Salty Air, Lighthouses & Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

Greetings, friends.

I’m in beautiful Saint John soaking up the sun & the salty air and enjoying the beautiful lighthouse-studded coastline. We’re visiting Billy’s family and having a great time here on Canada’s amazing east coast.

Our trip started over a week ago when Billy took me to Vermont to celebrate my turning a year older (my 25th birthday uh… AGAIN? haha!). And then from there we continued Eastward toward the White Mountains of New Hampshire and then up the coast of Maine before heading back into Canada.

When we got to Saint John it was fairly cool & rainy and it felt more like March than late-May (Brr!). There was even snowstorm warning in the Eastern part of the province and Newfoundland got a whopping 30 cm of snow! (Eeek). Thank goodness we didn’t get any of the white stuff, just overly cold weather for a couple of days before the temps started to rise again. We’ve been enjoying spending time with my guy’s family and I even got to do some of the cooking and baking. Which is handy because after a week on the road, I was going through severe baking withdrawals, ya’ll. But I’ve talked about this on my trip to the coast last September. I know many of you can relate 🙂

Since it’s been a whirlwind of a trip, I haven’t had much time to blog or post on social media unfortunately. But, at the same time, I’ve really enjoyed the wee break. So it’s about time I get caught up (slowly but surely) and I thought I’d start with sharing a few photos of our trip so far.

Here’s the pie I made for Billy’s parents as a thank you for their wonderful hospitality.

Strawberry Rhubarb is always a favourite. And for good reason….it’s freaking delicious! And it’s even tastier when it’s made with fresh rhubarb from the garden and pretty flowers on top. I’ll share the recipe in my next post!

Is there a better pie to celebrate summer’s imminent arrival? I love strawberry rhubarb pie so much that if I could find rhubarb (even frozen) in the winter, I’d be making this all year long. While I can’t find frozen rhubarb anywhere in Ottawa (any time of the year), I’ve seen tons of frozen rhubarb in the grocery stores here in Saint John!! Hmnnnnn…

If we weren’t going back to Ontario via the US, I would happily taken some of the rhubarb Billy’s parents offered us to bring home. But after having my grapes confiscated at the border once (from Vancouver to Washington), I decided it’s not worth the risk. At least at this time of year, fresh rhubarb is plentiful in Ontario. I just need to buy truckloads of it and freeze it for the rest of the year. Now to find a bigger freezer….and maybe a bigger house? HA

Anyone else love rhubarb as much as I do? I can’t wait to bake all the rhubarb pies when I get home.

Without further ado, here’s a few photos of our lovely time in New Brunswick so far. Happy almost-June, friends!

You cannot visit the East Coast without seeing at least one lighthouse. This one is Mittan’s favourite.

It’s been a wonderful visit with Billy’s folks

You have to walk the boardwalk at least once while you’re on the Saint John Harbour. Or, maybe run it the whole way— like our happy pup.

Spring has finally sprung out here on the coast. Which is good because we’re only weeks away from summer.

My little Monkey and I had fun wandering around St Stephen–the gorgeous little town that greeted us after crossing the border.

Have a great rest-of-the-week, all!

Cheers, Dana xo