Bronte Creek Maple Syrup Festival

Henri met his cousins in Oakville for the Maple Syrup Festival. It was snowing for most of the guided tour, where 1890s costumed interpreters demonstrate how to tap maple trees, make maple syrup and maple sugar. The line up was so long for the pancake lunch we decided to leave early. 

Irish Soda Bread Biscuits

Henri helped his mother in the kitchen today to make Irish soda bread biscuits for next weekend's St. Patrick's Day dinner at her work. The recipe (see below) was pretty simple and we tripled it to make three dozen biscuits.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Method 

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter a standard muffin pan.
2 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3 Cut the butter into tablespoon sized pieces into the bowl of flour. Using your (clean) fingers, work the butter into the flour, schmooshing (is that a technical term?) the butter between your fingers and mixing with the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. If you are using raisins, caraway seeds, or any other add-ins, mix them into the mixture now.

Circus, Science under the Big Top

On Monday March 4th, Henri took part in a field trip to the Waterloo Region Museum to see the temporary exhibit - Circus, Science under the Big Top. The interactive exhibit allowed participants to walk the high wire, fly the elastic trapeze, explore the human cannonball and much more. Henri also enjoyed the other exhibits learning about the Waterloo region, industry and technology.

Swimming Lessons

Henri takes swimming lessons every Tuesday at the University of Guelph. Henri is at level 5 and continuing to learn/practice his breast stoke, elementary backstroke, and diving.

Big Snowfall

Henri took advantage of the heavy snowfall and spend a few hours outdoors building a snow fort. Henri was walking along the road, climbing on the large snow banks when he discovered he was high enough to climb on top of the cedar hedge and made his way around the yard.

GHG Leather Workshop

On Tuesday Feb. 19th, Tristan & Henri took part in a 2-hour leather workshop. Henri learned step by step how to make a large leather pouch. The first step was to punch holes in the leather, followed by stamping, dying and finally stitching the pouch together. The students also had the choice of making a leather bracelet or small leather pouch.

Henri's 10th Birthday Party

This year, Henri decided to host an 'Indiana Jones' themed birthday party. Did you know that Indiana Jones' real name is Henry Jones Jr. The party activities included an archaeological dig, poison blow darts and 1980's classic video game, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. A big thank you to Grandma Marie for making the satchel bags to go along with the loot bags.