Maple Syrup...second successful year

This winter has been hard...no doubt about it.

I tried to be optimistic for several months.

It just got harder and harder to find the wonder in the winter season.

Our backs were sore from shoveling what felt like tons of snow.

Our roof was starting to bend under the strain.

We didn't have the normal January thaw.

The deep freeze just kept on coming...

The weather networks kept coming up with new ways to say the same thing:

-Arctic Freeze

-Polar Vortex

In other words...extremely cold and so much snow that travel became non existent.

Then the time came to tap the neighbouring sugar maples.

It felt like we would never make it!

The light at the end of the wintry tunnel.

But the weeks wore on, and the temps were too cold.

The maple tapping would wait 2 weeks after we would normally be

getting a sap surplus.

The winds didn't cooperate either.

By the time we got the temperatures for collecting the running sap,

The winds made having a campfire almost prohibitive.

Ches was forced to construct a make shift cabin around the pit.

Halfway to a sugar shack!

He also employed a piece of metal scavenged from a friend.

The wind barrier keeps the heat from escaping too much.

The foil keeps out the ashes but still allows the steam to escape.

The temperatures this spring made sure we didn't collect as much sap as last year.

That just means we can't give any mason jars away...sadly.

We bring the pots inside when they are close to being done.

That's when you get a chance to strain the sap while pouring it into smaller pot.

We use an old fashions metal sieve with a wad of cheesecloth.

The cheesecloth is a wondrous thing!

You can rinse and re-use it over and over.

Talk about keeping your overall costs down.

We haven't bought a single thing (ok $3.00 for cheesecloth)

since last year's original investment of around $140 taxes included.

Essentially, this year's maple syrup is free!

Tapping those Sugar Maples....part 2

Part 1 was originally posted last winter...

...we now return to our show!

Collecting the sap has proven to be the easiest part of the process!

Filtering and storing the sap is tricky, but can be done.

The best comparison I've found is milk.

You must store the unprocessed sap like you would milk.

You have to keep it cool but not frozen.

We kept the sap in the snowbank in sealed buckets.

Cover them up too...

Fantastic Husband then constructed a very basic module for processing the sap.

He took our copper firepit and loaded it with wood.

Around the firepit, he placed several green logs (wood not seasoned/dried) for use as supports.

On top of those green logs, he placed a door from a fence we disassembled on the property.

He filled some large pots with the sap and boiled slowly for about a day.

He collected, stored and processed sap for about 2 weeks before his enthusiasm diminished.

That's about when the sap started running like CRAZY.

He asked me one night...should I keep collecting sap?

He felt obliged to the trees to continue tapping.

My response was simple...if you are asking the question, then you've already made up your mind.

Quit now (while you're ahead) before the whole experience makes you bitter.

After the sap boiled outside for the day,

he would bring the pots inside to continue to boil the sap down on the stove top.

That's when the process becomes very tricky.

We went through a whole batch before someone mentioned adding milk.

Something we hadn't really read about...or read and didn't really believe that was a necessary step.

The sap has dusty sediment called affectionately called sugar dust.

It isn't harmful...but it also isn't pretty.

You add the milk towards the end and it miraculously clarifies the sap.

You end up with a more translucent sap!

If you boil the sap too long, you get candy instead of syrup.

The only item we neglected to pick up before starting this endeavour was a candy thermometer.

I mean, how many opportunities do you have to use a candy thermometer?!?!

(Not much in our house...there's already too much store bought stuff)

I never would have thought we would be tapping maple trees...and yet there we were...

Ah well,  the first batch was a bit thick.

The second, third and fourth batches were much better!

Above you can see the difference in colour between batches.

The longer you wait in the tapping season, the darker the colour of syrup.

We put the thicker candy-like syrup on some snow.

Made Husband and I feel like we kids all over again.

(The actual kids loved it too)

We used to have a family tradition of eating pancakes on Saturday mornings.

That was before I became a shift-working, part timer.

Most of my shift happen on the weekends now, but we still have wonderful memories.

Pancakes on snowy mornings...

We decided to try something a little different this year.

French Toast!

Owen helped while I observed.

The fresh homemade maple syrup was better than I could have imagined.

