Looking back at February 2013

The briefest month of the year wraps up today, yet there wasn't too much about this February that felt short to me. There were some lovely days for sure (such as Valentine's on which Tony gave me an adorable light pink Hello Kitty cupid plush, a darling card featuring two kisses bulldog puppies, and a gorgeous purple rose), but most followed in the same vein as January.

Then, as the month drew to a close, the inevitable happened, I came down with a nasty flu that Tony brought home last week. At first I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd bypassed contracting it, but when I woke up on Tuesday morning this week, I knew that such luck was not on my side.

Yesterday was especially unpleasant, as I duked it out with a 104F fever for most of the day (which, thankfully broke late in the evening). I don't tend to get over the flu very quickly, so I'll likely be a somewhat out of commission due to it for the next little while. Thankfully though, this was the first time either of us got the flu this winter, and we've been spared (knock wood) any colds this season. If I must get it, I'll take the flu at this late stage in the winter over getting it, say, during the Christmas holidays any year!

{We're ensuring especially brisk business for Kleenex this week at our house, as Tony and I slog our way through a rough flu. Image source.}


Also on the health front, and I will be posting more about this matter when the date draws nearer, I wanted to give you all a head's up that I'll be going in for surgery again in the not-too-distant future and that I'll need to take a small blogging break (likely about two weeks) while I recoup afterwards. Long time readers will recall that this isn't the first time I've had do just that before, but I've had a good surgery-free spell, going close to two years since the last one (which took place in the summer 2011).

That's looking ahead a touch however, and this post (the second in the end-of-the-month review series that launched last month) is about recapping some of the things, and blog posts, that have transpired since the beginning of the month, so let's take at gander at such things first.

As I wasn't feeling too swell throughout this whole month for various reasons, there weren't many outings, and I was grateful to have some vintage outfit photos taken in January to use throughout February, including a return to my beloved grey wall in Kelowna to shoot my 1940s Valentine's ensemble (a photo from which also appears below).





I always like to keep a rosy outlook, no matter what life throws my way or how I'm feeling, so we kicked off February with a super fun look at the history of Groundhog Day on February 2nd, then a couple of days later, I shared my awesome new mini pink Christmas tree (which, it was unanimously decided, I should leave out year round and decorate for each of the various major holidays).

In a rousing game of vintage blog tag, I shared 21 facts about myself pertaining to my passion for the past, personal style, and vintage filled life (I had such a blast writing this post!).

A few days later, the sharing continued when - in a nod to Valentine's Day - I posted about Ten things that make my heart beat faster (amongst which one will find everything from fiddle music to the thought of wearing a genuine Dior New Look ensemble).

The day after Valentine's, as per a request from a reader that came in a couple of months ago, I posted about something that has been incredibly near and dear to my heart for the better part of my life: writing poetry. In this post, I shared four of my own poems with you and touched on the profound importance poetry has had on me over the years.

As we cruised our way through the second half of February, topics as diverse as the history of maple syrup to a celebration of Greek culture as seen in various mid-century sources (fashion very much included) appeared. Sandwiched in amongst those two posts, I also wrote more about my love of Freddies of Pinewood's wonderful vintage reproduction denim offerings.

As well, later in the month we took a peak at Ten investment worthy vintage wardrobe items, any one of which I'd be pleased as punch to splurge on if circumstances permitted anytime. Then earlier this week, I was in the mood to discuss something pertaining to local history, so I shone the spotlight on Penticton born classic Hollywood actress Alexis Smith.

And for the very last post of the month - save for this one, yesterday I blogged about a rare day of glorious winter sunshine and also chatted about one of my beloved vintage Austrian fruit brooches, complete with a bevy of photos taken on one of my favourite places in town, my parents' deck.

There were other posts here as well in February, but these standout as some of my personal Favourites.
Elsewhere online, I was touched as can be to mentioned in a number of wonderful places across the web this month. On the 7th I was absolutely honoured to included amongst the terrific blog Vintage Frill's list of their Top 10 Vintage Blogs (sharing this post with some seriously venerable company!).

