To celebrate Sean's completion of his dissertation and defense, our family went up to New Hampshire to go "maple sugaring". We figured we should do this before we leave New England---where else in the world can you do this type of thing (well, besides Eastern Canada)? Fortunate for us, Sean's sister lives in New Hampshire so we stayed the weekend with them and all went up as a group. I highly recommend the trip, though it was a bit of a drive. We checked out the tour at The Rocks Estate. Family Fun Magazine had done a write up on this place a year ago so we figured it would be great for the family (and it was!). We started off our tour with a horse-drawn hay ride though their estate.
We actually got to "tap" a tree--the sap literally started flowing out like water after we had drilled into the tree about 2-3". The consistency of the sap is just like water and tastes like it too! They told us that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. It is an INVOLVED process which is also why it probably costs so much.
Below: Anne Elyse with her cousins Emmeline and Colette. Annie LOVES playing with her cousins. That has been one of the best parts of having Sean's sister within driving distance within the last few months (they moved here in October). Annie will be sad to leave them when we move this summer.
They "tout" this as the "New Hampshire Maple Experience"--and it was. After the hayride, we went into a classroom and saw a video all about how the early settlers made maple sugar (they made maple sugar in the winter to help pass the time until they could start plowing their fields in the spring) and more about the process of making maple syrup. Another interesting fact was that the settlers made maple sugar because white sugar was more expensive and maple sugar allowed them to sweeten their meals. However, as white sugar became more affordable, people made less and less of the maple sugar and instead focused on making maple syrup. The only difference between the two is the temperature you boil the sap to (217 vs. 248). Cool huh?
Daughter like Father:) She's a doll. We also got to tap a tree and saw a working "sugar house" where they were boiling the sap and making it into maple syrup. It was a great tour. We capped off our trip by having maple-syrup-drenched waffles for breakfast the next morning. YUMMY.
We actually got to "tap" a tree--the sap literally started flowing out like water after we had drilled into the tree about 2-3". The consistency of the sap is just like water and tastes like it too! They told us that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. It is an INVOLVED process which is also why it probably costs so much.
Below: Anne Elyse with her cousins Emmeline and Colette. Annie LOVES playing with her cousins. That has been one of the best parts of having Sean's sister within driving distance within the last few months (they moved here in October). Annie will be sad to leave them when we move this summer.
They "tout" this as the "New Hampshire Maple Experience"--and it was. After the hayride, we went into a classroom and saw a video all about how the early settlers made maple sugar (they made maple sugar in the winter to help pass the time until they could start plowing their fields in the spring) and more about the process of making maple syrup. Another interesting fact was that the settlers made maple sugar because white sugar was more expensive and maple sugar allowed them to sweeten their meals. However, as white sugar became more affordable, people made less and less of the maple sugar and instead focused on making maple syrup. The only difference between the two is the temperature you boil the sap to (217 vs. 248). Cool huh?
Daughter like Father:) She's a doll. We also got to tap a tree and saw a working "sugar house" where they were boiling the sap and making it into maple syrup. It was a great tour. We capped off our trip by having maple-syrup-drenched waffles for breakfast the next morning. YUMMY.
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