Trip To The Okanagan

One would think that after all of my gallivanting over the past few months, that we would want to stay put for a while.  Well, we kinda did until it dawned on me that we had not seen my aging mother in law since last year.  Although I wasn't too keen on the idea of a 6 hour car ride, we packed anyway.  As always there are things to be done before you take a road trip.  One of them being to do "something" with the food you may have just purchased after coming home from a previous road trip.  I had all manner of peppers that I had just purchased for the purpose of making my own blend of hot sauce.  I affectionately named it the "Don't Do it" sauce.

I took another shot from a different angle just in case you thought these were plastic...haha

So, after Scootard cut the stems off of all of the peppers and pressed about 8 cloves of garlic for me, I was ready to rock and roll!  By the way, the peppers that I used where Thai chillies (5), Pablanos (2). That's the big green one you see in the bowl.It's not to be mistaken for a green "bell" pepper; Habanero (4), Red Fresnos (4) Green Jalapeno (4), Anaheim (5).

I have made this sauce about three times before and realized that I needed some "protection" from the oils in the peppers which could leave you feeling as though you had been in the sun with fair skin for too long!

after heating a large skillet with some good quality olive oil and salt....I dumped the peppers in and let them cook until tender stirring often.  The thing with the garlic though is that unless you want it "toasted": you will have to put it in AFTER the peppers are cooked.  It takes very little time to cook garlic.  I turned the heat off and then I put the garlic in and let them cook for another minute or two.  And......

PRESTO!

I even had enough left over after putting some in my favorite table thingee, to store in a jar under refrigeration....:-).  While I was cooking the peppers, I also made a pot of soup, and a pot of lentils to take with us.

After a good nights rest, we hit the road!

BC is always beautiful with the snow capped mountains and various elevations of land along the road in the distance....

Penticton was our destination and it was going to be a long 6 hour journey.....

I noticed that the further we went.....THE COLDER IT GOT!  And I had on sandals  when we left!  Sheesh....

The outside temperature was reading 50 degrees (10 degrees c).

As we approached Allison Pass the temperature got ridiculous....ha

NOW, it was time to stop and get some socks and tennis shoes on......sheesh!!

Nothing like cold AND WET during a long holiday weekend.......:-(

The lake looked like it was still frozen over, but not cold enough to stand on if you know what I mean.....

I was glad when the sky started to clear some and it stopped raining.  Perhaps it wasn't going to be a bad weekend after all.....:-)

Here are a couple of shots of the Skaha Lake just south of Penticton......

We were getting closer to our destination......

The next thing you know.......Scootard and "Mom" were reunited about a long break in between visits.....:-)

It was time for me to take a time out on the deck, soak in some sun and settle in for a nice long weekend...:-)

And before you knew it, it was time to head back to our own town....:-).  Gotta love the holiday weekends though.....:-)

See ya next time!