Maple Syrup Season!

A few weeks ago, on our way to Milwaukee, I noticed maples being tapped in someone’s backyard. 

I smiled. Temperatures in Northern Illinois must have reached above freezing during the day and below freezing at night.

This sap seeking process is a seasonal ritual that bridges the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. It’s transitional. 

It begins with a generous offering from the sugar maple tree, requires an immense amount of time and patience to separate the sugar from the water, and results in a special, concentrated sweetness perfect for pouring over a pile of pancakes.

Yesterday, I fried up some pancakes and then stacked them as high as I could – an impulse finally satiated having stemmed from a childhood obsession with Shel Silverstein’s “Pancake?” poem.

And I poured the precious maple syrup over my tower. It flowed down the ridges like lava over rocks, and it was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever witnessed. 

I was careful not to be wasteful, though, knowing that this syrup is so precious. This particular syrup comes from trees in Wisconsin and is bottled under the label “Lincoln County Reserve.”

For pancakes, we like Mark Bittman’s “Mother Hubbard” recipe which replaces egg with either curdled milk (milk and vinegar), buttermilk, or yogurt. They are super fluffy and have a tangy quality akin to Swedish pancakes, and as it turns out, they are pretty great at stacking. 

Anyway, take some time to appreciate the sweet, mighty maple syrup during this tapping season! 

Have you ever tapped maples?

How tall have you piled your pancakes?