I just spent a week out on Vancouver Island with my cousin Rebecca – what a fabulous week! Aside from the most perfect weather, she has just purchased the most perfect house. It’s a heritage home that was “floated” over from Victoria a few years back.
Rebecca is planning on having a B&B at the house and I can’t think of a better place to be. The house has so much character and Vancouver Island is so beautiful. This was a sort of working holiday as I was helping to get things done around the house. My cousin has some beautiful art that needed hanging so we put up at least a dozen pictures, a beautiful carving of loons and a gorgeous hand made wall hanging. I also built a headboard from an old door that was left outside (solid oak – they don’t make doors like that anymore).
Now for the food….
Salmon, seafood and more salmon. It doesn’t get any better than heading down to the fishing boat and buying some salmon for dinner. We had salmon in scrambled eggs for breakfast, in omelettes, seared salmon and BBQ’d salmon. Oysters that were half the size of my palm were $9 for 14!!! And oh so fresh.
Farm fresh eggs and salmon and grilled potatoes for breakfast
One night we had maple salmon with boiled potatoes and sea asparagus. Some of you may remember I talked about sea asparagus in an older post – I had never heard of them and here they were growing wild at the waters edge right in front of her home! We picked them and soaked them and I sautéed them with some garlic to put over the salmon. Yummy meal. We had some fresh tomatoes that a neighbour brought over that day from their garden. We decided this was a 10 mile meal (as opposed to a 100 mile version)
Sea asparagus growing wild
Soaking in water as they are very salty
Wild Pacific Salmon
Yum!
My cousin Rebecca is a champion pie maker and since blackberries grow wild everywhere around the island where she lives she made a blueberry and blackberry pie that was outstanding. We had it my last night at a dinner party given by Kim and Tom with Mary Jo and Veer. What a great night – drinking blackberry wine and eating fresh BBQ’d salmon with oysters. What a great week with great people!
Before going into the oven
Baked – what an incredible smell!
See below for pics of the house and the neat headboard (yes I am proud of it) 😉
food thoughts to share 
Everything is wonderful, the house, the food and that headboard is just gorgeous.
Thanks Suzanne – it was such a good week. Don’t know if you have ever been to the West coast of Canada but it is pretty darn beautiful!
Yummy! I love a fresh bit of fish!
Couldn’t get any fresher Nell – right off the fishing boat 😉 Yum is right!
What a gorgeous house and I’m like you, I love things that are old and have so much character. I love a distressed look mixed in with classic and refined pieces….
I have never heard of that aspargus before…I guess it would be very salty being “sea” aspargus, huh, lol?!
That it is Brandi – very salty – we soaked it for the whole day in cold water and you don’t use much. But it has a lovely delicate flavour.