Woodsmoke and steam.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.


Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.


Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Cooking maple sap. | Clean.

Randomly, spontaneously, we decided to cook down the many gallons of maple sap that we've collected in the past few days. We've been cooking it slowly as we go (on the kitchen stove of all places) but Pete and Sage build a simple maple cooker out of a dozen cinder blocks today.

So we went for it.

We started cooking mid-afternoon, and the next thing I knew we had spent the day outside in the sunshine around the fire.

Not too shabby for a random Wednesday.

When we got hungry we had a perfectly balanced meal of hot maple sap, organic hot dogs, and last year's dilly beans from the cellar. (Yes, some days not going in to cook trumps a healthy meal.)

There was music, laughter, books, woodsmoke, and steam.

And then it was time to call it a night.

Long after bedtime might have been we wandered inside for warmed raw milk with ghee (to help little ones sleep and fill any empty spots left in tummies after our questionable dinner). Then – still laughing – everyone tucked in for the night.

Spring in the country. Maple sap. Woodsmoke. Steam. Bald eagles. Sandhill cranes. Music. Handknits. Magic. Stars. Peace.

More goodness than my heart can hold.

17 thoughts on “Woodsmoke and steam.

  1. casey u says:

    So magical. I told my husband how romantic you made it look and he got a little offended that our stove-top sap cooking wasn’t measuring up. 😉 He blames the filter you use on your photos. Ha.

  2. Rachel Wolf says:

    Ha! Tell him that a decade or so ago we once un-romatically filed our entire downstairs with smoke when we decided watching a movie was a good way to pass the sap-cooking time. Maybe that will help. 🙂

  3. KC says:

    I’m glad you showed us the hot dogs! I wrestle with the hot dogs all the time. I will buy organic pastured on as a treat sometimes. Knowing you occasionally give your kiddos hot dogs makes me feel better about it. Give ourselves a little slack right?

  4. Beth says:

    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon as a family.
    We finished our final batch of maple syrup last night on the stove top.
    I love your hat!

  5. NinnyNoodleNoo says:

    The Hardy Boys! Haven’t seen any of those books for a while!

    I’m with Kitty, I have to experience maple syrup processing vicariously through blogs – although one can tap silver birch trees here 🙂

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