Worms Invade Mercer

Pete and I celebrated our birthdays and anniversary the other day.  Thanks to all who remembered us with kind birthday wishes, cards and gifts.

photo: www.carolbrendler.com

Speaking of gifts, my sister, Karen, sent me a box of 1000 live worms. Some people might be offended if they received such a gift, but I was delighted. A worm farm and red worms were on my gift list. I have a dream of becoming the most famous worm farmer in the Northwoods. More famous than Winnie the Worm Farmer.



I was delighted, but Jim, the Mercer Postmaster, was less enthusiastic. When Pete picked up the package from the post office he found the box was not sealed well.





Hundreds of worms had escaped in the postal truck and more made a break for it in the post office building.

Pete brought the remaining red worms home and put them in a little bucket. As soon as he turned his back the worms were on the move - WORM BREAK!








He managed, with the help of the dogs, to capture the fugitive worms and return them to their bucket. This time he put the lid on after making a few slits for air.


All was well for awhile, then - WORM BREAK!


The worms were able to climb out under the lid and make their way across the counter. The runaways were recaptured, placed back in the bucket, covered with a paper towel, then lidded. In the meantime, UPS delivered a large box.




When I got home I found the box contained a worm farm, also from Karen. After skeptically listening to Pete's tale of our Houdini-like worms I decided we better put the gift together.

I was concerned that the worms weren't getting enough air in their bucket, so I removed the lid and paper towel while we constructed the farm. You guessed it - WORM BREAK!

We rushed to prepare the farm for the worms and finally their secure new home was ready. We moved them out of their cramped bucket to the farm under Asher's supervision.


I waited to see if they would escape, but they seem to be happy enough to stay down on the farm.

Those worms better
stay away from the cake!

Asher kept a careful watch on the farm that evening. Has he turned into a shepherd -  keeping a watchful eye on the herd? A worm dog? Or was he more concerned about the leftover birthday cake?

I better check to see
if any got to it.

Pete wrote the company to let them know what happened. They are sending us 1000 more worms. Watch out Mercer Post Office for . . .

The Return of the Worms!

photo: fotolog.com

Sweet Sunday Syrup

Pete will be today's
guest blogger

With 2 sunny days we had a great sap run on 9 trees,  producing 10 gallons of sap.  Without more storage buckets it's time to cook it off.   Of course it started to sleet and rain so the umbrella was deployed.

The cinder block fire pit.

Our simple fire pit and inexpensive pots do the job.  It takes 35 to 40 parts of sap to produce 1 part of syrup so wood is cheap fuel to use.

Two filtering processes are used, the primary filter for the virgin sap out of the sap buckets, and the secondary felt filter for the almost
ready syrup.

The sap is boiling.

Pots are filled and put on the grill.  The big pot is the primary boiler pot and the others are for progressively concentrated sap.  Sap out of the tree looks and tastes like water, with the tiniest bit of sweetness to it.  As the sap is rendered down it caramelizes and gets a syrup color.  It takes a lot of energy to boil down the sap.  Commercial producers boil it off in a vacuum so it boils at lower temperatures with less energy required.

Despite the weather
differences, this
looks familiar

Retail maple syrup commands $0.40 to $1 an ounce.  Not up to par with illegal drug revenue wise, but a large operation either collecting sap and selling it, or rendering it to syrup with large scale equipment can fetch a decent profit.
Our 10 gallons of sap got us 2.5 pints of grade A syrup. That's 3.125% of the sap.  Retail this is $20 to $40 gross revenue.  We are not rich but home made maple syrup gifts will go along way with the families.   Who wants some?  The run will go for a few weeks so we should end up rich in syrup for the year.

Breaking Bad

In the last episodes of Breaking Bad they netted $1.3 million for a couple pounds of pure meth.  Goes to the point of the underground economy doing so well.  If only maple syrup had some rare trait to make it so valuable.  We rest well knowing we do an honest cook off of legal food.

The last step over the fire before felt filtering and going inside to finish it off.

Felt filtering.

You may remember our
stove - the Savory Centre.

