Fall is Here and it's Fabulous

It's amazing how quickly the weather can change.........I guess it is fall already........and we have been very lucky this year with the best summer I have ever seen here in 16 years. So I cannot complain. Plus I LOVE FALL. It's gorgeous colours, it's interesting smells, it's fresh brisk temperatures, and of course it offers a backdrop to cooking soul warming family recipes to be enjoyed by the fire....it's all good. The above photo was taken last week in the heart of another unusual warm spell (28C) and a few short days later............temperatures are dropping and leaves are turning like crazy.

It's starting to look like fall.......and in no time at all it will be time to start preparing for Halloween. For me this means making a Halloween costume for Ike (he'll be a little devil this year...watch for it soon), making some new tombstones to add to our collection, and replacing all the chocolate bars that have mysteriously vanished from those purchased last month for Halloween treats..........(32 full size bars and counting......shhh....don't tell my mother) I hope you are enjoying your change in seasons as much as I am:) If you'd like the experience the Fabulous Fall Feeling that we are check out this video ........it pretty much sums it up. If you notice the little girl in the video with the pig tails..........I had pig tails like that when I was little..........and my brother used to grab hold of them and try to drive me around the house like a motor cycle. That's right BROTHER..........I remember........and when you least expect it.........I'm just saying........watch your back!

The Puff Pastry Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
Without a doubt, this has got to be my favourite challenge to date. Thanks so much to Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon for coming up with a truly challenging and interesting challenge. This recipe is taken from the cookbook Cooking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan and was created by Michel Richard.
Puff pastry is just the kind of recipe that has been on my mind as something I'd like to try some day for more years than I care to confess......Well that some day is now here! It was pretty straight forward and not really intimidating at all to my huge and happy surprise. The very moment I saw what this months challenge was......I knew straight away what I would fill mine with......Chicken a la King. It is the only recipe that I serve in Vols au Vent. Sorry if it seems a little lack luster......but my boys would have cried if I'd made anything else.

It is one of my DH's VERY favourite recipes and I always make them in Vol sau Vent Shells. I'm happy to be able to say that he prefered the homemade ones to the usual 'Tenderflake' brand we usually have by a mile........and I'm sure I must have some in the freezer right now too. so I could have done a side by side comparison. The recipe for Chicken a la King that I use is from the cook book above which was given to me by my MIL with the addition of a stick of chopped celery, and 1/2 cup peas, and sometimes but not this time 1 chopped carrot. It is a staple recipe here and is often the recipe I turn to when there is left over chicken or turkey to use up. It's dead easy, tasty, and super quick to boot. If you click on the photo you can see the recipe right in the book. Well now, I'll have to cut up and freeze the remaining dough so it is ready to go the next time I need some Vols au Vent in a hurry.

The shells puffed up nicely, even in the center where I didn't want them to........and they could not be coaxed down by gentle poking. I baked them as suggested with a silpat sheet on top of them to keep the rise even. I was amazed that they rose with so much weight on them.......and after removing the silpat it was entertaining to watch them 'breath' as they baked.......inhaling and exhaling their beautiful buttery breath. (I should mention that I used regular salted butter rather than the unsalted butter called for. Sorry not willing to pay $6.50 for a pound of butter..........and it turned out fabulously anyway. Next time I will make a point of going to Costco to get a pound of unsalted to try it again, but for a savory filling....I just used the regular salted butter and omitted the salt called for in the recipe. It was perfect! ) The silpat was responsible for the uneven rise of one othe puffs though........as the curved under end of the sheet would not straighten and subsequently caused a crooked puff. No one seemed to complain....so no harm done. They were delicious and I will most definitely make them again. Now I just need to find a reason to make some more;) I did find the link to the video to be very helpful in explaining the finer details of the process. Time well spent if you intend to give it a go......and you really should! To take a look at some fabulous daring baker's click here!

Just in case you'd like to give it a go too.........here is what you'll need to do.

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

The Fall Fair and the First Place Button Brooch

The fall fair has come and gone and Ike again wanted to participate with an entry or two. We have enjoyed the Reid Lake fall fair for three years running now and Ike was looking forward to entering a little more that his usual drop cookie entry. This year we chose to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. We have tried a different drop cookie recipe each year so far. I'm not certain if that is the best tactic as we started with our very favourite recipe and have been working our way down the list. Ike was beat out this year by a Chocolate Haystack cookie and came in a close second. Still enough for a nice ribbon and he was pretty happy with it! I had no idea they would allow unbaked cookies in the baking category........well this opens up a whole new world of options now doesn't it. Although.................I'd feel a bit uneasy for the judges tasting uncooked cookies prepared by 'hopefully clean' under 10 year old hands.

