A Sticky Situation

This morning's 14 degree weather reminded me that Adirondack Spring includes the whole maple syrup thing: cold nights and warm, sunny days. Many people do not realize the Adirondacks of upstate New York are a big source of maple syrup. Vermont's marketing tries to make maple syrup from there sound like a superior product, but take it from an expert, ours is better. I buy my syrup from local producers, very local. These days, I am a customer of my neighbors and friends at South Meadow Farm. We also sometimes get our syrup from friends who are struck by the bug to make their own syrup. Maple syrup is a good habit to have since it is pretty ubiquitous here; it is not hard to find. You can even buy it at the mid-station chair lift at Whiteface Mountain. Making maple syrup is not a difficult process, it just takes time and patience. My family even did it one year. It was a long time ago, in a county far away, when a lack of patience with the simmering process gave us the idea to finish it off inside, on the gas stove. The entire kitchen was covered in sticky. The wallpaper peeled off the walls from the sticky steam. That was the best tasting maple syrup ever, but I wouldn't recommend the process. It is easier to buy it from Tony, next door. Today's photo is in memoriam, and shows the remains of my x-c ski trail to the Jack Rabbit Trail.