Photo: courtesy of Kathy Gunst
From Kathy Gunst’s Notes from a Maine Kitchen, Down East Books, 2011
Maple Time
There is an upside to March and it sounds like this: drip, drip, drip. At a time of year when nature offers so little hope, maple trees produce a clear, unassuming-looking liquid which tastes like barely-sweetened water. But weeks later, after much boiling and sweet steam evaporation, a golden amber syrup appears. Maple syrup season is, without doubt, the best part of March in Maine.
My husband, John, and I are what you might call small-time home syrup makers. We only tap a half dozen or so maple trees scattered around our property. The ritual of cleaning out the taps, the old tin buckets and thin lids (which we have gathered over the years at yard sales, farm foreclosures and country stores) is actually something I look forward to. During this time of year, the closest I actually get to growing food is to fantasize about it while I gaze at seed catalogues piled up on my desk, luring me with sexy pictures of tomatoes and basil and squash popping out of warm fertile earth. So, getting outside and starting to “make” food thrills me. Continue reading
