movie night

Walloon Lake is my favorite. I know I haven’t seen them all, but I don’t need to in order to know. It’s just how love works.

I’m at one of my best friend’s cottages, facing west so we have the best view of the sun setting amongst Walloon’s points and inlets. Before the color in the sky began reflecting off the lake, we escaped the heat by watching Ratatouille. I subconsciously selected a movie about food; this blog must have been on my mind.

Now, if you haven’t seen it, I promise not to give too much away. But here are some of the social/political themes of this cartoon:
• Anyone can cook. Even bourgeois rats.
• Patriarchy exists in the kitchen, (and quite literally in my case).
• Health inspectors are not always good guys.
• Selling out to frozen dinners, especially corn dogs, embodies evil.
• Give credit where it’s due. It makes for a happier ending.

I would say, despite some great messages and animation, the romance story was a bit lacking. With my recent engagement and love in the air, I found myself thinking the writers could have been a bit more creative with that part. However, the knife-wielding female lead was fantastically admirable, for a cartoon character.

Before this, we had dinner by the water.


on the menu:
pizza from the Walloon General Store (made by my lovely Aunt Linda and cousin, Tia)
salad with more BBG radishes
mom’s homemade rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream

father’s day

I’m so glad to have this summer to work with my dad and Real Food/Blackbird Gardens, but it’s also great when we can relax. After a few long days of making food for other people, Father’s Day gave us the much-needed excuse to slow down.

So we loaded up the canoe, towels, and snacks, and arrived at the state park about an hour and a half after leaving the Petoskey marina. A family walked by with little girls, three and six years old. They helped us finish our strawberries as my dad visited with their mom, who he knew from yoga class.

Swimming ensued, then more relaxing in the sun while perfect billowing and wispy clouds grazed by. Carolyn, my dad’s partner, shared an observation about our day’s activities. She wonders if our society might enjoy slower leisure- like canoeing to a beach to picnic- given the economic downturn.

It has seemed to affect our slower catering schedule. And, time will tell how hard the tourism slump will hit the rest of our little lake-ridden paradise. It’s likely families in Detroit and Chicago suburbs may find it difficult to afford fuel for SUVs and jet-skis. Maybe they can carpool up north and borrow our kayaks and canoes as they practice the future of slow tourism?

on the menu:
a dab of leftover whitefish pâté with crackers and roasted cherry tomatoes
black bean corn chips
white cheddar and gouda cheese
trail mix and toasted sunflower seeds
strawberries
dirty bastard beers
a bit of sand, sun, and fresh air