Grayson Enterprises Ltd. First NA Seria! Rights Page 1 Usua! format: introduction, Sidebars, and Recipes A DOCTOR GOES MAPLE SUGARING Written by June Grayson - Photographed by Richard Grayson The Promised Land had its mi!k and honey. North America has the sugar map!e tree. North America got the better dea!. Long before the arriva! of the Europeans, American Indians made sugar by tapping the map!e trees w#th their tomahawks in the spring. They stored the sugar !n birch bark boxes and even used it as a med!um of exchange. The co!onists considered map!e sugar a direct gift of God. Northerners exhorted the nation to turn to map!e sugar so as to boycott the sugar cane p1antations manned by African s!aves in the West Indies. An agricu!tura! pub|ication of 1824 stated, "The cane sugar is the resu!t of the forced . !abor of the most wretched s!aves, toi!ing under the crue! !ash of a cutting whip, whi!e map!e sugar is made by those who are happy and free." Grayson, Maple, page 2 Gift of God or not, map!e sugar producers work hard. Sap f!ows best in ear!y spring wherever there are warm, sunnv days and freezing nights - conditions met in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. North America is the on!y continent with a maple products industry. Trees must be tapped at just the right time. A season can begin the end of February and last unti! early April. When the sap starts f!owing, farmers stay in their sugar houses around the c!ock to feed the furnace and supervise the evaporators. Thirty-five ga!!ons of c!ear, thin sap must be boi!ed down to produce one ga!lon of map!e syrup. Commercial producers use sophisticated vacuum systems of p!astic tubing to co!!ect the sap and automatica!!y de!iver it to the sugar house. Industria!-size, meta! evaporators with compartmenta!ized pans over a huge firebox further mechanize production. Sti!!, the map!e sugar farmer, !ike farmers of other commodities, is at the mercy of the weather. If just the right co#bin#ion of temperature, wind, and moisture is not met, sap f!ow may be erratic or even stop premature#y. As soon as the leaf buds swell, the flow stops and the season is over. It takes a map!e tree at |east 50 years to reach a trunk diameter of 10-13 inches, big enough to tap. The average sap is two percent sugar. Farmers and foresters use a hygrometer to indentify the "super-sweet" trees which may have a concentration as high as 12 percent. State forestry departments propagate the seeds from these trees and (more-over) Grayson, map!e, page 3 distribute the seed!ings to upgrade existing map!e groves. Though research continues, no one has been ab!e to produce a tree maturing earlier than the usua! fifty years. This may exp!ain wny financia! p!anners never suggest a map!e sugar farm as a good investment. It takes a specia! kind of person to develop a business with a 50-year payoff. Our friends, Ruth and Dave Drewry, dairy farmers and map!e syrup producers of P!ymouth, Wisconsin, are these specia! people. Dave, a direct descendant of Captain My!es Standish of P!ymouth, Massachusetts, and a signer of the famous "Mayf!ower Compact", is the fifth generation to work the same Wisconsin farm which his children and grandchi!dre may someday inherit. To these Americans, farming is a !ife as we!! as a living. ######### -.-,--", _-..-, ---.- -.-.--. HOW TO TAP YOUR OWN MAPLE TREE You can collect the sap from any tree of the map!e fami!y, even a box elder, a!though the sugar map!e gives the highest yie!d. Collect the following equipment in advance: A 7/16" bit or dri!l used in a hand dri!!. Metal spouts, sometimes ca!!ed "spi!es".* Covered containers to catch the sap (use the commercial ga!vanized pails with !ids, or use gal!on p!astic mi!k bottles. Large kett!e in which to boil down the sap. Out door fire. Cheesecloth to strain syrup. On the first day after a freezing night when the daytime temperatures rise above freezing, dril! a 3" ho!e s!anting s!ight!y upward (so the syrup can run out) on the side of the tree trunk warmed by the sun. On trees 10-14" in diameter, you may dri!! one ho!e, if 15-19" in diameter, dri!l two ho!es, and over 20" in diameter three ho!es. Drive the sap spout into each ho!e with a coup!e of good taps of a hammer. Hang a col!ecting pa#n on each spout. Treat the sap as you wou!d mi!k: the sap is not sterile and wi!! spoi! if !eft over!ong at a warm temperature. The sap may be frozen or stored in a refrigerator until you have co!!ected enough sap to start "boiling down." Remember this magic ratio: 40 to one - it takes approximate!y 40 parts of sap to reduce to one part of map1e syrup. That is why '---, _-r.., =".." #'"="#', ###e # you shou!d boil it down outside. Re!easing so much water vapor inside your house might !oosen a!l your wa!!paper. Strain the sap before and after boiling. You may add more sap to the kett!e as soon as it boi!s down so that there is enough room, making this a continuous process. Strain and store in your refrigerator when done. You may get an average of five ga!!ons of sap from one tap on a 10-14" tree. That will boil down into one pint of map!e syrup. Our friend, Terry Frerichs. of St. Char!es, taps the eight map#e trees in her yard every sp#ing. She hooks a five ga!!on seam!ess stee! kett!e over the top rung of a chi!d's swing set and bui!ds a wood bonfire on the ground underneath it for her boi!ing down