Long weekends are so great when the weather cooperates. This year isn't a stellar example of pleasant spring weather, but when it came time to shine - did it ever! We began by baking a cheesecake to enjoy all weekend long with friends who came down for a dinner and movie and with my parents on a backyard pool side afternoon. This is a cake I've been dying to try for years, Everyday Food Light's Light Cherry Cheesecake.
So simple to make and baked up like a dream. It literally came out of the oven perfectly set without a crack. I honestly haven't been so pleased with a dessert like this in months! Using all light ingredients such as substituting cottage cheese and sour cream for some of the cream cheese made this a tasty and less over-the-top cheesecake option. I wasn't too big on my slice, maybe because cheesecakes aren't really my thing, but if it's yours, I highly recommended giving this one a whirl.
Owen's been chatting about nature walks at childcare so we took him to our favourite forest hiking spot, St. John's Conservation Area for a hike on the longest and steepest path.
Something about the quiet wilderness seemed to bring out some new found nudist tendency.
Owen insisted on being the leader, but then offered to take turns. This time of year is the most lovely time for nature walks because the temperatures are warm, humidity is low and the bugs aren't out.
At the end of the walk there is a pond with trout, turtles, frogs, tadpoles and various birds.
ribbit!
We also decided to check out Welland's Victoria Day celebration.
There was lots of free family fun here. Owen's first concert of the year, "New Kid In Town" - an Eagles tribute band.
Between the hike and the event we had to bow out before the fireworks display began. Maybe next year?
Finally on Monday we got through a lot of much needed yard work and then treated ourselves to a picnic at our favourite spot, Queenston Heights.
Brock's monument is open again. They are even allowing visitors to climb to the top. Owen was fascinated by the Battle of 1812 asking the tour operator tons of probing questions. The kids three going on thirteen.
With our mini bbq in tow, we enjoyed hot dogs from our favourite butcher and this Herbed Potato Salad from Everyday Food's June 2012 issue. Using low fat yogurt our salad was generously covered in dressing without feeling too indulgent. It's a fantastic recipe I think we'll stick with for the summer. Just one revision I made to this recipe was the addition of celery salt (we had it out from our evening Caesars) which added just a little extra hit of flavour which we really enjoyed.
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