Spring Means The End Of Maple Syrup Season

It is early March and that means the arrival of Spring, but also another annual tradition... cooking Maple Syrup. This is my fourth year of taking Maple Sap and boiling it down to Maple Syrup. It is a long, long process all day in fact. 

I did try something new this year. I used the probable cooktop and heated up the sap I added to my pot, so it wouldn't bring down the temperature of what I was boiling. As always fire is the main heat source for the boiling. Because of this, you have to sit by the fire most of the time to feed it. Like I said a long process.

Unlike last year when I cracked Black Walnuts while I waited, this year I boiled peanuts. I also did a lot of bird watching. In the final half hour I moved the syrup off the fire on the hot plate to finish up it took just under seven hours to get half a pint. A lot of work for a sweet reward.

Live Blog: Maple Syrup Cooking...

Haven't done a Live Blog in a while, but I am cooking Maple Sap into Syrup as we speak...

Wood Booger Top 5: Favorite Coffee Places

Coffee...something that I came to love late in life, just about eight years ago. I had never cared much for it. That is until I discovered in Italy that I had been drinking it all wrong. After having some Italian espresso (in Italy) it was clear I liked my coffee strong and black. In recent time it has become my new vice. I will say in advance that the Top 3 are really close and on a given day any of the three could take the top spot. Anyway, I have favorite places to get coffee and here are my Top 5...

Honorable Mention #1: Pilot & Flying J Gas Stations - You, may ask Pilot? Yes, this is the best gas station coffee. The standard coffee is good, but what puts them ahead of the rest are these machines that freshly ground coffee to make your cup. It is why I have a Pilot Card.

Honorable Mention #2: Dunkin Donuts - When it comes to fast food coffee you can't beat Dunkin. While who has the better donut, between Dunkin and Krispy Kreme is up for debate there is none about the coffee...that goes to Dunkin. If you don't have a Dunkin, McDonald's is a good second.

Number 5: Open Doors Coffeehouse, Johnson City, TN - Open Door makes the list because another place I like in Johnson City closed. I have to admit the first time I went here I was unimpressed. But the second time I got a "Red Eye" one of the names for a coffee with a shot of espresso, my favorite. Have to say it was much better this time. I think I might try the nitro brewed coffee the next time I am in JC.

Number 4: Double D's Coffee & Desserts; Asheville, NC - This place. also known as the Coffee Bus, is in downtown Asheville and is housed in an English Double Decker Bus...hence both names. So, it gets points as a great setting, but the coffee here is pretty good too...good enough for fourth.

Number 1c: Coffee at the Kyle; Rogersville, TN - Now it is getting tough because there are days when Coffee on Kyle could be number one. When Miss B's closed with it was Rogersville best place to get coffee. But that all changed when I discovered a new coffee place had opened in the old Kyle House. Not only did the coffee here meet Miss B's standards but exceed them. The usually I get here is a "Red Eye," but they also have one of the areas best espressos too. Let me also mention the owner is nice and will talk coffee. The rest of the staff is great too. It is just a great place to relax and get an excellent cup of coffee.

Number 1b: Creamy Cup; Tusculum, TN - Here is another place I love...the Creamy Cup in Tusculum. It is located in a small drive-in location (but there is a walk-up window) across from the University. My "usually" here is called "a Shot in the Dark" but it is the same as a "Red Eye." The best thing about Creamy Cup is the rotating "feature roast" which is always a dark roast...it is always very good. I go here so often they know what I am going to order, they have a great crew. Like I said above there are days when it can't be beaten.

Number 1a: Laurel River Store; Hot Springs, NC - This gem in the North Carolina mountains outside of Hot Springs drew me in on one of my trips hiking in that direction. Like Coffee on Kyle, the Laurel River Store has an excellent espresso, which means a great "Shot in the Dark" ( that is what they call it here). Their regular coffee is fine too and, Sue, who runs it the days of have been there has been friendly and helpful. There is also a nice selection of local bakery good. I like this place so much I once detoured across "the Rattler" to go here. It is just a wonderful place for coffee.

I Was Working On The Road...Or The Legend Of Chuck

Spring (Meteorological) starting didn't change what has become the norm at the Cabin in Southwest Virginia...rain. 

Still, in between the days of rain Bax and I got in some hiking and we even scouted a trail. Then we were on the road crew with my Dad filling in rough patches and cutting some drainage for the road because of, you guessed, the rain.

However, the real story of the weekend was a Purple Finch who graced our presence. He arrived on the middle feeder mid-afternoon on Friday, in the rain. That didn't deter him or other birds trying to move him. That is why I called him Chuck...short for Charles Barkley he was hard to move...the Round Mound of the Feeder. A set of two other Purple Finches showed up, a male and female, I named Napoleon and Josephine. They were normal size, unlike Chuck. Over two hours later, after the other birds were gone, he was still there looking like he was asleep moving only to eat. 

Finally, he decided to fly off, but he had eaten so much he only went a few feet. He sat in the yard and I got concerned so I went out to check on him. I got so close I touched him. When it seemed like I would need to put him in a box for the night he flew up into the cedar tree in front of the Cabin. What happened to him after that... I don't know? I didn't see him the rest of the weekend, but the legend of Chuck will live on...

Back In The Day Hiking & Hanging At The Sierra Club Chapter Meeting

This might have been a month back (that is why it is now a Back in the Day blog), but it is still worth looking back to the last weekend of January which was the quarterly annual meeting of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The winter edition of the meeting was at Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Middle Tennessee. Hosted by the Cherokee Group it is three days of food, hiking, and environmental work. On Friday and the way was a stop at Burgess Falls State Park with three waterfalls (Falling Waters Cascade, Little & Middle Falls) before coming to the massive 136-foot cascade, Burgess Falls. 

While I couldn't go to the base (the steps had been washed out by a flood), but the view from the overlook was spectacular and there was a beautiful waterfall rainbow. Oh, once I got to Cedar of Lebanon I had to build a fire that evening at the Group Lodge.

On Saturday it was a day of hiking, but first I had to help with making breakfast. Then it was on to the trail. First was the morning hike led by Tennessee State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath on some trails in the state park. We hiked a loop on the Cedar Run Trail. It was a nice two-mile through the Cedar Glades. 

In the afternoon it was across the street to a farm that the state recently bought. We first toured the old home and farm buildings. After, we took a loop hike around the property on old farm roads about three miles. After dinner, our speaker was Marge Davis who gave a talk on the merits of TennCan. 

On Sunday, I had to stay for the Executive Committee (Ex-Com) meeting while the lucky ones got to hike the Cedar Forest Trail with Randy. However, during the meeting, the Wood Booger was reappointment Sergeant at Arms. Overall, it was another excellent Chapter meeting protecting Tennessee.