July has been quite the month for weekend trips for us. The weekend after Penticton we flew to Vancouver Island to spend the weekend with Dave's parents and some friends.
What better way to spend a Saturday than with on a gourmet safari? We loaded into the car and caught the ferry to Salt Spring Island. Our itinerary for the day went something like this...
Salt Spring Island Market - tasting blue cheeses from Moonstruck Organic Cheeses, bread from Salt Spring Island Bread Co., goats cheese from Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, cookies from Bite Me Treats, Ty's Tapenade (I bought the artichoke and lemon), Jams, and sauces.
Poor hubby and Joanna. All they wanted was a cup of coffee. The first stall had no hot water, the second had run out of cups! Finally at the 3rd place they found coffee.
We grabbed a dough dog for hubby, and a dough boy for Joanna, Barb and I to share from Lorraine's Kitchen, and wandered through some of the stores in Ganges.
We saw hubby's dream property in the realtor's window.
Aviators/ Farmer's dream-come-true. This original gulf islands farm, circa 1900, has everything, a charming cottage, garden house, orchard, barn, workshop, airplane hanger,with a 1500' grass landing strip.This 28 acres parcel is very sunny and mostly level, cleared, ideal for a small farm, animals or crops. A very rare and captivating offering. Only $1,350,000.00. If any has some spare change and would like to buy us a gift you can contact the realtor here.
After drooling for a bit we head out to continue our gourmet safari.
Salt Spring Vineyards. The labels were a hit - they have a float plane on them. The tasting was good and included local cheeses and breads. We bought a bottle of Blanc de Noir and a bottle of Morning Star (a sparkling wine). Not many wineries in BC make a sparkling wine. I think it's a perfect summer drink. They also have a very nice blackberry port. Salt Spring Vineyards is now my favourite. And Bill Harkley, one of the owners is a pilot, so that makes it a hit with hubby.
Garry Oaks Winery. Not as entertaining as Salt Spring Vineyards. Staff were friendly enough but not as enthusiastic. We did like the wine. We bought a bottle of Prism. A blend of chardonnay and Gewürztraminer.
Salt Spring Island Cheese. Very yummy handmade goat and sheep cheese and stuffed olives. Between us we bought sun dried tomato, a pepper, a blue cheese, montana cheese, and some olives. They also have a very tasty spicy chili feta.
Time to head home for dinner.
And homemade Nutella ice cream. Barb, I need the recipe...nutella, condensed milk....
We finished off the day with frappucinos, margaritas and a hot tub.
Next weekend....Texada Island.
Don't forget to watch out for slow moving slugs!