It's a Sugar Snow

With all the complaints on the hard winter we are  expecting better weather now that spring has arrived.  It brings back past spring snow storms that are forever etched in my mind.  All three of my children were born on a snow storm day.  One just happened to be in January so that was to be expected.  The other two dates, March 5th and 22nd was not expected.  The snow was just a few inches, just enough to make the roads were nasty.  Quite often we can expect snow for the Buffalo St. Patrick's Day parade.  I also remember quite a few years the first day of trout season had been with snow on the ground, sometimes it was so cold the eyelets would ice over on the poles.  Fishing season usually opens the second Saturday in April which is also the prime leek digging season.  We have dug leeks with snowflakes fluttering down, if ya love'm ya dig'm no matter the weather.  How many baseball games have I sat wrapped up with snow flurries in the air or just so darn cold it made me wonder how the players, coaches and umps could stay on the field.  Lawn mowing starts about mid April, gloves, hoody and a warm scarf sometimes.  The big memory was the last week of April, 1967.  We left for our Senior Class Trip on a Greyhound Bus for Gettysburg and Washington D C with about 5 inches of fresh snow.  So, no matter how much we feel it is unusual weather......it's not.  We are just impatient the closer we get to these beautiful warm days and evenings setting on the porch listening to the peepers and if lucky a gobbler sounding off or owls hooting.    Then spring has arrived!

The Maple Syrup producers have been busy working overtime boiling sap.  Once it starts it is steady and long hours of watching it boil to just the right boil.  That first run is my favorite.  Don't forget you can always visit the area producers this weekend.  I suggest Rathbun and Weber Maple and Honey Products on the Eleven Mile, they put on an awesome visit for visitors.  You can find them on Facebook for more details!

Tapping and producing has turned into a very high tech procedure.  About 55 years ago when my dad tapped on our farm's Sugar Bush it was simply wood fired under the long pans that were in the Sugar Shack.  That was a luxury being out of the cold and inside with the steam and wonderful sweet smell of maple syrup.  Today's kind of snow made for the best of times during boiling.  Fresh clean "sugar snow" which meant mom would boil a small pan of syrup down, take outside and pour thing streams on top of the snow.  It instantly turned to a gooey, sticky, sweet taffy like treat.  Simple pleasures from the past.  Sugar snow is also considered here today and gone tomorrow....we also call them spring snows.  They just don't have the harsh punch as a few weeks ago.

Every once in a while we fix a special treat for breakfast, they are not healthy but sometimes ya just have to.  I remember the first time I had ever had them, Bart brought the recipe home from Home Ec class.  Actually I had never heard of Funnel Cakes until he brought the recipe home when  the class made them. We have made them many times since then.  I like powdered sugar on top, Dick prefers cinnamon sugar and of course twist my arm for a drizzle of Maple Syrup ♡

Eileen Ahl's Funnel Cake Recipe

I am going to mention the Gentle Men of Shinglehouse when I was growing up.  Well I think I grew up ;)  In future blogs one Gentle Man a blog.

Lyle Newton is the pick for tonight.  A good hard working man that always had a smile and good word.  He loved baseball and peaches...yes, peaches! Late in the summer he would drive down state and bring bushels back.  I bet a lot of women canned peaches from Lyle.  I sure looked forward to them every summer.