I am absolutely not a food snob. However, I do want what I eat to be good. Fresh, high quality, and simply well prepared. Nothing fancy required.

My mom was raised on a farm in the 1930s and we were raised in the north so there was nothing exotic about what we ate but EVERYTHING was homemade. Mom taught me to buy raw ingredients and prepare them at home. That's how you eat, it's how you feed your children, it's how you welcome friends and family. Ultimately, it's one of the ways you show people you love them.

There is nothing I enjoy more than sharing food with the people most special to me. Next on my list is sharing experiences which is why Marty and I take immense pleasure entertaining both at home and the lake.

The lake is busy – busting with fantastic experiences every day – a quiet paddle, a boat ride south, a wild pull behind Magic Mike, surfing, swimming around the island, Brew Co. Friday afternoon, cocktail hours, docktails or another great dinner party. Ideally, food prep at the lake is simple, fun, fresh with bit of wow! This endeavour started as a printed document; a collection of appie and salad recipes for my own use at the lake but, it has morphed into a blog of recipes that friends insisted I include. You decide which ones are summer and lake appropriate and those that you'd rather save until winter.

From my kitchen to yours...