Truly the most delicious thing to come out of my kitchen, and guess what? I can’t really take any of the credit! Homemade Maple Syrup is one of nature’s finest treasures, and the only thing getting me through another snowy March on the East Coast.
I do more than enough complaining about the cold fall/winter/spring months here in PA, but you know what doesn’t suck? Tapping your own trees for HOMEMADE MAPLE SYRUP! I’ll stop shouting, but it is incredible! When we moved to the Pocono Mountains of PA about a year and half ago from the NYC area, we really had no idea how to manage a house that had a well, a septic tank, acreage, let alone handle country living all of the sudden. There was A LOT of trial and error, there still is, but we were really lucky to have amazing neighbors that showed us the ropes, gave us great tips, and were so handy…seriously, they all build everything and fix everything themselves (mind explosion).
One of our neighbors, Jerry, gave Koby a small jar filled with homemade maple syrup one day last March. When he brought it home, we were blown away by the flavor, and the richness. It tasted like a maple/honey hybrid, and I was hooked! Jerry showed us that we too had a large maple tree on our property. He gave us one of his ‘taps,’ and showed us how to tap the tree to extract the clear sap, by drilling a hole into the trunk, and inserting a spout attached to a tube that drains down into a jug. But maple syrup doesn’t just drain out. You have to collect about 7 gallons of the clear sap that looks and tastes like slightly sweet water, then boil it down to get about 1 quart of maple syrup. You read that right, 7 gallons sap = 1 quart of maple syrup! If the term ‘liquid’ gold is coming to mind, you’re right! I love sharing everything I make, but have been very protective of the maple syrup haha #allmine
If you’re thinking, “what’s the big deal? You can have maple syrup whenever you want!” then I’ll you that window of time to tap the trees for sap is super short. I’m sure there’s a much more scientific explanation, but from what I understand, it basically has to be super cold at night, but warm up to about 30-40 degrees F during the day. For us in PA, this hits late February-March. It’s a lovely excuse to get me out of my hibernation lair, and the kids trult think it’s magical. It is magical.
So, no recipe today, guys, but just wanted to share this little bit of life in the country that I’m loving at the moment. Check out my Instagram Story Highlights (@leanne.shor) for the FULL VIDEO tutorial, from tapping the tree to golden deliciousness.
xoxo, L