Head out on Route 2, West, in Massachusetts and you'll run into
Gould's Sugar House, the home of the best pancake and bacon in the universe. I don't eat bacon a lot, but when you walk into the restaurant at 8:30 a.m. and the place smells like bacon, it is imperative that you eat some. I'm surprised that Yankee Candle doesn't make a bacon scented candle. (actually that would be pretty gross, so forget I said that!) It was a dark day, but well worth the not so photoworthy trip out there.
It's an amazing operation...I think it takes something like 20 gallons of "sap" to make one gallon of pure maple syrup. It is so well worth the effort....the stuff is like gold....a gallon costs $50! A pint is $12. So worth it :)
The steam rising is amazing...this is the water evaporating off the sugar. It boils down until the sugars are left. Yum!
We got to sample the sap right outside the door of the sugar house. Here is the tap into the tree. One drop comes out about every minute. It's a slow process.
The sap tastes faintly sweet, but mostly like water. So you can really see how it takes all that boiling down to get to the sugars.
Gould's also has a great selection of handmade items from local artisans and farms. They have honey, their own syrup of course, maple sugar candy. They even sell fresh eggs for only $2 a dozen! That's an amazing bargain in the fresh egg market if you ask me.
It's an amazing operation...I think it takes something like 20 gallons of "sap" to make one gallon of pure maple syrup. It is so well worth the effort....the stuff is like gold....a gallon costs $50! A pint is $12. So worth it :)
The steam rising is amazing...this is the water evaporating off the sugar. It boils down until the sugars are left. Yum!
We got to sample the sap right outside the door of the sugar house. Here is the tap into the tree. One drop comes out about every minute. It's a slow process.
