Wednesday, March 14, 2012

finished

The syrup season has come to a close this year. The early warmth has the leaves ready to unfold on our silver maples, and so the sap has stopped dripping, the taps have been pulled and the last of the syrup has been finished.

But before we put it all away for the year, we hosted our first sugaring party. The boys were up early, splitting wood and keeping the fire going strong under the sap boiling outside. Friends came to join the fun, bringing plates of food to go alongside the piles of freshly flipped pancakes.

Together, we emptied the last of the buckets, tasted the sap as it thickened on the stove, and drenched our plates with homegrown syrup. In a side-by-side taste test with a jar from the farmer's market, the kids all declared our syrup the winner.










This year, we purchased a proper evaporating pan for finishing the syrup on the stove. It made the final boildown a much quicker process. We finished two batches of syrup this season. Number one:




And number two:


Despite the extra taps this year, we ended up with just about the same amount of syrup as last year. To get a good sap run, you need nights below freezing and days above. Too many warm nights meant too little sap.

For us, it's enough, really. We'll have plenty to get through another year's worth of breakfasts and baking. We might even have a little extra to give away, just not as much as we had hoped to share.

And on those mornings when we top our breakfasts with the sweet stuff, we'll surely be remembering the joy of our first sugaring party, feeling gratitude for the way the whole syrup-making process pulls us out of winter, and looking ahead to the many sweetnesses next year's sugaring season will bring.


4 comments:

Kathy said...

I'm still so impressed that you guys do this in the suburbs. What do your neighbors think? I think it's awesome!

Natalia said...

Love it !!!

Lindsay said...

Awesome! I love the sound of a maple syrup party - we will have to consider that for next year :) Your jars of syrup look so lovely, a beautiful amber colour. Mmmmmm, enjoy!!

Amanda Greco Holmes said...

Kathy, our neighbors may think we're crazy, but there are no complaints yet! We've been sure to share!
This year's syrup all finished with a nice light color, Lindsey. I'm not sure if it has to do with a different sugar content or the better temperature control we had finishing in the big pan, but we love it!