Localife Ottawa held its third annual sugar shack event on March 28, 2015.
Seventeen survivors and supporters descended on La Domaine de L’Ange Guardien — a sugar shack located on the Quebec side about 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa — for an evening of tasty pancakes.
The atmosphere was electric. There was a live band playing music and the place was packed wall to wall with people. Luckily, we had a reservation so we didn’t have to wait. Once everyone arrived, we all sat down for a tasty all-you-can-eat menu of pea soup, pancakes/crepes, beans, eggs, sausages, maple ham, potatoes, and oreilles de crisse — a traditional Quebec dish made of deep-fried smoked pork jowls that many of us mistook for super extra crispy bacon.
Because it was so busy, the food was a little slow to come out, but the conversations and laughs that could be heard from the table helped to ease the grumbling tummies.
With the sun almost completely set by the time we had eaten our fill, we made our way outside and up a small path to a little shack to get our stick of delicious maple taffy. Though some felt like they couldn’t eat another bite, no one could resist the sugary, sweet, goodness. Conversations continued as people stood by the fire to keep warm.
Slowly everyone made their way back inside and some danced to the live music until one by one we all had to leave and make the drive back to Ottawa.
And with that, there’s another great sugar shack event in the books. Which sugar shack will we attack next year? You’ll all just have to wait and find out!
