Urban Syrup

There is no acceptable substitute for real maple syrup.
However the price of real syrup is somewhat dear, 

so last March we put our giant West Hill Norway Maple to work. 

With the perfect combo of cold nights and root-warming sunny days, 

the three taps produced more than three gallons of sap a day.

The end result was thirty gallons of sap over a few short weeks,

that we were invited to add to the collection of a Master Gardener friend's hundreds of gallons,

from over a hundred trees she taps.

Boiling it down is a family affair.

We got in on a little time tending the operation in the woods on a day when family had other obligations.

When the numbers and the taste test converge to say it's time to pull off the syrup it goes through the woods, into the house.....

and comes out like this!

Fire up the griddle!