Sugaring Time

It has been three years since we last made maple syrup. We would make it more often except it is SO much work. Since we make enough to last us two years, there is no reason to burn an unreasonable amount of wood every year. The girls would prefer that we make syrup every year, though. They love sitting in the driveway, doing the NYT crossword puzzle, sunning in lawn chairs while Terry splits logs into match sticks to fit the small firebox of the evaporator. This year we are promised more help from Liz, Anne and Ian.

Last Sunday was a warm (38 degrees) sunny, blue sky day and Terry pronounced it tapping day. So off he went, drill in hand, with me following behind with our 12 buckets. Only 3 trees are on the near side of the ravine. The rest are a walk in the woods on the far side of the ravine. Tapping is easy - emptying the buckets is not. Enter Liz. We hold the sap in large containers in the garage until we can boil on the weekend. Check out the video below to see Terry tap a tree. The next post will show what happens next!

Mutt Coats

So..... when Anne adopted Juniper she thought she needed a winter coat. (Don't dogs have fur?) We went to the fabric store and the rest is history. Much of my spare time has been taken over with sewing custom dog coats. Becca Riker, owner of The Mutt Hutt in Tremont, has been kind enough to feature the coats in her recent newsletter:
http://www.themutthutt.com/february2010.html. You need to scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the coats. Here are lucky dogs, Juniper and Stellah.

Pasta, pasta, pasta

Who would have thought that roasted red peppers and cream would be so delightful on fresh pasta? Anne and Liz have made Salsa di Pepperoni twice for us since returning from Italy. Ian loves when they practice at their house in Tremont! The meal included Hannah's cabbage salad followed by Anne's lemon tart. Gunther, Ruby and Juniper patiently waited for pieces of pasta to drop on the floor during the process.

We are a lucky bunch!

Slow Cooking

Since Liz moved back home in December, meals have gotten so much better for all of us. She made a tasty Moroccan Stew on the wood stove and served it with jasmine rice. I must say that it is wonderful to walk into the house at the end of the day and smell dinner already done.