Sweet Maple Syrup Season

Looking out the window, as I'm writing this, I see fat snowflakes twirling in the wind, a gentle reminder that winter is not ready to bid us adieu just yet.Which is fine, at least on one front - it extends the maple season a bit.

Every spring, my sister, Sonia is busy collecting and cooking sap, which she's been doing this for a number of years now. It's obvious how much she enjoys this sweet season, especially cooking it over scrap wood. Throughout the year my brother, who works in the carpenter shop, saves some scrap hard wood for her. (Hard wood is perfect for this task, as it burned longer.) If it's going to be burned, it may as well be used to produce something sweet and savoury. 

This year has been strange, with spring being nice and mild one week and much colder and wintery the next. These changes caused the sap flow to be much slower than usual. 

Still, she managed to get a fair amount of beautiful and tasty syrup thus far, putting smiles on the faces of many maple syrup fans around here. Now for some hot-of-the-griddle golden-brown pancakes and saskatoons to savour the syrup with.

Wishing you a blessed and meaningful Easter!