I was recently asked if I'd like to write about why I love Canada and what being a Canadian means to me for Vintage Lifestyle Magazine. I'm happy to announce that my little write-up on this subject appeared along side several other similar pieces from bloggers and other inspiring individuals around the world in the latest (free, online) issue of Vintage Lifestyle Magazine (you can see my piece on page 76). This is the second time I've been a part of this truly fantastic online fashion and vintage lifestyle magazine, and I want to thank the wonderful folks there again for including some of my thoughts on Canada in issue 14. 

As well, just last week, the immensely lovely Stephanie of The Girl with the Star-Spangled included me in her great post about vintage blogging ladies sporting trousers in her great photo filled post Vintage and Pants.

Gazing towards March on the blogging front, some of the topics that I'm planning to hopefully delve into here in the coming month include budget-friendly 1940s sewing patterns, a St. Patrick's Day meal, unexpected sources of vintage wardrobe inspiration, and an Easter related post or two.



{A beautiful 1940s magazine cover featuring actress Priscilla Lane - her dress is so lovely and filled with the spirit of vintage springtime glamour. Just the ticket to inspire all of us as we launch into March. Image source.} 


Here's to whatever March holds in store and the heartfelt hope that it will be a lovely, joyful month for all of us! 

Ohhhh, and last but not least, don't forget that March 10th marks the return of springtime daylight saving time (so remember to set your clocks ahead an hour, my sweet dears). 

Tapping into the history of maple syrup

Sweet, hearty, a product of winter, and prone to sticking to things, while these words call be used to describe Canadians themselves, I am in fact talking about something that has long been a product of the snowy wonderland that is Canada: maple syrup.

While many people the world over have enjoyed maple syrup before (or at least tried something that was artificially flavoured to taste like maple syrup), this amber hued sweet treat is in fact produced in only a few small areas, chiefly north-eastern North America, which the provinces of Quebec and Ontario being the most prolific sources of maple syrup in Canada (south of the border, Vermont is also renowned for its delicious syrup). Just as only a mere handful of areas produce maple syrup, so too is its harvesting season quite small.

Though, technically, it can be produced at pretty much any point in the year if the weather conditions are right, typically - and traditionally - maple sap has been harvested and then refined into syrup during the last few weeks of winter, with February being one of the most common times of the year for this sweet gift from Mother Nature to be gathered.

{Many brands of maple syrup - be their pure, blended or artificial - have been around for many decades, including Log Cabin Maple Syrup, pictured in the vintage ad above, who are still in business to this day. Image source.}



In order to morph tree sap gathered (aka, tapped) from maples that are generally 30 years or older into syrup, it is usually boiled in a special building called a sugar shack (aka, a sugar shanty, sugar house, or in French, cabane à sucre) that is designed with a roof that allows the stem from the boiling process to be vented out (it can also be made on a smaller scale by boiling it outdoors in a cauldron or large pot over an open fire).

The finished syrup is graded on a scale depending on both how dense (in Canada syrup must be at least 66% sugar and be created entirely from maple sap to qualify as true maple syrup) and how translucent it is, and then further classified based on its colour.

{A mid-twentieth century snapshot inside of man hard at work in a classic maple syrup sugar shack. Image source.}



The grading scales in Canada varies a tad from those in the States, but generally speaking, the higher the grade and the lighter the colour the syrup, the more highly prized it is for use as a condiment. Darker (grade B and C syrups) are often used for cooking, baking and commercial applications, though one can also find darker syrups designed specifically be drizzled over your morning stack of pancakes or waffles.

An individual maple tree can normally be tapped one to three times per year (depending on how big the diameter of its trunk is), producing up to 50 litres (13 gallons) of sap per one to two month harvesting season. Maple trees house starch inside of their roots and truck before winter sets in which is later converted to sugar that appears in the tree's sap come winter and early spring.

It is this starchy sugar that makes maple syrup so characteristically sweet. In order to turn sap into sugar, it is heated and boiled to evaporate the excess water, with the concentrated syrup remaining (akin in a sense to the process of creating caramel or candy from sugar and water at home on the stove).

