6 Months?!?!?!?!? Yikes!

Apparently I've been slacking.  I do apologize!  We were so busy with so many activities and then I sort of lost the ooph to blog.  After reading Easy Rules by Ems and Jules and realizing that they have more kids and likely a million more activities/stressors, I came to the conclusion that I can do this!  :)

So, for the first installment in a very long time, I'm going to just post pics of the myriad baking projects I've had in the past 6 months!  It's been sugary fun!  Enjoy...

Patriotic Parfaits for work

Homemade Graham Crackers 

(to go with the homemade marshmallows that I somehow forgot to take a picture of!)

                                     

Cookies for Matthew's graduation from Kindergarten

Strawberry Ice Box Cake.  So good!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

(and strawberry pie my sister-in-law made!)

Baby Shower cookie order

Luau Themed cake and cupcakes for my friend's daughter

Sunny cookies for a friend's 1 year old

Mustang Carrot Cake for a friend's 20-something son

Our annual tradition of back-to-school Pencil Cookies

Owl cake

What does a fox say???  My nephew turned 2 and requested a fox cake!

A super fun Monster cake for my friend's 1 year old

So there you have it!  I promise to be back on a more regular basis.

May Day...May Day...May Day!

Spring has finally sprung in NH!  I do have a secret desire to do the May Pole thing, though I fear I would be the kid going in the wrong direction and tying everyone up in knots!

While it may not look super warm outside, we've hit a few 70 degree days this month and there is green grass.  Most of my bulbs came up, except the daffodils, which are usually the first up.  The tulips are up, but have no stems, just leaves.  The only things that bloomed?  My crocus and 1 hyacinth.  I fear I may have to dig out my entire garden and restock it next fall.  Good excuse to buy bulbs though!

We finished up our sap season on a high note!  Despite our late start, we hit the average gallons produced.  Now we're on to the clean up.  No matter how much syrup you make, there is always the same amount of set up and breakdown.  For the first time, I got to help with the latter.  (somehow I've always managed to escape that chore!).  Cleaning out the sap house means scrubbing every piece of equipment (and I do mean EVERY).  We did this last weekend when it was a mere 40 degrees ouside and breezy.  Lots of fun when you're power washing giant stainless steel pans!

I have no idea where all these hoses went, but it was a prime example of a "mobility hazard," something I tell my patients to avoid every day!  Do as I say, not as I do!!!!

My hubby taking apart the syrup pan.

A cool shot of a very disorganized sap house.

The upside, it's all clean now and, aside from still removing all the taps, we're on our way to bigger and better things.

Besides sapping and cleaning, a few cakes kept me busy as well.  I had requests for a running theme for my sister's Father-in-law.

Then I was asked to do a cake for my hubby's co-worker.  Her daughter wanted a horse cupcake cake.  Never done an animal before, but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out! 

She looks pretty happy with it!

Nothing in the works for this month, though it stands to be crazy busy with school activities, mini-vacation, girls' weekend, etc.  Maybe a baking reprieve!

A Sticky Situation

Here I go again, apologizing for being such a slacker.  The month of March has been a bit hectic and it is only now that I can finally sit down with some peace and quiet.  No doubt, that will bring the wee one out of his afternoon slumber!

March is Sap Season here in New England and that is most of what has kept me tied up this past month.  If you were around last year at this time, maybe you read my post Water + Dirt + Snow = ?  Well, it's happened again.

Mud season in NH.  The cousins were enjoying a warm, muddy day down at the sap house.  My in-laws are sugar makers (aka, they make that sweet, golden stuff you pour all over your pancakes!).  No, it's not Aunt Jemima, though my sister found an interesting article about why Americans prefer the fake stuff.  Not cool if you're a sugar maker!  We want people to eat the real thing.  How can you resist this stuff?

Anyway, the sap season for us begins with setting up the tubing lines all over the sap orchard, as well as a few stands of trees around town.  Easy enough to do if you're not trekking through 3 feet of snow.  I caved and bought these snazzy snow shoes this year instead of tripping all over in my father-in-law's giant ones! 

 Even with these, it was exhausting work!  Keep in mind, we're not just walking around, we're carrying buckets of gear, ladders, etc.  And there's usually a galumphing beast with us!  This is the neighbor's new "puppy" Stoli!  Super cute and friendly, but the size of a horse!

So, the lines are up, wood has been split and stacked, evaporator test-fired.  Now we wait.  And wait.  And this year, wait some more.  Sugar makers prefer cold nights, around 28 degrees and warm days, around 42 degrees.  This forces the sap to run.  Unfortunately, this March was so horribly cold, it rarely reached these ideal days.  Until this past week.  And now it's running like crazy!  Thank you Mother Nature!  (pretty sure we had been saying a lot of nasty things about her lately!)

This is what it looks like on a warm day, running through the tubing into the collection tank.  Lots of bubbles makes us happy!

Every March, NH Maple producers sponsor Maple Weekends throughout the state and last weekend hit my in-laws neck of the woods.  Unfortunately, we hadn't made much syrup by that point and the weather started out snowy and cold, but people still came!  It's a wonderful chance for us to visit with long-time friends and family and show off a unique process to those who have never seen it in action.  I think I say it every year, but I wish I could bottle the smell inside the sap house when we're at full fire stage and syrup is coming off!

My husband is the 5th generation sugar maker and I guess that makes the boys the 6th generation if they chose to keep it going, which we all hope they do!  We even made it into the local paper...that's my hubby on the front page!

