The Sap is Finally Running!

We've been waiting for a couple weeks for the maple sap to run, and it is finally doing so!  We think the ground froze deep this winter because of no snow cover, and it has taken a while for the ground to thaw enough for the sap to run.  Tonight we collected about 70 gallons of sap - enough for about 10 pints or so of finished syrup.   There is a 40 to 1 ratio (40 gal of sap to 1 gal of syrup)  for finished product, or somewhere thereabouts.   So, for one day we have about $100 worth of syrup (10 bucks a pint) .   The sap should run a lot better now, and we should be able to boil sap for several days.  And collect a lot more than 70 gallons of sap in a day!
     It took the two of us about 2 hours to empty sap bags into a large barrel which we hauled with a tractor.   Harold built a support shelf for the 55 gal drum we are using to haul sap in.  We are using our Cub Lo-Boy tractor to drive through the woods and the paths.   Of course, the farm cats "helped" us.   They had a ball running through the woods with us, climbing trees and chasing each other.   Many of them sat in the tractor waiting for us, exploring all the knobs and the seat and running boards.   Some of them watched as I poured sap from the bags into a bucket, getting their nose right in the way.   And there was always a straggler meowing his head off because he was lost way behind.
     We will gather more sap tomorrow and every night until it quits running.  We have a 250 gal holding tank, a stainless steel bulk tank.   We keep it tarped to keep dirt and rain out.   Making maple syrup is definitely a job, but SO worth it!   But next time you see a pint of maple syrup in the stores selling for 10 dollars a bottle and you think that's too high, remember all the work that somebody had to do to make that!  Hauling sap is but the first part of the process.   Next is boiling, feeding the wood fire (you have to have a lot of firewood already cut!), finishing the syrup inside to a certain temperature and density, filtering the hot product, and putting the syrup into sterilized jars and canning it. 
     Anyone want to come up here and help us????

Favorite Cake

Today is my 67th birthday, and I made my own birthday cake!  About a year ago I came across this recipe for an orange pound cake with orange glazing and I really liked it.   It is a good snacking cake, as well as a good moist cake to serve with ice cream.   I've always liked pound cakes - they are old fashioned, just like me......
     I remember that my Grandfather always liked a slice of pound cake whenever we had Sunday dinners, and we often had slices of pound cake at Christmas dinners, too.  Those pound cakes were just plain, but I have a feeling if my Grandfather were still alive, he would really like this orange pound cake.
     Here is a photo of the finished cake (with a couple of slices gone already as Harold and I celebrated my birthday!):

And here is the recipe:

ORANGE POUND CAKE WITH ORANGE ICING

1 c. butter (2 sticks) - use only real butter!

2 1/2 c sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

5 eggs

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated orange rind

3/4 c. evaporated milk

1/4 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

     Grease bottom and sides of a tube pan (like an angel food pan), or a 12-cup Bundt pan.  Flour lightly.  Preheat oven to 350. 

     In a large mixing bowl, soften the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, and add the sugar, vanilla and eggs.   Beat with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds on low speed, then on high speed for 5 minutes.  (Yes, 5 minutes - you need to really fluff up the eggs).  In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and orange rind.   Beat the flour mixture into the sugar mixture alternately with orange juice and milk on medium speed until well blended.

     Spread in baking pan and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes until a cake pick tests the cake done.  Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a plate.  When cake is cool, make the glazing and spoon and swirl over the cake. 

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar

3 T. orange juice or evaporated milk or a combo of the two (may need just a half tsp more)

2 T. softened butter

     In a small bowl, soften the butter and add the powdered sugar and orange juice and mix well until you have the consistency you want for spreading on the cake.

This is not a low calorie cake by any means, but hey - once in a while it's good to go for the calories and the good taste!!  And it makes a great birthday cake!

Here We Go Again!

Spring is pretty much here, and today is a gorgeous and warm day here in Minnesota! It is 57 degrees right now, and that is very warm for this time of year.   The snow (what little we had this year) is gone, and we are tapping maple trees.  We hope to tap about 200 trees if we can.  Next week the evenings will be freezing, and the days will be in the 40's for highs, and that is perfect weather for maple syrup!  We're ready, too, because the last couple years were not the best for maple syrup and everyone is out of syrup!  Also, the chickens can get out and run around now, and the cats are all over the farm looking for mice and sunny spots to snooze in.   Winter is over and life is good again.   Today I also started 6 trays of flowers and veggies - things like peppers and petunias, which take about 10-12 weeks to mature, and also some tomato plants I want to put into the high tunnel before I plant the others in the regular garden.   I'll start more plants in a few weeks for the main garden. 

The cycle of life starts all over again.............

Harold hammering the tap into the tree.

Then he slides a sap bag over the tap - there's a slot in the back of the bag that fits over the tap - and inserts a screw to hang the bag on (a grommet is in the top of the bag)

The sap is already running!

No snow in the sugar bush this year!  Easy to get around.

Our kitty FlufferDuff came along to help.......

Our chickens are enjoying a stroll in the woods looking for early bugs.

Kitty cat TippyToes is enjoying the warm sunshine after a long winter.

WHAT????  Sawhorses in the newly decorated living room??  Yep - best place in the house for starting seeds.

Almost There!

I've had folks ask me how the living room project is coming along.  It was almost 6 weeks ago that we tore apart the living room and began work on it.  We pretty much have it done except for putting on baseboard trim (we're making our own out of 1 x 4's), getting some things hung back up on the walls, and putting up the window scarves I bought.   These little details won't take long.  The hardest part was Harold and I (a couple of old people!), moving all the furniture back into the room!  Moving the furniture out was no problem because we weren't concerned about scratching the floor.   But after we re-painted the floor, we certainly didn't want to scratch it!  We solved that problem by putting old rugs and bedspreads under the furniture and dragging it into place.

If you recall, here was the "before" picture:

Before

And here is an after photo of what we have done so far:

After (but we still have a little to do yet!)

Other side of the room

Painting the big bay window

Close up of the trim

When everything is done, I'll post an updated photo.   Our living room may not be like in the magazines, but we are simple folks and we do our own interior decorating on a very limited budget.  It's just SO nice to have a room with color and organization again.

If we can eke out a couple weeks before the gardening season begins, we hope to finish the bedroom also.   From April to the end of October we are incredibly busy with yard and garden work and being one of the key vendors at the weekly farmer's market in town.  It may have taken us a long time to finish the living room, but we sure appreciate it now!