Collecting and Boiling

On Wednesday we started collecting the sap that was filling out sap buckets quickly.

On Thursday we started boiling sap...

and boiled it....

and boiled it...

and boiled it some more.


It was a long process of boiling, but we managed to get about 2 litres of maple syrup in total. It was much more than I anticipated.


We even managed to get some maple sugar (even if it was a result of boiling too long!).



So, this morning we just had to have some maple syrup on french toast. YUMMY!!

Yummy Pure Canadian Snyders Maple Syrup

This year, we are tapping our maple trees for the first time. We braved the cold wind last night and drilled some holes and hung up some sap buckets.

We can't wait to collect enough sap to boil it down to syrup. The ratio of sap to syrup is 40:1. So, that means, we need to get 40 buckets full of sap to get one bucket of syrup. It was quite exciting when we saw drips of sap coming out of the tree immediately after we put the tap in.

The boys had to keep peeking to see how much was dripping out of the tree.

It will be interesting to see how much we get to make. The boys will be checking those buckets every day (the boys meaning Haden, Garrett AND Tom)!

Only Once

I did something today that one should only do once in their life. And, you should try it at least once. Maybe twice. But, probably not three times.

I DEEP FRIED A MARS BAR!!!!

I feel my arteries clogging already.
But, oh, oh, oh. Was it ever yummy.

For those of you who are curious (I know you want to try it now, too), I took two Mars bars and refrigerated them over night. You probably don't have to refrigerate them that long, but I wasn't even sure I should try this. (So, I waited over night...and, yes, this morning I thought I should still try it.)

I made a batter of 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup of corn meal, a pinch of baking soda and enough milk until it was the consistency of a pancake batter. I then cut my Mars bar into small bite size pieces. Dipped them in the batter and placed them, a few at a time, in the deep fryer. They only take about a minute or two to brown up. I scooped them out, ever so gently, and placed on a paper towel...to soak the excess oil, right!?! (At this point, I don't think it was really going to change the caloric count too much.) I grabbed my fork, poked one warm morsel, and popped it into my mouth. mmmmmmmmmm I think the best word to describe these tiny bits of sugar fried in oil are EVIL! YUMMY EVIL! My hips will love me forever!

But, I recommend everyone should try it at least once in their life.

Now if you will excuse me. I have to spend the rest of the day on my treadmill.

There is no picture. I do not want any evidence of me actually eating them.

Oh. And, yes, I did share with my kids and Tom.

Girls Night Out

Yes, I actually got to have a girls night out.


Cindy and Barb came to London, and we had an evening out at the London Food and Wine Show a couple weeks ago.


It's was very yummy (as you can see from the picture).







Cindy even got her picture taken with "the hunchback".


What's his real name, Cindy?!?!