Maple Syrup Cookbook

 

Maple Syrup Cookbook
Written by: Ken Haedrich

About the Book

Maple Syrup Cookbook has convinced thousands of readers that maple syrup makes everything taste better. Now, the revised third edition of this classic cookbook features full-color photographs and a dozen of the author’s favorite new recipes. In all, the book now offers more than 100 ways to enjoy maple syrup at every meal, including Buttermilk Corn Cakes, Banana Crêpes with Maple Rum Sauce (perfect for brunch), Maple Cream Scones, Lacy Sweet-Potato Patties, Maple Bacon Strata, Curried Pumpkin-Apple Soup, Creamy Maple Fondue, Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts, Orange-Maple Wings, Beet and Pear Relish, Maple-Roasted Root Vegetables, Steamed Brown Bread, Maple Onion Marmalade, Hot & Spicy Shrimp Kabobs, Chicken with Maple-Mustard Glaze, and Crispy Maple Spareribs. There are barbecue sauces and salad dressings and dozens of tempting desserts, from Almond Bars and Coffee Chip Cookies to Maple Apple Pie, Maple Pecan Pie, Maple-Ginger Ice Cream, and much more. There’s even a recipe for Maple Bread-and-Butter Pickles. This is a treasure chest of delightful recipes you’ll turn to again and again.

My Thoughts

I was born and raised in Quebec - the place on earth where you can find maple syrup practically everywhere!  After all Quebec is the province in Canada that produces about 9 million gallons of the maple syrup every year.

Maple syrup was part of my growing up in numerous ways - from breakfast with French bread, supper with homemade crêpes to dessert with the famous maple syrup pie my mom made on a regular basis (One of the best pie ever! Not to be confused with the sugar pie in any way.).  My mother's side of the family used to have a little maple syrup production on the land they owned.   I also remember visiting sugar bush places numerous times while growing up.  Once we had children, we went to a private sugar bush to see how maple syrup was done thanks to a co-worker of my husband who also owned a farm with one on it.

But let's get back to the book.   Most people will associate maple syrup with sweets like breakfast or dessert.  But did you know that you can use maple syrup pretty much in any kind of meal of side dish?

In this stunning cookbook which is all about maple syrup, you will find recipes for breakfast and desserts for sure but also much more than just that.  Here is a bird's eye view of the table of content:

• Maple from Tree to Table: In this section, you will learn more about maple syrup, how it is produced, how it is graded and its taste and how does it fit in your kitchen.
• Maple Mornings - Breakfast Classics, Breakfast Sweets, Breakfast Savories, and Breakfast Extras.
• Beyond Breakfast - Soups & Starters, Salads & Sauces, Vegetables & Sides, Main Dishes.
• Maple Sweets - Bars, Cookies & Candy, Pies & Cakes, Pudding & More.

Below are two of the recipes found in the cookbook.   You must admit that there looks delicious!

Nowadays, I have cut drastically on sugar intake in my diet but I will admit to you that every once in a while a bit of maple syrup is enjoyed by yours truly.   Maple Syrup is definitively part of my life and will continue to add a bit of sweet in my meals just to tease my taste buds.  Having this recipe book will help to diversify the recipes using maple syrup.

Maple Syrup Cookbook is available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even on Amazon.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Storey Publishing for sending me this book for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

BookOutlet Canada

 Do you love books?

Do you know someone who would love a good book during a vacation, the Holidays or simply for pure enjoyment?

Are you the type of person who enjoys reading?

Do you want to instill the love of good books to your children?

Do you love savings so that you can purchase more books?

If you have answered 'YES' to one or more of these questions, I have the perfect place for you to shop for books in Canada!

Earlier this year I have discovered BookOutlet.ca which offers a wide variety of books at a fraction of the price that you would pay elsewhere.  Granted, their selection is probably not as huge as other online stores or bookstores near your home, but if you are patient sometimes the book you are looking for will come on the list.

