It’s March 11 and suddenly everything is different. It was eight degrees with two feet of snow, for Thanksgiving. Now, nearly four months later, two weeks into March, it has been cold cold cold with clean dry snow, ever since. It’s been a long haul. Yesterday the relentless cold was forgotten as the sun shone on a thawing world. The whole day felt like a party.
Last week the sugar makers were all tapped out by Town Meeting Day. When I was a...
Catherine and I have recently gotten involved in an ongoing effort to monitor vernal pools in our area, part of a broader region-wide citizen-science project. (It’s wonderful what you can find the time for when you retire!) As a consequence we have become aware of the challenges that amphibians (frogs and salamanders) face when breeding time comes in early spring.
A vernal pool above the sugarbush
One of these challenges is migration – the frogs...
I've made a few pecan pies since then (they continue to be a favorite at family gatherings) and I've made a few refinements. And last Christmas my niece Sophie gifted me with a splendid cookbook entitled "Pie" by Ken Haedrich, from which I learned an important secret about pecan pie.
As reported in a previous blog entry, the sugaring season got off to a slow start due mainly to cold weather.
Well, I'm pleased to report that the season was actually quite good in the end: we managed to avoid the "sudden death" of a changeover to warm weather -- that is, the nights continued to drop below freezing even as the days warmed up. Talked to Fraser on Sunday, and he says the season kept going later than he can remember it -- he was...
As we indicated in our Spring newsletter, it's been a cold spring and this has had an impact on the sugaring season (as we call it in Vermont.) In order to gather the sap to make maple syrup, you need a particular type of weather -- chiefly warm sunny* days with nights below freezing -- and this kind of weather is typical in Vermont from early March through mid-April (roughly.)
* For certain values of "warm"; after a Vermont winter, a sunny day...
I just got this photo from one of our customers (the cat’s owner, not the cat, at least not yet:) ) and just had to post it!
This customer has a website that has lots of vegan recipes on it. I haven’t looked through them all, but there are probably some that call for maple syrup…so take a look.
Maple Pecan Scones
Ingredients:
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pecans, chopped small-ish
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup + a couple of tablespoons dark maple syrup (Grade B ideally)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, combine flour, pecans, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. With pastry blender, two knives, or your...
