Maple Syrup!

Zach and I spent the last two days boiling down the maple sap. We started outside over a fire, but there was no way we could have someone out there for ten hours or more supervising it. And, honestly, he and I just could not get a good fire going. I guess building campfires will be our next project.
We all enjoyed a few hours outside in the balmy 50 degree weather.

We brought the sap inside and boiled it down on the stove. The pot in the picture was full of sap, with about four cups that would not fit in. And it is a BIG pot! The measuring cup on the left shows how much syrup we had in the end. 1 1/2 cups. It was barely 1/2 an inch high in the pan at the end. Of course, there was some tasting going on throughout the process to see how the sap was becoming sweeter as it evaporated, leaving the syrup. At one point Zach scooped out a cupful of the boiling sap and made a cup of tea with it. He said it was delicious!



This morning I made french toast and we used the maple syrup. There is actually just enough left for Jamie to try some tomorrow morning, after Zach (very thoughtfully) set some aside to give to Nana and Poppy.



This project was definitely a learning experience and well worth all the time put into it.