During Covid, I find that you also have to be more patient with certain titles.   For example, my daughter waited months before being able to order some Warriors titles she was hoping to purchase.  She did not want to pay full price so we waited.   Recently, she passed an order for some of the titles.  And because she spent over $45 of books (which by the way contained 8 books total including 2 hardcovers ones), she received free shipping.

We love shopping at BookOutlet Canada because it is a great way to purchase books for a lower price. 

If you would like to discover this website, click on the logo below and you will get a $10 coupon on your first BookOutlet purchase of $25.     

Enjoy your shopping on BookOutlet.ca

Disclaimer: I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  I just wanted to share a great site to get books for less.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.  The link provided is an affiliate link.

Compounded Board Game

 

Are you an homeschool mom or a parent who is trying to make chemistry interesting to your kids?   Or are you a chemistry teacher who is looking into a creative way to teach your students about compounds?

I think I might just have the game for you - COMPOUNDED.

Compounded is a game in which players take on the roles of lab managers, competing to complete the most compounds with elements that they are managing before their competitors finished - or before their lab explode.

Players can freely trade elements, lab tools, and even favors between each other.  

The game is very well designed and the cardboard parts are sturdy.  There is no way you can bend them (unless you use sheer force that is!).   Even the cards themselves are thicker than normal playing cards in other games I have seen.   

The box comes with a instruction booklet, periodic table scoreboard, lab tools, flame tokens, wild element tokens, personal fire extinguisher, 100 plastic elements, cloth element bag, wooden start player lab key, 68 compound cards, thick cardboard work benches for each player, as well as wooden player pieces with custom stickers.

The game can accommodate 2 to 5 scientists and can last from 30 to 90 minutes.   This game is suggested for ages 13 and up. 

Compounded is available to purchase at your favorite gaming store even on amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Dice Hate Me Games for sending me Compounded for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Graphic Science Biographies

Do you want your kids to be interested in scientists from the past?  Looking for a way to make them read on the discoveries made long time ago?   Search no longer as Graphic Science Biographies introduces scientists from the past in a fun way - by reading comics.

I have received three of the titles released by Lerner Publishing Group to review.   The titles are Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion, Marie Curie and Radioactivity, as well as Albert Eisntein and the Theory of Relativity.

Isaac Newton's youth was marked by constant curiosity.  As he began a life of research and experiments, he turned this curiosity into major insights about the working of Earth and the universe.  He even developed three laws to explain the motions of objects.  This graphic biography moves from Newton's childhood inventions to the breakthrough theories of his adult life.   It also spotlight his time at England's Royal Mint, where he combated counterfeiting, and Newton's gift of knighthood from Queen Anne.

At the start of the twentieth century, Marie Curie, a Polish physicist and chemist, stunned the scientific world.  Her research led to the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium.  She also examined the most unusual property of these elements: radioactivity.  This graphic biography follow Curie from her early life in Poland to her scientific education in France.  It also spotlights her work with Pierre Curie and her efforts to treat wounded soldiers during World War I.

Albert Einstein's restless intelligence drove him to ponder the biggest topics the universe has to offer: light, time, mass, energy, and more.   His conclusions changed the way people thought about the laws of physics.  But first, he had to pass his university entrance exams.  This graphic biography traces Einstein's path from his home country of Germany to his studies in Switzerland to his time in the United States.  It also follows his life as an international scientific celebrity and his refusal to stay silent in the face of anti-Semitism.

These books are fun to read and will allow you to discover more about scientists from the past.   I have enjoyed the drawings and the colorful panels through the pages of these books.  I personally found that it is an ingenious way to present the life of scientists in order for kids to learn more about them. At the end of the books, you will also find a timeline, a glossary as well as a list of further resources to expand your knowledge.

These books are available at amazon.ca or any other bookstore.  

         

Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Allen and Lerner Publishing Group for sending me these books for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Phonics Comics

Phonics Comics have an innovative way of encouraging children to read and practicing their phonics at the same time.  Thanks to fun stories your child will be practicing reading while reading comics.

