Maple Trout Lilli writes: MAPLE WHISKEY PUDDING CAKES These wonderful desserts bake up with a gooey sauce beneath a layer of rich, tender cake. There are a few steps involved, but the result is so worth the 20 minutes of prep. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream. Do not stir the maple-whiskey… Read More
April 9th Hill Report
Woodsmaster Ross writes: “I hope the snow isn’t too soft out there,” she said. “Nah, should be fine,” I replied. “May not even need the tails on the snowshoes.” WRONG! Ten steps into the woods and I was wishing for those longer snowshoes. Of course, the higher I climbed in the sugarwoods, the worse it… Read More
April 8th Update
WEATHER: Since the April 4th post, the nighttime lows have ranged from 30-33, the daytime highs from 33-40 except for yesterday’s high of 46 or so. Today the temp hovered at 34 while sleet stung the face. In the tug-of-war between winter and summer, winter is currently tugging harder. The dreaded precipitous April thaw hasn’t… Read More
A Good Sap Run at Last
QUICK UPDATE: We got a good run starting Tuesday afternoon. We boiled yesterday, Wednesday, from 5am to midnight. The RO has been processing sap night and day. This evening we are still boiling leftover sap. Last night it froze and barely cleared 32 all day. Tonight it is freezing much harder; it’s the last freezing… Read More
Pail by Pail, Stoke by Stoke
To catch you up, here are entries from the Sugarhouse Logbook: 3/28 Frozen ’til yesterday afternoon – sunny with good run in late afternoon, solid freeze last night. Thought today would be banner run but rain in the afternoon with south wind slowed it down. High into 40’s. Sap sweetness 2.4%. 3/29 Ran feebly all… Read More
The Art of the Draw
Chief of Operations writes: Our style of maple sap evaporator and our technique of drawing off syrup are rapidly becoming obsolete. Open pans, where you can actually see the myriad of bubbles dancing on the boiling sap, and the practice of manually drawing off the finished syrup, are considered “old school” by professional sugarmakers. Not… Read More
Preparing for Open House
WEATHER: Snow. It’s a white white white white world. HOW’S IT RUNNING: Ever since Wednesday afternoon the sap’s been flowing, but not well. At night it trickles, during the day it sputters (collectively, that is, with sap from all 9,700 taps flowing into one receptacle). SAP SWEETNESS: 2.2%. Good news. BOILING STATUS: Thursday was Day… Read More
Maple-Oat Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
Maple Trout Lilli writes: My inspiration for these was a warm, spring, 50-degree day this past week and anticipating free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s. But, alas, it’s back to winter as I write, and free cone day isn’t until April 9th this year. But make these and you’ll feel like it’s almost summer,… Read More
Sweetening the Pans
WEATHER: The thaw set in on Thursday, slinking to 40 on Thursday, spiking to 50 midday Friday before settling back into the 40’s. Both days, the forecast predicted temps of ten degrees higher. Little sun, no freezing nights. Saturday morning starts at 35 and might stay there, with snow and/or rain. Tonight we’ll see a… Read More
It’s making us wait
Monday Morning Kitchen Talk, 9am: Chief of Operations says from his chair in front of the woodstove, Scheduling crew [to walk the tubing lines] is an absolute nightmare. Here they are, raring to go, and what do I tell them? They don’t want to sit around all day just in case it warms… Read More
The Nebraska Knoll Blog 