Friday started out like any other Friday – another busy day at work and the precursor to another weekend full of normal weekend stuff (fitting in,around house cleaning and grocery shopping, a family lunch on Saturday, and a short guitar concert on Sunday).  But by noon, weekend plans were significantly different.

By way of an email from Steve, there would be no house cleaning and no grocery shopping! We were headed to 2 nights at the Breadalbane Inn in Fergus for a cozy little getaway prior to the Christmas season rush!

    

Of course, I spent the next half hour touring their website (and so should you!).  I took a virtual tour of our room and fell in love.  And with a pub and a dining room, both offering an extensive selection of appetite pleasers, I knew it would not be an easy choice when we sat down for our dinners.  But those decisions would have to wait, as I figured out how to leave work early.

Fergus is about an hour northwest of home and, after packing a bag and dealing with Friday evening traffic, we arrived at the Inn just before 7:00pm.  Upon checking in, Steve discovered there was a special dinner event that evening featuring a 5-course gourmet meal, with wine pairings sponsored by Coyote’s Run, a local Niagara winery.  Yet another surprise when he came back to the car to collect me and our belongings!

The Inn was old, quaint, and very welcoming.  Our room – The Harrett Suite, in the adjoining Carriage House – was exquisite, but we had to wait to fully check it out as the main event was about to get under way.  The dining room, dressed in its finery, was full and, in fact, we were lucky to get the last table, and luckier still that it was on the outside of the greenhouse-style room so we had a lovely view of the lit, walled garden.  (I’m sure the garden is spectacular in the summer, but it was still pretty in its winter-ready state.)

   

For the next two and a half hours, we sipped and munched a most satisfying meal.

We started with appetizers and a comparison between a 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay (very light and crisp) and a 2011 Red Paw (oaked) Chardonnay (with a hint of smoke).  To provide the right accompaniment, we were first presented with Shellfish Risotto (without rice) with Salsify and Jerusalem Artichoke, then, maybe ten minutes later, Handmade Tortellini with Squash and Roasted Pear with Summer Savory and Pancetta.  (I should confess that I had no idea what Salsify was, couldn’t even identify it by process of elimination when my plate arrived.  Later, Mr. Google told me it’s a root vegetable, similar to a parsnip, and only then did I know which part of that dish was the veg in question.)

Following the whites, we then compared two reds – a 2011 Black Paw Pinot Noir (a little more earthy) and a 2011 Red Paw Pinot Noir (a little lighter).  Our first main was Pork Tenderloin with Honey-Glazed Pork Belly, Orchard Fruit, Parsnip and Brussels Sprouts – yummy.  How could it get any better?  With Pastured Angus Filet “Steak Diane” with Onion and Pommery Mustard, and Bleu Benedictine Cheese!

In case you haven’t been counting, by this point we’ve had four glasses of wine and, in my opinion, way too much food.  (I gave half my beef to Steve.)

But wait!  It wasn’t over yet.  What’s a gourmet meal without a gourmet dessert?  Our Bittersweet Chocolate Marquis with Cocoa Nibs, Marinated Fall Fruit and Spiced Ice Cream was partnered with a 2010 Rare Vintage Syrah.  Time for another confession – at this point I was no longer able to distinguish one wine flavour from another, which was a shame because the Syrah was the most expensive on their order form list.

Yes, as any sponsored event is run, we did have the opportunity to order product to be delivered, at a near future date, to our homes.  Thankfully, we still had enough good judgment left to refrain from signing up for a case!

It’s an understatement to say that we had a fabulous experience – a first for us.  The evening was sprinkled by well-timed chats from the chef and the assistant winemaker.  The food was first, eye-candy, and second, very, very rich and tasty.  We liked each wine we tasted (for those out there who think we like every wine we taste, that’s a big fat lie!) and the portions were generous.  So generous, I’m pretty sure our bedroom spun a bit (for me) when we eventually got back there.  But enough of that confession, let’s move on…

On Saturday morning, we awoke to find a thin blanket of snow on everything.  I don’t know about you but, to me, the first snowfall of the year is magical.

   

Our accommodations included breakfast each morning – lucky us!  (I started mine with a very large glass of orange juice and continued to drink copious amounts of non-alcoholic beverages for the remainder of the day.)  Steve chose the open-face seafood omelette and I had the vanilla pancake.  It arrived in its own cast iron skillet and spilled a vanilla custard all over the place the instant I cut into it.  Although it was served with maple syrup, I found the custard was sweet enough.

A few weeks ago, we accepted an invitation to a family lunch in Toronto and, not wanting to miss out on that, we headed out after breakfast for the two-hour drive past home and into the city.  We like car rides but this one, there and back, was a little tense at times.  We drove through not one, not two, but three snow squalls before we arrived – late – for lunch. Our visit was fun.  We ate well, laughed a lot, argued city politics a bit (if you’re reading this after 2013, that would have involved lots of discussion around Mayor Rob Ford’s shenanigans and questionable lifestyle), played with dogs, and were happy to have been part of the afternoon.  It was slow leaving the city and all was good until we got slightly north of home.  That’s when the squalls started again and, although there wasn’t a lot of snow, the temperature had dropped and the roads were quite slippery.  Fortunately, there weren’t too many others out that night, so we took it slow and arrived safely back at Breadalbane around 6:30pm.

For dinner Saturday night we chose the pub.  Let me say here that our weekend package included two $75 dinner vouchers – one for each night – and even though I’ve confessed to eating way too much already, I also wanted to ensure there wasn’t any unused voucher left on our table.  So I ate from the dining room menu and had another scrumptious meal – Carpaccio and Parmesan Slices followed by Scallops with Pumpkin Purée, Kale Chips, Almonds, and Squid Ink Vinaigrette.  All washed down by 750ml of sparkling water!  (I told you I drank lots of non-alcoholic beverages that day!)

I did show some restraint when it came to breakfast on Sunday morning.  Bypassing the amazing specialty menu, I settled for good ’ol fashioned scrambled eggs and toast – had to get back to reality eventually.

It really was a shame that we either ate and drank too much, or were just too tuckered out from stressful driving conditions, ’cause there was this fabulous jetted spa tub in our room that we never did get into.  Perhaps there’ll be another surprise in my future???