One of the highlights of the Festival de la Poutine last weekend was kibitzing with chef extraordinaire, Martin Picard.
Martin Picard is host of The Wild Chef on Food Network Canada and runs the fabulous restaurant in Montreal called Au Pied de Cochon.
Very fun, cool guy.
While Richard and I were in Drummondville, QC for the Festival de la Poutine, we discovered that Drummondville is MORE than just the town that invented poutine. 
It was settled next to the Saint-François River, which has a lovely park running alongside it.
The river was low... 
...so we walked out amongst the craggy rocks.
There were plenty of birds and ducks about.
After a brief rain shower, the sun came out and it warmed up.
I was happy to sit next to a tiny waterfall and listen to the swirling water.
Richard ventured out a little further and balanced on a rock in the river.
Happy days.
Richard and I went to Drummondville, QC to attend the Festival de la Poutine and got press passes.
We got in early, before the crowds, to check out the poutine booths setting up.
There was an enourmous stage with huge Poutine Festival banners on either side of it.
At about 3 p.m., folks started drifting into the show. The first performance was Pass Partout, a kids' show.
There were clowns and jugglers...
...and people tasting poutine around every corner.
I took notes of where and what we tasted.
My friend Anthony (from mapoutine.ca) and I both took tons of photos.
Lots of poutine with orange-ish, tomato-based gravy, apparently a specialty in the Drummondville area.
And other poutines like this one called "Poutine Taquise."
This one, in my opinion, was by far the rock star of the event. Chef Martin Picard's lobster poutine. Oh. My. Gawd.
On Saturday, Richard and I ventured north to Drummondville, QC, to attend the Festival de la Poutine. I got an email from the fellow who runs the site mapoutine.ca who said we should meet for lunch at Chez Louis and share a poutine together before heading to the Festival.
And so we met up with the poutine-loving Anthony (who recognized us from my blog), who was wearing his signature poutine t-shirt...
...and clicking away madly to record each and every poutine he saw.
His lovely partner Sandy also had a poutine although I suspect she's not as huge a fan of the stuff as Anthony is.
We did share some poutine and some talk about judging a good poutine and a lot of general poutine talk.
Okay, Anthony. How do you do it? Thin and still eating your poutine to the very last drop.
Nice to meet you, Anthony! Good times.
Cats seem to have the uncanny ability of finding a sunbeam and following it around the house. Here's my calico Nutmeg, looking like she has the glow of a halo. She is a sweet angel afterall.
Combine the prepared vegetables and salt in a large bowl. Cover with ice water. Chill overnight.
Combine the remaining ingredients in your preserving pot. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Add the vegetables...
...and return to a boil.
Cook briefly, about 1 minute, or just until the cucumbers change colour.
Using a slotted spoon, ladle the pickles into the hot, sterilized jars. Fill the jars up with liquid to within 1/2" of the rim. Make sure that the liquid covers all the pickle slices. Release air bubbles. Wipe rims clean. Seal according to manufacturer's directions.
Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Remove from the canner. These are going to be yummy!
In Vankleek Hill, about a 15 minute drive from me is a fantastic micro-brewery called Beau's. It's won a ton of awards and is really popular around here (and everywhere it seems)!.jpg)
We went for a quick visit, while my sister was in town. The brewery had blackboards with info letting you know which brews were available...
...and tanks where they brew the beer. They'll even give you a tour if you ask them.
The fridge is full of various sized bottles...
...and the folks behind the counter couldn't be more enthusiastic.
My sister Marci and I each tasted a glass full and bought some to bring home. It's great to have Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. just down the road from me!
I just love Sunday brunch, especially when you're having a glass of thirst-quenching white Sangria and enjoying conversation with friends. That's what I did last Sunday when our disbanded book club got together.
Judy invited the former "Book Babes" to share a few laughs and current reading suggestions, as well as a delicious appetizer of garlicky artichokes on goat's cheese toasts with shaved Parmesan.
Judy served up the mixed green salad with zucchini strips and toasted pine nuts.
The entrée was something called "Molly Coddled Eggs" that Judy said she found in one of Donna Dewar's cookbooks. It was a layer of lemony polenta, then spinach, sauteed mushrooms and shallots, with a Gorgonzola cheese sauce and an egg on top, baked in the oven.
Louise wanted a larger spoon so that she could taste all the flavours at once.
It was one of the most amazing combinations of flavours. Wowza!
Meanwhile, Judy's daughter Kelly enjoyed a Sunday ice cream cone while cute doggie Elliott looked on, wanted to have a Sunday snack as well. Ahh. Sundays.
