West Coast Getaway

Where the heck have I been?  Sorry!  I didn’t mean to abandon you!  It was a long weekend here in Canada and Michael and I took the opportunity to take a weeeee vacay! 

A few months ago we bought a great group buy for Black Rock Resort up island in Ucluelet, so we booked a room for this weekend, loaded the puppers and some fancy cheese into the car, and hit the road.  The weather didn’t cooperate fully but we didn’t let that stop us from a walk in the forest, a stroll along the beach, and a super delicious romantic dinner at the resort restaurant.  The soaker tub, king sized bed, bigass TV and cozy couch in our room didn’t hurt either.

The trail and beach around the resort…

The Lighthouse Loop…

Chesterman Beach…

Even in the rain the West Coast of the Island is truly one of my favourite places on Earth and it was a real joy to share it with Michael and our doggie brood.  If only we could stay longer.

Brunch for Girls

Even before I moved back to Victoria this Summer I was already throwing out the idea of a road trip to Tofino.  It really is one of my favourite places and I hadn’t been there in about four years.  Before I knew it a plan was hatched and five of my favourite girls had agreed to a long weekend away.

Our original plans for November were thwarted but we wrangled ourselves together and rebooked for January.  We lost a friend by changing the date (alas, Nicole decided to move to Germany!) but the rest of us loaded up a couple of cars and made the four hour drive to check out the West Coast waves.

Besides deciding who had to share a bed and how much time we could realistically spend in the hot tub at our vacation rental house we spent a lot of time emailing about food.  I volunteered to be in charge of Saturday brunch.  Finally an excuse to make a giant batch of French Toast!

My recipe is nothing fancy but it never fails.  I swear by using D’Italiano thick sliced bread.  It’s the perfect size and texture for soaking up the eggy goodness.

For ten slices of French Toast I used:

• 6 free run eggs
• 1 capful good vanilla
• generous sprinkle of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp light cream (any milk will do the trick)
• 10 slices of D’Italiano bread
• smidge of butter for cooking

1. Whisk everything (except the bread, duh) together with a fork and lightly dredge your fresh bread through it one piece at a time.  Don’t soak the bread.
2. Cook in a lightly buttered non-stick pan over med-high heat.  Flip when brown. 
3. Keep warm in 200 degree oven until ready to serve.

Ingmarie is a gluten-free girl so she brought her own Tapioca Rice Bread and it worked just fine for the recipe.  In fact, hers cooked up a bit easier than the softer white bread.

I may have cooked an entire package of bacon…

No girlie brunch can possibly be complete without mimosas!

Nom Nom Nom.  Look at that stack!  Served with Aunt Jemima of course, but also fresh blueberries, blackberries and banana slices.

There are no words.  OK, one.  BACON.  Two.  MAPLE BACON.

We spent the rest of our day roaming the stormy beaches of Tofino.  So amazing.  Photo post still to come. More food to come too. Of course. :)

Charmaine, me, Tiffaney, the other Jamie, and Ingmarie.  Love.