Fort Beauséjour, an amazing, beautiful structure…

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are in New Brunswick, almost on the border with Nova Scotia, visiting Fort Beauséjour. Its an amazing structure and standing on it, going around it and running down it’s steep slopes has been delighting the four kids and three adults in our party all afternoon. It’s a wonder of engineering, so lets look at how it was made and what happened here…

Fort Beauséjour was built in  1751 in several stages. The first Fort was a simple five sided palisade of wood with bastions at each corner. At it’s widest point the fort measured about 79m (260 feet). The insides of the bastion walls were packed with earth to support gun platforms.

In 1752 the fort was strengthened against rumored British attack and transformed into a more substantial earthwork structure. The Acadian inhabitants in Chignecto had built dykes and reclaimed marshlands for eighty years before the fort was built. They were a tightly knit community, largely self sufficient in food production, but did enjoy a certain amount of commerce with the Fortess of Louisbourg.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

In 1754 the British laid plans to drive the French from North America. From 1751 to 1754 the French and British eyed each other warily from their respective sides of the Missaquash River. Minor skirmishes between British troops and Indian allies of the French occurred, but the forts also cooperated in the exchange of deserters and some trade even grew up between the rival forts. Some of the officers became friendly enough to exchange personal letters.

Everything changed in 1755.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

From the beginning the Acadians actively resisted attempts to deport them. Some Acadians left the area to take refuge along the Miramichi River, in Canada or on Isle St. Jean (Prince Edward Island). Others stayed on to defend their lands. British foraging and raiding parties were attacked by Acadians and Indians directed by Charles Deschamps de Boishébert. In September 1755, the British reported that 300 of Boishebert’s men drove off a party of troops attempting to burn a church at Petitcodiac.

The British continued to capture and deport small groups of the remaining inhabitants.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

On August 11, 1755, over 400 Acadian men from the area were called to Fort Cumberland. The orders against them were read and they were imprisoned in the fort. For the next two months Fort Cumberland and Fort Lawrence served as prisons while farms were burned, cattle driven off and inhabitants brought to the forts until transports could take them out of the country. Out of a population of about 3,000, over 2,000 were eventually deported.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © elmotoo)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Major land clashes climaxed in 1759 with the massacre of eleven members of a British wood cutting party near Point de Bute, at a place known since as Bloody Ridge. The Fall of Quebec in 1759 ended organized resistance but sporadic deportations continued until 1764 when the Lords of Trade and Plantations gave Acadians the right to resettle in Nova Scotia.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

What I have seen here strikes me as a sad indictment on the human race,  that in a land as vast as North America that any sharing of the space didn’t seem to be acceptable to the British… was this just an early example of ” ethnic cleansing”?  Why was it really necessary to drive people who were settled, productive, self sufficient and close knit out of the area they had occupied for so long? “Politics” clearly has a lot to answer for.

It must have been heartbreaking for the Acadians to start again, but, start again is what they did. They migrated all along the eastern seaboard of the Canadian Maritimes and the United States, some even found their way to the American South, where, they became known as “Cajuns”   and founded communities in Louisiana that are famous even today.

From Fort Beauséjour to Fort Cumberland …without going anywhere?

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are in New Brunswick, Canada and have just left  Sackville, heading for the Province of Nova Scotia a short distance away. Close to the border we spy a sign… Fort Beauséjour, and decide to take a closer look.

First we come to a beautiful stone building… and start to learn a little about the history of the area.  I have a fascination for this because when I was at  school I studied Graphic Art, and Art History because  of my interest in all things “Arty”.

At the time I didn’t see the point in studying History as well, a decision I now regret, because over the years I have discovered that I am in fact a secret history buff.Ok, not in the technical dates and figures department of History, but in social history, the way people lived in the past, the practical implements of life that they would have had to hand, the technology of the time.

I adore looking at hand crafted wooden implements, I drool ( no… not literally)  at the gorgeous detail in historical textiles, and look covetously at old cast iron cookware.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The historian in me loves places like this, so I’m keen to know more…

Arcadians came to this region, which they called Beaubassin, in the 1670′s.

