Country Cafes aren't dead yet.

We were out for a Friday night supper and decided to check out a little cafe we had heard about in the Town of Glendon about 29 klicks west of Bonnyville.

We weren't disappointed. The Green Acres Cafe run by an affable French Canadian by the name of Nancy along with her daughter and I'm thinking a son in law. I really should have gotten all the details but will when we go back - and we will be going back.
The building and the decor are an eclectic mix of early Canadian glitch. Comfy wooden chairs of every description, crepe paper streamers criss-cross the room, local art pieces hang on the wall and you feel instantly comfortable. There's no pretention here. Oh and a monster box of crayons and coloring pages are trotted out for the little one with an invitation to leave it behind and post it on her huge refrigerator near the till.

There is a menu but her specials sounded enough so I didn't even look at it. The offerings included baked spaghetti, single serving veal cutlet with optional potatoes (mashed, fries or baked), A crab melt on a toasted English muffin with potatoe options or a steak sandwich.

I wasn't that hungry so opted for the Crab melt alone with a small bowl of her absolutely delicious beef barley soup. It was loaded with barley, tender pieces of beef and every vegetable in the garden accompanied by a fresh baked home-made dinner bun that reminded me of Grandma's baking. The Missus decided on the veal and had a beautiful plate with garden fresh mashed potatoes and veggies and a tender slice of veal. The son had a fresh made cheese and bacon burger with fries (no worry about cholesterol for this guy.) (He could hardly finish it and he can really eat). The grand daughter had baked spaghetti with no sauce, just butter and shredded cheddar. It too was delicious ( I had to help her out right). Oh, and to top it off we had to try some of her down home (Quebec style) Poutine. (I know its a heart attack looking for a place to happen but we had to try it anyway.) Home made dessert followed (I can hear the oinking now) and they were very petite - a small upside down cake with multi-berry comport beneath topped with fresh whipped cream. Yes, we went a little over board but damn it was good. Tomorrow is nothing but salad. Right? The meal was a little over $50 for the four of us which is pretty decent even in this day and age where most other restaurants are nuking or boiling everything in a bag.

To finish up, everything is made fresh on site each day and I like that thought. I hear they also make outstanding pizza and Wednesday nights is Fish and Chips night so we can hardly wait for that.

In a town that's sort of famous for its larger than life Ukranian specialty pictured here, Green Acres is a nice oasis from the humdrum regular fare that's available elsewhere. I've also heard that Glendon has a great little asian restaurant too and by the look of the vehicles in their parking lot they were pretty busy. Maybe Glendon's secret is in the kitchen because there was a huge wedding going on down at the community centre.

They've also got a very successful Derby Day that runs on August 13th starting with a pancake breakfast, parade, then out to the mud bogs just north of town followed by a demo derby in the afternoon. They've even got a greased pig contest which is sure to amuse everyone except the pig.

Perogi and badly bent fork in Glendon, AB

I've included a second picture of the Perogi because this one on the left has often been criticized for the way it looks but hey folks I'm no judge. You've haven't lived until you've had a steaming plate of pan fried perogi in butter with onions, bacon bits and sour cream. (geez, I can hear my pants stretching already.)

Small town living sometimes has its dull parts but maybe that's not such a bad thing. You could hear the birds chirping as we played with our grand daughter in the park and that's certainly worth a lot since the noise of loud mufflers outside our windows is something we live with constantly in Bonnyville even though our Mayor thinks we don't have a noise or speeding problem.  Nuff said.
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I had started talking about our garden back in the spring and then the frost and business got in the way so slipped up on the tracking of its progress. It has done very well this year. Probably helped by the 15 plus / minus inches of rain we've had in June and July. Peas were plentiful and have now stopped producing so have been pulled to allow light in for other plants. The corn is up to my forehead and I'm 6 ft 1 inches tall. Carrots are lovely and everything is green, green, green.  We've already had several good feeds of potatoes and veggies and have put up lots of berries for the winter.  Here's a quick shot of our back yard taken from the back step. As you can see we've turned it into a great living space as well and get lots of enjoyment from the park like layout. Hope you enjoy it and come back for more pics I'll be putting up later next week. Enjoy life its the only one you have. Dave