 recipients of random acts of kindness!



Amelie


Princess of the Universe


Kelly Blechertas

I'll get in touch with you guys to get your addresses!

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Now - for some food.

I think I have a "thing" for upside down cakes. You can check out the Strawberry & Blueberry Upside Down Cake I posted here and the Upside Down Apple Cake I posted here. There's something so satisfying about not knowing what your dish will look like, but then seeing a beautiful creation after flipping it over. There's risk, intrigue and reward.

This time, I made a Peach Upside Down Cake. Being that this is peach season, this is a great time to make this pie. But, I actually used the peaches I froze last summer, thinking that I should start cleaning out my freezer in case I ever manage to find a house.

I'll admit, I didn't really read the recipe in full when I first started making it. So, I was surprised to see that the cake is made in a pan. Thankfully, the pan I was using for the first step of the recipe was the right size and could go in the oven.

Georgia Peach Upside Down Cake
CD Kitchen



Ingredients:
2 pounds peaches
13 tablespoons of butter (divided)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup sour cream


Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and halve peaches.

Cook brown sugar in 5 tablespoons butter in 10 inch ovenproof frying pan until dissolved. Off the heat, arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Beat 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture by thirds, alternating with sour cream.

Spread over peaches and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.


A person that had reviewed the cake recipe said, "the cake will get quite brown before it is ready, but if you pull it before the toothpick comes out clean you'll end up with a gooey cake in the middle. Let it sit 10 min before you flip it out on to a serving dish, and be careful with that step, maybe use a dish with a high lip to catch the brown sugar/peach juices so they go into the cake and not all over your kitchen counter and floor. I had some mopping to do as part of the clean up".

I thought this was good advice. My oven is fast, so I set my timer for 45 minutes and it was ready, but quite dark around the bottom edges.


Verdict: R quite likes this cake and has been taking a slice for lunch every day. Personally, I find it to be denser than I would like. The two previous upside down cakes were lighter and I prefered them. But, I was quite impressed with how well the cake stuck together using the frying pan cooking method (not sure if there's a more technical name for that). I also like the flavour of the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in the cake.