Maple Taffy Tuesday! Our Daily Dinner

Maple Taffy Tuesday!

chuckieb 9 years ago
Good Morning Everyone! Looks like it's going to be another lovely day here in the Ottawa Valley. Sunny and a high of 16C/60F so it'll be good weather to go out and finish cleaning my front flower beds. I filled five garbage cans full of leaves, sticks, etc. yesterday and hauled them to the back but I probably have almost that still left to do. Will also clean out my bird baths and maybe put up my hummingbird feeders.
Today's thread title reflects a very common occasion in this part of the woods in the early spring. We had two helpings of Maple Taffy this year. Once the day we visited the Sugar Bush in Pakenham and once at the Farmer's Easter Market. Maple Taffy is a candy made by boiling maple sap past the point where it would form maple syrup but not so long that it becomes maple butter or maple sugar. It is part of traditional culture in Quebec, Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and northern New England. In these regions, it is poured onto the snow and then lifted either with a small wooden stick, such as a popsicle stick, or a metal dinner fork.
The candy is made by boiling maple syrup to about 112 °C (234 °F). It is best to use a candy thermometer. The thick liquid may be kept hot over a very low flame or in a pan of hot water, but should not be stirred as it will form grainy crystals. This liquid is then poured in a molten state upon clean snow, whereupon the cold causes it to rapidly thicken. If the syrup runs rather than hardens when it is poured on the snow, then it has not yet been boiled long enough to make the soft maple candy. Once sufficiently hardened the candy can be picked up and eaten. The higher a temperature one boils the initial syrup, the thicker the final result will be. As it is popularly eaten soft it is usually served fresh.
Tina? How are things?
Marie? Busy, busy I expect!
Michelle B....how's the house hunting going?
Did the lady like your gun Karen? I don't think I have any grape hyacinths in my garden, but I do have a nice little crop of bluebells that come up and I have Lily of the Valley too which are good for an enclosed area as well as they spread like crazy.
I'll cross my fingers for you Laurie that you get your hot tub! :)
How did you make out with all your housework and running around Michelle?
Did you get the Christmas stuff taken down yesterday Joce?
Jim and I ran into town and did a few errands yesterday and grabbed lunch at a Sub place. It was okay. Today I have enough leftovers for lunch so that's good.
I did buy four little lamp chops yesterday so am thinking of making
Spicy Cumin Lamb Chops
for dinner this evening. Maybe an Asian tossed salad on the side and I need to think of something else.
Wishing everyone a lovely Tuesday.
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Good4U 9 years ago said:

Yes it sure is that time of the year, Janet. Maple Taffy, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar and all the Maple Leaf Candy they make which tastes like Maple Fudge. LOL all really good things for your teeth eh! Yes I was able to get all the boughs and things out of the pots at the front and things are looking good out there now. I have Iris's coming up and all sorts of little shoots coming up everywhere now. I still have a good deal of snow in the backyard yet though. Maybe some of this rain and warmer weather will take it away faster? Spicy Cumin Lamb Chops sounds good to me. Den isn't a fan of lamb. I am the only one who eats it here and even then I am very picky about it. I like a good leg of lamb and lamb chops, however I do not care for ground lamb at all! LOL it tastes and smells like wool. I remember once when I was a child my Grandmother cooked Mutton once OMG! the house smelled like burnt wool! Needles to say I don't think anyone ate it, as I recall. I think it must have been one of her experiments. We did not get good lamb here until the seventies b/c they had learned by then to flash freeze the meat before rigor-mortise set in. Then it wasn't so tough. Just a tidbit of info for you. My first HB was a Research Scientist and lamb just happened to be one of the things he worked on when he was younger, along with many other things.

Laurie, LOL Frank is a character saying he was the one wanting the hot tub:D I do hope you get one.

Karen, Thanks for the reminder I need to get more grape hyacinths. I have some little mini ones and I want to plant bigger ones this year.

Tina, How are you doing today? I worry about you!

Marie, I suspect you and Rick are very busy. Pop in when you get a chance.

I am not sure what we are having yet for dinner. I know I am having lasagna soup for lunch. Den had to go to Cornwall today and he might be back at lunchtime or sooner. We will probably decide what we are having for dinner when he gets home. My GD's called to tell me how much they enjoyed the Globetrotters on Sunday. They sound so cute on the phone:)

Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

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chuckieb 9 years ago said:

Good Morning Joce! My parents never ate lamb. I don't even know if they like it or not or if they just never tried it. I only tried it within the last few years myself. Yum on lasagna soup for lunch. Nice that Den has an early day today. I heard mention of the Globetrotter's on Sunday and thought of you and your gift to the Grand-daughters. :)

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mbelisle 9 years ago said:

Good morning!

