Family, Food, holidays, home, Nature

Maple Syrup

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The son of my BFF is what we used to call “a gentleman farmer”.  He and his family live in the big farmhouse and they have goats and chickens, a massive garden and maple trees.  Every fall he taps the trees and boils down the sap to make syrup.  He also has black walnut trees which are harvested.  I don’t understand the science behind any of it but the output of the maples and the black walnuts varies greatly from year to year.  I try never to get my expectations up about whether I will see the syrup and about whether any of the syrup will be “maple black walnut”.

This year the maples did fine but not the black walnuts our holiday gift was maple alone.  This is not a problem for me and I was looking forward to a couple of months of fresh from the farm syrup.  (This is particularly good when paired with Ben’s fresh from the farm eggs!)  YA tends to shy away from foods that are “different”; this means that farm eggs and fresh maple syrup are usually left completely to me.  Last years black walnut syrup was all mine.  Delicious.

For some reason YA decided to taste this year’s syrup.  Then she decided to make pancakes that night.  She’s now made pancakes four more times since Christmas – she even went out and purchased a new box of Bisquick after she used up the box in the cabinet.  I’m thinking I’d better make some pancakes of my own pretty darn quickly or I won’t even get to TASTE this year’s syrup!

How do you like your pancakes?  Is there a place that makes particularly good pancakes?

32 thoughts on “Maple Syrup”

  3. I rarely make pancakes, finding that French toast fills the bill and is less work. But either way, the syrup has to be the real maple kind that we get at (usually) the co-op.

    My favorites are the little Swedish Pancakes (there’s a Danish version too) – more eggy, less flour, but Husband prefers the breadier kind. I’m sure there’s a good pancake restaurant, but I wouldn’t know, as I always order omelettes…

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  4. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I love pancakes. At home I make oatmeal pancakes as a special treat when I crave them. That recipe allows for a lot of whole grains in the pancakes. Maple syrup and in-season blueberries add to the entire pancake experience.

    I enjoy going out for breakfast, but that is also a treat. Near us is the Original Pancake House which has light, fluffy pancakes. I order the pecan pancakes. With sausage on the side.

    VS, Maple Walnut syrup sounds divine. The people I know with black walnuts have techniques meant to break down the outer green cover (from which brown dyes are made) and to get through the sturdy shell. My late, ex-MIL would dump piles of them in her gravel driveway and drive over them for weeks, then rake them up and pound them with a hammer. She sold them for extra “pin money” at Christmas time.

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    1. I like to cook with maple sugar too. I found it up in specialty stores near Lutsen and in Grand Marais at the Co-op. It’s pretty expensive. I should look for it in King Arthur.

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  8. You have inspired me to look up the notes to Husband’s pancakes, and we are making them for later this a.m. He adds to the standard recipe: some cornmeal, some oatmeal, and a generous dollop of molasses. Will let you know how it goes…

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  9. Well, teach me to make any comment at all on the behavior of WP! I don’t know if I’m logged in or not. It’s possible that I am anonymized.

    I have never heard of black walnut syrup. That’s interesting. I’ve lived almost my entire life around black walnut trees and I’m not a fan.

    I’m also not a fan of pancakes. I think of them as stuffing. I feel stuffed to the gills when I eat them but I’m hungry a couple hours later. I like French toast much better. ~Krista

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  10. My grandma would make thin silver dollar pancakes – almost like a crepe. You could eat one in 1 to 2 bites. To this day that is the only way I make them. I like real maple syrup on them but if I don’t have any, butter and blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries (or maybe whipped cream) is a good substitute. That said, I only make them occasionally. I rarely, if ever, order them when eating out as they are much too thick.

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  11. At our house, we like Danish pancakes – essentially crepes – but have them only two or three times a year. I like them with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of sugar. A dab of homemade runny raspberry preserve is good, too, as is a small schmear of orange marmalade. When fresh strawberries are in season, some sliced berries with a sprinkle of sugar and a small dollops of whipped cream is divine.

    We never make American pancakes, and I never order them in a restaurant either, I view them essentially as a sponge to soak up and transport overly sweet syrup to your mouth. We have friends who tap their own maple trees and make syrup every year, and we’re lucky enough to get a quart. Hans like that on his pancakes.

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  12. We once tapped a maple tree that was in our first Winona yard, maybe 1984… we were heating with wood stoves so had a surface to let it simmer on. We only boiled it down maybe half as thick as syrup, but used it on pancakes, etc. and it was wonderful.

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  14. Morning-
    We do pancakes and waffles fairly often. Usually to pair with the fantastic local bacon we’ve gotten. I like sausage more than Kelly.
    Bisquick makes a gluten free mix so that’s helped tremendously. Otherwise making them with GF flour was a bit harder. (So I heard)
    Just last week had lunch at a local place that serves breakfast all day and I had french toast and sausage. It was good.
    I don’t know why I never think of making french toast at home; I did it all the time when Dad and I needed lunch. Mom was working in town and he’d send me to the house early to make lunch. Open a can of baked beans, or make French Toast.

    I have the old 1950’s waffle iron and you can switch the plates out to griddles and make pancakes. The cord gets hot and the iron outside gets hot – 1950’s you know. But I just love the gadgetry of it.

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    1. There used to be a bunch of Pannekoekens in Minnesota. They filed for bankruptcy about 25 years ago and a lot of them closed. There appears to be one in St. Louis Park that is still open. I remember going to a couple of them. I think there was one in West St. Paul, and one on Lake Street.

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  18. I’m actually more of a waffle person than a pancake person because I can’t ever get them light and fluffy enough for myself at home. YA and I make ablescivers every now and then- related to pancakes. When we go out, my favorite pancake is actually at the Lowbrau which is on Nicollet. They make a blueberry pancake that covers the whole plate and I always tell the weight staff to not even bother bringing the syrup because it’s perfect with just a little butter.

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