One of my favorite New England products: Maple Syrup, is processed this time of year. In the car, on the way to Drumlin Farm where we were to attend the "Sap to Syrup" fundraising breakfast, Momo asked:
"Mommy, why is it that yesterday was so warm, and today it's snowing?" he asked as he looked at the snowflakes falling down, sticking to our car windows.
"It's March in New England, buddy. This is the perfect weather for tapping maple trees." I replied, pretending to know a lot about the making of maple syrup.
The annual event is very popular with families and children. It's no wonder: they feed you pancakes, home fries and sausages, all laying under their own pure maple syrup. Delicious!
We wandered around learning about how the sap runs out of the maple tree; how the Native Americans used to boil it down to make sugar; and how we do it these days, in the evaporator, concentrating the sugary content of the clear sap to become maple syrup as we know it.
We got to taste the newly made syrup, still hot from the evaporator. We got to watch the sap coming out of the maple tree, and taste it even. Unlike what you would think, the sap itself is not at all sugary. It takes 40 gallons of sap, to boil down to 1 gallon of maple syrup! A true test of patience, and love of this quintessential New England sweetener!
2 comments:
came across your blog last week. love the pictures, perspective and the photos. thanks for sharing and for inspiring us other bloggers. continue the scribbles and maple syrup adventures. peace ken t...
Thanks, Ken. Thank you for your comment.
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