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Chapter Five
Outside, Ron and Russ yelled, “Gramma! Gramma!”
Jamie said, “C’mon let’s help Grandma. She’s got the food!”
He led Scot and Douglas outside where an older woman driving a horse-drawn sleigh pulled up to the sugarhouse. When she stopped, Jamie ran to the sleigh, waving. “Hi, Grandma. Scot and Douglas are here to help.”
She handed the reins to Jamie and slid off the seat on to the snow. “Why, so they are. Nice to see you boys again. Jamie beat you at checkers yet?”
Douglas and Scot laughed. “Jamie must win…” Douglas started
“…at checkers a lot.” Scot finished.
She nodded and grabbed Jamie by the ear. “Yes, he does, although he could certainly learn to be a better winner at times.” She pulled Jamie toward the sled by the ear. “Jamie, you put the horse around back with Checkers after we unload the sleigh.”
“Owww,” Jamie complained, rubbing his ear after Grandma let go. “Okay, but I wish you wouldn’t grab my ear all the time.”
She started handing things from the back of the sled to the other boys. “Gets you moving, doesn’t it?”
They carried in boxes of jars, picnic baskets, pans, towels, plates, silverware and cups.
“Handle this box carefully. The eggs are in there,” Grandma said, as she handed a small wooden crate to Scot.
When they finished, Douglas stood back and admired the bright red sleigh. “Wow! A real one-horse open sleigh. I’d love to take a ride in it.”
Jamie said, “I’m not going far. Jump in and let’s go.”
Douglas jumped in the sleigh and Jamie drove it around to the back of the sugarhouse. As they drove away, Scot saw that Douglas had a big, silly grin on his face.
Grandma surveyed everything on the table. “Now, Ron and Russ, you stay here and help me. Bear will want to curl up next to the stove once I get a fire going and it’s warm.”
Douglas and Jamie came back into the sugarhouse and Aunt Thelma waved at them through the steam rising from the evaporator. “It’s time to start skimming. Come over here and I’ll show you how.
She handed each boy a tool with a long wooden handle. On one end was what looked like a shovel bent almost into a right angle with small holes in it so the sap would run through. Aunt Thelma pointed at the boiling sap that had a layer of foam on the top. “As the sap boils, impurities boil up in the foam. Skimming the foam off takes out anything that doesn’t belong there. It’s how we get the sugar sand out.”
Douglas said, “Syrup has sand in it?”
Uncle Orville said, “It’s not really sand. It’s some sort of chemical called niter. If we don’t skim it out, the syrup will taste like it has little bits of sand in it. That’s a sign of a poor sugar maker. Jamie, you show them how. Be careful now. Touch any part of the pan and you’ll get burned.”
Jamie said, “It’s easy. Just run your skimmer through the sap and lift out the foam. The sap goes out the holes and you dump what’s left into this bucket.” He demonstrated a few times and then all three boys were skimming.
Dipping his skimmer into the boiling sap and emptying it over and over made Douglas’ arms tired.
“Yeow!” yelled Scot. “I burned my hand.”
Jamie dropped his skimmer and ran out the door. “Be right back.” He came back in with a handful of snow and gave it to Scot. “Here slap this on it.”
Scot put the snow on the back of his hand. “Ahh, that’s better.” He lifted the snow to look at the burn. “It’s not bad.”
Jamie picked up his skimmer and shook it clean. “You gotta pay attention when you skim. If your arms get tired, it’s easy to touch the pan. You should rest every so often. Anyway, I’m tired, too. You guys want a snack?.”
Douglas said, “Sure. What do you have?”
“How about boiled eggs?” Douglas and Scot were surprised at his selection of food for a snack, but they nodded, Jamie said, “I’ll get some eggs.”
Jamie picked up three eggs from Grandma’s basket on the table by the stove and brought them to Scot and Douglas who were still skimming the boiling sap.
“Clean your skimmer off, Douglas and I’ll put the eggs in it.” Douglas shook his skimmer clean and held it up while Jamie set the eggs on it. “Now, set the eggs right in the sap. Count to three hundred and then take ‘em out.”
Douglas eased the eggs in and watched them bounce up and down in the boiling sap while he counted. At three hundred, he picked up this strainer and fished the eggs out. “Okay now what?”
Jamie waved and headed for the door. “C’mon.” He led the boys outside and pointed at a bank of snow. “We roll ‘em in the snow so they’re easy to peel.”
Douglas rolled the eggs off his skimmer into the snow and then Jamie rolled them over and over for a few minutes then handed one each to Jamie and Scot.
“Watch,” Jamie said and rolled the egg between his hands until the shell had cracked into tiny pieces. “Once it’s all busted up, start at the top and peel the shell right off.”
He broke through the shell on the top and slid the egg out. “Just toss the shells into the trees. Animals will eat ‘em for the calcium.”
Scot and Douglas shelled their eggs and then they took a bite out of the end. “Wow, this is great. I’ve never had an egg that tasted like this.”
Jamie said, “Grandma says some of the maple flavor goes through the shell when you cook it in the sap. This is my favorite way to eat eggs. Want another? Grandma won’t have dinner ready until after we get our first syrup off.”
The boys each had another egg and then went back to skimming.
As he shook his skimmer off into the bucket, Scot looked around the sugarhouse. Not finding what he was looking for, he shuffled over to Jamie and asked in a low voice, “Jamie, is there a bathroom around here?”
Jamie set his skimmer down. “Yeah, sure. C’mon, I’ll show you.”
He led Scot out and around the corner of the sugarhouse to a small wooden building. “Here you go. You’re in luck because dad just hung a new Sears and Roebuck catalog in there. Close the lid and hook the door when you’re done. Keeps the animals out.”
Jamie turned and went back to the sugarhouse. Scot stood at the door trying to figure out the instructions Jamie had just given him. Sears catalog? Animals getting in? He squared his shoulders and said, “Well, I guess I can figure it out since I don’t have much choice. Here goes.” He unlatched the door and went in.
Sometime later, when Scot walked back into the sugarhouse, Douglas asked, “You sure took long enough.”
“Well, it took a while to figure everything out. We’re wearing long underwear and I had to unbutton everything.” When he saw a blank look on his brother’s face, he said, “You’ll know what I mean later. By the way, an old Sears catalog can be used for lots of things.”
Jamie called from the evaporator, “C’mon help with the skimming. We’ll be getting the first batch of syrup soon.”
While they skimmed, Scot and Douglas watched the clear sap at one end of the pan change as it flowed to the other end, getting thicker and darker as it wound its way between the maze made by the dividers in the pan. The smell of maple syrup filled the air and Scot and Douglas took deep breaths of the warm, sweet smell.
Uncle Orville watched the boiling sap at the end of the pan. He motioned for the boys to join him. “This is where it gets tricky. You have to watch the thermometer and test the syrup over and over. If it’s too thick, it may turn into solid maple sugar when it cools and if it’s too thin, it might go bad. Scot, you and Jamie watch the thermometer. As we boil more water off, the temperature increases. So, what temperature does water boil at?”
Scot said, “Two hundred and twelve degree at sea level.”
“That’s right, but we’re higher than sea level, so it’s a little lower here. The syrup’s done when it gets to two hundred nineteen degrees.”
Douglas asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“You and I will keep testing the syrup until it starts to sheet off a skimmer.”
Uncle Orville took a skimmer and dipped the end of it in the syrup. “Watch what happens when I pour syrup off the skimmer. See, it comes off in little drops, so it’s not ready yet. When it slides off as a sheet, it’s ready. You keep testing and let me know when it changes.”
Jamie said, “Temperature’s two hundred seventeen.”
“Couple more degrees,” Uncle Orville said as he tied a cloth bag to the inside of a large bucket. “Jamie, keep an eye out for a boil over. Haven’t had one yet, so I think we’re about due.”
“Okay. Temperature’s almost two hundred eighteen degrees.”
The sound of the boiling sap changed abruptly. When the bubbles got larger and started to boil up to the top of the pan, Jamie yelled, “There she blows!”
He ran to the table by the stove, picked up a small pitcher and brought it back to the evaporator. Putting one finger into the pitcher, he pulled it out and flicked a drop of liquid into the boiling syrup. Instantly, the bubbles broke up and settled down into the pan.
“There,” Jamie said, brushing his hands together as if he’d done a hard day’s work. “That’ll take care of it.”
The boys were amazed at what a single drop had done to the boiling sap. Scot asked, “What was that? A magic potion?”
Jamie grinned and laughed. “Milk.”
“One drop of milk did all that?” Douglas asked.
Uncle Orville laughed at their surprise. “Yep. Butter works, too. The agent from the state agriculture department said the fat breaks the surface tension. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it works.”
Scot stared at the bubbling sap still shaking his head in awe. “It sure does.”
“Douglas, get back to testing for sheeting and Jamie, you and Scot keep checking the temperature. We’re almost there.”
Jamie checked the thermometer. “Two hundred and eighteen.”
“Is it sheeting yet, Douglas?”
Douglas dipped his skimmer in the boiling syrup again. “Nope. Still drips.”
Uncle Orville opened the firebox doors and added wood. “Let’s warm it up a bit, then.”
Douglas dipped his skimmer. “Wait a minute. Uncle Orville, look. I think it’s starting!”
He looked over Douglas’ shoulder. “You’re right, it is. But it’s not quite there yet. Sill a little bit thin. What’s the temperature, Jamie?”
Jamie stared at the thermometer. “It’s almost… just a little more… not quite... here it comes… Yes! Two hundred and nineteen!”
“All right! Thelma, watch the valve in back and we’ll pull off our first syrup.”
Aunt Thelma went to the back of the evaporator and stood by the valve that let more sap into the pan.
Uncle Orville said, “We have to be sure that the valve opens when I draw off the syrup. If there’s not enough sap in the pan, it’ll burn the syrup or even wreck the evaporator.” He pulled on a pair of heavy gloves and grabbed the handle on the valve. “Here goes. The first syrup of the season.”
He opened the valve and boiling syrup poured into the bucket in a golden brown stream.
“The felt bag in the bucket catches the last bit of the sugar sand so the syrup is nice clear. Clear syrup is a sign of a good sugar maker. Jamie, go get that new gizmo the guy from extension service gave us and let’s give it a try.”
“All right.” He took a small box from a shelf by the cook stove, carefully carried back, and opened the box. “Here it is.”
Uncle Orville held up a glass object that looked like a thermometer, but it had a large bulb on the bottom. “This do-dad measures how thick the syrup is. See the red line on it? If it floats at that mark, syrup’s just right. If it sinks, it’s too thin and if it floats too high, the syrup’s too thick. Let’s see what we got.”
He dropped the glass tube into the hot syrup. “Well look at that. Just right. We’ll keep it running.” They crowded around and watched the little glass tube floating in the syrup as more ran into the bucket.
Jamie pointed, “Uh, oh, it’s starting to sink.”
Uncle Orville closed the valve. “Well, that’s it ‘til we boil some more. You boys add more wood to the fire and I’ll take this over to your Grandma so she can start canning it.”
He picked up the pail and yelled, “Gangway! Hot syrup coming!”