O.K. Sap: Well we were able to collect about 2 gallons total, which I boiled down to about a cup.
Here’s the sap partway boiled.
Here’s the finished syrup. I must say that it doesn’t taste like maple at all—more like a caramel with just a hint of maple. It is soooooo good. It took . . . I’m guessing about 5-6 hours to boil down. I didn’t really keep track. I just boiled the first gallon down, then stored it in the fridge and added the second gallon the next day and boiled that down to what you see in the pic. Fun! Though if there had been much more, we definitely would have had to boil it outside.
So, the syrup turned out, and there hasn’t been any more sap as the weather has gotten warm here—it hit 72* when I checked on the 16th. Now, while I was boiling the sap down to the syrupy finish (which has to be watched closely, especially with so little), I was also making two loaves of bread for Rich. Well, something was smoking on the bottom in the oven as it was preheating, so I shut it off as it’s a gas oven, stuck my hand in a mitt, grabbed a butter knife, and proceeded to scrape out the offending substance. I then popped the ready to be baked bread in the oven, shut the door, and went back to watching my syrup. Did I mention that I was also making almond milk, flax crackers, and smoothies for the early morning? I also called my mom and we chatted a bit. About an hour later the syrup was done, and I remembered about the bread—oops—and rushed to remove what I thought would be very, verrrry, well done bread. It wasn’t. It hadn’t baked. Well not much anyway. (I cut the one on the left open to see what was going on inside. It was gooey.)
So I popped them back in the oven, turning the oven ON this time, and crossed my fingers. I was laughing my ass off at this point. The bread made it to edible, but didn’t rise up at all beyond the where it was at. Here’s a pic. Rich came home with a loaf of bread from the store the next day. ~giggle~
Rowan has been helping me with all the babies—they’re really coming along, faster than I would have thought. She’s also fascinated with the overabundance of boxelder bugs that arrived just in time for the warm weather. Go figure. Anyhoo, this is her bug friend and she (bug’s on her elbow). Things are gearing up, moving towards full swing for spring plantings, getting gardens ready. No more lazy days on the couch with a blanket and a movie or book.
Yesterday was chillier, about 42*, and Rich had the day off, as did Tristen, so we all ventured out to the store—strawberries, bananas, blueberries, watermelon, romaine, oranges, apples, cukes, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and more. Nuts. Big trip, lots on sale. Then off to the big playground and skate park.
The kids have had a plethora of vittles this week: Banana-avocado pie w/ butternut-date crust, lots of different salads, cucumber, radish, mixed veggies, parfaits with carob-avocado pudding and fruit and buckwheat, garlic-almond and banana-carob flax crackers, and lots more.
Today their menu includes:
green smoothies w/ cuke, romaine, carrot, celery, apple, banana, mulberries
strawberry shortcake, raw of course
strawberry-banana almond milk
cuke and carrot slices
chocolate parfaits with blueberries, strawberries, and bananas, and buckwheat groats
watermelon chunks
carob-banana flax crackers
anything else they feel like munching on
Have a great day!
Sharilyn, Tristen, and Rowan
P.S. I guess I was wrong--sap is flowing again!
