Monday, April 2 - it was a burger sort of weekend

What a wonderful weekend - bright sun and milder temperatures. It's still a bit chilly but at least it feels like spring. This morning it's -2' but we should reach 5' with a mix of sun and cloud so it will be nice.

So the PEI Burger Love Campaign has kicked off once again this year with even more participants.  Click here to view all the competitors. http://www.peiburgerlove.ca/    This year is bigger and better with 22 restaurants involved.

Friday night I stopped into the hardware store on my way home to pick up a compost bin for the kitchen as they were on sale, and my phone rang. I didn't get it dug out of my purse in time but the caller left a message. It was Brenda - "call me back as soon as possible - it's an emergency". Needless to say I did just that and it turns out she was trying to reach me before I left town. Bernie was already home from Boston and they were coming in to town to sample the first burger of the competition. Was I interested?  Emergency? Absolutely! So I did a couple of errands I had reserved for Saturday and met them at St. James Gate for the


Happy Hour Burger

100% Island Beef with Alexander Keith's Secret Sauce, Jamieson Irish Whiskey BBQ Sauce, Guinness Cheddar, Apricot Brandy Candied Double Smoked Bacon, Black and Tan Onion Rings, Lettuce, Tomato and Pickles on a toasted Onion Kaiser.

It was very good but it was our first one. We'll have to reserve judgement until we have more to compare it to. It wasn't too big. Although it was fairly large it was manageable. The addition of a side was a bonus. The onion rings were crispy and the sauce had a pleasant sweetness to it. All in all, a good burger. 

The evening was made even more pleasant as some friends of Bernie's from New Brunswick were in town for a hockey tournament so they joined us for a beer and some wings. They didn't have the burger as they had limited time.

Tomorrow a report on the Cross Keys burger...

Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at Chez Van Gaal. Brenda made a salad recipe that she'd seen in my Food Network Magazine. It was made with baby spinach, torn pieces of toasted pita and charred cherry tomatoes with a vinaigrette dressing. It was a very tasty starter to our meal of roasted potatoes and pan fried moose steak with compound butter on top. I made an mandarin orange cake for dessert. We topped off our meal with the documentary on the Food Network on "The Village Feast".  They did a great job with it and the views of the island were wonderful. Now all the foodies in Canada will be wanting to come here for sure.  We did spend part of the evening sitting in the dark as it was earth hour so we can feel good about doing our little part. 

It truly is spring when I can hang clothes out on the line. Yesterday I washed all the bedding and hung it out. One of THE greatest pleasures in life is to climb into a bed made with freshly laundered sheets that have hung out to dry. I got into bed and just kept smelling the pillow case as I drifted off  to sleep. Is there anything nicer than that? I don't think so.