I just remembered that I never shared some of the photos I took of boiling our sap to make maple syrup. Here they are! We have used both an outdoor fire and our wood stove inside. It is quite a long process. It takes many hours for the water to evaporate and you need many gallons of sap to make a good amount of syrup (40 gallons of sap makes about one gallon of syrup!) Once the process is done, we put it to cool in glass jars and the next day we(thanks mama!) filter it through coffee filters. What we are left with is nothing short of pure, delicious perfection! The syrup is a golden amber color, as sweet as nectar and has a wonderful woodsy, maple flavor to it. It is like gold I tell you! And really it is almost too good to be poured on pancakes. I think it deserves to be eaten by the spoonful straight from it's jar, or gently poured over some good vanilla ice cream!
Here are some picture of our dear maple trees!
I am oh-so envious of all the bloggers with maple trees, and I am determined to plant many sugar maples on our property, knowing that it may be many years before it pays off...
ReplyDelete...and yes, maple syrup on real vanilla ice cream is one of the decadent pleasures in life (not all decadence begins and ends with chocolate!)
How very interesting, cheers Marie
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting process...I almost couldn't believe it took 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup! It really is liquid gold! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete_Deb
What amazing pictures! I loved this post and your description of the process. I can only imagine the sweet smell from the steam.
ReplyDeleteHow absolutely divine.
x Charlotta
Nadja::Oh, you should definitely plant some sugar maples. It will be such a treat to watch them grow. And yes, I agree, there are a few things in life that are as good as chocolate. Maple syrup is surely one of them! Take care, a.
ReplyDeleteHi Charlotta!
ReplyDeleteThanks you so much for visiting this space and for your kind words about the pictures. The steam is indeed so wonderful and sweet! Oh, and I am so glad that you went to Unni's etsy shop and that you liked her work as much as I do! All the best, a.
Hi Debra and Marie!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is quite a process making syrup. I think people get tired of it before the trees stop producing sap! I am so looking forward to visiting both of your blogs and getting a peek at what amazing things you two have been up to! Have a lovely weekend! a
this looks amazing and so fun too!!
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