I am getting hungry thinking about curry lamb chops. Meat seems to be hard to get and very expensive here so I have turned into an involuntary almost vegetarian for the present. I had dalo, which is also known as taro, yesterday. You boil it and slice it and serve it with salt and pepper, almost like potatoes. It is quite filling but I want to find some other flavours to put with it because it is kind of bland for my taste.
House hunting is proving to be a challenge. The high point (low point?) of my day yesterday was going to view a house and seeing a cockroach for the first time in my life, outside of a zoo that is. There were live ones running across the floor and dead bodies all over! Yuck!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Michelle B

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laurieg 9 years ago said:

I do not care for lamb at all, it has a funky taste to me.
Tonight's dinner is chicken meatloaf, mashed potatoes and cauliflour. So I may be crazy but I signed up for a beginner to 5k course with a running club in town. Called the Sole Sisters of Wilmington. Tonight's the first class/run/meet-up. Wish me luck! They had about 50 people sign up. Which is crazy because my town isn't that big!
I need to go to the garden center and get some plants for the deck. Tomatoes and basil. Not doing a lot this year because we will be gone for 10 days in May and my mom has a worse black thumb than me :)

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chuckieb 9 years ago said:

Hey Michelle! I'd be having a hard time if I couldn't buy much meat. I can handle veggies as a side but would not at all be a happy camper if they were my main. Ai yi yi on the cockroaches as well. I'm sure you've already asked, but would your co-workers be able to help with house options/recommendations at all?
Way to go with the Running club Laurie. Good for you. I have a black thumb myself but keep trying every year.
Jim and I are heading out for a bike ride. Front garden is cleaned out. Harder to rake today as there is a strong wind.

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Hi all! I'm jealous of your beautiful weather Janet. It has been yucky here for the past couple days and is supposed to continue the whole week :( What an interesting way to make Taffy! Lamb is one of those meats I'm still trying to figure out if I like or not lol...sounds yummy though!

I'm glad you told me about ground lamb Joce, I think I would be grossed out if I smelled that while eating it, yuck! Is the lasagna soup from The Soup Lady? Sounds yummy! Glad the GK's enjoyed the Globetrotters :)

Hi Michelle! Is there a large amount of Seafood in Fiji? Hope you can get your hands on some meat soon, my family would go crazy. Good luck at house hunting and ICK on the roaches!

Been hanging around the house today since it's been pouring down rain for most of the day. Ugh, I hate being stuck inside! I pulled out some “pork loin back ribs” for dinner that I got on sale for like half price. Never cooked with these type of ribs before. They are a little smaller than most pork ribs. I guess I'm just going to treat them like any other ribs. Guess I'm off to search for a recipe! Hope everyone is having a great day!

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chuckieb 9 years ago said:

Hi Michelle! Sorry it's raining on your end. I will admit to giggling a little that you in sunny Texas were envying my Ontario climate. LOL. Keep in mind, my idea of a gorgeous day (especially compared to our past winter weather) and your idea of a gorgeous day may be a little different. :) I googled pork loin back ribs and they actually look like the only kind of pork ribs that I buy or that are readily available in the grocery store. What is the kind you normally get again? Are they called country ribs?
We had a lovely bike ride although I know I'm going to be hurting tomorrow. We went further than I had anticipated and Jim says "How are you doing? Do you want to head back?" but of course I don't want to admit that I'm starting to hurt so I say "No, I'm fine", and then he'll be like pointing things out like "Wow, check out how tall that pine tree is" and in my head I'm thinking "I can't check it out just now cuz I'm dyin' here". LOLOLOL. I'm hoping that if I keep at it and do it more often it's gonna hurt less.
Chops are marinating. Got to go prep my salad.

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Hehe, that is funny! I have just started getting into the country ribs probably in the past year or so but we normally just get regular pork ribs or spare ribs. These look exactly like those but smaller. You probably are going to be pretty sore tomorrow, ouch Janet! Michael has a bike that his step dad gave him and I plan on getting one eventually too. It's such a great way to stay in shape!

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