Maple Syrup Festival

The Maple Syrup Festival continues this weekend at the Sugarbush Farm in Salem, Indiana.  You might want to go. That's the reason I bring it up.  If your tastes bend toward the rustic and you like sugar from trees and don't mind the 45 minute drive, head on up; the weather this weekend will likely be much better than it was when we went last weekend, for which I would have added the adjectives "cold" and "muddy" to "rustic" when informing you of the event.   My favorite part came right after we arrived. There was a outdoor fire tended by a woman in Native American costume and a man in a pioneer trader outfit. They explained how the American Indians used maple sap and maple sugar. They had a hollowed out wooden log to act as a trough, which was full of maple sap; using wooden tongs, they pulled hot stones from the fire and dropped them into the sap, rapidly bring it to a boil. They then added some buffalo meat, cooking it.  Maple sap and maple sugar, they said, was a favorite additive to food, but salt was rarely or never used. The man used his knife to pull some of the buffalo meat from the steaming liquid and offered to share it. I, of course, had to try it, and it was pretty good.   We took the girls on a mule carriage ride, which was bumpier than I imagined. Kim's dad bought us a pancake lunch, which was delicious. He also bought us a whole gallon a maple syrup and some other treats.  We looked at a few farm animals, petted some llamas, and tried to console Jill, whose patience with the cold was draining away quickly and whose tiredness and boredom were casting a pall over my enjoyment.   It ended up being one of those things that I wanted to leave long before we actually did, but which was fun and interesting in retrospect.  You know, more fun to talk about and remember than it was to actually do. I'm glad I went and I was glad to be home. I'm also really glad to have a gallon of maple syrup.