It tasted like the wood we used to boil it down.

Delicate hints of cedar and poplar, not to mention the smokey flavour that permeated the sauce.

It was like maple syrup straight out of the woods!

It was by no means a highly industrialized effort.

In the end, it was a very time consuming and very laborious labor of love...

...but WORTH EVERY BITE!!!

We are making syrup again this week...so stay tuned to my Facebook page for meals and recipes

featuring the lovely syrup of the gods....

Tapping those Sugar Maples...part 1

In the early days of this blog, I used to wax on about history, tradition, and making memories with our children.  My husband and I still feel this way...I just don't go on about it like I used to on this blog.

We feel it is important  to reconnect with our roots as Canadians.

To make things from scratch that we all take for granted these days.

On that note, it's been on our minds to tap sugar maples and try our hand at home made maple syrup.

We go to the sugar bush every year

(as is tradition in some families over the March Break aka "Maple Madness")

The kids spend more time trying to get their hands on the "sweet water" than actually learning about how syrup was made in the past and how its made today.

We were determined to change that!

Not sure if you remember but we started out approximately 2 years ago by marking the trees in the fall.  (Original post link below...)

http://smallpursebiggarden.blogspot.ca/2011/10/on-hunt-for-sugar-maplesthe-beginning.html

It sounded obvious, but if you are going to identify a tree by its leaves, you can't wait until March to do that.

We spray painted a small dot on the trees that looked to be in good condition and hoped for a good spring.

The years passed, while our lives got busy with moving and selling our house.

We were just about to turn our heads in the maple syrup tapping direction this year, when my husband noticed the 7 day forecast was showing very favourably for tapping weather!

The research began...with numerous searches on several different websites.

Of the various sites my husband looked at, the one below was the only one he bookmarked:

http://tapmytrees.com/taptree.html

We also looked at the following book's chapter on maple tapping:

One trip to the local hardware store and we have all we need for our adventure...

(It was only about $140 including taxes)

Consisting of:

10 blue buckets

10 plastic lids with holes punched into them

10 spouts (spiles)

1 drill

1 drill bit (7/8")

1 prier

1 hammer

A better look at the tools...

Close up on the spouts...

 

We always have lids at our house leftover from various plastic buckets we have for food storage,

cat litter, cat food, etc...all washed, of course.

We loaded up the wooden sled and felt like pioneers.

The first ones to trek across the crusty white field.

We were breaking into new territory.

The prints of a wild rabbit racing across the hard, crusty snow.

We lose our child into the wild...the crisp beauty of the winter.

He scales mountains...

We use the tools of the trade...and hang them in the bush so we don't lose them.

Our first spile is planted...

The spout rests easily between the bucket and the plastic lid.

Drilling at the proper angle as per the books and websites

we checked prior to starting this adventure.

Side view.

If you're wondering about how far from home we had to travel,

You can see our house from the sugar patch...

Husband all tired of hammering in spiles...starts to go postal...

A small community of buckets waits for the milder weather.

A soft mossy rock frozen in winter...

All the while...our child becomes more feral...

Stalking the woods like he's lived there his whole life...

While $140 might sound like a lot...consider it a downpayment.

It will enable us to keep tapping and making syrup for years to come. 

The eventual cost per jar will be dependant on how many years we decide to do this little endeavour.



On the hunt for Sugar Maples...the beginning of a series...

We spent a magical afternoon in the woods this past weekend.  The weather was pretty crappy out, but after a couple of days inside, I really need to get in touch with nature again.  Fall weather is great, but you get some patches of wet, damp weather that make you want to watch movies all day.

I was determined not to let the wind and rain get the better of us.

The trees were very welcoming.  They provided shelter from the wind and rain.  It's like they wanted us to be there that day.  We came armed with snacks, hot chocolate in a thermos and a book called "The Backyard Homestead" edited by Carleen Madigan.  We borrowed this book from a friend and it has yet to make its way home to its owner.  Its a fantastic book about all the things you can grow and provide for your family on as little as a 1/4 of an acre of land!  There is a chapter in this book about how to tap your own maple syrup.  While we have never done this in the past (or even known anyone who has done it), we thought "why not us?".

