Staycation

When Christopher initially picked his holidays this year, he didn't get any time off in the summer; however, a while later a week opened up and he grabbed it.  So, he had last week off, and with the weekends and the holiday Monday tied into it, we had 10 days off together! 

We thought about going away, and researched some trips, but in the end decided to have our first staycation.  Any time we'd ever had time off together before, we'd always gone away, so we thought it would be nice to do some touring around our own city.

We planned out some things that we wanted to do on our staycation, and then checked them off as we did them:

We didn't get to all of them, but plan on keeping the list up and checking the rest off before summer is over.

It was exciting to try things we had never done before, like playing virtual reality:

And visiting Stone Hall Castle, a Medieval style castle in our city:

 

 

The virtual reality was awesome, and also extremely scary.  The first game we both tried was one where you go up in an elevator, and then the elevator door opens and you are on the top of a skyscraper.  There is a plank going off the edge of the skyscraper that you can walk on (and likely fall off of), but we were both too scared to do it.  It's amazing how real it feels, and how even though we knew we were standing firmly on the floor, we just couldn't bring ourselves to walk forward.  Once I was flying and crashed into a mountain, and almost fell down in real life!  Haha, such a strange feeling!

The castle tour was really interesting, and we definitely recommend it.  We enjoyed learning about the history of the property, and it's fascinating what the owner has done with it.

During our time off we made a couple different trips to the farmers' market, and got coffees at our corner coffee shop:

We went for ice cream:

And visited the Queen City Exhibition:

The first treat I always want at the Ex is a corn dog!

 

Over the course of the afternoon/evening we shared the corn dog along with a slice of pizza:

A lamb gyro:

And some terrible Asian noodles with sweet and sour pork and ginger beef (they used spaghetti noodles!?!?):

In the evening we were front row for the Arkells!

They put on an excellent show, and we had a blast!

Some deep fried Oreos after the show (they weren't great):

On our staycation we tried a couple new mocktail recipes, and then invented a third concoction to enjoy with some cheeses from Takeaway Gourmet.

We visited the museum ...

And really liked the infrared camera:

We spent a few evenings, and one afternoon, on different patios around town.  One evening we shared tacos at The Lobby (chicken and fish); they were delicious!

A couple of days we didn't leave the yard at all.  We cooked out there, ate, ran through the sprinklers and felt like kids again, read books (five between the two of us), and had a fire.

We did a bit of cooking/baking, but definitely the least amount we've ever done in a stretch of time at home.

Breakfasts were eaten at home, but we went out for (or picked up) lunch and dinner quite a few times.  More on our staycation breakfasts and the restaurants we visited in the next couple posts!

After 10 days of staying up late, and sleeping in longer than usual, Christopher is back at work, and we're back to our regular sleep schedule.  I love getting away on a trip, but really enjoyed this time at home, especially since summers are so, so nice in Saskatchewan. 

Do you like staycations?  Do you like corn dogs?

Do you have anything you still hope to do before summer is over?

Have you ever tried virtual reality?

Two Family Birthdays

Two of our nieces had birthdays at the end of July, and we had a nice time celebrating with family.  Elizabeth turned three, and we drove out to Indian Head for the party.  Christopher's sister and her husband bought a church many years ago to renovate into a house.  It's a massive project, but it's impressive how much they have completed so far.  I cannot wait to see it when it's completely done - it will be very, very grand.  Vicki has a blog about the renovations here, but so much has been done since she last posted.  I'm pumped for the new posts when she has time to write them (completing a masters degree, while working full time, renovating an enormous space, and raising a toddler probably doesn't leave a lot of time for writing blog posts, so I can be patient 😉).

I don't want to spoil any of her posts to come, but I did ask to snap one photo of the framing inside; multiple rooms have been framed out, along with a couple big bathrooms and a loft!

I love watching projects like this come together, and I am looking forward to seeing what they do with the massive kitchen and living/dining space.

Anyway, back to the birthday party ...

We enjoyed chips and beverages outside, while the kids played on the play structures, in the pool, with the water balloons, and in their battery-powered cars (which are so cool by the way - nothing like we had when I was growing up).

I must have forgotten to take a photo of dinner, but we had burgers, and then cupcakes for dessert:

My brother's little girl Remi also had a birthday recently; she turned two.  We went over to their place to celebrate with dinner and cake.

Remi was really into opening her gifts, and carefully unwrapped the paper packages, while more aggressively dumping the bags to see what she'd find inside.

It is so fun to see these little girls grow up.  They both have so much personality, and are so smart, sweet, and adorable.  Nieces and nephews are the best!

Speaking of birthdays, today Everyday Foodie turns nine!  It's also a holiday, so Christopher is home, and we're going to spend much of the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Have you done any celebrating lately?

