Sweet: Sucrerie de la Montagne

The Kids get to explore the maple buckets

I didn't get to post yesterday, because I was out with the kids at the sugar bush.
The sugar bush of La Sucrerie de la Montagne is located at a natural maple grove. The great thing is, that they collect maple sap the traditional way! With buckets attached to the trees, the sap of the maple tree is tapped. The collected sap is then boiled and reduced into the delicious maple syrup that we know and love.

Buckets on Maple Trees

Tapping spigot on the tree!

Let me tell you, it was a tiring day for the kids, and for me too! It's a little pathetic in my case, because I wasn't the one who drove us 1 1/2 hours, almost all the way to Montreal and back. My friend Steph did all that hard work. Me, I just played the ineffective sidekick.
Three adults, 7 kids age 5 and under, and an awesome teenager - we had a grand time feasting on the traditional Quebecois fare. We had pea soup, sausages, meat pie, maple smoked ham, souffle Omelet, pancakes and sugar pie! That's just the stuff I remembered eating.
We listened to a French duo sing traditional songs, Irish jigs (it was St Patrick's Day, afterall) and Elvis songs! We danced to the music, used spoons as instruments and did lots of tapping and clapping.

Bare Maple Trees against the Bluest Winter Sky by Su

Did I also mention that we got to eat maple taffy?
Let me tell ya, this trip wasn't the best thing for the waistline.
However, it certainly was the best thing for the soul.