They flourished for eight decades: raising families, dyking marshes, harvesting and selling crops and raising livestock. In 1750-51, the French introduced a military presence, first with soldiers , then with forts at Beauséjour and Gaspareaux. An expedition of British and New England soldiers captured both French forts in June 1755.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Two months later, the victors began to round up the Arcadian population for a massive deportation. Fort Cumberland (the renamed Fort Beauséjour ) was the headquarters and prison for those operations. This exhibit of artifacts and images tells the story of the Arcadian and French presence in this historic part of Canada.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Dr. John Clarence Webster (1863-1950) a medical practitioner and noted historian, was the moving force behind the creation of Fort Beauséjour National Historic Park. For over thirty years, he did much to raise the profile of local history in the province of New Brunswick. The artifacts are a variety of items collected by Dr. Webster and interested citizens.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Iron used for pressing lace.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Tobacco chopper.

(photo © kiwidutch)

This crib was made by Charles Dixon in 1840 as a gift for Queen Victoria’s son Edward, who became King Edward VII. Although the ship carrying the crib went down in a shipwreck, the crib was recovered and returned to the Dixon family. Constructed from maple with veneers and inlays of maple, mahogany, fruitwood and rosewood.

(photo © kiwidutch)

William Chapman’s note book. First used in Yorkshire in 1764 and still being used in 1777 to record payments for construction work at Fort Cumberland.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Wooden Plaque of the Coat of Ams for the city of Moncton 1942, that was hand carved by Mr. Albert Nadeau of St. Francois, New Brunswick.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Bronze bell from Arcadian Church on Beauséjour Ridge. The bell was cast in  France in 1734  at the Navel Federation in Rochefort France.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Brandy Snaps, … but what? No Brandy? Let’s bake-step by-step.

(photo © kiwidutch)

I think I’ve just gone on a Ginger Kick… It’s the Kookie Kutter’s Ginger Snaps that  surely got me going.

I’m intrigued because the item known as Ginger Snaps here in Eastern Canada appears to be semi-related to two other recipes that I know and love dearly from the other side of the world: Gingernuts, a very special family recipe in my last post, or Brandy snaps,  similar yet different in taste, but considerably different in appearance.
In Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom there are also well known and loved but not the same items as known in North America.

My American foodie friend clearly has no idea of what I mean when I try and describe a Brandy Snap to her. Therefore I am interested to compare the various forms of these closely related cookies/biscuits, or in Sackville’s version: “kookies”.

If you are not from “Down Under” and you are looking for a  make-ahead  different dessert that people will adore, then please give this a try… filled with whipped cream, add ice-cream, fruit, whatever… these are soooooo good and they present beautifully. ( do add the cream last minute so that they don’t go soft) These are easier than they look.

I’ve added a LOT of instruction here to hold your hand every step of the way though this tutorial and cover all possible hassles you may encounter… but once you have done the first ones you’ll realise just how easy these are.

Let me take you step-by-step though the process of these wonderful biscuits/cookies. I can guarantee that if you add these to your Christmas trays they will go down a treat!

Brandy Snaps (there’s no actual Brandy in them by the way)… are a fine super thin filigree lacy ginger biscuit/cookie that you roll up over the handle of a wooden spoon a minutes or so after they leave the oven. They cool quickly, you slide them off the wooden spoon handle and then once they are really cold, pipe whipped cream into the tubular inside space.

I get out my one of my favourite recipe books: “New Zealand the Beautiful Cookbook” by Tui Flower, and assemble several of my wooden spoons for duty. This makes approximately 24 Brandy Snaps.

(photo © kiwidutch)

75 grams butter
3 tablespoons of Golden Syrup
1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour (not self raising)
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Whipped cream for filling

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to 180C (356 F) and line biscuit/cookie trays with baking paper. (don’t grease the trays or the paper)

2) Combine the butter, Golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan and warm over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved into the melted butter and golden syrup. Make certain that you stir it well. Take the mixture off the heat and let it cool a little.

(photo © kiwidutch)

3) Sift the flour and ground ginger into a baking bowl and then add the cooled butter mixture, combining together well.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

4) Place small teaspoons of the mix onto the baking trays… don’t get over-excited and do large dollops because otherwise they will be too big and unwieldy to roll up after they are baked.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Now, just a note: sometimes when I make this the mixture turns out more liquid or more firm, ( when I took these photos it was stormy and raining outside.. humidity? , I don’t know what influences this) It could be as ssimple as the fact that the Golden Syrup is messy to measure so might not be a really accurate ingredient that throws things off a bit.

But don’t worry, you can remedy it easily. These ones were not quite liquid enough and it’s easily solved by setting your spoonfuls onto the tray,  ( I did  spoonfuls onto three trays and then came back to the first one) They will firm up a little whilst on the tray.

