Monday, November 9, 2009

GIFT CERTIFICATES of AROWHON PINES

GIVE THE GIFT OF AROWHON PINES in ALGONQUIN PARK !

We can make a lovely gift certificate.......

A dinner for two....

A lovely spring weekend....

or a dreamy week long stay.......

Contact us for more details. 1 866 633 5661


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

FODOR'S CHOICE

We are thrilled to have been named a FODOR’S CHOICE 2009 establishment! For over 70 years, FODOR’s has published a range of premium travel guides. Each year their writers choose an exclusive list of restaurants, hotels and attractions. Please visit: www.fodors.com/fodorschoice

Goodbye Charley!


On a sad note, we lost Charley, our English retriever suddenly at the beginning of this week.
He was our friend for the last ten years. We miss him very much and will love him forever.

Congrats Jane and Jeff





































Congratulations to Jane Hamilton and Jeff Eaton who were married at Arowhon Pines on Friday, July 10th. As usual the weather was spot on and provided for an amazing outdoor barbecue lunch followed by an intimate ceremony by the lake with their family and friends.
We liked their idea of lighting the way to the bonfire with small tea lights in paper bags – it worked brilliantly! After the celebrations at Arowhon, the whole group left for Carleton Place for another party! Congratulations and all the best with your new life together. We know that you will stay in touch. We will be posting some of our pictures from the weekend soon.

THINKING OUT LOUD

Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to live and work in the middle of Algonquin Park.

At dinner the other night some guests were lamenting the fact that this was their “last dinner’. Just that afternoon a family was returning to their cabin after their “last sail”. It’s so nice to hear when guests are sad to leave.

So today, instead of having a nap between shifts, I think I’ll take a kayak out on the lake!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

CONGRATS DEIRDRE AND STEVE

Congratulations to Deirdre Crampton and Steve Mitchell who were married at Arowhon Pines this past weekend (June 27-28). They, their lovely family and friends took over the whole resort for the weekend.

Deirdre and Steve met when they represented Canada and the UK as part of their respective country’s sailing team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Guests flew in for the wedding from Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, the USA and the Isle of Wight to attend the festivities. Despite a gloomy weather forecast, the clouds parted for the whole day on Saturday (keeping alive our “outdoor wedding” streak). Guests sailed, swam in the lake, played tennis, feasted on a barbecue lunch and relaxed on the dock. The sit down ceremony was held by the canoes at the lake, followed by a cocktail party on the verandah, dinner and speeches in the dining room, and a party to the wee hours!

We’ve been talking back and forth to Deirdre and Steve for over a year planning their wedding, and we will miss them! We do wish them all the best in their lives together. A big thank you to Mr & Mrs Crampton and Mr & Mrs Mitchell as well.

Deirdre and Steve have put together a fabulous website that documents everything from their engagement onwards - with lots of photos. They gave us permission to pass it along to you: www.gettinghitchedinthewoods.com.

Chef's Blog July 4th, 2009

We had our first barbecue of the season for Deirdre and Steve’s wedding! The kitchen loves barbecues - although more labour intensive (logistically speaking), we get to spend time in the sun and meet guests!

At last, the local Muskoka strawberries are in! A cool wet spring delayed their arrival until just today. We’ll be making strawberry/rhubarb jam this week! We made a batch of pear jam last week and were delighted with the results. Please note that pears have to be perfectly ripe for the flavour to come through in the jam; if under ripe, you get a sweet paste mess!

The herb garden is starting to look like summer. Everything is sprouting - tatsoi, arugula, our organic lettuces, lemon balm and lemon grass, mint and sorrel. You will find all of these in our summer salads.

The lavender patch is only a few days away from flowering. We use the flowers to make a lovely Muskoka honey and lavender ice cream. They also form part of the apple, rhubarb, and lavender sauce for the pickerel on Monday nights. We’ll have a bumper crop this year.

Our gardens help make it real for our cooks, some of whom have never followed a seasonal progression of products as they grow. This is very exciting for me and our team – to be able to make subtle changes to everything we do that is directly related to what's in the ground at the moment!

That’s it for today!

David Cooke
ALGONQUIN BOUND CANOE GUIDES

We’re happy when guests share their experiences with us. We received a nice letter from a couple recommending Algonquin Bound canoe guides and services.

