Sugar House and Sushi
One of the best things unique to this part of the country is pure maple syrup! Bron and I went to a Sugar House a couple of miles from our home on Saturday afternoon to see how they make it first-hand. It was a lot of fun! And oh, so yummy too!
First, the maple farmers tap the maple trees. The trees must be at least 40 years old, or about 10 inches in diameter. That's a long time to wait! Then they connect tubing from one tree to another and run the lines througout the entire forest. It looks like a maze. Finally, all the maple sap converges and collects at the same spot for pick-up.
Pure, frozen, maple sap, old school style.
It's about 1.2% sugar.
We got to observe where they remove the water from the sap via boiling it or through reverse osmosis. Very pretty stainless steel, don't you think? The sugar content is now between 20 and 28% and ready to eat.
The farmers pour the fresh syrup into jars or bottles. Some of them were still warm! We bought some dark amber stuff to share with family this summer. We also bought some maple candies too.
Bron and I had a great afternoon out! Not only did we get to see the maple farm in action, we got to sample maple syrup over some fry bread and try some maple icecream. Delicious! We also got to go on a horse-drawn wagon ride. They actually galloped! It was fun! We'll have to do it again next year.
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For those of you who may not know, my burly steak and potato loving husband is also a big fan of sushi! When I saw a sushi recipe book on sale for $7.00 last week, I just had to surprise him with it. Later on Saturday afternoon we tried our hand at actually making it. Cooking the sushi rice was the hardest and most time consuming part, but it's worth it. I think rolling the sushi is a learned art-form as well; some of them fell apart. Oh well. They still tasted great. We'll be making these again for sure!
Our Sushi
made with imitation crab, cucumber, red peppers, and avocado.
We can't wait to try more varieties!
Hooray for a delicious Saturday!
I LOVE sushi! so yummy!
ReplyDeleteAnd thats one thing I miss about living in NY.. is the maple syrup! its oh so delicious.. my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
What did you use to roll your sushi up? mine ALWAYS falls apart, its still good but not very sushi like!
i've been too afraid to try sushi, but crab, cucumber, peppers, avocado, and rice really doesn't sound too bad! ;)
ReplyDeletemy grandparents served a mission in vermont and told us about the pure maple syrup made there, but i have yet to try it! sounds way good.
Oh that syrup sounds amazing! I consider the store bought imitation stuff and the pure stuff completely different products!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun little outing! I've decided that I am very uncultured, because I've never had pure maple syrup or sushi! I enjoyed your pictures too!
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