This
winter was truly brutal but look, we survived! And the Good Lord has a
sweet reward for us at the (near) end. Making maple syrup seems to be a way of life for people living around us in
northern WI. Whether you have 4 or 400 maple trees, it's a privilege to
tap into the resources that surround us. We started our sapping journey
about 7 years ago with tapping a couple trees, cooking on just a single
camping stove and made a couple pints of syrup. Every year we have grown
a little more. Last year we invested in a cooker that will help make
cooking the sap more efficient for years to come. This year we tapped
105 trees, cooked for 2 weeks, and made about 15 gallons of syrup. It
was a lot of work (and our season was shortened due to leaving for
Easter). Here are some photos of our season and the process:
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| Drill hole for the tap. |
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| Hammer in the tap. |
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| Hang the bag over the tap. |
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| Let the trees do their work and make sap. |
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| Enjoy a moment of sunshine. |
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| Collect the sap. (We collect nearly everyday). |
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| Our collection equipment, thank you to Ryan's parents for letting us borrow these! |
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| Sap gets pumped to our holding tank.
A hose is connected from the holding tank to the sap pan and is
regulated by a little box that continually drips sap into the pan. |
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| Cooking. |
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| Inside view. |
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| It snows some more, and we cook some more. |
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| Maple Syrup! |
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| Enjoying the bounty with some friends! |
Not
only is maple syrup super-sweetly delicious, but 100% pure maple syrup
offers huge nutritional benefits. (Sidenote: read the label to make sure
it is 100% maple syrup, many major brands just include a small
percentage of maple syrup to market it as maple syrup, but really is
mainly corn syrup, artificial flavoring, and other preservatives)
"Health benefits of real maple syrup are far more comprehensive than you might expect. The only product in our diet coming directly from a plant’s sap, this natural sweetener features over 54 antioxidants
that can help delay or prevent diseases caused by free radicals, such
as cancer or diabetes. In addition, maple syrup features high levels of
zinc and manganese, keeping the heart healthy and boosting the immune
system." Excerpt from http://www.purecanadamaple.com/benefits-of-maple-syrup.
Some of our favorite ways to add maple syrup into our diet (besides pancakes):
- In and On Homemade Granola (I use the recipe in Homemade Pantry)
- On Vanilla Ice Cream
- Salad Vinaigrette
- Try this recipe: 2Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's With the Mother), 2 tsp. Maple Syrup, 1Tbsp. Dijon Mustard. - Tweak to suit your taste
- Homemade Chocolate (recipe from a friend):
- 1 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1/3-1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Cup natural or raw cocoa powder
- melt coconut oil in saucepan, stir in the rest of the ingredients, pour into silicone molds, pop into the freezer and they're ready to eat when hardened. You can also pour this recipe when it's melted over ice cream and it has the same hardening effect as the chocolate magic shell. Enjoy!
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| I break the chunk of chocolate into pieces. For more uniform pieces, you can buy smaller silicone molds. |
Do you have a great recipe using maple syrup? I'd love to hear!
