Making Maple Syrup {Part II}

Tapping the Maple Trees {Part I}
A Look at Maple Tree Sap
Making Maple Syrup Intermission

The maple syrup adventure continues, you may remember we had already tapped trees, collected sap, and were ready to boil.
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The Mister is extraordinary at building things... and made us an on the cheap sap cooker that we use to heat a gigantic pot.  We built a wood fire, poured about 4-5 gallons of sap is in the pot, and then watched. 

 We talked and laughed and watched the pup silly antics.  This is Sammy.

The dogs chewed sticks to pass the time. 

I took pictures.  (Sammy again)

(Katie here)

See that steam coming out of the pot?  It's working.  Takes a lot for all that water content to burn off to leave the sweet sap.

The evening progressed and we saw the sun setting over the ridge.  I still adore the look of our woodpile all neat and orderly.

Felt really good to kick up my feet and soak the whole thing in!

At one point it got dark enough that we noticed a blow torch effect of the fire coming out of our stove pipe.  Hot dog roasting anyone?

The dusk turned to dark and it was a whole new experience to sit and chat with tree stumps as seats as the sap boiled and cooked... and cooked and boiled. 

So simple and joyful sitting around a fire.  The warmth to keep away the night's chill, the glow and laughing flames.  peaceful.  centering.  balancing. 

We fed the fire, checked the boiling sap.  Stopping every now and then to stir and have a taste. 

And a natural conversation about who knows what flowed between the Mister and I.  It reminds me of one of the moments that I first knew the Mister and I were a 'thing' because we can ramble on for hours and never get bored of each other's company. 

Finally late into the night, we checked the sap and noticed it had finally gotten low in the pot and changed colors from clear to a golden brown.  That was the signal to clean up for the night.  Douse the fire, transfer the sap to an inside pot, and call it a night.

---to be continued --- we did finish a batch of maple syrup this past weekend and even enjoyed it on french toast!  Our last installment will show the finishing and the actual syrup we made!

We're Making Maple Syrup!

Whohohohoooo!  Can't think of a better way to spend the weekend!

Creative Tuesday: Birthday

Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's are one of my favorite self imposed assignments.

It helps me force an artistic object or two into my paws (regularly) and just begs to find out what can come of it!

This week's theme is "Birthday!"  And this week's medium big fat scented markers!

Happy Un-Birthday to you!

This theme made me think back to my thirteenth birthday for some reason.  I was thinking about all the feelings of the moment and how hopeful I was looking to the future. 

I am still very hopeful, but more content with how things already are. 

Cheers to all your dreams coming true with every candle you blow out! 

And won't you check out all my fellow artists here!

Itsy bitsy...

The itsy bitsy spider...

...climbed up the water spout (stick of wood)...

...down came the rain (actually its dry) and washed the spider out...
out came the sun.... wait

...you put your left leg in and you shake it all about...

now the right leg
...put your right leg in and you shake it all about (you are playing along, right?)
you do the hokey pokey... lalala... that's what it's all about!!

I got a bit distracted there by the cute 'lil spider!
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Mr. Happy built a kindling stick holder for me out of thick bushes/trees he had cut down.

He's so handy.

I'm so lucky.

Here he is pre-drilling a screw hole.

There is something very hot about my man and power tools -- HOT!

Yup, next comes the screw.

Here's a better look at the cradle getting finished.

Cool huh?

It's found a nice home near the wood stacks and is nearly filled to the top with little sticks and baby logs which will be really handy when we start up the wood stove or fireplace.


Are you handy?  What have you created to try and make your life easier?

Hot for Blogging

If you are in the Northeast or any other place where it's smokin' hot, then please join me in saying:

"IT'S SOooooOOOOooo HOT!!"

Now that we got that out of the way.  One good thing about the heat is that it's driving me out of the garden, away from outdoor things, and into the house to blog.

Yup, finally time to browse through all the stories I have captured lately and share some.

I can't keep all this happiness to myself.

Can we play a little game?

What's the first thing you think of when I say...

Hot?

How about ice cream?

Ice cream rocks.  And recently I made a homemade ice cream cake for my dear Mr. Happy's birthday.

Here's how you make a football shaped ice cream cake.

You need the following things:

- 2 flavors of ice cream that compliment each other (I used chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate)

- chocolate graham crackers (I bet you could use oreos or other chocolate cookies instead -- use what you have on hand)

- chocolate chips (if you like, or even nuts  -hahaha, who am I calling nuts!)
- complimentary frosting (in a can or homemade)
- serving plate big enough to accommodate completed cake
- spatula (you know... scraping thingy on a stick)
- willing assistant to help make cake! (bet you can't guess who my assistant was)
- cake pan in any shape (I used a football... oh I bet a palm tree, teddy bear, or even a dolphin would be so adorable!)

- plastic wrap

- ice cream scooper

- freezer shelf empty enough for cake pan filled with ice cream (trust me, people.  Prep the shelf FIRST. Or, your cake will melt while you look for a place to put your frozen pea stash)


Here comes the fun part.  Assembly!  

1. Take your first ice cream flavor out while you do the next step.  This will let it soften so that it can be worked into your shape.

2. Line your cake pan with the plastic wrap.  This is going to make it possible for your final cake to slide out of your mold and on to a serving plate as easy as butter!  Don't be stingy on the lining.  I used two big pieces and overlapped a generous amount.