Finishing off the syrup
in the Savory Centre

A final cook down of 50%, check with the baume gauge to 32 to 35
and we're good to go.

Checking the specific
gravity with baume gauge.

The Final Results -
5 CUPS of SYRUP!  

      The Final Product

Asher, Maddie, and Gracie helped lick the pan, but want more.

Tomorrow We're Cooking

Pete prepares to cook.

Breaking Bad - AMC photo

I got home from doing some errands today when Pete announced, "I've got enough stuff, so tomorrow we're cookin."  I think I have heard this line a few times on one of my favorite television shows, Breaking Bad. The show is about a chemistry teacher, strapped for cash, who turns to cooking meth and eventually becomes a drug kingpin.  Check it out on AMC Breaking Bad.



No, trying to survive in the Northwoods has not turned us into meth heads - we're maple heads, or perhaps, mape heads.  We have enough sap to boil down and make maple syrup. Watch out Vermont.

"Is there enough yet?"

Pete tapped about 8 sugar maple trees last weekend and the sap has been flowing off and on all week. Jere gave us a beginner's kit for Christmas complete with the taps, sap saks, a hydrometer and a little book.

Sap Saks in the Woods

Pete made one batch earlier this week and the product (sorry, I'm still in a Breaking Bad frame of mind) was great. Tomorrow I'll get to see how it's done.

This is where you cook.

What are we waiting for?
Let's get cookin!

Stay tuned until tomorrow when we'll be . . .

Breaking Sweet

St. Patrick's Day

Maddie Jo in the clover during our
move to Mercer this summer

It's hard to believe that we've been here nine months now, but the calendar doesn't lie. We're a long way from seeing any four-leaf clovers as there is still snow on the ground, but that didn't stop us from celebrating St. Patrick's day by baking some Irish soda bread and drinking a little beer.

No big celebration in town - the lakes weren't dyed green, no parades, and not very much green. Some of the bars and restaurants offered green beer and corned beef. We're going to continue to celebrate by going down to the Minocqua Brewing Company on Friday evening and listen to a traditional Irish trio - the Magees.

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups bread flour

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

3/4 t baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the buttermilk and stir until it forms a dough. Knead the dough for one minute. Divide the dough in half, shape the halves into rounds and transfet to a baking sheet. Cut an X 1/4" deep across the tops of the loaves. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Oh no, it looks like we have an
Orangeman trying to disrupt
our celebration.

Klondike Days

Pete with sleigh horses at Klondike Days

On the first Saturday in March we headed down to Eagle River where the 21st Annual Klondike Days festival was going on. Klondike Days is a celebration of logging and fur trading history. There were a lot of dead animals on people's heads and for sale.

We decided to explore the other exhibits, including a recreated encampment. The reenactor blacksmith, gunsmith, woodworker, cook and other players had been camped out in the cold since Wednesday.

Pete checking out
one of the camp tents

Gunsmith

Woodworker

Pioneer HVAC system

There were also competitive events to watch.

Chain saw carving contest

Lumberjacks

Dog Weight Pull

Dog Weight Pull

  

Max, on the left, weighs 114 pounds. He pulled a sled with 780 pounds of weight on it. Amazing!

Max & Tuvee

This pit bull pulled over
1000 pounds

There were dog sled rides for the kids.

The main reason we went to the event was to help out with a booth for the Humane Society of Vilas County. Pete made dozens of dog treats the day before with his assistants.

Pete with Asher and Maddie Jo

Biscuits from Joe's recipe

Pete at the booth

We sold out of all of our dog biscuits and raised some money for the Society.

t-shirts, toys and . . .

Home-made Doggie Treats!

Joe's Dog Biscuits

2 1/2 cups wheat flour

1/2 cup dry milk

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 egg

1 t garlic powder

1 t salt

8 T bacon grease

beef broth

Combine dry ingredients. Mix in egg and bacon grease. Add enough broth to moisten. Roll out mixture to desired thickness. Cut into shapes. Place on greased cookie sheet and back for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.