Sucrerie Gagnon

Sucrerie Gagnon is in St Anne, New Brunswick. We crossed in Van Buren and took the TransCanada a few exits north. When you get of the TransCanada at the St. Anne exit, you take a right and follow the road until you see an old sign for the right hand turn (I think it's the second right.) You follow this road until the pavement ends and there is another right turn. It takes you back into the sucrerie where you can see all of the lines carrying the maple sap.

The sucrerie is a camp that operates only when the sap is running. The camp is producing maple syrup, butter, sugar, and taffy. Someone is always available to explain how they produce their products and show you the equipment.

We arrived at 1:00 EST (2:00 Atlantic) with a group of 5 adults and 3 children. We had made a reservation the week before and they were prepared for us. We did not have enough Canadian money with us but they happily took US dollars at a reasonable exchange. This operation does not take credit cards which seems appropriate since they only operate 6 to 8 weeks per year.

The food is available buffet style and the seating is reminiscent of a church supper - long tables close together. We were able to use a high chair and found two booster seats as well. Don't go expecting anything fancy. We ate on Styrofoam place with plastic silverware. It is a camp!

The food is great. With apologizes to my mother in law, this is the best chicken stew that I have ever had. She might agree with me because she raved about the chicken stew. My other favorites were the sausage links, pate fricassee, crepes and ployes with maple sugar. We all had our own favorites. The buffet also includes baked beans, ham, griads, pickles and creton. I am not sure how to spell the griads but it was my mother in law's favorite. Can anyone tell me the correct spelling and how they are prepared?

After we at our fill (and then some.) We went back outside and bought ourselves a tub of maple taffy. They have a few tables set up out back with fresh snow to help harden the fresh taffy. The hot taffy is poured in ribbons on the snow and then we wrap it around Popsicle sticks to eat. If peanuts are available, I recommend them as it changes the taste of the taffy. Be sure to try it both ways. On this trip they were out of peanuts but this has happened before and I had brought a sleeve of peanuts just in case.

We bought two bricks of maple sugar and a tub of butter to take home. The syrup was great too but we are tapping our own trees this year and have enough syrup for ourselves already.

The price in Canadian dollars was $18 for adults. The taffy was $5 for a tub.

I don't have a number for reservations but I can post it later. It is worth the trip.

Ruby Tuesday - Presque Isle

Last night we decided to dine at Ruby Tuesday's in the Aroostook Center Mall. We used to frequent the restaurant but haven't visited much in recent years and we realized why last night.

We arrived at about 5:30 with our 2 year old son. We were greeted and seated quickly. The hostesses provided great customer service.

I picked Ruby Tuesday's as a place to eat because I was looking for a good drink. Many restaurants in the area have good bars but few put out a drink menu like the chain restaurants. Ruby's is really the only chain restaurant north of Bangor.

The drink menu did not disappoint me. I selected the Red Signature Sangria and was pleased. It was not as good as a Sangria in a good Mexican restaurant but I enjoyed it. My husband ordered a draft beer.

We ordered the guacamole appetizer on the recommendation of the waitress. It was good but we both agreed that it needed more salt. The pico de gallo that accompanied the chips and guacamole was very good and tasted fresh. My husband had the salad bar which looked great.

I ordered the Bistro BBQ chicken because it sounded like the Smokey Mountain Chicken that I used to get at this restaurant. I was disappointed to find that it was not the same. It was tasty but I was not impressed. It felt like a frozen dinner with a little better presentation. It was served with broccoli and mashed potatoes. I did not like the mashed potatoes. They may have added sour cream which I don't like. To be fair that is my personal taste, my husband liked his. Ruby's broccoli has a good flavor and I have always wondered what they season it with. Does anyone know? Is it MSG?

My husband had a ribeye steak that was smothered in a sauce. He likes a good steak and pushed as much of the sauce off the top of the steak as possible. As he put it, it was a steak for someone that doesn't like steak. He said that the steak was okay but the grass fed steaks that we have been buying from a local farmer were much better.

My son had a plate of french fries and fried shrimp. The kid's menu is typical kid's menu fare similar to what I could take out of a box at home. I wish restaurants would give kids real food.

Our total bill came to about $60.