Canada Day in the Wild East & I'm Not Dead Yet

Happy Canada Day!

We’ll get to the low-key-Canadian-patriotic celebrating stuff in a minute.

First, I want to say thanks to all you lovely Internet People who sent emails, noticing that the Domestik Goddess was uncharacteristically quiet and wondering if I’d died… got me all misty-eyed, some of you!

“Rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,” to crib from Mark Twain.

The truth is that I’ve been working super-long hours on a big new project, and it’s almost done. Well, done enough that I can come back to the real world now that the end is in sight! (Did I just call the Internet the “real world”?!?) Anyway, today I celebrated that long-awaited “Almost Done” milestone (and Canada Day, too) by spending a little quiet quality time with dogs, food and the traditional Maritime icons of beer and music…

Healthy Outdoor Exercise

The best part of the day for me (and, frankly, the most productive) was taking my dogs for a long long long walk in the gentle warm rain. Three white-tailed deer stood and watched us wander out from the woods trail into the open fields, and didn’t seem at all troubled by the presence of the dogs. I do believe that they couldn’t even see the Golden Retriever over the tall grass, and they think the long-legged Greyhound is just another deer!

Here are the dogs, at home — I didn’t have the camera with me, so you’ll just have to imagine the deer:

Food!!

For supper, I invented a new recipe. The dish is too simple to deserve to have a name, but it turned out very well for something so very healthful and high-fibre/low-calorie, so I thought I’d share it here:

Cooked chicken breasts (I had some waiting in the freezer, previously cooked for just such an occasion): thaw and slice thin. Thin-slice some carrots, celery, yellow bell peppers, and onions. Heat a splash of olive oil in a giant frying pan, throw in the veggies and cooked chicken, and sort of stir-fry them for a few minutes until the carrots start to soften. Salt and pepper to taste. I also sprinkled on just a touch of cayenne. Then splash in just enough gingerale to moisten, and cover the saucepan. Let it simmer until heated through. At the last minute, toss with about a tablespoon of lemon-poppyseed salad dressing. Serve over flax/whole wheat spaghettini.

The Traditional Brewski

And afterwards, a refreshing glass of Dooryard Summer Ale. Yes, that really is the name of a beer — I’m not making it up. It’s an organic wheat ale made by Picaroons, a micro-brewery here in our region.

What goes with a brew?
Tunes, of course!

Sing Along!

Because this is Canada Day, I was digging deep at Blip.fm for some dusty Canadian classics and having a great time doing it — but the song that summed up the whole mood of the day, for me, is this one by Julie Doiron that I heard for the first time today on CBC radio’s all-day CanCon programming, part of the Canada Day celebrations.

Here’s my new favourite song, “Nice to Come Home” by singer-songwriter Julie Doiron for your listening pleasure:

And there you have it.

If you’re not Canadian… so sorry you didn’t get a holiday today!
(Your turn is coming, right?)

And tell me, my fellow Canadians — how did you celebrate? Drop a note in the comments (since I’m not actually dead, and thus able to read it) and share the joy. And if you blogged about your Canada Day celebrations, leave a link so I’ll be sure to come visit your blog and read all the festive details!

Tagged as: beer, Canada Day, dogs, music, recipe