Our Trip to the Sugar Bush

This past week-end, we did what most Eastern Ontario families do in March - we visited the sugar bush. We went to Wheeler's - it's a bit further from Ottawa but that also means it's a lot less busy. With sugar bushes also comes pancake breakfasts - pancakes with milk. So in the morning I cooked up some dairy-free pancakes for Charlie to take with us. I use the Aunt Jemima mix to which you have to add milk and eggs. It doesn't have any dairy products in it which means Charlie can eat it. I mixed it with coconut milk and the pancakes came out nice and fluffy. Charlie sure thought they were good - he ate one and a half of them, and that was before the sugar bush. He also enjoyed his special pancakes at the sugar bush. And his sister enjoyed her pancakes full of dairy.

Here's something most dairy-free mamas wouldn't think of though... does maple taffy have milk in it?  You'd think no... obviously. Actually - not quite! When we were at another sugar bush in the fall, they told us they put butter around the rim of the container from which they pour the taffy. So we asked. And guess what? They put butter in the maple syrup to keep it from boiling over when they're boiling it down for the taffy!!! Can you believe it? Sadly, I can honestly say I wasn't really shocked because I've learned in the last year that dairy is in the oddest foods.
I resigned myself to the fact that Charlie won't be able to have any taffy this year and that Anna will have to eat it away from him. But the fine folks, the owner actually, at Wheeler's made him a special batch with no butter!!! He washed the pot to make sure there was no residual butter and made 10 taffys. We ended up buying all of them because we were so excited and happy that on a busy day the owner would do that for us. Sometimes people amaze me - in a good way! As you can see, Charlie really enjoyed his dairy-free taffy, as did Anna!

So thank you to the fine folks at Wheeler's for making our outing to their sugar bush so wonderful. Here's a photo of the three of us :) Enjoy your dairy-free life!

Monica