Phonics Comics have three levels of readers.

• Level 1 - Easy Readers contain easy-to-sound words, introduce long and short vowels, possess simple sentences as well as strong picture clues and introduce beginning sight words.
• Level 2 - Developing Readers contains long and short vowels, varied consonant combinations, longer sentences and introduce the reader to intermediate sight words.
• Level 3 - Confident Readers contain multisyllabic words and more advance vocabulary, complex vowel sounds, more challenging storylines as well as advanced sight words.

I have received the following two books to review.

As you can see the comics are bright and colorful.   The text is easy to read as well.

I find these very interesting for kids who are learning to grasp reading on their one.  The images will allow them to stay connected to the story.  Being a visual type of person myself I can see that this can help a young child to stay interested in the story.   Each book I have received contained 3 stories.

There is about 24 pages per book.  At the end of the book, you will have a list of story words as well as a light of sight words.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Allen for sending me these books for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Eyewitness DVDs

Through the years I had the privilege to present a wide variety of Eyewitness DVDs on this blog. The Eyewitness DVDs would be great in this time of social distancing to allow your kids to learn on specific subjects like plant, insect, ocean, birds and so on.

I have two other ones that I would like to present this morning. 

EYEWITNESS DVD INSECT

Like it or not during our spring, summer and fall seasons (at least in Canada anyways) we are surrounded but a wide range of insects.   Discover a world of creatures that are industrious, sociable, and environmentally useful.   Unfortunately for some of them, we do not have the patience to have them around us buzzing constantly in our ears.

But there is much to learn on these creatures.  This DVD will allow you to explore the wonders of the insect world through macro photography and 3-D graphics.  You will observe a queen wasp building her nest, a caterpillar devouring a leaf, a damselfly nympho emerging as an adult and so much more.

EYEWITNESS DVD WEATHER

Weather is something we experience day after day in life. Sunshine. Rain. Snow. These are only a sample of what weather is.   Sometimes it can be deadly like lighting, extreme winds, hail... 

This DVD takes you on a tour of Earth's turbulent atmosphere and reveals the forces that make our day a nice one or a disastrous one. 

Conclusion

Both of these DVD can make a wonderful unit study for your kids when learning from home - whether you are a veteran homeschooler or a new one (voluntarily or not due to Covid-19).

Each DVD are about 25 minutes in length and are packed with information that is interesting and educative at the same time. 

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me these DVD for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Kraft Dinner Recipes

So with the self-isolation that we are living these days my kids have decided to put together a blog and YouTube channel that will present you a variety of recipes that you can do with Kraft Dinner.

The idea and leadership of this endeavor comes from our oldest son, Alexandre, who has decided to use their skills in making original recipes using Kraft Dinner with the use of technology - video, YouTube and blogging - in order to offer ideas in using a well known product on the market and creativity for making meals.

On his blog - https://kraftdinnerrecipes.blogspot.com/ - he already has three recipes posted.

Check his message below and do not hesitate to follow his YouTube channel and blog.




Enjoy and as we say in French - Bon Appétit!

I Still Believe Movie Review

Recently, my family had the privilege to preview the movie I Still Believe from the comfort of our home.   The theatrical release is coming soon as it will be in theaters in Canada on March 13, 2020.

What is the movie all about?

From the creators of I Can Only Imagine comes an inspiring love story for the ages.   It is the true life story of Christian music mega star Jeremy Camp.  Jeremy's remarkable journey of love and loss proves there is always hope in the midst of tragedy and that faith tested is the only faith worth sharing.

I Still Believe stars K.J. Apa, Britt Robertson, Melissa Roxburgh, Shania Twain, Gary Sinise, and Nathan Parsons.

Our Thoughts 

When we saw this movie, it was during a week-end.  We usually do a family movie time during the week-ends.   Unfortunately, my oldest son was working that day and he was not able to see it with us.  Sometimes, it is not always possible to have the whole family together when an opportunity like this comes.