‘I just wanted to mention that we took a guided canoe trip whilst we were there which was one of the highlights of our holiday and so wanted to recommend it so you could suggest it to others. Arowhon Pines did suggest a couple of other canoe companies before we left the UK but they (the ones that were suggested) were not particularly helpful and took a while to respond to us so I thought other guests may appreciate our recommendation. By contrast the company we selected responded promptly and were able to organise everything over the internet, a bonus as we came from the UK. Algonquin Bound were also able to come to meet us at Arowhon Pines and guide us from your lake, which was imperative for us as we did not have a car and it was also great to tour the area around the resort. Their guide, Jeremy, was excellent with us as complete beginners to canoeing and provided a memorable day, including managing to spot moose from a great distance so that we could paddle up closer!’

Congratulations to Algonquin Bound on a job well done! Check out their website here: www.algonquinbound.com.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Wildlife List

Last weekend, I found this little list that someone dropped on the pathway.

June 14 – 16

Pileated woodpecker
loon
Herring gull
Red-eyed vireo
Goldfinch
Cedar wascwing
Purple grackle
Hummingbirds
Tree frogs
Green Frogs
Bullfrog
Painted Midland Turtle # 647
Wood thrush
Song sparrow
Robin
Citipping sparrow

Summer has Arrived!

Summer has Arrived!

Today’s temperature reached 28 degrees. Tomorrow and the next day we're expecting 30 degrees. We’re grateful to not be sweating in the city. Here we cool off any time with a fresh swim in the lake!

Besides moose, deer and fox sighting, our guests have seen turtles as well. The 'Painted Turtle" is the subject of one of the longest running turtle research projects in the world, according to the Park website. We recently met some university students (along the railway track) collecting data on turtle egg sizes and quantities. For more information on the turtle project, visit:
http://www.sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=316

Our snapping turtles are out of the water and laying eggs in the sand. We’ve seen a few around the grounds and by the docks. They’re quite large and its no secret how they got their name. Stay back if you see one!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Kitchen Update

Whew! We're open! It’s a relief to have all the normal cycles of running the kitchen in place.

The first batches of our own strawberry and rhubarb jams are delicious! While making them, we realized that the morning jams should follow the same seasonal cycle as everything else that we do. Watch out for strawberry/rhubarb jam, raspberry jam, apple jelly. It all sounds like tasty fun to me!

David Cooke
Chef

Fishing




The underwater spawning beds that the Small Mouth Bass use annually are still empty. We’re expecting the females soon to be laying her eggs and guarding them with vigilance. Remind us to show you the hole that they have made – it’s just outside of Tanglewood.

Bass fishing season reopens June 27th. You’ll see several of our cooks out on the lake before breakfast shift, trying to catch the first big one of the season.

Speaking of fish, we’re delighted to welcome the winners of our CFRA (Ottawa radio station) giveaway to Arowhon Pines this weekend. On top of a great prize package and complimentary weekend here, Ann Brady and her friend Sharon were also treated to a day of fishing with Frank Kuiack. Frank is the Park’s true last fishing guide, a legend in his time, a great fisherman and gentleman. Ann caught a 5.5 pound trout – we have the photos to prove it!

Anyone wanting a memorable experience in the wilderness – whether it’s fishing, canoeing or hiking – we can recommend Frank. It’ll be one of the highlights of your trip!

Sailing on Little Joe Lake







Our Hobie sailboats got their first good workout of the season today. The sun shone all day with good gusts on the lake – a perfect day for a sail!

Open for the Season!

Spring is definitely the best time to see moose! We’ve received almost daily reports from our guests of 2, 3 - 5 moose sightings along Highway 60. When we checked with the Park website, we read that moose are attracted to the slightly salted puddles left in roadside ditches from winter sanding.

The "Humming Bird Air Force" have also arrived and have been attacking the feeders on the veranda. It’s amazing to watch them zoom forward and backward, chase each other and then disappear to their secret nests. We’ll attempt to post some pictures soon if we can get one to stay still for more than a second or two! PS If you’ve already attracted hummingbirds, don't press the panic button if they leave for a while. They’ve most likely found some sweet flowers in the garden to feed on.

We’re trying to attract more birds to the resort and have hung some seed feeders in the trees. We’d be grateful to hear from anyone who might have some tips on how to attract birds.

The local black flies are in season too, but, believe it or not, we’ve already seen a decline probably due to the cool evening and morning temperatures and the arrival of a large number of dragon flies that hoover them up in massive quantities. If you are planning a visit this time of year, the Park has some good reading – www.algonquinpark.on.ca.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tuesday May 12th

My first job each season is to make the hummingbird food and hang the feeders on the dining room veranda! The simple syrup recipe for hummingbirds is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Ensure the containers are very clean. If you don't get the feeders out BEFORE they arrive, they'll go someplace else.

