Sugar, Sugar

Last Saturday before General Conference, my friend Jeffra had a maple sugaring party at her family's farm in New Hampshire.

I got to sap a tree... first, I drilled a hole; next, I hammered in a spout; and then hung the bucket and attached the lid.
The finished product:
Next we gathered the sap from all the existing buckets. This will only work in maple trees. You can sap the same tree each year, but have to drill a new hole. If you leave the spout in during the year, it will just grow in and not drip anymore. Its better to put the hole in the south side of the tree, because the tree warming up after freezing overnight is what makes the sap run.

Jeffra's dad siphoned all the sap we collected into a drum so it could be fed into the contraption to the left. The sap when it comes out of the tree is little more than sweet water. It needs to be boiled and boiled and boiled before it becomes syrupy. At that point you can do all sorts of things with it...

Jeffra's aunt made us some "leather aprons", a candy you make by pouring syrup onto snow until it freezes into a chewy, taffy-like substance. We also had a yummy blueberry pancake breakfast with the homemade syrup, and two more maple syrup candies. All so tasty!

Their house is off the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, which even in winter was beautiful. We went on a little hike up to a tower made for looking out for fires. The drive up to New Hampshire was amazing. This year, the leaves didn't fall off of the trees, so there were amazing views of white trees in the middle of the evergreens. (This picture doesn't do it justice.) It was so nice to get out of the city and enjoy this beautiful world. Thank you to Jeffra and the Burkes!