Last spring we aided my Hubbie's parents in cleaning up a former dump on their property.  People had just pitched all sorts of lovelies into the woods behind their home.  We took the whole family on clean up day and actually had a blast.  It was like a treasure hunt, a rummage pile, a garbage dump and a historical lesson all wrapped up into one day.  We found everything from a car, appliances, old hub caps and MAPLE SYRUP TAPPING BUCKETS! 

We went hunting for sugar maple trees in these woods this past weekend.  Hubbie and I have talked for years about getting into his parent's woods and marking which trees we could tap.   Since we've never done this before, we were glad to have the book with us as a sort of guide.  It was almost as if the forest wanted us to find the right trees...  

They were already marked!

We marked them again anyhow...just to make sure which ones WE were going to tap.  Over a dozen potential tapping treese were marked that day.

The kids had a blast in the woods.  They too were having some much needed outside time (and it was a lot safer since we'd cleared out a lot of the hazards last year).

The colours on the forest floor were amazing.  The book told us all about the right colour of leaf to look for...so you didn't tap the wrong kind of maple tree.  Pink to orange and then yellow, those were the leaf colours we needed to find for sugar maple trees.  Small leaves in the shape of our Canadian flag leaf...not the jagged edges of the red maple nor the giant leaves of the Norway maple.

Hubbie went up on a hill to mark some more maples.

The boys were very much at home here in the woods. 

They looked like they could have stayed outside all day. 

A look up into the tree tops.  It was beautiful even though it was cloudy.

It was great to let the kids go on their own adventures in the woods.

Even if it was only for a short while before they came running back to Mum.

We'll see how our little experiement turns out this spring.  Stay tuned for follow up posts about this!  This is our first year and we just might not get this right.  Fingers crossed it all works out...but thats what this blog is all about.   Testing those things that books write about.  Passing or failing...but at least trying.  Gaining a better appreciation for things that come all too easily these days.

Doing it together as a family.

The Sugar Shack

When we found out our neighbour's son had never been to a sugar shack...we HAD to go.  Not like we weren't going to go on March Break anyway...that just increased the imperative!  We MUST go!

I always enjoy a good stroll through the sugar bush.  Its something so uniquely Canadian.  Its something so seasonal.  I had read all about the settler's experience with the sugar bush in Suzanna Moody's book "Roughing it in the Bush".  It was in the 1830's when settlers were shown the wonders of the sweet water that flowed in the early spring from certain maples.  It was the Irish immigrant workforce that had the patience to try this task at home.  A grueling few cold nights spent stoking the fire and stirring, stirring, always stirring for fear it would smoke out the landowners home in sulphury clouds.  It was a labour of love, for each person to try a piece of maple sugar or real maple syrup...are rarely ever the same after.  This was before mass production and super markets full of ready to eat items.  Maple syrup was a treat only enjoyed once a year...and I try to impart that on my kids today.  Its the only time I indulge in maple sugar and the sugar shack syrup always tastes better after a cool hike in the woods.



A beautiful day in the woods...the kids always let their spring fever loose!

We hike to the sugar shack at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation area in Kingston through a winding trail...happy to be outdoors after what feels like a lifetime of freezing cold windy days.  The boys enjoy a nice reprieve from winter's friend, cabin fever. 


On cold sunny days, the sap runs fast!



Owen is introduced to the sweet water....big brother Noah makes sure the whole arm doesn't go in.....

A history lesson in nature with a tasty ending....what more could you ask for??? 

Can you imagine the time and effort this stuff used to take???

Now a days, the sugar shack is a bit more industrialized...





Hundreds of pancakes served up each minute...they had it down to a fine science...a well-oiled machine!



Served up with equal amounts of whipped local butter



And a look of satisfaction that no store-bought toy, video game device or mass produced food item could provide...mmmmm...

PS.  all four boys (ranging in age of 4 yrs to 13 yrs) were very quiet on the drive home...almost too much fresh air...

If you haven't had the chance...or never thought about taking a trip to the nearest sugar bush...what are you waiting for???