Take a clean metal spoon and gently rub the spoonful of mixture  with the back of the spoon until it spreads out very thinly. Doing this means that it won’t matter if the mixture isn’t perfect, the end result still will be perfect, without having to start fiddling or  adding  additional ingredients to your mix.

(photo © kiwidutch)

You will want no more than four spoonfuls on each tray.  Yes, yes I know,  my above photos show five… believe me I quickly stopped doing that  because  I had troubles to roll the fifth ones later. ( read on, it will become clear why LOL)

The trays will need to be baked one at a time, for only 5-6 minutes until they bubble, are very flat and the lacy effect gives a dark golden colour.

(photo © kiwidutch)

You want holes in them like these:

(photo © kiwidutch)

5) Once cooked take them out of the oven and after waiting for a minute or so, very gently roll the warm rounded cookie around the handle of a wooden spoon.

The timing of this is a little bit of an art-form because there is a very fine line between them being too hot and soft to roll, and then setting so quickly hard that they are impossible to roll up.

Note: when rolling them, DO leave the handle of the wooden spoons inside to keep the space open until the Brandy Snap has fully hardened (this literally takes only a few minutes) Please Note also: this is NOT part of the recipe that the kids can help you with, the cookies are very hot at first and you will need to take great care.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Actually this step is easier than it seems… expect a few less than perfect attempts with your first efforts, but you will quickly get the knack of gaging the exact moment when to start rolling for it to be successful. Believe me, the result IS worth a small learning curve !

Now, why not five cookies on the tray? Because you have to wait a minute or so until they are cool enough to roll, from that point onwards, because they are so thin you will have a very short window of time in which to roll them before they are too hard and break. You can do four cookies quickly in the time…  in my experience the fifth is neigh on impossible.

BUT... here’s a tip if you do want to cheat LOL.  You’ve rolled four cookies and the fifth is too hard, you know it’s going to break… leave it on the baking tray, and put it back into the oven for just 1 minute, even while the next lot are still cooking. Then whip it out and hey presto it will be soft enough to roll.

Press carefully but  firmly at the last part of the roll maneuver so that you use any residual heat in the cookie to seal itself shut.

Another Note: ( just becuase this happened once lately to me )

If excess butter seeps out onto the baking tray, and is left behind after the first  batch of cookies have been removed, but dab with a paper kitchen towel to get the excess away. NO need to wash the tray between batches into the oven though.

A Tip for rolling… I have one wooden board to place my hot oven tray on, I have a second wooden board  next to it for rolling. Use the wooden spoon handle and your other hand to support the hot  but firming cookie on a quick trip to the  rolling  board…  roll it there. If excess butter seeps out onto the board, wipe it off, but No need to wash the board between rolling. ( if you are rolling it will all become clear)

Remove rolled cookies from the wooden spoon handles once they are cooled and stack gently to get really cold before storing.  (10 minutes)

6) You can easily make these in advance and add the cream directly before they are served, but they need to be stored  in an airtight container or they will go soft and collapse.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The final touch is that the inside tubular space is filled with whipped cream, use a small spoon, a piping bag or cream in a can, whatever is easiest !

If you make these a bit bigger, and mold them into a muffin pan or around the bottom of a glass tumbler to make little baskets, once firm these can be filled with ice-cream, fruit, or whatever you would like.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Guess what I’m preparing in advance  for charity fund raising  baking ?! ….

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Enjoy!

Gingernuts, … but what? No Nuts?

(photo © kiwidutch)

My last post about Kookie Kutter’s Ginger Snaps immediately brings to mind another recipe from the family cookbooks that I inherited from my Mother and my Grandmother.

I’m sure that everyone has a moment when the whiff of a certain smell instantly transports them back to a time in the past, when a happy memories  floods  back, and you are reminded of laughter and faces of those present  and a precise moment in time. Some of my earliest kitchen moments took place in the kitchen of my New Zealand Grandma.

Not only were these some of my earliest moments, but also some of my happiest… Gran was a cheerful soul, with a warm smile and a friendly wag of the egg beater if she saw a kid finger  dripping with cake batter edging  towards a little mouth with our best childish stealth ( yeah right, steath.. there was none LOL)

Gran’s kitchen was her little room of paradise, she adored baking slices, bars, biscuits/cookies and cakes, and to me at least she also seemed to delight in having children in her kitchen, her enthusiasm was contagious and I honestly can’t remember her ever getting cross at anything I ever attempted in her kitchen.  She was my principle kitchen  inspiration  and the love of cooking that she imparted to me has infected and influenced me more than she could ever have known.

