Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Wish You Were Here


...so you could smell the hint of wonderful sweetness in the air! We started boiling our maple sap today. When you step outside the house, it smells like pancakes and maple syrup!!
Since we're only making maple syrup for ourselves (as well as friends, family and students), we only do small batches of maple syrup. Last year, since we were just experimenting with making maple syrup, we just put the syrup in mason jars.This year, we got these cute little jugs!

24 comments:

Uncivil said...

I was craving pancakes while I was jogging this evening? Now I'm drooling over the thought of your fresh maple syrup.
I'm gonna get up real early the day of my first 5 K and get some pancakes and syrup before the race.

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

wow C - that is amazing you can do that .
How do make the syrup - do you just get it straight from tree and boil it down ?


My Little Drummer boys

Momisodes said...

I'm closing my eyes as I start at the photos, and I can almost taste it :) Oh I love the smell of pancakes and maple syrup!

Very neat that you are doing this. And those jugs are so cute!

Don Mills Diva said...

Mmmm I wish I was there too - my dad used to tap trees and boil syrup and it was the best smell in the world!

Jan said...

The smell of maple syrup takes me back to my grandparent's house. So many great memories of those pancake breakfasts...

merinz said...

mmmm trying hard to smell it!

Ed & Jeanne said...

You mean syrup comes from trees? I always thought it came from aisle 6 of my supermarket...

Danielle said...

Hey Christine,
we went this past weekend to the maple syrup festival with nathanial and had pancakes and fresh maple syrup it was awsome...we ended up buying the maple syrup too. Can't wait for pancakes this weekend.

Tracy said...

Yummmmmmm. I know what I want for brekky!

Ellie said...

Oh you lucky girl!! There is nothing better than maple syrup. Well, maybe some things...

My friend made maple syrup a few years ago, only she boiled it down in her kitchen. I think she is still de sticking her ceiling, walls, cupboards,kids...

Hugs,
Ellie

Anonymous said...

My mouth is watering just thinking of making maple syrup. How fun!

Unknown said...

Jimbo:
*sigh* I haven't had pancakes in ages!!! I have a feeling that will be on the menu soon though! ;)

Trish:
We tap the maple trees and collect the sap in pales/buckets. Then we filter/strain the sap before we put it in a special container to boil it. The boiling process takes hours...and hours...and HOURS!!!! Once it's boiled down, we filter it again before we put the syrup into jars. It's a very long and involved process, but it sure is worth it in the end!

Sandy:
Last year was the first year we tried doing this and we had good results. This year, I think it will be better because the sap is running more than it did last year. I'm so excited that we're able to do this. Never in a million years would I have imagined this would be something I'd be doing as a hobby with my husband! LOL!

Unknown said...

Don Mills Diva:
Yes, it is a really nice smell! I just love it! Did your Dad tap a lot of trees? We're pretty small since we are just doing it for our own personal consumption. Last year we yielded about 14 mason jars full, but we were just experimenting. This year it looks like we've already doubled...perhaps tripled that. I like that it's just a hobby for now :) Sometimes when things become 'work' it takes all the fun out of it!

Jan:
Mmmmmmm!!! Pancake breakfasts at the grandparents' house! Sounds amazing! I remember growing up in Quebec, we used to ALWAYS go to the 'cabane a sucre' (sugar shack) during maple syrup season. We'd have big Quebecois breakfasts with maple syrup slathered over everything! We'd also see how maple syrup was made, and make maple taffy! They would pour maple syrup on fresh snow (clean snow, of course!) and then with a popcicle stick, we'd wrap the hardening syrup/taffy in the snow and make a popcicle! YUM!

Unknown said...

mrinz:
Wish you could smell it! It smells heavenly! A far cry from our basement though! With all the snow and ice melting so fast with the mild weather and rain, our basement had 2 inches of water in it! Grrrr! It smells worse than wet dog! Thank goodness OUTSIDE smells like maple syrup! LOL!

VE:
LOL! ;)

Danielle:
Oh! That sounds like so much fun!! I'll try to save you guys a bottle for when you come up. You, the hubs and your adorable kiddos are still coming to visit us, right? Can't wait to see you! Our last visit was way too short! XOXOXO

Unknown said...

Starshine:
I'm all of a sudden craving pancakes and maple syrup! LOL!

Ellie:
You know, I contemplated boiling the sap in our kitchen, but one of Hubby's friends strongly advised us not to! Apparently, it really sticks to the walls, ceilings...EVERYTHING!!! Hubby bought this special 'cooker'/boiler for the maple syrup. It's brilliant!

Beachmama:
Last year when we were making our syrup, we had students with us. It was so neat for kids from Asia to have this kind of experience. The best part was the pancakes and maple syrup though! LOL!

Deb said...

i love the cute little jugs! yummmm. i bet the aroma of maple syrup and pancakes is pretty heavenly. again...jealous. :)

louann said...

Oh Krissy, I envy you!!!! It must be so wonderful waking up the that aroma every morning!

Yum!

Anonymous said...

save us some too pls!

Rick Rockhill said...

funny, I made organic pancakes for breakfast this morning and real organic maple syrup too. I hadn't made pancakes in probably 2 years and all of a sudden was craving them.

Danielle said...

We are still planning on coming..I am so excited to spend some time with you and to meet your hubby.

We will talk soon..August can't come soon enough

Unknown said...

Deb:
It still smells like maple syrup and pancakes outside!

Louann:
We've been having good luck with the syrup this year. The sap has been running like crazy! It seems that as soon as we empty a bucket of sap and put it back, it's almost time to empty it again! I think next year we'll be doing more if we can!

Unknown said...

Hot Mommy:
For sure ;)

Palm Springs Savant:
Mmmmmmmm! Sounds deeeeelish!!

Danielle:
Can't wait!!! XOXO

Unknown said...

Oh yummy! I do need to come visit you. :) *licking lips*

Unknown said...

Lisa Marie:
Tee hee! ;) Yes, come visit! I'm sure you'll be able to find LOTS of things to photograph on the Island!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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