Enjoying our First Boil-Up

As we continue to learn about the Atlantic Provinces in our homeschooling geography lessons, we thought that today we would try being honourary Newfoundlanders by holding our very own "boil-up".  The weather was perfect for it and we have lots of available fire wood, so we were well on our way already.

After reviewing the prerequisites for a proper boil-up, we determined that the first necessary step was to do some "work".  Apparently, boil-ups are not the same as picnics.  The former is a well deserved break from one's outdoor work, meanwhile the later is a leisurely form of entertainment for the aristocracy.  

For today's "work" we headed out on a 3 km hike through the forest surrounding the cottage.  I remember many of these old trails from my childhood treks along them with my brother and cousins when my grandfather owned the property.  I pointed out where my grandpa's old garden used to be, the location of the old tree house that my cousins and I built once upon a time and the old trailer where I spent many a summer sleepovers with my cousins and grandma.  The boys and I found the old waterfall that I visited dozens of times on walks with my grandmother.  They loved it. 

We even checked out the levels of sap in Mr. Paul's collection buckets and visited his surly rooster again.

Upon returning to the cottage, the boys and I started the fire, we boiled up the water for our tea and I sliced and buttered the loaf of warm maple buttermilk bread that Liam and I had baked this morning.

Our first boil-up was a resounding success with Seamus tasting his tea and exclaiming, "Oh! This is wonderful!"

He was right.  It was a perfectly lovely way to spend a perfectly lovely day.  A big "thank you" to our Newfoundland friends for inspiring this day of family fun.

Recipe: Gael Glen Farm's Maple Buttermilk Bread (inspired by: Andie Bulman's Buttermilk Honey Bread).

Ingredients

1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed (or 1 1/2 cups milk + 2 tbs lemon juice)
3 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour