Following is a wonderful, easy recipe for Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup. It’s a great treat for breakfast and brunch or makes a gourmet gift. (If you can part with it.) Keep in mind it takes two weeks to “cure”, so now’s the perfect time to make a few bottles for holiday gifts!My Mainer grandfather knew a good thing. Most nights after dinner he treated himself to a large bowl of vanilla bean ice cream doused in a river of pure maple syrup. Other nights he poured himself a bowl of maple syrup, slurped it straight up, spoonful by golden spoonful. Like I said, he knew a good thing.

Last spring I tasted Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup for the first time at the Cabot Cheese store near where I was staying in Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont.

I know a good thing too. Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup is out of this world, seriously the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I took a taste from the tiny spoon at the sampling counter. And then another. And yes, another. I had to stop. I knew it was unethical to down an entire sample bottle. I might get arrested and carted off to jail. That day I bought a precious bottle of Butternut Mountain Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup. My boys and I finished it off in mere days.

So I did a little experimenting and I’m SO excited to share this recipe with you! You’re gonna love it. It’s simple to make with guaranteed great results. I gifted it for Christmas last year, birthday gifts too. If you like the syrup flasks I used, here’s the best deal I found ordering in bulk on-line:  Container and Packaging (They sell the screw-on caps separately, don’t forget to buy those too.)

I bought four gallons of pure Vermont maple syrup from Collins Tree Farm and Sugarhouse in Putney, Vermont. Martin and Jean Collins couldn’t have been more accommodating and gracious, gave me excellent service, shipped it straight to my door. I love supporting local family businesses.

Yeah, so I made lots of  Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup last year! Lots of happy campers on Christmas morning…

Print

Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup

Simple recipe, Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup is wonderful on everything from ice-cream to pancakes. But mostly, straight from the spoon. Warning: highly addictive.

Course Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Allie Taylor

Ingredients

• 8 oz. pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 vanilla bean pod

Instructions

• Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise.
• Place vanilla bean in a sterilized 8 or 8.5 oz. jar or flask.
• Bring the syrup to a near boil.
• Gently stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.
• Using a funnel, carefully pour the hot syrup over the vanilla bean into the jar.
• Screw on the cap, then cool.
• Refrigerate for two weeks 'til ready.
• ENJOY!!!
• (Keep refrigerated.)

Notes

I made four gallons of vanilla bean maple syrup. Initially, I refrigerated it for two weeks, then moved it to the chest freezer to pull out individually for Christmas gifts.

Did you know? Maple syrup doesn't freeze solid. (It's the high sugar content.)

I bought excellent quality Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans from Amazon.

And isn’t this the cutest little maple syrup bird house ever?  Eighty-three year old Vermonter Bob Gelineau of Stone Soup Creations created this unique and genuine “Vermont Birdhouse” by using  boards from a 19th century barn. The roof is a sap bucket cover and the perch, a spout used to harvest maple sap in the Vermont Maple sugaring tradition. I recently found this little bird house at a lovely boutique Country on the Common  in Chester, Vermont.

Do let me know if you make this awesome Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup and tell me how you like it!

Related Post: Cheese and Maple Syrup sampling at Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, VT

The post How to Make Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

I grew up in the beautiful back woods of Rhode Island. Our retired neighbors, the Pecks, lived on a hundred acres next door. Mr. and Mrs. Peck were an endless source of entertainment, wonder and companionship for me as a child. He, a retired engineer with striped engineer’s hat, shock of white hair and mustache. And she, with two long white braids in keeping with her Cherokee heritage. Of great shock and interest to me, she skinny-dipped at 5:30 a.m. each morning to the island in their pond. She invited me once. (NO THANK YOU, Mrs. Peck!!!) But always unusual conversation, kindness and interesting observations in their home. Mrs. Peck was often taking a pan of cookies out of the oven as I’d arrive for an impromptu visit. She made wonderful peanut butter cookies, always welcomed me in. She also taught me how to knit when I was only six.

Mr. Peck designed their amazing three story contemporary home, complete with a working dumb waiter he let us kids ride up and down. There was a metal spiral central staircase connecting all three floors, a human anti-gravity machine (hint: hang by your ankles), and double decker porches overlooking the enormous man made pond he designed and built by damming the wetlands.

Photo courtesy of Clarke Ryder

The wooded island in the middle of the pond housed a gazebo. Rowing out solo for a picnic and afternoon island explore was always an exciting adventure.

Photo courtesy of Clarke Ryder

A small scale beautiful wooden covered bridge (above) led to a cabin on the far side of the pond, just out of view in the picture. A zip-line we called “the trolley”, complete with antique metal tractor seat was mounted between two tall pines. Mr. Peck often walked the periphery of the pond, tossing in breadcrumbs along the way. Schools of fish swam along, following behind Mr. Peck, the Pied Piper. The pond froze hard and thick in winter, and we skated there often.

When the sap ran in early spring, I’d often ride the wooded trails with Mr. Peck to collect it. I’d hear his tractor motor back in the back woods and hunt ’til I found him. He drove the tractor, hauling a trailer behind with big clean garbage pails for collecting the sap. I’d hop on and off the back, dumping maple sap from the collection buckets into the gigantic pails. After the run, we’d head to the sugar house by the pond where Mr. Peck would crank up the stove to boil sap for syrup making. It took forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Hot and steamy inside the sugar house, if you looked up, you couldn’t miss the suspended shell from a two hundred pound snapping turtle. Mr. Peck himself shot it on the island. (No one wants to be chomped by a two hundred pound snapper, least of all his skinny-dipping wife!) In short, Mr. Peck was a Yankee Renaissance man.

Every so often the Pecks would invite our whole family over to enjoy Maple Sugar on Snow. It was a neighborly, family thing to do. And I remember thoroughly enjoying the camaraderie, feeling especially important that I’d made such a valuable contribution in helping to collect the sap.

The recipe I’m sharing today is different than the one we enjoyed with the Pecks. Their Maple Sugar on Snow,  involved boiling maple syrup to a very high temperature, then pouring over fresh snow. The snow cooled the boiling syrup quickly, making taffy like strands of maple delight.

This past week a friend kindly shared her recipe for Maple Taffy on Snow, an old French recipe from her grandparents. Maple Taffy on Snow has maple syrup, plus a few more magical ingredients. Like brown sugar, butter and vanilla. What’s not to love? With the newly fallen New England snow (and more forecasted!), now’s a great opportunity to enjoy this fun, old-fashioned family tradition with yours. A great across-the-generations activity, making Maple Taffy on Snow is perfect after sledding, skating and snow angels.

Gently boil the four ingredient syrup mixture for 5 minutes, stirring.

Drizzle over several pans of fresh, clean snow.

The taffy will harden slightly, looking like this.

Now it’s time to grab some forks and dig in!

There were lots of volunteers to help.

And not a complaint. (!)

Print

Maple Taffy on Snow

Maple Taffy on Snow. Soft maple taffy hardens on snow. An old-fashioned French tradition.

Course Candy

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Allie Taylor

Ingredients

• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• Boil all ingredients slowly, at a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Fill several large shallow pans with fresh, clean snow.
• (9 X 13" or roasting pan works well)
• Drizzle liquid taffy mixture onto the snow.
• If it stays on the top and slightly hardens, it's ready.
• If it's too hard and sticky in your teeth, it's overcooked.
• Eat immediately, right out of the pan with a fork.
• Best shared!

We made quick work of two pans of delicious Maple Taffy On Snow, a nice lunch appetizer (!) yesterday. Hope you’ll try this recipe. Do you have any fun maple syrup, Maple Sugar on Snow or Taffy on Snow memories? Please share them today!

Related posts: DIY Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup

 Sugar Bush Farm

The post Maple Taffy on Snow appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hoping you’ll go on a little weekend field trip with me today: a jaunt north up to Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, Vermont. This, is a neat place. It’s family owned, and you feel it the minute you step inside the main house. First, we’d taken the boys to see glassblowing at Simon Pearce Glass in Quechee, VT. (Check out my Simon Pearce Glass, Quechee VT  post here.) We were all fascinated with the glassblowers and the whole process.

We went on to Woodstock for lunch. There were several choices in our budget, and we passed a lovely looking restaurant called Bentleys.

Charlie (8): “Mom, I really think we should eat at Bentleys.” (Pretty insistent.)

Me: “Why Bentleys?”

Charlie: “It just sounds like it would be a really nice place I’d like.”

A child who takes after his own mother. Wine taste on a beer budget. (We found Pizza Chef, excellent pizza on the outskirts of town that worked out nicely for the gang.)

Meandering home from Woodstock after lunch, we saw Taftsville Bridge on the left. I was reminded of the fun cheese and maple syrup tasting adventure shared with my southern friend Susan last winter at Sugarbush Farm. So we cut a quick left, crossed the covered bridge and made our way the few miles to Sugarbush Farm. Thought you’d enjoy tagging along to enjoy the sights vicariously.

We headed to the main farm house for cheese and syrup sampling. Snowshoes hanging on an outbuilding, ready for a trek…

 This cracked me up! Labeled a Vermont Cowch…it doesn’t look a bit comfortable.