A few pics from last weekend and now I'm off to Easter prep.  Carrot cake cupcakes and bunny rolls.  Pics to come!

Grampy checking the sugar content

warming syrup for samples

final product

Grammy and Brent

Ben checking the buckets

annual sap house family photo (maybe Ben will look at the camera some day!)

P.S. if you ever want more info on our farm or to buy syrup, check out our FaceBook page 

Snow for Sale

We're serious!  Please stop praying for snow!  Just checked WeatherStreet and it says we currently have about 30" of snow piled up in the back yard.  This is a cool site...just type in your zip code and it shows snow depth currently.  All well and good if you really care about the snow base.  I just want it to say 0".

Just for reference, the grey storage box in the lower left is about 30" tall and the snow comes even to it!  If we let my little guy out there, we'd lose him!  :)

Thanks to all this snow and all the germs having a field day in the cold, stuck-inside-together-sneezing-our-heads-off weather, we had to cancel the boys' party yet again.  I have never felt so awful as when we broke the news to the big guy.  He ran to his room and pulled the covers over his head.  I don't blame him.  I would have done the same thing if it didn't make me look like a really sad 6 year old!  I had literally decorated everything, cleaned the house top to bottom and made the cake (again).  Little boys with fevers of 103 degrees prevent anyone from entering our house!  So, it's on hold again.  I vow to have the party (mostly because I have all the stuff still) because kids need to celebrate!

A few shots of what could have been...

Turtle lanterns.  Easy to make with paper lanterns (I got mine from Party City.  Unfortunately, they come in packs of 3 and there are 4 turtles.  I tried to convince myself we only needed to make 3, but that looked silly so I went back and got one more package.  Now I have 2 extra...what to do with them...).  Crepe streamers and giant googly eyes completed the projected.  I used some sticky tabs to adhere the streamers and eyes.

Ever made slime (aka. Mutagen Ooze!)?  So fun and so easy to make.  The kids can help with all stages and you can make it in any color.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 teaspoon Borax laundry booster

5 ounces glue (clear or white works or use colored and omit the food coloring)

food coloring

warm water

(I've seen recipes add glitter if you want it sparkly.  Ninja turtles are definitely un-sparkly!)

-In measuring cup, mix 1 Cup warm water with the Borax.  Stir well to dissolve.

-In a large mixing bowl, combine glue and 1/2 Cup warm water, mixing well to thin out the glue.

-Add food coloring to desired shade.

-Slowly pour Borax mixture into the glue and stir.  Only a few stirs and you will see a cool change!  It firms up instantly!  Keep stirring until everything is combined and it becomes a semi-solid mass.

Let the kiddos help...make it a science lesson!  You can roll a ball of it in your hand and bounce it a bit, but if you lay your hand flat, it melts through your fingers!  Experiment by adding more or less water to the glue mixture and see what happens.

*side note...I prefer the kids using this outside or in the tub as it's a pain to clean off fiber (ie. carpet and clothing!)  It does wash out in the laundry, but carpet is awful if it gets ground in!

Cake pics...this time my husband too the big base to work.  My coworkers got the 1st round.  At least someone is happy with cancelled parties!

The sewer lid that was supposed to lay on top of the turtles, like they were poking out of the tunnel.

Yes, we lit it and sang happy birthday despite it just being us!  :)

That's all for now.  Tomorrow is my big day...birthday time.  I will be turning 29 again.  It's been a few years of 29.  My hubby has vowed to make my birthday dessert.  Lord help us!  I requested White Chocolate Fruit Tart.  We'll see how it goes!

Wishing for sun and warmth...

Groundhog Day...again

I hate the furry little beast.  It is truly the most ridiculous tradition we have going.  We wait with baited breath to find out what a rodent predicts?  Really?  Naturally this year he decided 6 more weeks of winter.  I can't take any more winter!  We got a good 14 inches of snow last week and piled on another foot in the days following that.  I hear another foot predicted for Monday.  I'm going to lose my children outside if it doesn't melt soon!

It's also been way too cold to be out in it for any length of time.  But we managed a few runs down the massive pile of snow that the plow nicely made for the boys (or that's what we tell them!).

Unfortunately, in the week after my last post, the little one succumbed to another round of the stomach bug and we were forced to postpone their birthday party, much to the dismay of the big one who spent the day in tears, despite our valiant attempts to do semi fun things with sick boy.

Last weekend, our big one turned....6!!!!!!!!!!  Not sure how I ended up with a 3 and 6 year old, but here he is...

We let him pick where to go to eat and for 2 years now he's selected The Airport Diner.  We're big fans and love that he wants to go for breakfast!  We get to watch the planes taking off and landing and much of the decor is classic diner with fun airplane accents.  The food is great and reasonably priced.  The waitstaff is friendly and very accommodating.  And most of the menu items you can get any time of day.  Bonus for the little one deciding he wanted a hot dog and fries at 8 am!

He also picked birthday dessert as we save the big cake for the family party.  This year he opted for Alton Brown's Peanut Butter Pie.  I do not make the peanut butter.  Though one of these days I'd like to, just for kicks!  The pie is delicious (essentially a giant Reese's peanut butter cup) and must come with whipped cream.  It's become a favorite in our household and the typical request of my husband on his birthday.

(I added sprinkles...because it's a birthday pie!)

So, we're back to birthday party prep since we're going to attempt round 2 this weekend, barring any illnesses and/or mother nature's wrath being unleashed yet again.  Cross your fingers for success as I really want to make the turtle-train cake!