I can almost smell these baking when I close my eyes and think of Gran.  This is truly a  “memory” recipe as well as a yummy treat.
If you make these into very little balls, about the size of an over-sized marble or a gob-stopper then you will get the cookies as shown in my photograph, and the centers will be ever so slightly chewy.

These are traditionally a very hard crisp biscuit (cookie) made for dunking into tea or coffee, and the bigger you make the balls the crunchier the end result. Yes, yes I know that  they are called Gingernuts, and no, it’s correct:  not in the homemade version or the commercial ones are there any nuts! Do I know why? Sorry, that one’s a mystery to me too.

Usually I store these in an airtight container to keep them crisp, but if you made some of these crunchier and you want them REALLY chewy after all, just leave some out of the container for a while and hey presto… divine which ever way you prefer them.

Some people like a very strong ginger taste of the Gingernuts commercially available in New Zealand Shops, if you do too then feel free in increase the amount of ground ginger by another teaspoon or to your taste.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Ingredients:

200 g butter (7 oz)
1 cup sugar
1 cup golden syrup
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger (heaped)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Cream the butter and the sugar.
3. Add the golden syrup and the dry ingredients.
4. Mix everything together and roll into little balls.
5. Put onto a greased baking tray, pressing the balls down very slightly with a fork.
6. Bake at 350°F and 180°C for 15 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container once cold.

If you make these and enjoy them as much as we do… say a little Thank-You not to me,  but to my very fondly remembered  Gran, a very  very special lady.  This is a firm family favourite in my “stock” of special recipes, a heritage recipe that is getting passed though our  family. My Gran would be pleased as punch if  you decided to make her recipe yours as well…

Sackville and a Cookie discovery… or should that be “Kookie”?

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are in Sackville,  New Brunswick and a small wrong turn whilst getting out of town leads us to a delightful discovery.

We chance upon a bright red building with a large sign that says ” Kookie Kutter Bakery”.

Now, not too exciting you might think… but  this place is well known locally because this company is rather well known for producing cookies that are distributed around Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and the rest of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario regions, and they are most known for their wonderful Ginger Snap Kookies (cookies/biscuits).

Much to the amazement to those in the back who don’t know this fact, the two foodies in the front of the van organize a quick detour into the car park area and are inside before the rest of the party can ask questions.

The delight in their eyes at what we return with is a treat indeed.

So, What did we see inside?

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The staff are friendly and don’t mind me taking a few photos…inside the bakery  it smells wonderful… the cookies are very good too.  If you have to go for a treat for the day, going for a good local one like this is highly recommended.

Our van-load of seven definitely recommend these.

Kookie  Kutter Ltd     .  18 Lorne Street     .    Sackville     .    N.B. E4L 3Z7     .    Ph: 506 536-2982

Restaurant Review: “Mel’s Tea Room”, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

(photo © elmotoo)

It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has traveled in a party of  seven persons that at any given moment you will probably have someone who comes out with the potential  activity stopping words” I’m hun-gry!”

Hopefully this phrase is not  voiced 25 minutes after you have paid for a breakfast that they said they were ” too full” to finish and hopefully it’s  also not one hour after a massive breakfast that you were rather amazed that  they did finish !

Either way it’s sure as eggs that once the “I’m hungry” cat has been let out of the bag that the thoughts of others  in the group will immediately turn to their stomaches and heaven help us if some days the morning started out looking like we would be hopping from one eating establishment to another ( especially if  kids had their way).

I am a firm believer  that the state of  ” starvation”  is only  bought on after  going without food for days on end and not by the first tummy rumble bought on by the sighting of an ice-cream sign in a shop window, and that treats are treats and not items  expected to be supplied by parents on demand ( in said child’s mind: seemingly every  hour or so)

Therefore, harsh Mama that I am, our kids  have to learn to live with their tummy rumbles and master the art of :

A) Patience  and self discipline.

B) The lesson that instant gratification is not  the way Life was meant to be.

C)  The realisation  that  in normal, fit, healthy and able children ( such as themselves)  these small pangs can be ignored with great safety for rather some hours without threat of death or  any kind calamity,

D)  That the addition of fresh air and exercise will make the later enjoyment of a larger meal much more enjoyable.

So no surprise then, that pitiful plea’s for ice-cream for the ” I’m hungry bunch “  immediately after breakfast were steadfastly ignored .

(photo © kiwidutch)

Herding the kids out into the fresh air for a decent walk around the Waterfowl Park has been a great experience, well enjoyed and now, with the distraction of an activity over, someone’s little voice in the back started pushed everyone’s “I’m hungry” buttons almost as soon as we were all loaded back into the van.

