Recap: March

I can’t believe it has been right around a month since my last blog post.  I’ve been busy!  So here’s a recap of all you missed in the month of March (excluding the exam and break, which get their own post).

Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush

Remember when I missed the school field trip to Ontario’s wine country because I waited too long to sign up?  Well, I wasn’t about to let that happen again, so when the school field trip to Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush was announced, I was one of the first names on the list.  “Sugar Bush” is the term for a maple farm, and this trip was going to take us to a local farm for a tour, cooking demonstration, horse-drawn carriage ride, and maple-packed lunch.  For someone who doesn’t like maple syrup, I was pretty excited!

We left school in the morning on a large charter bus.  Most of my friends were there, and the drive was only an hour.  Upon arriving, we had a guided walk through the trees and learned about the traditions behind aboriginal maple syrup harvests and the history leading up to how it is done today.  We were shown the system of tubes the farm now uses to harvest the sap and lead it to the concentration machine (which make a lot more sense than using buckets), and we even got to taste sap right out of a tree. 

Sap right from a maple tree!  It even was a little icy from sitting outside

How we looked before we tasted it...

...and how we looked after we tasted it.

Dina warming up with a toasted marshmallow

Instead of hanging buckets from trees, they now
use this system of tubes to harvest the sap. Smart!

After our toes were sufficiently frozen, we were given a maple-cooking demonstration by some of the staff.  We each got to make maple sugar out of pure syrup (which was a really fun little science experiment), and we tasted a wide array of maple-ized dishes.  The best thing we tried: crispy maple croutons that they served with a squash soup.  Our table liked them so well that we asked for the leftovers to munch on before lunch.

We went straight from the cooking demonstration to lunch, where we were served pancakes and maple sausages with maple mustard, maple coffee, and maple butter.  It was too sweet for my Indian friend, Tanvi, and my Russian friend, Dina, to handle, which was pretty comical.  When we were finished, we waited for the next horse-drawn carriage.  It took us through the woods where we could see the complex network of sap-harvesting tubes.

Making a batch of maple sugar from pure sap -- how cool!

Our lunch of pancakes and sausages and lots of maple

We all marked our hometowns with push pins on a map they
provided.  It was fun to see exactly where we are all from.

I was the first one from Iowa this year!

While we waited for the sleigh, I FINALLY tried "Taffy on Snow"
with some friends!  It is maple syrup that is heated, then poured
over a popsicle stick over snow to quickly cool it.

It was delicious, but it took me almost an hour to finish it.

Our sleigh ride arrived!

Riding through the forest before boarding the bus to go home.

Exam Practice at Home

Last term, I had a feeling that I would draw the Lemon Tart for the exam.  I couldn’t explain it, but something just told me that it would be the recipe I would be required to execute.  Sure enough, I made a Lemon Tart on exam day.

This term, I had a feeling that I would draw the Délice Caramel for the exam.  It was the same inexplicable feeling, so I wasn’t about to ignore it.  My Délice Caramel was less than desirable in the practical, so I knew I needed to practice it.  With this feeling in the front of my mind, I made the bottom half of the cake at home, and it was fantastic.  Sure enough, I drew the Délice Caramel on exam day and rocked it!  It very well may have been the most beautiful cake I had made all semester.

The bottom half of the cake I made at home.  The practice
definitely paid off!

Pizza Party

The exam recipes list was released two weeks before our final exam and, with twelve complicated recipes to memorize, we all had a lot of studying to do.  Expecting that we would need a break from all of the mental stress, Matt and Quinn organized another little party, scheduled for the Thursday night before the exam. 

It was a homemade pizza party!  Everyone brought a topping, and Matt and Quinn made enough dough and sauce to have one pizza for every two people in attendance.  There were eleven of us there, and it was truly a good way to relax after eight days of studying recipes.  I was surprised to learn that I was one of the only ones who had started studying, and wasn’t too surprised when my classmates confessed to be stressing out over the complexity of our required recipes.

So many toppings!

Chad and I were the first to make a pizza, and we used nearly every topping.  Surprisingly, the kale was the best pizza topping I think I have ever had, and Matt even had olive oil and corn meal to make our dough extra-flavorful.  People continued to make pizzas, two-by-two, and we all tried a piece of each one. 

Our pizza!

After the pizzas were finished, we set out to play “Cards Against Humanity,” a more surprising and vulgar version of “Apples to Apples.”  It was a lot of fun, but it was full of cultural references that were difficult for non-native English speakers to understand.  Eventually, everyone left but Chad and I.  We taught Matt and Quinn how to play Othello, my favorite board game, and explained Munchkin – our favorite card game. It was a great study break!

Cindy and Cynthia made a kitty under their cheese...meow!

Quinn was a fabulous hostess

There was always plenty of pizza on the counter
to sample

Macaron Class

The Saturday before the exam, there was a Short Course hosted at the school called “La Ronde des Macarons.”  Many of my friends and I signed up to attend long before the exam list was posted so, somewhat reluctantly, we all attended.  I was excited – eating macarons in France is one of my best memories from my time living in Chambéry, and I’m always open to learning how to make better ones.  I especially like lemon macarons, and was overjoyed to see them on the recipe list for the afternoon.

All sorts of macarons for the class!

Chefs Jocelyn and Eric gave a cute little class.  It didn’t teach us much more than we already had learned, but it was fun to hear the questions asked by the public.  The lemon macarons were disappointing (the filling had a very tame flavor, and I prefer a really strong, sour lemon-y macaron), but the Italian Buttercream was tasty, as always.

St. Patrick’s Day

I have always loved St. Patrick’s Day, and I was excited at the idea of spending one in a big city such as Ottawa.  I had visions of green beer and bars full of parties.  It wasn’t meant to be, though, as St. Patrick’s Day was the night before our final exam.

I had been studying for twelve days, and was prepared enough to have one green beer, though, so Chad and I went to our favorite little Irish pub for a proper St. Patty’s dinner.  I really had my heart set on a green beer so, just in case, I grabbed a small vial of green food coloring before leaving the apartment. 

Sure enough, our favorite little pub doesn’t serve green beer.  Not to fear – with the permission of the waitress, we dyed our own and had a green one after all.  When we were finished with dinner and started to head home, we were approached by a giant leprechaun on the sidewalk.  He was huge!  His friends offered us free green t-shirts and coupons for free green beer at a bar down the street.  How could we say no?  We stopped by The Honest Lawyer and each had a green beer in a small plastic cup.  St. Patty’s Day was complete!

No worries - I came prepared!

Thanks for the free beer, Giant Leprechaun!