This year Ike wanted to put in some extra entries but unfortunately only decided to follow through on this plan the day that the items needed to be delivered to the fair. He did manage to pull together a total of 6 quick entries and his 5 ribbon points total was enough for him to place third in the aggregate points total for his age category. So he got another fancy ribbon and was allowed to choose a prize from the prize table and got some mini putt and drive in theatre passes as well. It was a pretty good time for Ike and he is now driven to place first in the aggregate points total next year. We'll soon see how long this enthusiasm holds out.

Unfortunately a lot of the categories in the fair exhibits tended to be overtly girl oriented so we did our best to pick those options that would be least offensive to his brutish manliness. Some concessions had to be made though due to time constraints and a quick internet craft search and my easy access to copious amount of buttons lead to this very quick and very easy 1st place finishing craft. While I did not have the proper pin back or the glue called for in the 'recipe'....we made do with some duct tape, a safety pin, and my all time favourite '5 minute epoxy glue'.....with only moments to spare. Soon we will replace the make shift back pin with a proper pin back. I was a little worried about having Ike work with the epoxy but it actually gave him lots of time to move things around before it set up. I liked the resulting pin so much I've been mulling over my buttons looking for the perfect assortment for the next brooch.

A Tastey Vegan Meal.....

For someone who currently has over 300 lbs of beautiful Canadian 4H beef in her freezer you might find this menu choice to be a little unexpected. This vegan meal idea for Dosas was complements of the September Cooks Challenge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Debyi from healthy vegan kitchen it was a super idea to make Dosas....and once again I am reminded of why I joined the Daring Bakers and Daring Cooks to begin with. For a look at some other great Dosas from other Daring Cooks click here.

This recipe challenge created some controversy within the Daring Cooks forum as well, due to the fact that the challenge was to create this dish entirely vegan. The point had been made by one member that making the challenge vegan was hypocritical. Since the atmosphere of all previous challenges has been quite tollerant of dietary needs, and beliefs, I too did take note of the not quite so even playing field. To my mind, it was most definitley a double standard and I could believe that there would be those who could be offended at being forced to prepare a vegan meal in order to meet the challenge requirements. After all, this challenge was meant to be a meal, not a side dish. Each month when the challenges are announced, there are always substitutions allowed within the recipe to accommodate members who have diet restrictions due to religious, ethical or health reasons. The same courtesy should have been extended in this challenge.....but was not. Fortunately my family had no issue with the preparation of a vegan meal so we were off to the races.

When I first saw the recipe announced last month, I was excited. We love Indian food! I was then perplexed by the odd recipe provided for the making of the dosa themselves. After some investigation I determined that the recipe provided was not a traditional method. I think, but I'm not certain, that the recipe provided is supposed to be more convenient than making traditional dosas. After comparing the recipe provided with more traditional ones I decided to go with the traditional preparation. I mean....if I'm going to the bother of trying something new.....I think I'd like to know what it is supposed to taste like before I go and alter it so significantly. I was a little worrried as there had been some comments concerning the difficulty is preparing them the traditional way. It turned out to be nothing to worry about as they turned out absolutely beautifully and easily, not sure what all the fuss was about there?? They had a bit of a crunchy texture to them which was due to the amount you chose to blend the rice and dal while making the batter. We were also allowed to vary the filling and I chose to make an Aloo Matar filling of potato and peas rather than the chick pea filling which sounded texturally not as appealing to me. The Coconut Curry Sauce sounded tasty and I did make that and we liked it very much.

If you'd care to try it yourself...here are the two recipes that I tried. The challenge recipes for the chick pea filling and other dosa recipe will follow at the end of this post as well as the yummy sauce recipe.

Dosa

Ingredients

• 3 cups rice
• 1 cup skinless split urad daal (skinless black gram)
• 3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

