Saturday, April 18, 2009

Nothing like it



I am just finishing this wonderful breakfast as I write this morning. Now that I see the picture here I realize it looks a bit like a chicken breast. It is not -chicken breast is not among my favorite breakfast foods. It is a pancake with bacon, raspberries, butter, and Grandpa and Grandma's maple syrup. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, enough said.

My family has been in the maple syrup business for generations. I think it began at the same time that Remus was first being settled by the Millers, Baumans, and the Wernettes, among a few other families. At one time I could summarize the history, but it escapes me now. Anyway, the syrup is the important part for now. Out behind my Gramma and Grampa's home, they own a woods. (There may be a more grammatically correct way to say one own's a wooded patch of land, but this makes sense in my mind.) Even though I can't go there often now, to me this woods is still one of the most treasured places in the world.

[Tangent: I remember being soooo upset when they made the decision to sell the piece of land between their home property and the woods to the Wernette family for cattle grazing. At the time, the 10-year-old environmentalist in me thought the cattle were going to destroy the land or something. I thought they would also prevent us from getting to the woods on the other side. I have long since forgiven them, and now I see it was a good thing and certainly meant a good partnership for both families.]

The woods hosts a meandering trail that that is home to leeks and things like boys (look like pants) and girls (look like skirts) flowers in the spring time. It is a cool place of respite in the summer, as well as the home of many past forts and childhood stories of me, my sisters, my cousins, and my aunts and uncles. There are such mysterious things there as the swamp and the rock pile. In the fall, the colors are beyond beautiful and the hayrides are the best. Two times of year, though, bring the most memories. One is the fall-to-winter transition, which marks deer hunting season. Many delicious venison meals have come from the bucks and does of this woods. The other time is winter-to-spring when the sap runs.

Just inside the path in the woods, lives the sugar shack. It has a tin roof and walls, dirt floor, and an old arm chair for resting in while you wait for the fire to need stirring. This is the place where the collected sap is boiled down into syrup. I've never learned all the ins and outs of the process (so feel free to fill them in, Gramma), but I know this: it involves more five gallon buckets than you can ever imagine, many hours of boiling on that hand-built, fire-fueled "stove", and a truckload of mason jars. The result, seen here, is pefect!



I wish I could pass out jars of this syrup to everyone I know. You would be hooked! If you're ever in Remus, Michigan though, just stop by Carol and Vince Miller's place on M-20. They're the ones with the maple leaf sign out front and the big fifth wheel parked in the drive way. You might even catch a glimpse of the woods out back.

In the meantime, enjoy this recipe for whole wheat pancakes. It is another family tradition, but this time from my favorite Stedman family in Colorado Springs.

Whole Wheat Pancakes
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
1-2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk (maybe 2, depending on how thick or thin you like your cakes)
5 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. oil
6 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

The simple directions are close to the best part: Mix dry, add wet, whisk together.

Enjoy! I'm going for seconds!

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