Annual Trip to Pomodoro in PEC

Another missed sunset after dinner at Pomodoro in PEC.

Peter, Fiona, Heidi, Janice and I made our annual pilgrimage to Pomodoro in Wellington, Prince Edward County today. I joined them after they met for breakfast at The Stockyards on St. Clair. Originally I had planned on going to the CNE with Willy. But we postponed that until Tuesday.

Like our previous trips, we encountered heavy traffic eastbound on the 401 on our way out. Another accident. Again. It never fails. We had to take the side roads from Pickering/Ajax through to Whitby. It always happens. What else would you expect?

Our first stop was for homemade doughnuts. Unfortunately I can't remember where. Peter was driving and he had gone there in the past. These were smaller than regular doughnuts and were dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Very tasty. Though a little on the pricey side at $10+ for a baker's dozen.

Next we went back to Slickers County Ice Cream in Bloomfield, PEC. Heidi, Peter and I shared a 3-scoop cup of Campfire Creme, Apple Pie and Black Cherry. The general consensus was that the Apple Pie was the best. The Campfire Creme was pretty good too. It had a burnt marshmallow taste. Not sure how they did that. The Black Cherry was the weakest. Kawartha Dairy's version is much better.

After that we headed over to Wellington County to go to Pomodoro for dinner. We were a bit early so we went to the nearby park to hang out for half an hour. It overlooks Lake Ontario, so we took off our shoes and went in up to our ankles. The water was nice. If we weren't eating and we had our swim trunks, it would have been nice to go for a swim.

I have to say, we were somewhat disappointed with Pomodoro this time. They changed their menu to what they termed "Italian Dim Sum". I think that's their way of saying we're going to give you the same Italian menu as before in smaller portions, but at the same price. So, in the end, you end up paying way more than before.

As for the food, I thought it tasted fine. The others didn't quite agree. They were disappointed with what we had. This may be our last visit here unfortunately.

And, as usual, we tried to catch the sunset. Instead of rushing 23 kilometres to Sandbanks Provincial Park as we did in the past, Peter found a closer park - North Beach PP. At 18 kilometres from Pomodoro, it's six minutes closer. And, as per usual, we missed the sunset like we always do. Though this time it was obscured by cloud cover. So, even if we did make it on time, we may not have gotten to see it anyway. Some things never change.

After a rather unsatisfying dinner we decided to grab Korean food at Oh Geul Boh Geul on Yonge south of Finch before calling it a night.

Prince Edward County Pig Out

@Pomodoro in Prince Edward County

Shortly after returning from out west we took Lewis on a day-trip to Prince Edward County. Our mission - To eat until we couldn't eat anymore. (Well that's what it seemed like anyway).

Ken and Emily came to pick me up while Peter hit the road straight from home with Lewis. We headed east along the 401 and made plans to meet up at a rest stop along the way.

After meeting at the first rest stop we decided to stop once again at The Big Apple at Colborne. It's become a tradition of ours to stop there whenever heading east along the highway (exit 497).

Since we've gone to The Big Apple a number of times I didn't take any pictures. We had some apple desserts and continued on our way.

In Prince Edward County we stopped at a number of shops that sold anything from cheese to farm fresh veggies.

Our next food stop was at the County Cider Company in Waupoos. Established in 1995 they're the oldest cider-producing company in Ontario (according to a sign there). They have a variety of ciders made with fermented apple juice.

Their tasting room and retail store welcomes visitors from May to November. They also serve lunch there where you can dine on their back patio which overlooks their vineyards and the northern shores of Lake Ontario.

For lunch I had a BBQ Burger with bacon, Black River cheddar, caramelized onions and cider ketchup for $16.75. It was really good.

Emily and Ken shared a Lamb Burger fresh local lamb, chevre, arugula, pickled red onion, roasted red pepper jelly and lemon garlic mayo also $16.75. Both burgers were served with house-made kale, apple and cabbage slaw. Peter and Lewis shared a Artichoke & Asiago Dip with grilled flatbread for $13.50.

We toured the area a bit more before getting dessert. Ice cream of course. This time at Slickers County Ice Cream Limited on Main Street in Bloomfield.

The store is pretty small so, naturally, there was a line up outside. Of course it could be because their ice cream is hand made and uses fresh local ingredients and natural flavours too. That's a distinct possibility.

So, now what? After all that eating what should we do? Why, dinner, of course. Cue our next stop at our favourite Prince Edward Country eating establishment, Pomodoro.

My first time there was last year with most of the same group of friends. Coincidentally we were seated at the same table as before. Perhaps that's why the waitress there actually recognized us. That and the fact I started snapping away with my camera again.

Like last year we shared our appetizers, mains and dessert. This time we had fried Polenta, Pizza Cinghiale, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Roast Chicken, Veal Parmagana and Lasagna. For dessert we had Carrot Cake-Cheesecake and Fresh-made Doughnuts. Delicious!

And, like last year, after dinner we raced to Sandbanks Provincial Park to try to catch the sunset. And, also like last year, we just missed it. Again. You think we would have learned.

This year we decided to try to catch the sunset behind the dunes. When we arrived the sun was just above the dunes. So we decided to make a run for it. At first we were close together, but I couldn't wait... so I headed out on my own. I wanted to get to the end of the dunes so I could get a clear shot of the sunset. So I ran like I had never run before.

The sand was soft and the dunes towering. Running was hard. Very, very hard. I ran and ran and ran. And ran and ran and ran. And ran. And ran. I never got to the end of the dunes. All I got was hot and sweaty and tired.

In the end I had to turn back defeated. In the dark. Out in the dunes. By myself.

When I got home I checked Google Maps. The dunes continue on over 7 kilometres nearly all the way back to the mainland. I never would have gotten there. Why didn't anyone tell me? At least I burned off some of the calories I put on the rest of the day. Oh well.