process. * picture of spout, cost is !ess than $1.00 for each one You may order a he!pfu! catalog, the "MAPLE SUGAR MAKERS' GUIDE" from Leader Evaporator Co., Inc., St. Albans, Vermont, 05478, te!ephone (802)524-4966 Grayson, maple, page 4 (prop#sed sidebar) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION For a more detai!ed history of map!e sugaring in America, read THE MAPLE SUGAR BOOK TOGETHER WITH REMARKS ON PIONEERING AS A WAY OF LIVING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by He!en and Scott Nearing. To learn how to make map!e syrup in your own backyard and where to get the .proper equipment, read BACKYARD SUGARIN' by Rink Mann, Country Press, Woodstock, Vermont, and MAKING MAPLE SUGAR distributed by Garden Way Pub!ishing, Dept. F157, Char!otte, Vermont, 05445. To find out what map!# festiva1s and tours are avai!ab!e to you in your nearest northern state, ca!! that state's Department of Tourism. For Vermont, ca!! 1-800-622-4247. #or Quebec, Canada, ca!! 1-800-443-7000. In addition, many park districts and forest preserves throughout the United States sponsor maple sugaring festiva!s and demonstrations in the spring. ######### Grayson Maple Syrup Artic!e Page # HOW TO USE MAPLE SYRUP IN YOUR COOKING Map!e syrup is de!icious just as it comes from the container. It can be used as a topping on pancakes, waff!es, French toast, puddings, yogurt, and ice cream. You can use it to sweeten fresh fruits. Use it to brown meats and add it to barbecue sauces. For a quick cake fros#ing, add a !itt!e map!e syrup to confectioner's sugar unti! it is of spreading consistency. Since map!e syrup is not as concentrated as honey or some corn syrups, you wi!! have to experiment with the proportions of !iquid to thickening if you use map!e syrup as a substitute for another form of sweetene# in a recipe. Unopened map!e syrup containers can be stored in a fresh, dry cupboard. After ope#ing, the container shou!d be tight!y sea!ed and kept in the refrigerator. MAPLE POT ROAST Contributed bv June Grayson 1 3-pound bone!ess beef roast, rump or simi|ar cut 3 Tbsp. oi! # cup map!e syrup # cup cider vinegar 1 !arge onion, diced 1 #sp. sa!t # tsp. b!ack pepper 1/8 tsp ginger 1/8 tsp c!oves Brown beef on a!! sides in hot oi! in heavy ski!!et. Then p!ace roast in s!ow cooker. . Brown onion in pan juices, add to roast in cooker. Add map!e syrup, vinegar, and a!! spices to oi! in pan and stir to mix with pan juices. Pour a!! from ski!!et over roast in s!ow cooker. Keep at high heat for four hours. Serve hot thin!y s!iced with pan juices poured over. A!so good served co!d, thin!y s!iced, for sandwiches. _.--_ Map!e Sugar Artic!e Page # GINGER PEAR UPSIDE DOWN CAKE Contributed by June Grayson 2 Tbsp. butter or margerine # cup maple syrup 2 or 3 ripe fresh pears, peeled and cored 1/8 cup crystalized ginger, cut into !itt!e s!ivers 1# cup sifted f!our 2 tsp. baking powder # tsp. salt # cup butter.or margerine 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs # cup milk Melt butter in one round 9" cake.pan, remove from heat and stir in map1e syrup. Cut pears and arrange attractive!y in pan over the butter and syrup. Sprink!e the ginger over and around the #ears. Sift dry ingredients together into a mixing bow!. B!end the butter, eggs, and mi!k in b!ender. Mix into dry ingredients. Spread batter carefu!!y in pan so as not to displace the pears. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes. Coo! slightly. While sti!l warm enough to come out of pan, invert onto serving p!ate. Serve warm p|ain or with whipped cream. Grayson Map!e Syrup Artic!e Page # CUMBERLAND MAPLE PIE Contributed by Ann Drewry Goetsch of Drewry Farms 1 baked pastry she!! 8" or 9" in diameter 2 cups map!e syrup 2 Tbsp. f!our # cup milk # cup cream 1 Tbsp. butter Mix map!e syrup and f!our in a saucepan, then add mi!k, cream, and butter. Stir gent!y over moderate heat and boi! to 210 degrees. Coo!. Then pour into .she!!. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 m#nutes unti! top of pie is brown. Grayson Map!e Syrup article Page MAPLE GINGERBREAD Contributed by Ann Drewry Goetsch of Drewry Farms 1 cup sour cream 1 egg 1 cup maple syrup # cup sugar # tsp. cinnamon 2 cups f!our 2 tsp. baking soda Combine sugar, spice, and sa!t. Add sour cream and gent!y stir in map!e syrup to which soda has be#n added. Mix we!! and add f!our, then add egg. Bake in buttered '" x 10" pan at 325 degrees for about 45 min#tes. Serve p!ain or with maple f!avored whipped cream. MAPLE FLAVORED WHIPPED CREAM 1 cup whipping cream # cup map!e syrup Whip cream as usual. When it is a!most stiff, instead of adding sugar, gradua!!y pour in maple syrup whi!e contin#ing to beat cream. Serve at once over cakes,waff!es, etc. Grayson Maple Syrup artic!e Page MAPLE MOLASSES TAFFY Contributed by Ann Drewry Goetsch of Drewry Farms 1# cups sugar # cup map!e syrup 2 Tbsp. butter # tsp. baking soda 1 cup !ight mo!asses # cup water # cup nuts .. Combine sugar, map!e syrup, molasses, and water in a !arge saucepan. Cook gent!y for about 20 minutes, stirring all of the time. Increase heat, keep stirring, unti! hard boi! stage, about 45 minutes in a#l. Add soda, butter, and chopped nuts. Pour into a we!!-greased pan. After about 15 minutes, pu!! the mixture until !ight golden and near!y opaque. Make ropes and cut into #" pieces with scissors. Wrap indiv!dua!!y in waxed paper.