Ordinary beer lovers actually believe that their opinions matter, and they’re pretty much right. Professional brewers show up at home brew competitions to learn new ideas and techniques, and they read Internet reviews to learn what people are saying about their latest release. (I assure you the good folks at Château Latour do not care what some guy in Kansas thinks about the 2010 vintage.) The collaborative spirit runs in both directions, as professionals are expected to share their recipes with the public.

But not everything beer-related is appropriate for amateurs. Take chainsaw-assisted opening:

Click here to view the embedded video.

HT: Daily Dish

“Thursday, May 17, 2012: FOCA has learned that Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff are today being informed of the decision of the Government of Canada to close operations at the Experimental Lakes Area in Kenora, Ontario.

This closure, if it proceeds, will mark a significant setback for scientific research and will impede the ability of scientists to be able to understand the effects of human impacts on aquatic environments, by eliminating one of the only facilities in the world where whole-ecosystem experiments can be conducted.”

Concerns about this decision should be sent directly to Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, keith.ashfield@parl.gc.ca.

I used two recipes from Summer Grilling (shameless plug: on newsstands now!) and one that’s coming up in the summer issue of Cottage Life. For the ribs, I rubbed in Caribbean Spice Paste (p. 48), a mellow version of jerk seasoning. In the cookbook, it’s in the chicken section, but there’s no reason not too use it on ribs. That was one of the goals in choosing recipes for Summer Grilling—I wanted lots of mix-and-match rubs, marinades, and sauces.

For fun, I grilled the romaine. Yes, it’s trendy (and easy—brush with oil, sear over high heat) but I’m also a long-time fan of cooked lettuce. My great-aunt used to braise it, something I’ve never been able to do well. Lettuce cooked with peas is a classic French dish, as is cream of lettuce soup. A little slivered lettuce is terrific on top of chicken soup.

I topped the romaine with Mango Salsa (p. 105). Yum.

And next to all that, Coconut Rice and Beans. But for that recipe, you’ll have to wait for our summer issue. Won’t be long.

Troy

Royal LePage released its annual Recreational Property Report this morning, along with the results of a survey it commissioned. The survey polled current cottage owners and those who intend to buy in the next five years. One of the more surprising finds is that more than four-fifths of current owners do not rent their property out to offset carrying costs. How to afford to keep the cottage has been a recurring topic for a while now, and we hear from readers all the time about the rising costs of hydro, property taxes, etc., so I’d thought there would be more cottagers renting. Among prospective owners, the survey found that about half of them intended to rent out their cottages. Other tactics people are considering to get into a cottage: reducing discretionary spending; buying a fixer-upper; buying a vacant lot and building later; and, buying with family or friends. (Many are also probably hoping to win the lottery, but may have been reluctant to admit this to a pollster.)

Anyone in the market for a bargain should head east, way east. According to the report, New Brunswick has the lowest prices for a standard waterfront, road-access, 1,000-sq.-ft. three-bedroom cottage with 100 feet of shoreline: around $110,000. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland are also affordable, and all three of these Atlantic provinces have inland properties on the market for less than $100,000. (Curiously, the report has no information at all about Nova Scotia.)

As for Ontario, a prime location (the Meaford/Thornbury/Collingwood region) may push the cost of that standard cottage up to about a million dollars. There are still affordable properties to be found, however, especially those without waterfront, with St. Joseph Island and Lake Huron being the most accessible (about $90,000 for a standard property on a backlot).

The least surprising finding? More than half of all respondents (55 per cent) said that their number one priority was peace and quiet. That’s something we already knew.

I guess turning board games into movies is getting more popular; I’ve heard that movies based on Candy Land and Monopoly are in the works. I have no idea how true to the games these movies will be. For example, Monopoly: Is it really going to be about…buying real estate? Are the movie characters going to be the gameboard pieces—will, say, Jonah Hill play the Shoe? At any point during the film, will somebody collect $10 for winning second prize in a beauty contest?