At least they have had the fresh air and exercise to have earned  lunch…  so we head into the heart of Sackville to look for an eatery that looks like it will survive a charge of ravenous children.

(photo © kiwidutch)

This is how we ended up in a fabulous diner called  “Mel’s “,  in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.

This place is part shop at the front, and Diner at the rear. there are booths for the diners. Adults and smallest kid settle into one booth while the bigger girls gaggle together in the booth directly opposite .

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The Kiwidutch adults are now getting better at knowing what to expect in this kind of eatery, so we order something simple that we know will go down without fuss for the kids…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © elmotoo)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Again we have found a family run eatery  that serves simple food cooked very well… The food is a hit, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is easygoing and relaxed.

Mel’s Tea Rooms, Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada.

Even Mr. Four manages his toasted sandwich with gusto and the girls do well with their lunches too.  All in all, we have a reasonable  lunch for a reasonable price. So if you are looking for a successful family lunch without hassle  then I would recommend Mel’s Tea Rooms.

The only point to Note: We discover that we can’t use our credit cards here, however there is a money machine on the premises and so I use  my “pin”  card to withdraw some cash  to pay our meal  instead.

Let’s take a look at the surrounding buildings … we love the fact that this is quite a large town that  retains a small town friendly  feel…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Hey “Sackville”… I’m in Sackville ! and visiting Sackville Waterfowl Park

(photo © kiwidutch)

Ok, it’s fine if you don’t get the first part of the title to this post. Please let me explain.  As a fanatical foodie, I am a long term member of the cooking website Recipezaar.com, and My screen-name there, as on this Blog is “Kiwidutch“.

Another long term member on “Zaar”  and her hubby, share the screen name “Sackville”.

It took a while before I found out that this cooking couple’s  screen-name is in fact a real place, in New Brunswick, Canada.

It’s a town close to the Nova Scotia border and  a university town and where the pair met.  This remarkable couple have been touring the world  for the last  3 years by bicycle !…

That’s packing  the bare essentials in pannier bags, a tent and transversing  30 countries and 46 000 miles  of peddle-power covering every terrain imaginable  and in all weathers.

They have experienced many adventures, shared  funny, startling, brilliant moments, and met amazing people, experienced wonderful cultures, unusual food and many enjoyable enlightening moments. They Blog too… and I’d highly recommend  a visit to their website:  The Travelling Two.

The friend we are staying with in Maine (and traveling with here in Canada)  is  also a cooking friend that I met on-line via Zaar.  Her screen name is “Elmotoo”. They visited us in The Netherlands  a while ago and now we are returning  the visit…  … and having  just too much of an excellent time together !

It just goes to show that you can meet some amazing people on line on via the internet. Naturally, you need to be cautious and take some time to get to know them first of course.

Sooo… Kiwidutch, Elmotoo and Sackville  are all cooking friends… and now Elmotoo and Kiwidutch are visiting Sackville where Sackville comes from!

(photo © kiwidutch)

Our first stop is a photo opportunity next to a convenient sign so that we can post out cycling friends a note to say that we really have stopped by … and then it’s off to the Visitors Center around the corner  because we have read about several places in Sackville  that we would like to see further.

One of these is the Sackville Waterfowl Park, the other is Tantramar Wetlands Center and Silver Lake, but there probably won’t be time to visit them both so the Visitor’s Center should hopefully be able to advise us on which is best for us today.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are in luck.. the Waterfowl Park is situated right next to the Visitors Center and after a look around the arts, crafts and displays in the center we all tumble outdoors into the fresh air and sunshine for a lovely walk.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

we come across a small covered bridge…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

And the view out the window…

(photo © kiwidutch)

The board walks take us across water, to little islands, and though the wetlands…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

I can see little creatures and plants…

(photo © kiwidutch)

..and a bigger one too.. is this a water vole? He’s sitting busy in the grasses… the rest of our party have raced on ahead and since I’m quietly following taking photo.. they missed this little chappie. I do have two camera’s, but the other one that has a far better zoom lens is with my friends daughter, because her own camera’s batteries have died after only a few photos this morning. I do my best to the lesser zoom that this camera has…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

What a fabulous place…

Tourism Information Centre  .  34 Mallard Drive .  Sackville .  NB E4L 1G6  .  506-364-4967   .

