[2021-08-10] Adventures
For last night's supper, I made Jalapeno Turkey Burgers, which allowed me to use jalapeno peppers from my garden. Though the recipe appeared promising, it was ultimately not a keeper. In fact, the burgers were so unpalatable that none of us finished them.
The challenge with recipes is that we never really know whether they're going to taste good until we try them. Reviews by other cooks can help, steering us towards certain recipes and away from others. But even favourable reviews aren't always a predictor of whether we will like a particular dish.
In my house, we try a lot of different recipes. Less than half are ones we would make again. While many dishes are good (certainly better than last night's turkey burgers), few pass our exacting standards for inclusion in "the book"―our binder of tried and true recipes. We are kind to the cook, appreciating the effort even if the result is less than spectacular. In turn, the cook doesn't take it personally if one of us says, "It's very well made, but, I'm sorry, it's not for me." We have come to understand that the only way to find extraordinary foods is to try many recipes.
The same is true of adventures.
Today, Chris and I took a day trip to Wakefield, Quebec, with our sister-in-law. The three of us traipsed along the main street of the village, with Chemin Riverside on one side and the Gatineau River on the other. It was a beautiful walk despite today's heat. We stopped at the welcoming Boulangerie Wakefield to buy scones, explored the lovely Boutique Jamboree gift shop, and had a refreshing lunch at Le Hibou, overlooking the water. After lunch, we drove over to the Wakefield Covered Bridge for a closer look at this beautiful structure.
On our way back to Gatineau, where my sister-in-law lives, we stopped in Chelsea for a stroll on the main street and some ice cream and sorbet at La Cigale.
Chris and I made one more quick stop on our own, this time on the Ottawa River, just a few metres west of the Champlain Bridge, on the way to Aylmer. Chris has always wanted to see stromatolites. According to Ottawa Gatineau GeoHeritage, "Stromatolites are biosedimentary structures built up during sedimentation by cyanobacteria and blue-green algae." That's over my head. Simple English Wikipedia offers a more accessible definition: stromatolites are rock-like structures that usually form in shallow water by bacteria. They are significant because "they are the earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth"; the oldest known stromatolites are estimated to be more than 3 billion years old. That's pretty cool.
Today's adventure was a very pleasant excursion, in spite of the heat. What most often stands out for me on any getaway is the natural scenery, and today was no exception. The combination of rivers, trees and rocks was stunning.
I suppose that the easiest way to avoid disappointing food or adventures is to simply make and do the same things over and over. But doing so would mean missing out on some real gems. Eleanor Roosevelt said it well: "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste it, to experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."
