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Cabane à Sucre 2011

On thursday we headed to the Sugar Shack for our anual Sugar rush…

We go in the week when we can get a table left over from a group. There are not always all the activities, but the kids have the playground more to themselves, there are less people in line to eat and there are no crowds…

It was a beautiful Spring day and the Sap is running strong at the moment so keeping the sugar boiling is nearly a 24h/ day task…

(see those barrels of syrup there…. yummmmm)

(Sap boiling with a wood stove and the steam rises through a hole in the roof)

Every year the meal stays the same… so you can see the older pics here…

After the meal we head outside for some playing, seeing the animals and the anticipated “Tire sur Neige” or maple taffy, which is made from hot syrup being poured onto clean snow….

(That stuff is seriously dangerous… I know you can make it at home, but I would rather remain ignorant to that fact)

What a fun day and it is definitely something we all look forward to every year!

Cabane à Sucre 2009…

Yesterday we went to the sugar shack for our annual sugar rush…

If you don’t know what the sugar shack is you are missing out on something… Sugar shacks are where maple syrup is made… the maple water flows from the trees for only a few short weeks a year…

last year was a bad year for the industry because of a long winter and late thaw… but this year is supposed to be an ideal year…

Some families have private sugar shacks ( my uncle is preparing his property for one so one day we will be able to go there one day) but for most a commercial sugar shack is the destination in the late winter/early spring…

We have been going to the same place for a few years now…

It is in a beautiful location, the staff is great, it has a playground and horse and cart ride and the food is amazing… The meal at a sugar shack of course is heavy, rich and full of maple syrup…(and pork… since traditionally the québecois eat a lot of pork)

it is about 15 min away so we headed out just before lunch time…

We walked around a bit and saw some of the animals that they have there….

Had a horse and cart ride…. which Khéna loved!

We went in the cabin to see how the syrup is made… it was the first day that they had lit the fire to start to process…

then… food time… (these pics are from last year because the lighting where we were sitting was not as good this year and the food is the same…)

Cretons (spread made of pork and spices)

Pea Soup (colin has grown so much!)

Lunch… Omlette made with maple syrup, small potatoes, sausages, maple bakes beans, and maple smoked ham… with a side of “oreilles de Crisse”…. (or “Christ’s ears… which is fried pork fat)

of course… Maple syrup….

then dessert…

Maple Syrup Pie

and my favourite… “Beignets” (fried doughnut) smothered in maple cream sauce….

The boys ate well…

then we headed back outside for the traditional Maple Taffy…

Syrup is heated to a certain temp.. then poured on cold snow…

It starts hardening and becomes taffy…

just poke….

and roll…

Delicious!!!!!

What a great day….

Cabane à Sucre…

We went to the same place as we did last year… it is so hard to find a great Sugar Shack… there are so many here and they are so commercial that often the feeling of being at the Sugar Shack is lost….

Anyway… here is our day… and mostly our food… (all traditional Québécois “Cabane à Sucre” foods!)

I forgot to upload the Animal pics… but first we saw the animals that live there and then we went on a horse and sleigh ride…

Khéna wasn’t too sure….

It was beautiful out… but still cold at about -4

Inside for food…
Cretons (spread made of pork and spices)

Pea Soup

Lunch… Omlette made with maple syrup, small potatoes, sausages, maple bakes beans, and maple smoked ham… with a side of “oreilles de Crisse”….

Sadly there is no sap running yet this year… winter is lasting long… so they have been using last years syrup… and the syrup is put on pretty much everything on the plate…

then dessert…

Maple Syrup Pie and fresh doughnuts

Maple Cake

and my favourite… “Beignets” (fried doughnut) smothered in maple cream sauce….

then the traditional Maple Taffy…

Syrup is heated to a certain temp.. then poured on snow…

then poke….

and roll…

(and then the boys played to work off some of that sugar)

La Cabane à Sucre…

Here are a few pics from “La Cabane à Sucre” or “Sugar Shack” where we went last Thursday… This is one tradition that I want my Family to know. It is something that I loved doing as a child…

For those who don’t know what it is… Quebec is the largest producer of Maple Syrup in the world so when the Nectar Flows the Sugar shack go to work…. collecting the Maple water a few times a day and the boiling it down to the Maple Syrup we know…

With the syrup comes the food… A whole array of traditional french-canadian cuisine… Def not healthy or vegetarian and not something that I could eat everyday or more than once a year…

Cretons on toast,Split Pea soup, Maple omelette, Breakfast Sausages, Apple Maple Ham. Maple Baked Beans, Pork rinds, Beignets, homemade dougnuts, Maple cake, Maple sugar Pie etc…

Followed by “tire sur Neige”
Hot maple syrup poured onto snow making a Maple taffy…

Now “Sugaring off” also includes small petting zoo’s at many places, horse drawn sled or buggy rides etc…
Anyway… here are some pics….