Maple Syrup

Every year, when I see these signs posted in my neighborhood, I know it's time to make a special trip.

About a mile and a half from my house is a maple sugaring house - Nature's Sweet Secret.

It's where I go every spring to get my annual supply of New  Hampshire's "liquid gold."

I get two quarts because a half gallon jug won't fit comfortably in my refrigerator. Once you open this, you want to store it in the fridge. The other will wait patiently in my kitchen cabinet.

Now, if you're a native New Englander, you never buy the fake junk in the stores, and you know perfectly well you aren't going to get the real stuff anywhere else (read: restaurants outside the Northeastern US) unless you ask for it. It's the only thing you put on pancakes or waffles. It's the sweet stuff I use when I bake bread, and nowadays, it's the sweet stuff of choice for vegans because it's totally plant based. I routinely substitute maple syrup for honey whenever the latter is called for.

There's nothing like the real thing. And here's a hint for all of you who live outside the Northeastern US: Real Maple Syrup runs like water. It isn't thick or viscous like honey or corn syrup.

OK! Now I am off to the studio where I have to clean up to give myself room to work on the Zebras tutorial. In a few days I will be asking for volunteers to be beta testers, but not just yet.



OH!!!  I have a Very Big Surprise coming soon. More on that later, and it is NOT quilt related.