3. Then begin scooping and mushing the first flavor into the cake pan.  You can use the scooper or spatula (or washed fingers) to mush it into the corners.  Fill the cake pan half way.

4. Crumble the graham crackers (or chocolate cookies and nuts) and sprinkle a generous layer onto the ice cream.  When I do this again I would make the layer at least 1/2 an inch.

5. Cover your progress with plastic wrap and pop it into the freezer for at least 1 hour (should be nice and frozen when you begin creating the next layer).

Here is what mine looked like to this point: (Nom, nom, nom)

6. Put your second flavor out to let is soften.  When it's workable (on a day like today that would be about 30 seconds), pull out your cake and begin to do more of the same. 

Plop, plop the ice cream on the top, top!!

Mush, mush your ice cream with a squish, squish!

Spread, spread your ice cream with your bread, bread... I mean spatula.  (ugg. spatula doesn't rhythm with a whole lot. Hahahaha, spatula, dracula.)

7. Finish with chocolate chip and more crushed graham crackers.

8. Be sure to treat your assistant like gold.  Doesn't hurt to let a piece of graham cracker slip into your assistant's mouth.

9. Cover the cake (not your assistant) with the plastic wrap again.  Put your ah-mazing creation into the freezer overnight.

10.  When you are closer to serving your cake... take a can of frosting (or the homemade kind -- I cheated with a can of milk chocolate) and micro-zap (that's southern for put in microwave for a bit) it until it's runny.  Pull your cake out of the freezer, remove from the mold gently tugging on the plastic wrap and place it on your serving plate. Then immediately dump your runny frosting onto the cake. 

[No pictures available here. Although, I ended up with frosting on my hands, shirt, pants, feet, assistant, table, cake pan -- it's a talent.  Happy to report I didn't end up with any on my camera.]

It's really fun to watch your frosting harden quickly!  I made an absolute mess, but loved every second of it!  Quickly pop your cake back into the freezer.  At this point I am sure your assistant will be in stitches!

11. I did some piping to write on the cake which proved challenging since the frosting was too warm compared to the cold cake.  I need some practice in that area.

12. Next load up the cake with tons of candles to represent all the super years your darling husband has been around.  (tease, tease, poke, poke!)

13. Light all those candles (fire extinguisher on standby) and sing a goofy HAPPY BIRTHDAY and MANY MORE to the most favorite person in your life.  Count your lucky stars that he has an amazing sense of humor and lets you tease him.

I love you Darlin'!  I enjoy every minute we have together and can't imagine sharing this adventure with anyone else.  *kisses*

Now dash off and have some of your own ice cream!! Muah!

View from the Couch

The new house has a fireplace which we ooohhed and aahhhed over when we first looked at it. So naturally, now that we've moved in, we took the first chance we could once and had ourselves a nice little fire!

Feels sinful, but we got one of the small bundles of wood from the grocery store that ends up costing you probably $1 per log... told you... sinful!

Having that fire has sparked our interest... (get it? sparked... hahaha!)... in getting a delivery of wood to the house.

When you purchase wood you are buying a unit called a cord. I was curious and had to look up what the heck that meant. Looks like a 'full' cord measures 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. That's a big pile of wood. Figure the little bundle we used was a mere maybe 1 ft x 6 in. x 6 in (4 log chunks).... I think you get the point, right? It was small!

So at a rate of using let's say 5-10 pieces of wood for a fire... and having a fire every night for the next six months... that's 172 days.... with an average of 7.5 pieces of wood used per day... and at that rate I don't think we'll even have made a noticeable dent in the pile.

My point is that's a lot of happiness, right?

Fire's are intriguing, relaxing, warming, and delightful! I could seriously stare into a fire and let my imagination go for hours! I am looking forward to curling up under a blanket and reading a book or five by the fire. I will enjoy spending time playing in the snow with the dog and then running inside to stand by the fire to warm up only to run out again and play some more. My other favorites are roasting marshmallows over a fire, making pudgy pies, and drinking wine by firelight! Oohhh... and popcorn and movies by fire!

Do you get the impression that you will soon start to hear a lot about things we have done by the fire?

If I was to tell you that I was going to give you a cord of happiness.. err I mean logs ... you now know that's A LOT of happiness!

I will be sure to snap pictures of that big pile of happiness when it's dumped on our drive way later this week!

Lighting Candles

Lighting candles on a birthday cake and then belting out Happy Birthday at the top of your lungs = happiness!

I shared a bit of Mr. Happy's birthday last week and we snapped a few pictures of the event. These came out well and really made me smile. Flame has a simple allure (especially in the dark) ... and how fun is it to belt out a song to the one you love? I don't think I sing well by any means, but I love how my singing made Mr. Happy smile anyway!

Best part, after the candles were all blown out... we got to eat ice cream cake! YUM!

Flaming Scorpian Bowl

Finding a place with gigantic drinks that are brought to you on fire and with two super long straws to share with you favorite person = happiness!

I couldn't believe the presentation and sheer size of this drink... rum, 151, fruit juices and see that flame in the middle! Wowie what a great time! Tasted fantastic and really left me feeling good! Who wants another?

Flame

A dancing flame captures the imagination and is just plain fun to watch = happiness!

Their is something about the way a flame is unpredicable and always in motion. Plus, where else do you find those deep intense colors! -- it seems to tickle your brain.