A taste of boiling to come ...

We've made a few references to the fact that Ed has been kept pretty busy already this year with the boiling. Boiling maple syrup is a complex process, and we'll have an entry on it soon. But it's as important to describe the feel of this as it is the mechanics. Here's what the sugar house looks like from the outside:It's a small, compact building; it looks like your olde worlde cottage in the woods, the sort of cozy, nostalgic country shack where good things are made. It billows steam through the vented hatchways that are opened during boiling, and smoke rises from the chimney. Whatever the weather and however cold you're feeling, you just know it's going to be warm inside. You're right: it's good and steamy in there. The interior is no frills, just the necessary equipment, but you don't need much extravagance when what you're doing has brilliant simplicity: you're creating this luscious, wonderful sweetness from something you just extracted from trees--and there isn't much more basic than a tree--that morning. I love the idea of distilling a natural, renewable product into something edible and delicious (and possibly even nutritious!). And the warm maple syrup to sample there is a small slice of heaven: I don't know why it should be better than regular syrup heated up in the kitchen, but it is.

So that's the picture. When there's more time and more photos we'll get back to the mechanics of it all!