Its Maple Syrup time

Ahh... I love this time of year, means that spring is right around the corner.  As the snow melts and the weather warms, we find ourselves in maple syrup season.  Its a short one, lucky if we can tap for a week.  We've been tapping for the last few days and manage to get enough water to make 2 litres of maple syrup.  My son tapped about 5 trees, we got about 60 litres of water over the last few days.  The weather turned cold yesterday and froze everything, but we managed to get the water thawed out and boiled all day and night.  This morning, we finished the batch and mmmmm..... delicious homemade maple syrup on french toast.  What more can we ask for today.  What I refer to as "Liquid Gold".  Its our family tradition, we've been doing it for over 15 years, ever since an older gentleman in his 80's told us the secrets to making our own.

If you'd like some tips and tricks, let me know.

PMS Cake Recipe

If your looking for something that the kids will love to help you make at the cottage, try what we refer to as our "PMS" cake.  We made one last night and devoured it, all 7 of us.

First, bake a chocolat cake, I cheat and use the Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake, the kids mix it up and put it in the pan.

When the cake is ready, take it out of the oven, poke holes in it with a butter knife. 

Pour on a can of  Eagle Brand Condensed Milk.

Spread out a bag of chocolat chips on top of the cake.  The heat of the cake will make them melt.

Spread out a bag of Skor's pieces, you can find them in the chocolat chip section in the stores.  If you can't find any, buy 3 Skor's chocolat bars and break them into pieces.

Get 3 boxes of Smarties and break them into pieces, pour them over the cake.

Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes (the kids can't wait much longer than that).

Take a package of Cool Whip and spread it over top.

Enjoy!!!!

It's heavenly and almost like a hot molten lava cake.

March Break 2011

Sorry, I've been away battling some health issues, but the pain is finally manageable. It's March Break and the boys talked me into taking time off work to spend our traditional week at the cottage. My heart went out to the people of Japan on Friday after hearing and seeing those videos about the tragedy, which is still not over. It made me realize how lucky we are to be spending time with our family, complaining about the little things just doesn't seem very relevant these days. As an example, we all complain about how long winter is but I came across this photo and was reminded about how beautiful mother nature can be at times.

Sunday February 13th - gotta love snow

This weekend was a great weekend to enjoy the outdoors.  We got another 8 inches of snow, trees were covered when we woke up Saturday morning, it looked like a winter wonderland.  Its so peaceful being at the cottage, there are only a few other cottagers who come up over the winter months, its so nice to be away from the city noise and traffic.  A few people were out on the lake ice fishing, some with their kids, others with their friends.  Its a great time to get together and relax and just catch up.  I spent the day with my hubby and the boys, we went snowmobiling then the boys wanted me to catch some photos of them playing hockey.  I must say I am blessed, how many families can say they spend this much time with their teenagers on weekends.

Sunday January 23, 2011 - It's COLD!!!!

Weekend at the cottage was great, although it was quite a cold one!!!! It's been -22 degrees celcius for most of the weekend, great weekend to stay indoors, play games with the family and sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy a glass of wine while reading a good book.

We spent some fun times with the boys, we played some hockey on the xbox, mom and dad versus the boys, unfortunately the boys won, but hey, they should, they are a lot younger and play a LOT more than we do, but we got to spend some time together and laugh and joke around. 

Saturday night was spent playing pool with the boys, now that's where mom and dad can teach them a few things about winning at pool.  All in all, great weekend at the cottage, any weekend at the cottage is better than a weekend back in the city.  Unfortunately, it will be time to head back soon, but we'll be back again next weekend.

My son water tubing...

I submitted this picture years ago to

Cottage Life Magazine.  

It actually got published.

Our website

Visit us at http://www.cottagetouch.com/
We have created a website for all your cottage needs.  The weekends are for relaxing on the boat or at the dock, sitting on the deck enjoying a good book.  Who wants to go out shopping when you can simply be relaxing and enjoying quality time with your family.  The website tries to provide all the products you would need, simply click on the products you need, have them delivered to your home and enjoy the weekend.