I have read the memoir of Jeremy Camp a while back so I knew a bit of the story behind I Still Believe.  I knew of the love story and the diagnostic, the struggles and the grief, the hope and the faith.   I won't go too much into details because it would ruin the movie for you.   But seeing it with my eyes and witnessing the story through the movie was simply touching and my emotions were stirred.

I think the love story in this movie is simply beautiful and awe inspiring for young people. It showed commitment and faith throughout the story.   It is the kind of movie that you would want to watch again.

In conclusion, I seriously think that I Still Believe is a movie that is worth watching.   It is clean, inspiring and thought provoking in many ways.   Faith is prominent in it and it can show people that even hard things happens in life, you can still believe in God.

The movie open in theaters on March 13, 2020.  It will be playing in Ottawa at both Landmark Cinemas - Kanata and Orleans.  To discover more places where the movie will be shown in Canada please visit https://www.istillbelievefilm.ca/.

Oh!  And do not forget some tissues because if you are like me you will need them.

GIVEAWAY!!!!

I have one pass (2 tickets) to go see the movie for someone to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Thanks to Faithfilms.ca and Graf-Martin for allowing me to preview the movie for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Shape+Store Burger Master

We used to purchase our burger patties at Costco and have ground beef patties in our freezer at all time.  But with the price of beef that keeps going higher we have switched to ground pork.  However, I dislike making burger patties by hand because they are never the same size.   One day, my husband decided to purchase the Shape+Store Burger Master to see how it would work. 

Burger Master is a silicone device that allows you to shape your burger patties so that you can freeze them rapidly in the perfect shape.   The shape looks like a beehive.

All you have to do is purchase your meat and add the spices you desire to put in order to add flavor to your burger patties.   Then with your hands (washed!) you push the meat inside the bottom section in order to fill it up

Once you are done, you simply put the top portion over and push it in order to divide the burger patties in the silicone container.  Make sure that the top is properly pushed in on all sides.

And then all you have to do is put the Shape+Store Burger Master in your freezer in order to freezer your newly made burger patties.

We originally purchase two Burger Masters but since then we have purchased two other ones in order to make more burger patties for our family of six people.   These stack nicely in the freezer and barely take any space whatsoever.  I love the flexibility of making my own burgers and have different flavor too.  I highly recommend the Burger Master for an easy way to make your own burger patties.

Shape+Store makes different containers for different purposes.  As you have seen the Burger Master allows you to make delicious burger patties.   They also have containers to make meatballs as well as one for separating the cookie dough into portions to make individual cookies.

You can find the products from Shape+Store at Amazon.ca as well as Amazon.com.

Burgers
  

 Meatballs
     

 Cookies
     

Disclaimer:  I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Polti Magico AG100

So yesterday my husband received an item he had ordered on Amazon.  At first I was wondering what it was because... well it looked like a squeegee in a way but more bulky if you see what I mean.


 

You see we have a bit of an issue with windows that fog up and drip during the winter.  Seeing as we were painting and wanted to find a solution for this, he decided to investigate on what could be use to help us manage this tiny problem.   We had been using towels during the winter but they get soaked quite rapidly and end up having a ton of towels to wash on a weekly basis.

So he found this device which can be used to help you wash the windows and suck up the water after cleaning them.  If it works for this why not for the water on our windows?  So this morning I tried it on the window in our ensuite bathroom.

 As you can see the water was sliding down this morning.

So I proceeded to use this interesting device to see if it will do the job that it is suppose to do.   For proof I have included a video below.

And it does the job!!!   Within a minute, the ensuite bathroom window was clear of all the water and I could see clearly through it.

I even did our big window in our bedroom and the view was perfect as well.

I am very impressed with the Polit Magico AG100.   It possess a plug so I ca recharge it whenever the battery is depleted.

The Polti Magico AG100 is available for purchase through amazon.ca as well as amazon.com.

   

Disclaimer:  I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.