laura ingalls wilder, maple sugaring, and the taste of sweet family fun
I grew up reading stories about making maple syrup. I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s description of making maple syrup in Little House in the Big Woods; the idea of making maple candy by pouring hot syrup on snow was imprinted on my mind forever, and I always dreamed of experiencing it. My husband, however, is a Vermont native. Need I say more? He grew up with a sugar house on his property, and tells tales of family members using maple syrup to sweeten coffee (rather than sugar). During our courtship, Norm bought me maple candy—and it will forever hold a sweet spot in my heart!
Since our first-born son was a toddler, we have made it a family tradition to experience maple sugaring every spring. New York maple syrup producers host a “maple weekend” every March, so there are ample opportunities to make maple syrup a part of our family life experience. One of our favorite spots has a wagon ride into the woods to see the large number of taps, the opportunity to see the boiling apparatus ("arch"), and best of all—samples of pure maple syrup! It really is sweet family fun!
If you live outside of the northeast (or miss all of the maple-tapping experiences), are you exempt from sweet maple family fun? I don’t think so. Kids can learn anything from a book—and reading together is a great way to create a happy family life! Have a maple syrup family fun night. Check out Little House in the Big Woods from your local library (or a picture book such as Maple Syrup Season by Ann Purmell or From Maple Trees to Maple Syrup by Kristen Thoennes Keller), fry up some pancakes, and have a maple syrup tasting bar (compare regular pancake syrup to real maple syrup, or even comparing different grades of maple syrup). There are so many fun things to do with kids—but this family fun experience may be the sweetest!
...