Good morning, morning! Spring is such a crazy, every-changing season! 40 degree high temperatures, then 60 degrees, tomorrow has a low of mid 20s, then 70 degrees for this weekend! The 20 degrees can freeze the camper pipes, but I’m happy that camper spring cleaning and camping season are almost here! I’m also sad that such warm temperatures mean the trees are budding and maple season is over.
But-the 2023 maple season was our best so far!
We boiled sap 6 times this year, usually we boil 3-4 times!
Thankfully, most of the days were warmish and not breezy, since I like to sit by the fire all day! I enjoy feeding logs into the barrel stove and watching the sap boil and get golden.
Even though I love snow, it is great finally being outside in warmish weather.
This year we didn’t need to try to boil sap on just the weekend, though that worked fine for many years. The husband is now retired, so we were able to pick calmer days to boil, not just any Saturday/Sunday that we have lots of sap.
We tried to boil on calm days when we had about 20 gallons of sap. We can get 20ish gallons boiled down, brought inside and finished before supper, though we do start early in the morning. It is much more relaxing and enjoyable than boiling in the dark and finishing it about 10:00 at night.
In 2018, our previous best year, we boiled 94 gallons of sap.
This year, from February 11 to March 28, our 4 taps on our 2 maple trees produced 124 gallons of sap! We made 12 ½ quarts (just over 3 gallons) of backyard maple syrup! Woo-hoo!
Even though I am sad the maple trees have budded and maple season is over, it was so fun! We have lots of yummy maple syrup for french toast, pancakes and granola!
It was great, being able to enjoy the changing weather, the fire and some campfire food as we wait for camping season to start!
Campfire cooking is one of my favorite parts of camping. Cooking while making maple syrup is almost the same!
This year we made lots of little smokies. With toast, little smokies cooked over the fire are a great, easy breakfast for frosty, early mornings.
We also enjoyed Reuben Pie Irons over the barrel cooker. They are so yummy and leave yummy leftovers for an easy snack: Toasted Rye and Swiss!
Thankfully, the Reuben Pie Irons are very customizable- the husband and I make very different reuben sandwiches! I use way less sauerkraut and swiss, but more corned beef. I also use 2 slices of rye bread, he cuts his slice of bread in half to make the sandwich.
When I finish and close my pie iron, the rye bread stick out. It needs to be trimmed off so it doesn’t burn in the fire.
I am sooo glad that I don’t need to waste my extra bread though-it makes a yummy snack.
While my Reuben Pie Iron cools, it is easy to place the rye bread buttered side down in the pie iron and top it with a slice of swiss cheese. After a few minutes over the fire, it is melted and toasty! My bread scraps are not wasted, they are a yummy, easy easy snack!
Cooking and experimenting over the fire is sooo fun- even if it is just a super easy snack! Since maple season is over, I can’t wait to go camping and cook more meals and snacks over the campfire!
Happy Camping (or snacking!)
Frugal Campasaurus