On my tenth Mother’s Day, the kids and Rob have really hit their stride! Latte in bed (and decorated flower poetry) followed by a delicious brunch of waffles, whipped cream and strawberries. A couple of hours curled up on the couch with my book in front of a lovely fire – it was cooperatively very cold outside in order to make this feasible. A tide-me-over midday feast of cheeses, fruit and crackers – plus an eclectic selection of flower and cat art. And then…

Dinner at Bartlett Lodge. It was fantastic – and this is from the point of view of someone just getting over the stomach flu and still erring a little on the side of queasy. We arrived at the parking lot on Cache Lake in Algonquin Park (and there was Jonathan from Sustain with his parents – which was a nice chatty surprise) and climbed into the gigantic (as Madeline describes everything these days) canoe and were whisked across the lake to the lodge. We had a few minutes in front of the toasty fire in a beautiful room full of comfortable nooks and lots of games. We sipped our wine and the kids got right down to a full-fledged chess tournament.

The meal was five courses starting with an amuse bouche – which always sounds a little pretentious but tasted SO good. It was a smoked salmon mixture coated in panko and served with a spicy avocado. Delicious. A wonderful warm tomato & apple soup was next with just enough spice in it to keep you warm. For my appetizer I had a tuna tartar with a kind of relish made from cucumber, tomato, avocado and other wonderfully crisp, fresh flavours. Rob had seared Scallops with bacon. For our main courses I had beef tenderloin with a sauce that was perfect and Rob had a pork tenderloin dish that made it difficult for me to talk to him. He was clearly in some sort of out-of-body religious type experience. And dessert was possibly the best pecan pie I’ve ever tasted (tied with Sheila Berry) and a phyllo crusted cheesecake. I didn’t have enough room to do more than nibble at the cheesecake – but that nibble was very good.

Great family place – the kids had a laughter-ridden time migrating between the dining room and the games room. Rob and I got to savour our food and enjoy our wine without that dreadful feeling of the ticking clock that counts down the minutes you have left before boredom truly sets in and they start savaging each other out of desperation. And then the canoe ride back all cozily tucked under a blanket. It was a wonderful day!

Bartlett Lodge