On Friday, we ventured into Ottawa to shop at the open-air farmers’ market, watch the Changing of the Guard on Parliament Hill, and try some traditional Canadian food.

Poutine is a common Canadian snack dish (originally from Quebec), made with French fries, topped with brown gravy, and cheese curds.

The group wanted to know if I was going to post a recipe for it. I suppose that if I loved the stuff I would do so, but frankly, I found it rather disgusting.

For that reason, here is the best I can give you as far as a recipe goes; Purchase a bag of frozen fries, a can of brown beef gravy, and a bag of cheese curds, which can be found at Whole Foods. Bake or deep-fry the French fries and heat the gravy, place fries on a serving dish, sprinkle with curds, then pour the heated gravy over the top. There you have it, Poutine, the favorite snack food of Canada. Enjoy!

I had expected the Changing of the Guard in Canada to be similar to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace in London. Again, not quite so. There was still plenty of pomp and circumstance, maybe even more, but don’t expect the same sort of stoic affair.

These guards not only smile and speak, but they will also pose for pictures with you as well. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that they aren’t actually “guarding” anything. The photo above shows the Canadian Guard, while the photo below shows the British Guard at Buckingham Palace.

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“Fourth of July in Quebec”

Yesterday was our first ever 4th of July spent out of the USA. We are near Ripon, Quebec – which is about 50 miles northeast of Canada’s capital city, Ottawa.

Dave and I, along with Terry and Barbara Fenzl, are visiting our friends, Paul and Kim Howard, at their picturesque family vacation home.

We may be in another country, but we celebrated in the traditional Red, White, and True-Blue American style.

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Happy 4th to you and your family! I found this awesome graphic of “The 4th of July by the Numbers” on Pinterest. I know that it is difficult to read, you can use the link at the bottom of the post to go directly to the source.

There are so many cool facts… for instance, the first one you can’t make out here says, “The Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, but didn’t approve the declaration until the 4th.”

My favorite fact? “On the Fourth of July Americans eat 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than Five Times!”

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Although I’ve lived in Arizona my entire life, I’ve never seen a snake in my yard before. A couple of times out in the “wild” but never on my property… that is… until now.

The snake above is not the exact snake from my yard, but he is the same type… a nonvenomous Pituophi catenifer deserticola – more commonly known as a Great Basin Gopher Snake.

Here is “my” snake. I walked out on my back patio and there he was!

He was much more afraid of me than I was of him. As soon as I snapped the first photo, he slithered off into a garden area. Look closely, he’s there.

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It’s HOT. Here is a cold refreshing salad to help cool you down. Throw in some rotisserie chicken if you want to make it a main course.

Now go sit under a fan or jump in the pool.

Enough said.

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Before I tell you about Superstition Farm, I must mention my shock and sorrow over a tragedy that occurred here in Arizona late yesterday.

Nineteen firefighters – all members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots – an elite response team, were killed Sunday battling a fast-moving wildfire near Yarnell, marking the deadliest single incident for firefighters since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The fire, which investigators believe was sparked by lightning, also destroyed more than 200 homes and buildings in the town which is home to about 700 people.

A photojournalist friend of mine was there and posted this on his Facebook page yesterday at 7:30 pm.

via Chencho Flores

This morning, Chencho said it best on his Facebook post:

“Finally home after one of the longest and most heartbreaking days of my career. Say a prayer for the families of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots.”

Offering my thoughts and prayers for the heroic souls lost and the families and friends left behind. God bless them all. Absolutely heartbreaking.

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Last summer, I introduced my Illinois bestie, Jen, to Pinterest. One of the first things she spotted was these cookies. We went directly to the store and bought the ingredients.

Best. Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ever!

Since they are so fabulous, I have not made a batch since!

Don’t act surprised, you know why… I’d eat them before they had a chance to cool and then loath myself for days on end. Yesterday I decided to tempt fate. I whipped up a batch, set them out to cool, and left the house.

Upon my return, I immediately packed them up and placed the cookies in the freezer. I did not eat one.

Little miracles happen every single day!

Later this week, the frozen cookies will board a plane with me to Canada and be served at a 4th of July picnic.

Classic American Holiday + The Canadian Wilderness + Extra-Special Chocolate Chip Cookies = Perfection.

I used the reddish Alaea and the white Kona sea salts I brought home from Hawaii for two of the baking sheets of cookies and the pink Murray River salt for the third one. Use whatever sea salt you have on hand.

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This is a recipe I posted nearly four years ago, very soon after the birth of this blog.

Since it’s been so long and is buried deep in the archives, I feel it’s time to remind you about the summertime goodness and refreshment of my cucumber martini.

Cool cucumber, tart lime, luscious lime-simple syrup, herbal gin, and a boat full of ice  …  what more could a parched girl living in a sweltering, arid, suffocatingly hot, dry, scorched, oven-like desert want?

OK, honestly, maybe a bowl of ice cream … but even without the ice cream, this cocktail will do just fine!

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On Wednesday night, Peggy, Anne, and I made a 6 PM date for an impromptu happy hour at my house.

I had planned to go to Trader Joe’s and pick up some nibbles and wine, but the day slipped away from me (hijacked actually) when something unexpected came up.

Sometimes, a girl’s gotta do what a girl has gotta do … with what she has on hand.

I raced through the door at 5:15; pulled a loaf of bread and a package of prosciutto from the freezer, chilled a couple of bottles of wine I had on hand, jumped in the shower, then threw together this quick appetizer… all before Anne rang the bell at 6:00.

Victory is Mine!

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I said I was going to shellac the lovely chalkboard cookies I received as a gift … and I did!

I didn’t end up using shellac. Instead, I preserved and sealed the cookies with an acrylic clear matte coating and then I put them in a shadowbox.

I first tried to use Glue Dots to attach the cookies to the burlap backing … that did not work … but Velcro fasteners did the trick.

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