Stepping inside the farmhouse, we were treated to samples of all the wonderful cheese and maple syrup grades that Sugarbush Farm produces.

Check out these excellent choices: Vermont Light Cheddar, Mountain Jack, Mellow Cheddar, Aged and Select Sharp Cheddar, Premium Select Extra Sharp, many different aged cheddars, Sage, Smoked, Cheddar with Bacon, Mountain Blue, Cheddar with Horseradish and Jalapeño & Cayenne Pepper. It was hard to choose!

Just behind the sampling area, friendly VT folks meticulously dip Sugarbush Farm cheese in wax. (First it’s foil wrapped, then triple dipped.)

When cool, these nice ladies label and wrap it in plastic.

You can see gift box samples here, many selections to choose from.

We walked through a little hallway to another sampling area and the store with several refrigerated cheese cases. We bought some extra sharp cheddar. And the boys all seemed to think we needed the Bacon Cheddar, so we got some of that too. (Bacon on the brain: morning, noon and night.)

They were also very interested in Maple Syrup “Nips.”

There was an abundance of maple syrup choices!

Also pure maple syrup Moose Pops.

And very cute VT cow pops too!

There was more sampling!  The boys all liked the habenero peppers maple syrup. I’m still partial to vanilla bean maple syrup myself. (Check out my DIY Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup here.)

And more sampling: jams, jellies and specialty sauces.

This sauce was excellent. Imagine a rack of Maple Barbeque ribs!

I’d never seen a pure maple sugar brick before. For coffee or tea? (How ’bout just knaw the brick.)

It was finally time to head for the hills and home. We spied this little Maple Walk entrance to a Farm Chapel on our way out.

The picturesque white Farm Chapel was nearly hidden in a small clearing in the woods.

What a great visit to Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock. Our view on the way out. The whole experience was a good one, made so by the friendly, welcoming employees and sampling of the wonderful products. We’ll be sure  to visit again. (And soon.) Check out the  Sugarbush Farm website.

We stopped at beautiful Quechee Gorge on our way home.

Thanks for coming along on the field trip and hope you’ll have opportunity to visit Vermont and Sugarbush Farm one day. Have a great weekend!

The post Sugarbush Farm appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hello friends, and happy weekend! Hope you’re out tooling about, enjoying fun Christmas activities today. Exciting things are going down at Through Her Looking Glass this weekend!

Several years ago, on a frosty December morning, I came down and discovered this sweet scene…

So we’re having a fun Christmas Photo Caption Contest  for the above picture, complete with an awesome prize pictured below:

Christmas gift package from Through Her Looking Glass:

• Yarnball Christmas Ornament    http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1530
•  “An Orange for Frankie” by Patricia Polacco  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1677
• Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup    http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1156
• Homegrown Mint Extract
• 2 Christmas DIY Bookmarks   http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1133

CHRISTMAS PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST Rules:

(Yup. We got rules. Just like “Always (!) Follow the Rules”. Did you miss that funny post? Click here…  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1076 )

• The Christmas Photo Caption Contest runs from the publish of this post, Saturday, December 6th until Sunday, December 7th, 2014 at midnight. Entries after Sunday night midnight don’t count.
• You may enter twice per person. (Additional entries after the second don’t count.)
• My hubby Jon will be the impartial judge. He’ll judge all entries, but won’t know who authored them.
• A winner will be announced on Monday, December 8th, 2014 on the Through Her Looking Glass blog post. Also on Facebook. The winner will also be notified by e-mail.
• My immediate family (my five guys) may submit entries, but are disqualified from winning the prize. (Sorry guys, I’ll bake you a cake or something. Or peppermint bark?)
• Other relatives can participate. (Why should you be penalized just ‘cuz you got stuck in my gene pool?)
• The only entries that count are comments listed here underneath this post, in the order they are received. (Facebook comments, e-mails and Tweets don’t count.)
• Don’t be grinchy, share the fun! Let your friends and family join in on this Christmas Photo Caption Contest. Share this on e-mail, FaceBook, Twitter and Pinterest. Get in the Christmas spirit, the more the “merrier”!

Can’t wait to see your clever captions! AND GOOD LUCK!!!

Update:

Many thanks to all who took time to think of so many fun, creative captions for the Christmas Photo Caption Contest this past weekend, December 6-7, 2014.  It was so entertaining to see your entries come in.

Big congratulations to Linda (pictured with husband Jack) for her winning entry:  “I’ll just close my eyes for a minute…”  

The post Christmas Photo Caption Contest appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.