Tasting, Extracting and Gathering

We were privileged to participate in the local, annual maple syrup tasting. We tasted around 24 different syrups, and were astonished at the variances. We did not see Aunt Jemima, but we did taste some great syrups. As we said in an earlier post Robert, our host boss, makes maple syrup each year, and it appears that his was the clear winner of this year's contest!

To taste it for yourself, order it from his website here.

Also, had the opportunity to extract honey from the comb last Thursday. Robert has been bee keeping since the early 80's. Here's how the process went:

First, we removed the outer layer of beeswax so the honey could flow out.
Put the combs in the honey extractor and turn the handle rapidly. This forces the honey to fly out of the combs and onto the sides of the barrel, where it slowly drips down and pools at the bottom. Kinda like the scrambler at a local fair.
Don't waste a drop and taste often!
Finished product.
Gathered some shitake mushrooms as well.

And an edible fern called a fiddlehead. Note the shape (it's like a fiddle).

Then Robert made us a white sauce that included the shitake mushrooms, fiddleheads and some ramps (wild onions) we gathered. Delicious and rewarding.