But actually, when I think about it, there are a bunch of board games rattling around in the cottage games cupboard that, based on the titles alone, sound like obvious choices for movies. For example:

Drama: The Game of Life; Sorry!; Girl Talk

Horror: Operation; Snakes and Ladders; Don’t Wake Daddy

Action: Hungry Hungry Hippos; Kerplunk; Twister (oops…this one is already taken)

Mark my words—watch for these and other board games at a multiplex near you.

My rhubarb search–for fresh or frozen–was prompted by an idea for a food experiment. Almost anything makes a good risotto–the creamy rice is a perfect background to other vegetables, seafood, even fruit. I especially like the tart, bright flavour of a lemon risotto as a side dish with seafood and rich, fatty meats. Could I make a risotto with a different source of sour? How about rhubarb?

The answer is yes. Rhubarb dissolves beautifully into the rice, is a little less acidic than lemon and has a slight astringent bite. If the rhubarb stems have a lot of red, the risotto picks up a subtle pink colour. I garnished mine with finely chopped raw rhubarb. Whenever an unusual ingredient disappears into a dish, I like to signal its presence with the garnish; the visual cue helps people pick up on the flavour. And since we rarely use rhubarb as a vegetable, without sweetening it, here the garnish is a conversation starter. (I’m also eager to try Rhubarb Khoresh, a savoury rhubarb-beef stew by Lucy Waverman.)

Rhubarb Risotto

Risottos aren’t difficult, but they do need frequent—although not constant—stirring. Adding liquid about every two minutes makes it difficult to get too far from the stove, but you can be doing other things in the kitchen. For instance, I chop the rhubarb and grate the cheese after I’ve started adding stock. The trick with a risotto is knowing when it’s done—the rice grains should still be distinct, with a little bite, like al dente pasta, and the sauce should be quite loose. Timing can be tricky, because a risotto is a little unpredictable and, like pasta, it doesn’t hold very well. When it’s ready, it’s ready, so serve a risotto with something else that will hold. Leftover risotto is fantastic formed into croquettes, breaded and fried.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter (45 ml)
2 shallots, finely chopped
6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (1.5 L)
2 cups arborio rice (500 ml)
1/4 cup white wine (60 ml)
2 cups rhubarb, cut in 1/2″ (1 cm) lengths (500 ml)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (125 ml)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until transparent (about 2 minutes). Meanwhile, in another saucepan, bring stock to simmering.
2. Add rice to shallots, and stir for about 2 minutes, until rice is coated in butter and glossy. Add white wine, stir until wine is absorbed. Ladle in about 1/2 cup hot stock and stir frequently until the stock is almost absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladle at a time, and stirring frequently until each addition is almost absorbed. After the second or third ladle, add the rhubarb.
3. When almost all the stock is used, taste the rice–it should be tender, but with a little bite. At this point (even if you haven’t used all the stock), add the grated cheese. The cheese will thicken the mixture slightly; if it’s too thick, thin with a little extra stock or water. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with some finely chopped raw rhubarb.

Serves 4.

Okay, the Ontario budget may have passed (yay, no election!), but the bill to enact amendments coming out of that budget is still yet to pass; it’s Bill 55, the Strong Action for Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2012, and it’s in its second reading debate in the legislature. As the Conservatives are doing in Ottawa with the federal budget, the Liberals have lumped all the revisions together into one omnibus bill, meaning that changes to individual acts will not get substantial debate and public consultation. There are 69 acts affected by this bill, so there are a lot of changes about to go through all at once.

Today, in an open letter to the premier, more than 50 groups, including the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations, Greenpeace, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Ontario Nature, have asked the government to separate out the acts that have to do with the environment, concerned by the weakening of the protection these acts provide. Among the acts are the Endangered Species Act, 2007, the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, 2006, the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994, the Public Lands Act and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997.

