Friday, March 07, 2008
It's Maple Sugaring Time
The ground is still covered in snow and ice. But things are starting to warm just a bit, and it's maple sugaring season - a great time in New England. Those with groves of sugar maples will be running taps, collecting the watery, slightly sweet sap in buckets through plastic lines running between the trees, as temperatures above freezing cause pressure that forces the liquid out. Producers bring the sap to sugar houses, with wood-fired kettles that will boil batches for 24 hours to develop the amber liquid you can easily grow to love.
Maple sugaring also means the opening of the seasonal restaurants attacked to some of the sugar houses: fluffy pancakes and round corn fritters, all soaked with maple syrup, and, at one, at least, even tiny cones of maple-flavored ice cream. The whole experience will last only six weeks. If you're anywhere near this part of the country, come by on a weekend, check one of the web sites for the locations of the restaurants, and get in early. Two hour waits are hardly unusual. In April, as people who have been coming for decades are leaving from their last breakfast of the season, you'll hear people say, "See you next year."
Maple sugaring also means the opening of the seasonal restaurants attacked to some of the sugar houses: fluffy pancakes and round corn fritters, all soaked with maple syrup, and, at one, at least, even tiny cones of maple-flavored ice cream. The whole experience will last only six weeks. If you're anywhere near this part of the country, come by on a weekend, check one of the web sites for the locations of the restaurants, and get in early. Two hour waits are hardly unusual. In April, as people who have been coming for decades are leaving from their last breakfast of the season, you'll hear people say, "See you next year."
Labels: maple syrup, restaurants, travel
Sunday, April 22, 2007
More New York: Make Your Own Waffles
Technically, this is New Jersey (Newark, to be exact) at a Marriott's SpringHill Suites. A good location - about 10 miles from Manhattan and a price of $109 with a king bed, queen sofa bed, fridge and microwave, free Internet access, and a pool. Oh, yes, and breakfast in the morning is included. It's one of the better morning meals I've seen included in a room fee, with sausage patties and eggs for making sandwiches, yogurt, cereals, and so on. But what took me by surprise was the sight of two commercial waffle makers. The hotel leaves out individual servings of waffle batter. You open the iron, pour it in, close and spin it upside down, and wait for the beeping that says it's done. Fake waffle syrup, unfortunately, but we're not in western Massachusetts at the moment, so the real thing is not so plentiful. At the writing conference I've been attending, I spoke with a colleague, Daylle Deana Schwartz, music industry maven and relationship writer. She was on a book tour last year and said that I'm behind the times, as the DIY waffle making is in many places. Guess I don't get 'round much anymore.
Labels: Daylle Deana Schwartz, New York, Newark, travel, waffles
