Yesterday we headed to a state park for a maple syruping demonstration. We've been so intrigued with the idea of tapping trees this year and wanted to find out more details. We had done some research already but seeing everything in "action" was the topping on the cake.
The demonstrations focused on tree identification, tapping and collecting sap, and the final cooking process. We were also able to purchase maple syruping supplies and enjoy samples of the finished syrup. Pure maple syrup is so incredibly good! One of the instructors told us that maple syrup makes the best rolls. She said you just put a little melted butter and maple syrup in the bottom of your pan - before baking. After I heard that... I couldn't stop thinking about homemade rolls with a maple syrup topping. Mmmm!
Here are a couple of the tapped trees with buckets for collecting the sap:
This is my favorite photo of the day (below) and shows the actual drip-in-motion (click to enlarge):
It takes about 40 gallons of sap to come up with about 1 gallon of maple syrup. This is the homemade outdoor cooker used for boiling the sap:
And what about the pictures of the samples? The final product? Um, well.. I ate those. Sorry! Would it help if I said they were really, really, really yummy??!
After we finished up with the demonstrations we headed out for a hike with Tom and Jack, who also joined us for the day. We had beautiful weather, a nice breeze and some mud for fun. Tom and Gordy usually walked ahead while Jack and I tagged behind and discussed things like Gilligan's Island, what he did on winter break, what we were going to have for supper, his roller skating blisters... all the important stuff that only the "tail-enders" talk about.
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Of course after talking about maple syrup and rolls it was important that we ate at a local bakery that served up fresh baked everything. Why I didn't capture a picture of all those goodies is beyond me! Next time. Surely there will be a next time!
