A day of sailing and spit roast chicken

The July long weekend was spectacular this year almost too hot and sunny the entire weekend, so we jumped at an opportunity to go sailing with some friend on the Sunshine Coast. On Saturday when we were in a race the winds died to almost nothing and though a pleasant day, not a great sailing day.  On Sunday however we found some strong winds, that provided some amazing sailing.

Before we went out sailing however I made a marinade for a whole chicken in anticipation of a spit roast chicken for dinner. I used the same technique that I have been using for chicken lately of combining some tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices in a small food processor to make something that is somewhere between a rub and a marinade. This time I wanted to bring some of those Caribbean jerk flavours in to the mix

handful of cilantro
dozen grape tomatoes
1 red hot pepper
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red onion
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
good grind of black pepper
1 tablespoon of honey

combine all the ingredients in a mini food processer.

Chop to a pulp

Spread this evenly over the whole chicken (or chicken pieces)

Place in the fridge and go sailing and swimming.

Ruby lake resort

Over 20 years ago, my husband and then two small sons were going for a week on Texada Island along with my parents and were looking for a place to stop along the way.  We saw a sign for Ruby Lake Resort and so we stopped in.  It turns out that it had recently been bought by a family from Italy and they were serving authentic trattoria style Italian food right here on the Sunshine Coast. It was such an amazing surprise, and it was the first time my very picky eldest son tried eating something other than bread or pasta no sauce (penne with gorgonzola sauce).

We have been coming here ever since and the chef even catered my 50th birthday at my friends cabin in Pender Harbour. And from that gorgonzola sauce my son has moved on to be quite a discerning diner.  After an afternoon of swimming in Ruby lake we decided to treat ours selves with an early dinner there before taking the ferry home.

Ruby Lake

It was an extremely hot day and the shaded patio looked very inviting.

They grow their own herbs, gather wild mushrooms and generally try to serve local fresh and in season.  In fact while we were ordering the "free range chicken" wandered by.

To start we ordered The ocean wise seafood platter wild prawns, local clams, mussels, and scallops steamed in white wine-Pomodoro sauce, garlic, and Italian herbs which was served with bread for sopping up the delicious juices.

This was absolutely delicious and a very good way to start a meal.

Sechelt botanical gardens

The Cottagers wife happened to be up on the Sunshine Coast on the long week end as well and suggested that we meet at the Sechelt Botanical Gardens for a guided tour.  Neither Nancy or I had heard of such a place But thought a guided tour would be great way to spend an afternoon.

When we arrived there was one other person waiting for the tour and so the 5 of us set out around the gardens.  The gardens are only a couple of years old, and still very much a work in progress, but interesting to walk around.  The land used to be a tree nursery and there were several trees left on the property some of them in rows as they were during the time of the nursery.  The trees have now grown up and in a couple of places created rather lovely avenues that they hope to utilize in the future.

 They have visions of wedding parties walking down the avenue to the Pavilion which is rented out for events and certainly would be a wonderful place for a wedding overlooking the gardens.

Inside the Pavilion

Garden Bay pub

The Garden Bay Pub is not very far as the crow flies from my friends place at Pender Harbor but a long way by road, but well worth the drive as it turned out.  Four of us decided to walk up Pender Hill on Saturday morning and then thought a pub lunch was in order.  The walk was straight up I do not know the height but it seemed like a long way, up the view was spectacular and the pub was at the bottom.

So at the bottom of the hill waited a cold drink and a good lunch on a patio over looking the marina, life doesn't get much better than that.

The deck of the Garden Bay pub