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My parents recently brought me maple sap. I was thinking of drinking it for all the nutritional health benefits but then decided I would “get back to my roots” by attempting to cook the sap into syrup. If you understand the ratio of 40 to 1, you would know what I discovered, 1.5 GALLONS of sap makes 4 OUNCES of syrup. I managed to stretch the supply of my precious gold one teaspoon at a time over bacon-wrapped pork medallions, one waffle, and a sweetener in my blueberry tea. Needless to say, I will leave the syrup making to the professionals from now on and buy it a bottle at a time.
This syrup was delicious, probably because I made it myself in a crockpot, but it lacked the full smokey flavor of woodfired, maple sap cooking. When I was young, my parents and a neighbor boiled the sap we collected from maples using sleds and milk cans. The sap was then boiled down in a half barrel in our driveway. I can pinpoint the smell of campfire and sweet maple wafting over the yard as we ran for the school bus. Harvey Rusco was stoking the morning fire. At one point, I remember the kids from Birch Grove Elementary coming to my house to see the process for themselves. It was pretty exciting to have EVERYONE from school at my home, meeting my dog, Tiny, and listening to my parents as they explained the process of tapping trees, gathering sap, and cooking it down to syrup. If I remember it right, we each got a taste served on a piece of homemade bread.
Hands down, there is nothing on this earth like maple syrup over one of my mom’s sourdough pancakes. There have been actual “fork fights” over the last pancake on the plate. All I can say is to keep one foot on the floor and watch the back of your hand when diving for the pancake stack. It takes at least eight hours to proof a batch of sourdough for pancakes, so when they’re gone, THEY ARE gone. My poor mother stands at the stove flipping cakes hoping at least one will be left for her—no promises mama.
Maple syrup has a fantastic process, from clear watery tree sap to dark golden syrup. Remember the ratio of 40 to 1 for pancakes! I think it’s good to teach kids their food doesn’t magically appear on the grocery shelf. Going into the forest for a pancake breakfast under a Maple Tree is a delicious way to start the conversation! Hugs and Peace, Sandy
“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”
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