Today was the day we were going to meet up with my son Josh & his girlfriend Alicia. Last year we were not able to have them inside Newman for a visit, due to Covid restrictions, so we wanted to treat them to a nice home-cooked meal today! I was thinking about what we should make for dinner and since I’ve been following Tieghan Gerard on Instagram since my friend Shauna in Kenora got me onto this ’foodie’, it came to me to make some of her amazing dishes for dinner tonight! If you are on Instagram her handle is ‘halfbakedharvest’. You really must check her out for inspiration if you’re wondering what to cook for dinner. Her recipes are not complicated, but they are so intriguing! Yesterday when we got our groceries, I had these recipes in mind and thought I would try them out on the ‘kids’ for dinner.
One pot French Onion Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto and Burrata; Creamy Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Pasta and Caramel Mocha Nutella Brownies for dessert!
Roasted butternut squash, garlic and crispy prosciutto.
One Pot French Onion Pasta…
Oh my! We were going to have a feast for dinner! Operating in such a small kitchen in Newman and working through 3 complicated recipes took about 3 hours of prep time this morning! Newman smelled so amazing though! There is nothing like caramelizing onions slowly with butter and adding 3/4 cup of Pinot Grigio with the onions at 1/4 cup at a time, to slowly infuse the onions with the wine.…mmmmmm good!!!!
We had a beautiful day for exploring today and we were meeting up with the kids in Sooke at 2pm. From the crappiest day yesterday, to the most beautiful +13C, sunny day today! We really do have the nicest spot in this RV park at Peddar Bay!
We drove over to Sooke today which is about a 30 minute drive on very, very windy roads.
We had never been to the Sooke potholes, which we had heard so much about and Josh and Alicia were going to meet us at the potholes and show us around.
But first, lunch was in order in Sooke.
‘Hara Sushi’ today in Sooke. While Richard was waiting for our sushi I saw a vintage Cadillac de Ville which I had to go and take some photos of. The car was in absolute mint condition!
What a gorgeous vintage Cadillac!
We think the Cadillac de Ville is from 1964. Richard has a cream coloured, 1994 De Ville in Florida. I think I like this vintage de Ville better!
The sushi was very good today from Hara Sushi. When we were in the grocery store, Richard asked the check out clerk which sushi was better ‘Hara Sushi’ or the one across the street. The person behind us in line unequivocally said go to ‘Hara Sushi’! It is the best in town!
Veggie sushi for me of course!
Dynamite roll for Richard. The sushi on the Island is the absolute best! The creativity and presentation is so good and so inexpensive too!
We drove to the Sooke Potholes Provincial Park to eat our lunch before Josh and Alicia arrived. We hadn’t arranged for a place to meet and since there were many places to park, we were lucky we saw Alicia’s car go down the road towards the far parking lot, so we followed her. Josh and Alicia didn’t know we were driving a black Kona, so they were very surprised when we parked right beside them and waved at them as they got of of their car!
Alicia, Josh and me checking out the potholes. In the summertime people go swimming in the pot holes. The water was very fast today and there is no way I would even venture near the shoreline today! There was a ton of rain yesterday and the Sooke River current was very strong.
Waterfall at the Sooke potholes.
The Sooke River is the second largest on southern Vancouver Island and home to a salmon run every fall for chinook and coho salmon. The ‘potholes’ are unique geological formations -deep pools in the river rock - that offer some of the best freshwater swimming in the region. The Sooke Potholes Provincial Park which we explored today is a 7.28 hectare provincial park. The actual potholes were formed during the last ice age about 15,000 years ago As the moving, melting ice packs stripped the surface, violent torrents of meltwater, pressurized beneath hundreds of metres of ice, carved a path deep into the natural bedrock. Huge boulders carried by the glacial action became lodged and were swirled against the canyon walls, consequently carving out the potholes that we saw today
A small gravel beach at the Sooke Potholes Provincial Park.
After exploring the potholes and trying to get our hiking legs and lungs back in shape, we decided to drive back to Peddar Bay and have a small bonfire outside before it got too cool to enjoy the fire.
Enjoying our bonfire by the water at Peddar Bay RV Park. It definitely cools down quickly in the shade.
We had our feast of two different kinds of pasta with Josh and Alicia, as well as the amazing dessert and enjoyed a lovely visit with both of them in Newman. They couldn’t believe how big it is inside Newman! I was reminiscing and telling stories about Josh when he was younger to Alicia. Sometimes you forget that Josh was too little to remember these stories, so it was nice to recall them for him.
We are going to try and get our hiking legs back in shape tomorrow by going for a long hike to a place we’ve never been before that Alicia recommended. The kids are busy tomorrow so we will see them again on Sunday, before we head up to Fanny Bay on Monday.
Richard has made all the arrangements to have the engine for Jerry that we bought in Coombs shipped over to Qualicum Beach and on Monday when we drive up to Fanny Bay, Jerry will be dropped off at the garage in Q. Beach to begin his engine replacement. In the meantime, we’re really enjoying driving the Hyundai Kona which we are now affectionately calling ‘KRAMER’. You had to know we would name the Kona after another Seinfeld character didn’t you?!! Kramer is a great car and I think if we were ever to buy one, we would definitely get an electric Kramer. With a 790km range on an electric vehicle, and with the price of gas so high, the Kona is quite comfortable and has adequate trunk space for golf clubs.
We sent Josh and Alicia home with a heavy load of leftover pasta and brownies. Its not often we get to cook for them, so its nice we were able to spend some quality time over a meal in Newman with them.
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