My second job is to have a good snoop of the herb gardens! I was overjoyed to see chives, mint, thyme, sorrel, marjoram, oregano, wild garlic and lemon balm, all sprouting nicely! This year's relatively mild winter did little damage to our hardy perennials!

We're planning on planting more rhubarb this year (although we won't see the results for a couple of years - they need time to mature) and add lemon grass - it will be delicious in our salads and the egg drop soup.

We've been searching cookbooks for new recipes for the increasing number of dietary requests. This spring we'll be testing new gluten free pastries and breads, vegan and vegetarian appetizers, soups and entrees - and some lactose free items.

Local spring produce is the best - can't wait for fiddle heads, garden peas, asparagus and strawberries. We'll be making our own strawberry jam!

David Cooke
Executive Chef

Sunday May 3rd

I was driving in to Arowhon last week and ran into Dan Strickland (a naturalist who has spent the better part of his life in Algonquin Park) in his car, with a ladder on top. He was visiting grey jay nests, in order to band the babies and take blood samples. What was so remarkable, he told me, was that by the time he left the nest, the wound from the needle was already beginning to close. In front of his eyes, he could see the wound healing. Wow!

As we were leaving, I noticed that Dan had turned off the engine of his car in order to talk to me. I had left my engine idling and was very embarrassed.

Theresa

Spring Rates

We open May 29th and offer great spring rates at $193 per person including accommodation, three meals per day and use of all facilities.

You can't stay but are camping, or driving through the park?

Arowhon Pines is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dress is casual. Bring your own wine. Come early and enjoy the view from our veranda.

We look forward to welcoming you to Arowhon Pines.

Upcoming Events

We're working on several special events this season and will post them on the site as soon as we have more details.

We're hoping that guests might be interested in weekly Saturday night bonfires. Last year, guests brought along guitars and harmonicas and people sang. The rain plan is in the Games Room. PS Anyone wishing a bonfire - please ask!

We had a great time last summer with Lindsay Leese and her improv workshop and hope to have her with us again this summer.

Regular pontoon boat rides around the lake have become a guest favourite. Weather permitting; we'd love to do one at least once a week this summer. For any special group, please just ask!

Spring Opening!

Our first week of work in Algonquin Park! There are only a few of us here, so it's quiet, so quiet you can hear a pin drop. It's also very, very dark at night which is great for stargazing from the dock. You don't get that in the city!

As usual, everybody is very excited! The first day in, we took a good walk around the grounds to see what Mother Nature has been up to during the winter. Everything looks terrific! There are some trees down on the road and around the grounds, probably from the ferocious wind storm that we had just before New Years. The rook of our greenhouse is nowhere to be found! A beaver left its teeth marks on a tree by the herb garden. Overall we are happy to report no major damages. The lake is free of ice - but it only just went out fully last week. We remember paddling one year in early May, to find ourselves canoeing through slush in some of the lakes! Yikes!

A few canoe parties have already paddled by on their way to Burnt Island!

Spring is glorious in Algonquin Park! There is so much life starting again in the forest the surrounds the resort. The trees are budding and the trilliums are just poking through the forest floor. We will be adding some spring photos soon.

We've heard the loons already. They will no doubt be waking us up at all hours soon enough. The should be nesting by mid to late June. Hopefully we'll see the babies again; they usually parade in front of the dining room veranda through the spring.

The rhubarb is up - all green and lush already! We can't wait for the bakeshop to start testing some recipes!

Welcome to our Arowhon Pines Blog!

Hello and Welcome to our new blog! We're very excited to bring this addition to our website.

To new visitors, we hope this will give you a peek into the everyday activities at Arowhon Pines - it's location, it's people, and what we do. Here, we will tell you of any special happenings at Arowhon Pines, in Algonquin Park and in the surrounding areas.

For past visitors, we hope that you stay in touch and that this blog will remind you of your trip to Arowhon Pines - the moose you saw on the road, your first time in a canoe, the smell of butter tarts coming from the kitchen, or a lovely sunset from the veranda. If you miss us....well, you know what to do!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at resort@arowhonpines.ca.

Either way, thank you for being a part of this blog, and we invite you to visit our site periodically for update, new recipes, etc.

See you soon!