Taffy on crushed ice,
Tasty, delicious sweetness –
A winter-time treat!
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One of my part-time jobs is working at a sugar bush business. In Canada, with our proliferation of sugar maple trees, there are small and larger maple syrup businesses; many of them family-owned.
During the first two weeks of February there is an annual festival called Winterlude that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, encompassing the Rideau Canal, which when frozen over, turns into the largest skating rink in the world! Two other nearby areas are included in the Winterlude fun – Confederation Park, where there are booths and displays as well as a stage for live music performances and an assortment of small and large ice sculptures. And Jacques Cartier Park, where there are exciting snow-constructed slides for children’s amusement.
We participate each year at Winterlude by setting up our tiny trailer and display booth in Confederation Park and making up fresh batches of taffy and laying them out on freshly crushed ice for people to come and buy as they wander around the park and explore all the nifty things to see and do.
All kinds of people come visit here during Winterlude…..many of them from other parts of Canada or the U.S. and even from other countries…..and they have fun checking out ice sculptures, skating on the canal, looking at special art displays and other interesting things. Sometimes, when it comes to having some maple syrup taffy, they will chat and tell us that this is their first time to try this sweet treat or else reminisce about their taffy experiences from their childhood.
The above photos show our display area from today’s activity, as well as some of the maple syrup taffies on crushed ice. As it’s becoming evening, we were slowly starting to clean up our booth area.
Some friends of mine who dropped by today to have some delicious taffy on a popsicle stick. Looks like they’re enjoying it!
And lastly, two young ladies, who stopped by our booth and bought some taffy to try, as they had never had it before. It was a big hit!
The Path Less Travelled By 