Recently, my husband Bryan, my son Tobias, and I travelled to the Chiniguchi Waterway System near Ontario’s beautiful Temagami region. George, the sweet man who owns Sportsman’s Lodge Wilderness Resort on Kukagami Lake or Lake of the Owl in Wahnapitae, shuttled us to Matagamasi Lake. As with all our trips, the weather was wet and dreary.

We paddled the length of Matagamasi Lake up towards McCarthy Bay. We came across pictographs (probably close to 400 years old) on the rock walls just across from what looked to be a beautiful wilderness campsite.

Someone was already on the site so I my heart sank. We’d have to paddle a little longer in the rain. We decided that we would pull over on the site to lunch on its’ peninsula so we paddled around to the eastern side of the campsite to ask the occupant(s) if they would mind.

To my delight, we saw a man who looked familiar to me — Mike McIntosh, for whom I had created The Friends of Chiniguchi website a few years back. I recognized him right away even though we had never met before. It must have been from his photos or perhaps just in the kind way he greeted us.  Bill and Roula, our traveling companions, knew Mike from Friends of Temagami so we all exchanged our hellos and pulled over to unload the canoes. Before the trip we had discussed meeting up with Mike but I had assumed it would be later on in our journey.

As we came up to the central part of the site I could see that Mike had his tarp set up and underneath there was a steaming pot of something that smelled wonderfully woodsy. He graciously offered up some freshly brewed cedar tea. With the day being so miserable it was a welcome treat that warmed us to the core.

Some Natives burn cedar and believe it brings balance and attracts positive energy. It is also used as a traditional medicine because of its calming effects and its high Vitamin C content. Never use the bark or dried cedar. Be sure to keep in mind that some people are allergic to things like cedar tea. Pregnant women should not consume any amount of cedar tea.

To make cedar tea you need two cups of cedar greens for every cup of water. Just boil the greens for about 10 minutes and then let them steep for another 5 or 10 minutes. Remove the greens and enjoy with a little honey or maple sugar if you like your tea sweet.

We broke camp late the next morning and didn’t see Mike again… but that is another story that I will share around a campfire one evening.

He was with us in spirit as Roula had fallen in love with the soothing cedar brew and she made it at other times throughout our trip. It didn’t rain for the entire trip but it was pretty close to that so warming drinks were definitely in order.

To the left is a photo from the second day as we travelled through Flume Lake. It was a very pretty spot.

While this post is not cooking related it is about the outdoors and up-and-coming writers Samantha and Michael Rogers.

I wanted to take a few moments to congratulate the couple on their recent article in the Canadian edition of Costco Connection (March/April 2009 - Volume 22 - Number 2). The article is titled A River Runs Under It and is about recreational kayaking. The piece appears on page 37 and 38 but their online set up doesn’t allow direct linking to the specific page which means you’ll have to scroll through.

Samantha and Michael are our very close friends and we’ve had the pleasure of traveling in the wilderness together. I couldn’t think of a better team to write about the outdoors.

I am not a big fan of artificial sweeteners. Aside from the controversy about whether or not aspartame is bad for you, I find that it just has an aftertaste I don’t like. Yes, I am Ms. Picky.

One product that I do like is Stevia. The brand I use is SweetLeaf® and it is available in most health food stores and larger grocery chains. Stevia was used by aboriginal peoples in Paraguay for centuries. It is also a member of the Chrysanthemum family.

Keep in mind that Stevia is very sweet so use it sparingly… sometimes up to 30 times sweeter than sugar. It is great for cooking and baking too because heat doesn’t affect it. That said, it make add a slight hint of color to what you are baking.

Stevia is a great product for those who are diabetic*. Of course there are other benefits, including that it is Kosher. Stevia.com lists some of the plant properties on their site but I have quoted a snippet here.

“Various studies have found the leaf to contain proteins, fiber, carbohydrates, iron, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, rutin (a flavonoid), true vitamin A, Vitamin C and an oil which contains 53 other constituents.”

Stevia.com has some great recipes and lots of other information. You can even grow it in your garden or a container in the house.

Whether you are diabetic or just trying to cut back on your refined sugar intake, Stevia is a good alternative to sugar or products containing aspartame.

*Note: If you are diabetic consult with your physician before taking this product.