{A Victorian image, circa 1870, of a group of people at a sugaring-off party held in the Eastern Townships area of Quebec. Similar events are still held annually in various parts of Eastern Canada and America to this day. Image source.}



Long before European settlers set foot on Canadian soil, maple sap was tapped and transformed into syrup by the First Nations peoples of North America, however it was the Europeans who refined and streamlined the process into what it is today (an industry that exports more than $145 million dollars worth of syrup annually). By far the largest producer of maple syrup in the world is the eastern province of Quebec, which is outputs roughly seventy-five percent of the world's total maple syrup (talk about a sweet place!).

Though by no means the healthiest of foods (calorie wise, it's very similar to white sugar), maple syrup does contain small amounts of iron, thiamine, potassium, manganese and zinc, as well as 15 times the calcium levels (and a mere one tenth the sodium) of honey.

It's flavour is both complex and simple (in the sense that it's very much a taste that's unique unto itself), redolent in many ways of dark brown sugar, but with more intense, subtly earthy, ever-so-slightly vanilla-ish notes. Though sweet like honey, treacle and molasses, one taste instantly lets you know that it's discernably different than those three somewhat similar substances, and that is has a pleasing flavour truly all its own.

Imitation maple syrup, though very tasty and pleasing in its own right, is generally milder and more artificial tasting than natural maple syrup, as well as generally costing a fraction of the price of the real deal.

If you've never had a chance to try genuine maple syrup, I highly recommend sourcing a bottle and experimenting with it both as a topping on various foods (pancakes, oatmeal, crepes, waffles, doughnuts, sauces for meat, etc) and as an ingredient in baked and cooked dishes (such as pies, breads, baked beans, cookies, and candied sweet potatoes).

{A vintage ad from 1950 for Sleepy Hollow brand maple syrup, which was a hybrid of sorts between real, pure maple syrup and imitation maple syrup, as it featured a blend of real maple and cane sugar. Image source.}



The maple tree, and its sap, have been a part of the Canadian identity for centuries, as evident by the fact that a red maple leaf takes pride-of-place in the center of our country's flag. We're known the world over for our maple syrup products, a fact which tourist shops across the country often capitalize on by selling charming glass bottles (often in the shape of small jugs or maple leaves) of maple syprup and various maple products (fudge, sugar, hard candy, etc) to visitors and locals alike.

Here in Canada genuine maple syrup can be found at nearly any grocery store (as well as some specialty food shops, department stores, gift shops, and various other locations), but it you live outside of North American, it may be trickier to track down.

Luckily however, in today's online world, one can easily order maple syrup products online, with four of the country's best known sources being Jakeman's (who have been in business since 1876), Steeves Maples (founded in 1869), Maple Orchard Farms, and Canadian Organic Maple.

Though I've never had the pleasure of tapping a maple tree or attending a sugaring (syrup making) in person (I'd love to one day), I've certainly tucked into my fair share of maple syrup and maple flavoured foods over the years. Indeed, there's scarcely a food that hasn't been jazzed up with maple syrup over the years here in Canada, where we're partial to everything from maple bacon to maple glazed salmon, maple (usually maple walnut, to be exact) ice cream to maple flavoured popcorn.

{Two early twentieth century - likely late 1910s or very early 20s - women boiling down maple syrup, as it has been done for generations, in the great outdoors. Image source.}



During the challenging years of the second world war when sugar rationing was in place, Canadians and Americans alike we encouraged to use maple syrup and maple sugar as a means of sweeting their favourite baked goods and other foods, with various maple syrup recipe booklets even being produced specifically for this purpose. Today, though it's a charming idea to think so, maple syrup is not the chief sweetener in most peoples' homes, but is certainly is one that's widely loved from coast to coast across the nation.

I always keep a bottle of maple syrup on hand, and never tire of using put it to use in both tried-and-true favourite recipes and experimental dishes alike (rarely has it not worked wonders on, and in, everything from chicken wings to apple sauce). This time of the year, as maple sugaring seasoning gets under way in full swing back east, I love to include an even larger number of maple flavoured foods in our weekly menu then usual, in a celebration of one of the country's most famous and beloved foods.

Join me, won't you, and indulge in a generous drizzling of maple syrup this month as Canada's sweetest harvest kicks off once more, helping to make an otherwise dreary, often freezing cold time of the year a whole lot easier - and sweeter - to bear.