Avenue Restaurant

There is a new restaurant in town in one of the most gorgeous buildings downtown.  Dale MacKay, the first winner of Top Chef Canada, opened his first restaurant in Regina, following the success of his three restaurants in Saskatoon.  Avenue, the newest addition to the Grassroots Restaurant Group, has received a very warm welcome from Regina residents; it's getting rave reviews, and is always busy.

We had been wanting to try this restaurant for a while, but we rarely go out to eat in town.  This week we decided to make up for lost time and go twice to really get a feel for the menu.

On Tuesday evening we shared the pork belly press to start:

Talk about good first impressions!  This dish was the perfect mix of sweet and savoury, with a touch of spiciness.  We both absolutely loved it, and were left wanting more.

I didn't find it overly fatty, which was a nice surprise to get from a pork belly dish.  We'll absolutely be ordering this appetizer again in the future.

Christopher ordered the puttanesca pasta.

He really enjoyed it, but thought it wasn't as good as the puttanesca that he had at Little Grouse on the Prairie in Saskatoon, which is also part of the Grassroot Restaurant Group (to be fair, it's hard to beat the pasta at Little Grouse).  What made this puttanesca unique was that it had beef in it, which I've never had in a puttanesca dish. 

I ordered the beef wellington, medium rare as recommended.

It was perfectly cooked, and the pastry was delicious and buttery.  The portion was small, but more than enough for someone like me who rarely orders steak or steak-like dishes.  The asparagus side was very simple, and the horseradish cream on the side was delicious.

Everything on the menu sounded mouth-watering, so we were excited to return to this restaurant.

Last night we got a table in a different section of the restaurant (both tables we had were great, and we're looking forward to sitting up at the bar-seating to watch the chefs sometime).

We ordered three smaller plates, and one larger entree and shared everything.  First up was the local fried asparagus.

This dish is one that should not be overlooked on the menu.  It is flawless.  The asparagus is so crispy, and the lemon, balsamic, and pecorino pair so well with it, that I am convinced even a non-vegetable lover would be won over by this green snack.

The beef tartare was memorable, and the caper flavour really stood out, which we enjoyed.  There was a perfect amount of grilled ciabatta on the side to use as a vessel for the tartare.

Check out that lovely little yolk!

Diefenbaker trout gravlax was next (with pickled potato, deviled egg, dill, crispy capers, and pumpernickel):

This dish was quite good, but didn't stand out as one that we'd order again.

The rotisserie half chicken was fabulous, and the vegetables on the side paired perfectly with it, as well as with the succulent chicken jus.

I was spying on Avenue's Instagram yesterday, and saw that the chef had been shopping at the farmers' market around the corner that morning.  I'm guessing the peas and potatoes in this dish were bought at the market, as they tasted so fresh.

Christopher didn't care that he was in public and in a nice place, he picked up the bones and made sure he got every last morsel of meat off of them.  This was a beautiful dish to the last bite.

On both visits our service was top-notch, and the beverages top-shelf.  We left very satisfied, and eager to return, already talking about what we want to try next time.  I'd say our favourite dishes so far are the pork belly press, and the fried asparagus - must orders for sure!

Next time we visit I think I'll try the lamb sausage, the scallops, the chicken wings, the peas and carrots, pork chop, perogies ... ohhhh my this is getting out of hand; it all sounds good!  Looks like we're going to be hitting this place up many more times.

If you're local, have you been to Avenue yet?  What did you order?

Is there a restaurant in your city you've been wanting to try?

Easiest Mac and Cheese EVER!

This mac and cheese is so unbelievably easy.  You just layer raw noodles, grated cheese, salt and butter in a dish, pour milk over it, and leave it in the fridge for a day.  Then you bake it.  No skills required.  It's not fancy, but it's good enough that we'll be making it again. 

Easiest Mac and Cheese EVER!

(Layer 24 hours before you plan to eat it)

2 cups elbow macaroni noodles (uncooked)
4 cups grated cheddar cheese (16 ounces; grate yourself)
2 T butter, diced into small pieces (plus more to grease pan)
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups whole milk

Grease the bottom and sides of a small casserole dish.  Spread half of the uncooked noodles in the dish, then half of the cheese, half the butter, and half the salt.  Repeat with the other half of noodles, cheese, butter and salt.  Pour the milk over every thing.  Cover with tinfoil and put in the fridge for 18-24 hours.  Bake (covered) at 350 F for 45 hour.  Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more.

As long as you can plan ahead, this is basically a no-work recipe. 

It lasted us for a few days, as we just had a little portion as a side dish for a couple suppers and lunches.

This weekend is a long-weekend, and we are planning on hanging around the yard for most of it.

Is it a long weekend for you?  Any plans?