Back in 2011, a group of men went to a depository in Quebec looking for a big pay off. What was in this said depository? Gold, silver or priceless art, NOPE, it was maple syrup. The group of men over the course of a year stole over 3,000 tons of maple syrup, valued at C$18.7 million. You could say that it was a ….. sweet deal. LOL, This is by far the most Canadian crime in the world. Now you may be thinking what does this have to do with Dane? Nothing absolutely nothing… Well, I love maple syrup. One of my favourite things to do is use maple syrup within my recipes. I absolutely love taking a little bit of maple syrup and putting it on my bacon as it cooks, so I have candy bacon. I’ve always Wanted to volunteer at a sugar shack in Quebec. Sadly, I have not done it yet. One day I will but I got the chance with Leticia to go to a sugar shack. 

I will now recount the story. 

Leticia and I wake up early together. We’re both excited, just like two little school children, waiting to hop on the bus to go to the zoo. We get dressed and have a small cup of coffee together. it is beautiful and crisp. It’s one of those mornings where once you step out of your house you can see your breath, just like a millennial vaping. And as we walk to the car, I can hear the crunching of the leaves just like a soft crackling of a fire. 

Leticia and I as well as her family pile into the car and set off on our journey. We start snaking our way through the city. We pass big old churches with there crumbling bricks. and small family own cafes, where lover go to reminisce. They tell me about the sugar shack and the ancient processed of make that sweet golden maple syrup, that has become such a symbol of Canada around the world. I am growing more and more excited with every passing block.

   Quebec, in general, is truly quite picturesque in that idyllic small town way. As we ramble through Montreal you see the history. It’s like Canada’s New York but with better bagels and kinder people. Just kidding, Newyourk people please don’t kill me. It’s grungy and every corner of the city has a story. You can feel the heart that Quebec has even if you are about to lose the feeling in your fingers from the frostbite.

Anyways, we are passing the suburbs, it’s looking more and more like a Holly Friesen painting. I get lost in my thoughts, as we hurtling through small villages and old-growth maple forests. Taking a sharp left turn onto the forest we hit a gravel and dirt road.  As we drive up the canopy of the forest opens up like a curtain on a school play. It’s surprisingly busy. We all hop out of the car. the noise of the grave ringing louder then I thought natural. The brisk wind gives us more energy as we all hike up the gravel road and eventually make it to a huge log house.

  I walk up to the sugar shack and open the door for everyone. The Warmth engulfs us like a grandmothers hug as we step in. As I am waiting to be seated the sweet smell of maple fill’s my nose. Looking around it seems like we were dropped into an an18-century cabin during the fur trading days, there are antiques everywhere. Our server comes over, she is dressed in beautiful old style clothes. She takes us to a  huge maple table. We sit down, Leticia mother orders for us, She speaks beautiful fluent French. At that moment It hits me how much I Iove Leticia family. They’re kind, loving, intelligent and always has an interesting conversation. I was very lucky that I spent time with them.

back to the restaurant. We start getting our first order which is bacon, eggs, pancakes, homemade cinnamon rolls, coffee, tea. It’s a veritable smorgasbord. We all start telling stories and laughing. It seems like one of those Christmas ad’s I saw as a kid. Where it slowly pans out form a family is happily eating Christmas dinner.

It is absolutely delicious. We are all starting to get a little sluggish. eventually, we stop eating, we are so full. Our server comes over and smiles, we ask for the bill. after we pay we stand up and waddle our way out of the cabin. I look back one final time and I think how beautiful it is to be a Canadian and how lucky I am to be here. Pulling the door open, the cold hits us all. It bites, it’s funny how the cold is a lot colder after you spent a couple hours in a beautiful hot cabin.

The cold goes through us and deep into our bones. We all start wandering around the farm to see what we can find. After a few mins, we find the sugar shack, with its great Old log that makes up its wall’s. we walk in, all I can see is great plumes of smoke that make everything seem so confusing. It seems as if we were in a hot box with Cheech and Chong.

As we are there all laugh and enjoying our selves. The workers (all decked out in plaid) described to us how to make maple syrup. We find out that for every 40 L of tree sap it only makes 1 L of syrup. Leticia and I are holding hands, just to try and keep them warm. But we are not worried. We are giggling and kissing each other on the cheek.  Eventually, we all sit back in the car, then quietly and slowly drive back to our normal Life.

Canada it’s an amazing place filled with so much cool stuff. even if it can be cold.