Saturday Sandwich

Everyone went to the mountain today, but I stayed home because I wasn't feeling well. I completely cleaned out the kids rooms while they were gone. I think the yummy egg sandwich powered me. Nothing is better than the huge smiles and even bigger thanks I got from the kids when they got home. It added a much needed fill to my bucket!

Our first cook of maple syrup.

SP started cooking this morning. The sap first boiled at 12:50. We are guessing about 15 gallons were processed. It's 9:45 pm and we are finishing it inside. It looks like we will need to get an earlier start next weekend. 

We started with fairly frozen sap that needed to be cooked in order to thaw and strain.

Adding more...

Straining it off...

Sapbergs

The finishing pot has a handy spigot

Filtering out all the bark and moss and even bugs and such

Evaporating the water. The sap was 1.7% sugar according to our hygrometer.

Watching it evaporate is akin to watching paint dry...

A selfie of the cooker!

Finishing it inside on the stovetop. 

Sap Icicles

The most amazing treat nature can offer! Baby has been a dedicated helper. I adore him!

Preparing our temporary Sugar House!

It's a makeshift structure built by SP, our seasoned mason. 

Harvesting sap!

Our first day of collection equals at least one gallon of sap!