Enjoy some good old Canadian culture, some history and some fresh air...you really will not gain a single calorie from eating fresh pancakes after all the activities to be had.  The Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation area also offered horse drawn wagon rides to the sugar bush!  Nothing signals spring's return like a touch of maple madness.  Oh yeah, that and the robin's sweet song!  

If you need more reasons to indulge in some maple syrup, check out my previous post (original post on December 5, 2010) called "Maple Syrup and the Winter Blues".  It has a scrumptious recipe for protein-packed Quinoa Pancakes as well as a whole bunch of nutritional information about maple syrup as a natural sweetner!

Dig in!



Maple Syrup and the Winter Blues...



Its around this time of year that I generally think about maple syrup.  Its not tapping season, its not the pancake breakfasts that happen throughout the summer here in Verona....its the time of year that the real stuff gets very scarce!  If you consider its the farthest time of the year since the tapping last spring...it kinda makes sense. 

We love us some maple syrup in our house....and not just because of the home made pancakes that get served under them!  (although they are a huge plus!)

From my days with the tree trimming crew in Oshawa Hydro, I remember Stan Turk telling me all about the types of trees out there.  He'd give me a daily quiz on tree species, that was when I found out that sugar maples are in fact the only maple that actually produces the sap to create the wonderful syrup. 

When I first moved to the country, I made an effort to buy locally and support the folks I shared a community with.  The first time I tried to purchase maple syrup I was asked what kind I wanted.....I was like a deer in the head lights....what kind?  The syrup-y kind, of course!

Here's a run-down on the types available if you know where to buy:

Light:  Pale golden, with a delicate flavour, almost watery in texture
Medium: Light amber, rich but mild in flavour
Amber:  Medium amber, with a robust flavour
Dark: Dark amber and very strong in flavour, very sticky and syrupy

My personal favorite is the Medium but it seems like its the favorite of everyone else in South Frontenac as it sells out the quickest.  Its the best of both worlds...you get a light syrup with a very pleasing flavour.  It doesn't hit you over the head with sweetness.  Each person I've spoken with at the farmer's market over the years has their favorite eating syrup and their best syrup for cooking.

It was very recently that I've been discovering the nutritional properties of the real maple syrup!  What a bonus!

Maple Syrup	50 cal/15 ml
Fructose	46 cal/15 ml
Brown Sugar	51 cal/15 ml
Corn Syrup	60 cal/15 ml
Honey	64 cal/15 ml

Not too shabby!

When you compare with other sweeteners, its hands down a great natural alternative to refined sugars. 

Add this information with the following stats and your natural conclusion might be to start adding maple syrup to everything!

Maple Syrup has about the same 50 cal/tbsp as white cane sugar. However, it also contains significant amounts of potassium (35 mg/tbsp), calcium (21 mg/tbsp), small amounts of iron and phosphorus, and trace amounts of B-vitamins. Its sodium content is a low 2 mg/tbsp.

Maple syrup can be declared a good source of 3 essential elements - calcium, iron and thiamin.
( source: www.canadianmaplesyrup.com/maplenutrition.html )

Maple syrup still contains 43 grams of carbs per 50ml serving, so don't go crazy if you are counting carbs or a diabetic.

Here is a great recipe for the pancake lover in you.  Its packed with hidden proteins so its actually the pancake that is GOOD for you!!!

ENJOY!

Quinoa Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet
1/4 cup lowfat milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
fresh fruit or fruit preserves (optional) for serving
Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, egg white, butter, milk, and syrup until smooth. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and whisk to combine.
2. Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with butter and heat over medium-high. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter (reduce heat to medium if overbrowning). Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit or preserves if desired.

Makes about 12.

	One cake
Calories	73
Total Fat (g)	1.8
Carbs (g)	11.8
Fiber (g)	0.5
Sugar (g)	2.3
Protein (g)	2.4

( source:  http://www.fitsugar.com/Yummy-Recipe-Healthy-Quinoa-Pancakes-11658074?utm_source=shape&utm_medium=email&utm_term=fit_healthyeating_newsletter&utm_content=email_link&utm_campaign=shape_email_fit_healthyeating_newsletter_20101103 )

I have more maple syrup recipes...but you'll just have to wait until spring time for those yummy treasures!

Until next time....