1-800-249-2020  . visitor@sackville.com  .  http://www.sackville.com

Ending the day on Prince Edward Island…

(photo © kiwidutch)

We have enjoyed an excellent day on Prince Edward Island.I took some  photos on the way home as the sun was setting…

We also approached the bridge again, it’s a Toll bridge of course, now I see why they charge on the way off the island… the toll isn’t cheap: $42.50 for a car.

But then again, this bridge wasn’t cheap to build and it is a very very  long bridge indeed.

I also don’t know what a ferry ride would have cost in the past, but  a return trip would not have been cheaper I would guess.

Friends who have lived close by this area have also told me that the ferry’s in the past often incurred long waiting times, were regularly canceled due to adverse weather conditions and the crossings were often rough.

The cost of the bridge might not make for a cheap trip, but knowing that  we can travel swiftly and safely back and forth, with no waiting and no sea sickness makes it all well worth the money.

Prince Edward Island is also more than just the Green Gables experience, much much more, so there is a good chance  that one day we will be back here.

Next time for longer and  for a wider look around more of the island. PEI is definitely a place that inspires and we have been delighted with our introduction.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Restaurant Review: “Cole’s Family Restaurant”, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We have had a very busy day on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Now it’s time to look for somewhere for dinner.

We first intended to make our dinner-stop double as a rest stop, since  it’s several hours drive back to the hotel, but the meager food intake  at lunch time is now producing murmurs of  mounting hunger impatience from the kids in the back of the van  so we switch to ” plan B”  and keep our eyes peeled for somewhere suitable to eat as we head back across the island towards the bridge.

We don’t have too long to wait,  as my friend spots a sign that says ” Cole’s Family Restaurant” .

” Family restaurant” … yep that’s us… so a quick “U” turn and we are in the car park within minutes.   Then the bad news… the sign on the door tells us that  they close at 7.00 pm and  it’s 10 minutes to 7.00p.m.

Hubby goes in to ask if we are too late or not and we are met with a friendly reply… “No Problem, come on in…”  Welcome words indeed. We herd slow kids out of the van and inside before they have any chance to change their mind.

(photo © kiwidutch)

The menu is fairly standard as far as variety of food… in keeping with other diners we have eaten at,  but it all looks great at this moment and we scan quickly and order. I go for the fried fish, but not wanting french fries yet again with a meal, ask if it’s possible to substitute mashed potato with it instead, and again, that’s no problem at all.

(photo © kiwidutch)

The fish arrives and I must say that it’s the best I’ve had for a very very long time. Cooked to perfection, great flavour… yum!  Hubby had Ham…

(photo © kiwidutch)

I was delighted to see that my daughter liked the idea of  the macaroni cheese (a new item on our kid’s menu, because  even though we have managed to add many new vegetables,  getting them to eat  them or pasta with sauce is a fairly recent  development)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The food is simple, but what they do, they do well. It’s clear from the amount of people finishing up their meals  when we first arrived that this place is well patronized too, an excellent sign. We were not disappointed.

Ours is a quick meal, and since little one was falling asleep in his meal,  the other kids close behind on the weariness scale, the restaurant was closing up  and we were tired, we didn’t  bother to take any desserts.

Everyone enjoyed their meal a lot regardless and the service was great so this was an excellent place to have stopped. We stepped into the van happy, well fed and began the trip back to our hotel.

The House that inspired a novel and gained worldwide fame…

(photo © kiwidutch)

The Green Gables house was the inspiration for Lucy Maude Montgomery’s famous novel “ Anne of Green Gables”

The house did not actually belong to Lucy Maude Montgomery, but to cousins of her Grandfather: David and Margaret Macneill.

As a regular visitor L.M. Montgomery ( known as Maude) liked to walk in the nearby woods and was so inspired by the house and setting  around it that she depicted it in her famous novel “Anne of Green Gables” .

The story in the novel revolves around a girl called Anne, who is orphaned and sent to live with an aging brother and sister, on a farm called “Green Gables” .

They were  expecting a boy to help them work the farm, and are not at first delighted to have a girl dumped unexpectedly into their midst.

Anne’s spirit and imagination soon wins them over and the story of her adventures  on the farm and in the imaginary village of Avonlea are the central theme of the book.

So… having taken you though the barn, walking in the woods and though the inside of the house it’s now time to see the Gables that inspired Maude so much…

…enjoy!

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Someone comes to close up the house as I exit, our car is the last one in the carpark as we leave and suddenly the children sit still enough to remind themselves that they are really hungry… so  we take to the road,  our next adventure? …. to find somewhere inspiring for dinner.