From Tree to Table.

Well...it's 11:00 p.m., and I just finished boiling one stock pot (my canner, actually) of sap down into just a wee bitty jar of liquid gold for my Loves and I to have with pancakes for breakfast.  We started the process around 5:30 this evening -- a plan in which I really do not recommend, as it takes a good, strong five or so hours just to get one stock pot boiled down.

 But, you know.....we got ourselves a "whim" of an idea into our heads, and so we went with it.  Long about 9:30, Kevy petered out...so whilst all of my boysies snored away into the night...I sipped happily away on my sugar-rush inducing "maple tea" and decided to see it through until the end.

The babe leapeth within my womb....

This is only our second year tapping trees and boiling sap...and quite honestly, we initially really had no idea what we were doing.  (Not that we do now, but we're learning).  Kev found this old book at our local "transfer station" that has a two page spread on the how-to basics, and that's pretty much how we learned.

And it honestly is quite simple.
And novel.
And really pretty awesome - no matter how little or how much you manage to boil down.

I highly recommend taking "sips" all throughout the entire process to see how much the taste changes throughout the boiling down, down, down.....

I don't believe that we have any true sugar maple trees on our property.  Supposedly, they yield the best quality and highest amounts of sap.  We just have ourselves a few scragglers.  So far, we have collected maybe 15 gallons of sap, which really won't yield much syrup overall.  But, like I said - it's the "process" that's the most fun.

Kara Pawson - this page is for you.
All the instructions that we ourselves used.

Basic instructions are as follows:  Boil your sap until it reaches 6 degrees above the boiling point of water (water boils at 212 degrees, so says the book).  Once it reaches close to this temperature, bring it inside to finish it off.  Do NOT do the entire process inside your kitchen, or you will have sticky...well, everything - forever.

I apologize for my oven.  She really takes a lot of abuse...

Dump your "almost syrup" from your stock pot, through a strainer (cheese cloth or towel), into your "finishing pot" on your stove, and keep it boiling until it reaches 7 degrees above the boiling point of water - 219-ish degrees.

When it's just about finished, it will start to get really "foamy:"

The longer you boil - the thicker and darker and sweeter it will be...

I always strain it one last time - just to get all remnants of the "sugar sand" out of it...
Be sure to have several samples...but remember to blow on them, first.
Otherwise, you will sear the entire roof of your mouth right along with your tongue.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.

And, as you can see - that ginormous stockpot of sap only yielded about 9 ounces of syrup.
But, it's 9 ounces of Heaven's liquid gold, let me tell you.

And if I can roll myself out of bed in the morning....here's what's for breakfast.
Thank you chickies, and thank you trees.
You rock.  Hardcore.

And might my men rise up and called me Blessed.
And maybe bring me coffee in bed...