Method

• Wash the rice and urad daal well. Add the fenugreek seeds to the mix and fill enough water in the rice-daal bowl to cover them about 2" deep. Soak overnight.
• The next morning, drain all the water from the rice and urad daal. Now put some in a food processor and grind - adding very little water if necessary - to a smooth yet slightly grainy paste.
• When all the rice-daal mix is ground like this, put it into a large mixing bowl and add enough water to make a batter. The consistency of the batter should be such that it thickly coats a spoon dipped in it.
• Now add salt to taste and keep the Dosa batter aside in a warm, dark spot, covered, for 6-8 hours. After this fermentation, stir the batter well. It is now ready to make Dosas.
• Put some cooking oil in a small bowl and keep ready. You will also need a bowl of ice cold water, a large, flat nonstick pan, 2 sheets of paper towel, a ladle, a spatula and a basting brush.
• Fold one sheet of paper towel into a wad and dip lightly into the bowl of cooking oil. Squeeze out any excess and then rub the paper towel all over the surface of the pan to grease. The correct amount of oil is such that it is barely visible on the pan. Now turn on the heat/ flame at medium high.
• Fill the ladle upto the 3/4 level with Dosa batter. Gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan - just as you would for a pancake - till the ladle is empty.
• Now begin to spread the batter in sweeping circular motions to form a pancake of roughly 8" diameter. Do not be alarmed if the Dosa develops tiny holes as you spread the batter. This is normal.
• As soon as you have finished spreading the batter out on the pan, dip the basting brush in cooking oil and drizzle the oil all over the surface of the dosa and also around its edges. Now hold the pan by its handle, lift up and swirl it so as to make the drizzled oil spread all over the Dosa.
• When the upper surface begins to look cooked (it will no longer look soft or runny), flip the Dosa. By this time, ideally, the surface that was underneath should be light golden in color. Allow to cook for 1 minute after flipping.
• The Dosa is almost done. Fold it in half and allow to cook for 30 seconds more.
• Before you start making the next Dosa, fold another sheet of paper towel into a wad and dip it in ice cold water. Squeeze the wad to remove excess water and then rub it all over the surface of the pan to cool it slightly. This ensures your next Dosa will spread evenly and not break because the pan is too hot. Now proceed as you did for the last Dosa.

Aloo Matar Filling (Potato and Peas)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium onions chopped finely
1 T ginger and garlic paste
1 bay leaf
4 large potatoes, peeled, cooked and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 T cilantro, chopped

Method:
Heat oil in wok over medium heat. Stir in onions, ginger garlic paste and bay leaf and cook until onion is tender. Add in potatoes and peas. Cook 5 minutes on medium heat. Stir in tomato, garam masala, sugar , salt and paprika. Cook 10 minutes and garnish with cilantro.

Recipes Supplied by the Challenge Host are....

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste
1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.



Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced
1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Hot Springs and the Lazy Holiday

We are back again from a somewhat unexpected week away. This little trip took us through Radium, Fairmont Hot Springs, then over Cranbrook to visit with some friends of Ike that moved away from us a year ago.......and finally back to Matt's Farm in Cluny Alberta. Needless to say Ike was pleased as punch with this little holiday as it centered around him visiting with lots of kids.... There is Ike, above, in one of the natural hot pools just across the creek from our camp site.

My DH grew up within a short drive of the Fairmont Hotsprings and vacationed there as a child many times. He was feeling nostalgic about it's goodness as a vacation spot and was longing to see it again. I was entirely sceptical about it's goodness from the start......but would have to agree with him now that it is a wonderful place to vacation. Since we met up with Ike's friends in Radium for a little swim...we had the chance to also try the Radium pools. While the Radium pools were lovely and warm.......the Fairmont pools had them by a mile in my books. The Radium pools had a slight whiff of sulphur every now and again while Fairmont had none at all.........and the Fairmont pools were just a few degrees warmer......not to mention larger. To be fair....the Fairmont pools were more expensive, but there was also a lot more to see and do on the Fairmont property. Faimont Hotsprings is a full service facility with hotel accommodation, gift shops, a small market, restaurants, RV pads, free shower facilities, children's playgrounds, hiking trails and some amazingly cute natural hot pools too!

These natural hot pools were without a doubt the highlite of our stay at the Fairmont Hotsprings. Once we parked our camper van into our $25 per night unserviced spot....we got out or the van to check out the view. The picture below is exactly what we saw. We went there straight away and spent a few hours there before having a late supper. Ike could not get enough of it. It was very nifty and was just as warm as the warm pools in the resort. If you lived closed by or were just driving through, you could just walk in to these natural pools by leaving your car in the entrance area parking lot and walking up to the RV camping area, and following the blue hiking trail down along the creek. The week we went turned out to be perfect, as some areas were already back to school leaving the pools quite empty compared with peak periods.

The pools were very interesting as they were covered in mineral deposits just like the bubbling pools we had seen in Yellowstone. After spending nearly a full day in the traditional hot pools we returned to the natural pools later in the evening and again on the last morning before leaving. Did I mention Ike could just not get enough of them? On the morning we left the Hotsprings, Ike needed to take one last dip....and to try a second hot pool that was further up the creek. These natural hot springs require a lot of care when entering as they are covered in algae and can be quite slippery.

The resort offers a great laundry area, internet service, snack dispensers, covered picnic area and washrooms with showers all in this central building. After leaving my first Toy Society Drop in the nearby children's play area, and a quick showering up......we were off to holiday a little more on our lazy holiday....