Here’s some of what the letter has to say: “A legal analysis conducted by Ecojustice and the Canadian Environmental Law Association reveals that Bill 55 significantly undermines the level of environmental protection and public oversight of natural resource use and conservation by: exempting industrial and development activities from legal requirements to protect wildlife and natural resources; broadening exemption powers; allowing the delegation of government authority to other unspecified bodies; and extending or eliminating deadlines for planning and reporting (e.g., species recovery strategies, park management plans, reports to the Legislature).”

Just as the feds are making environmental assessments less arduous, particularly for resource industries such as mining and pipelines, it appears that the Ontario government thinks that the difficult economic times call for less diligence and oversight. If so many groups find the weakening of environmental laws “deeply disturbing,” then we should all be as disturbed.

Barlow, an international force in the protection of the human right to water, has been a great friend to cottage associations advocating for water protection.

The tour, Great Lakes Need Great Friends: Protecting The Great Lakes Forever, will visit Toronto (May 15), Hamilton (May 16), Thunder Bay (May 17), Kingston (May 22), Sarnia (May 24), Township of Tiny (May 28), Owen Sound (May 29), and London (May 30), and with allied groups, several U.S. cities.

“On this tour to Great Lakes Basin communities, we’ll be discussing an exciting new proposal to designate the lakes and their tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them,” says Barlow. “Defending our water from exploitation is not just an environmental issue. It is also a question of human rights and social justice.”

Whomp!

That’s the sound of the mini-explosion caused by the ignition spark. Smoke billowed out from under the cover. When we opened the compartment, we saw the fire.

One of the most amazing parts of the story is that when DH grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the bow, it actually worked. It was probably the same vintage as the old fibreglass boat, circa 1962 or so. He bought a new fire extinguisher the next day.

We all know we’re supposed to have working fire extinguishers in our boats. But not everyone takes the law seriously. The same goes for smoke alarms in our cottages—they‘re mandatory—and many parts of cottage country now have bylaws requiring carbon monoxide detectors as well. You may never need them…until you do.

Fire is one of the biggest fears of cottagers I’ve talked to. Did you know that in 2011 more area burned in forest fires in Ontario than in the previous 50 years? Yet, there is little chance of saving a wooden cottage at the end of a twisting cottage road, or on an island, once the fire has started. Two years ago, I visited a magnificent, historic cottage on an island in Lake Muskoka. Having bought it from their parents, the couple who owned it were in the middle of a loving restoration. Two weeks after my visit, it burned to the ground. She was there alone at the time. The sound of crackling flames woke her up, and she got out in time.

And that is why you have smoke alarms in the cottage. Not so you can save the cottage, but so you are alerted in time to save yourself and your family. You should have one on every level of your home and cottage and outside any sleeping areas. Smoke detectors range from $20 to $40; a CO alarm will set you back under $50.

The problem with carbon monoxide, which is known as the silent killer, is that you can’t see, smell, or taste it. You may be overcome by the fumes and unable to seek help. Symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, headaches, dizziness, and light-headedness. Cottages are particularly vulnerable to high levels of carbon monoxide because of the presence of fuel-fired devices such as gas, propane or wood-heating systems and appliances. You are also at greater risk if you have an attached carport or garage, or a boathouse with living quarters above because of the emissions from car and boat engines.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to prevent cottage fires, to protect your cottage from bush fires, to improve your chances of surviving a fire, and to avoid carbon monoxide tragedies. Information specifically for cottage owners is available through the Peace of Mind for Your Piece of Heaven Campaign, presented by Kidde Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarms, Cottage Life, the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Fire Marshall’s Public Fire Safety Council, the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, and Moose FM, plus a long list of cottage lake associations and partners.

Finally, enter the Safe at the Cottage Contest and share photos and stories about how you made your cottage property more CO Safe and FireSmart. There are lots of prizes, including subscriptions to Cottage Life magazine and Kidde smoke detectors and CO alarms.

Please, be safe this summer.

Here are a few ideas for using pallets in DIY projects around the cottage. Just one thing: Some pallets may not be suitable for use inside the cottage, either because they have been used to ship something that may be toxic, or because they’ve been treated with something toxic. Read more about that here.