Wisconsin Families Making Maple Syrup Signals Spring Is Back! Tour The Sugar Bushes

Spring is back in Wisconsin! Wisconsin maple syrup producers are tapping the trees! Wisconsin is dappled with maple syrup family farms, called Sugar Bushes. And while cows snooze, Wisconsin families are in the woods collecting buckets of sap which they will boil into pure maple syrup. Accept no substitutions! Leave that maple-flavored corn syrup on the grocery-store shelf! Pour REAL maple syrup on your pancakes and you'll taste REAL Wisconsin.

You can tour some Wisconsin sugar bushes and see the whole maple syrup producing process. The Maple Sweet Dairy in DePere, WI is holding the next open house on March 21st. Keep reading for more Wisconsin signs of spring and a real buttermilk pancake recipe.

How do I know spring is finally here in Wisconsin? Last weekend I heard sandhill cranes calling overhead! The Canadian geese are flying back to Canada. The cardinals, mourning doves, and chickadees are singing their spring songs. The crows are building their nests. The squirrels are chasing each other, and the chipmunks are out of hibernation. The animals know it - Winter Is Over.

How else to do know that spring is finally here? The Wisconsin bed and breakfast inn-keepers have finished their spring cleaning and now stand ready to welcome travelers. So get out of the house this spring break, rid the family of winter's cabin-fever, and take a Wisconsin road-trip. Wisconsin has so many kid-friendly places to see. And of course, Wisconsin has great food.

To celebrate spring, I treated the kids to homemade buttermilk pancakes. Normally I'm too busy to watch bubbles pop on batter, but I'd caught spring fever. I was in the mood for real buttermilk pancakes with real Wisconsin maple syrup. For a recipe I turned to the cookbook of breakfast professionals. In the Wisconsin Bed and Breakfast Cookbook, I found the Cobblestone B&B's recipe for buttermilk pancakes. Here it is:

• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons margarine or oil (or butter)

"Separate the egg and beat the white until fluffy peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolk, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, buttermilk, and margarine. When the batter is well mixed, fold (do not stir) in the beaten egg white. Cook 1/4 cup of the batter in a heated skillet over medium heat until bubbles appear. Flip and cook other side. Repeat until all of the batter has been used.

Tips and variations: Try adding fresh berries, chocolate chips, or nuts to the batter for special occasion pancakes. Chopped bananas and pecans are a great combination as well."

Long ago someone told me that a special secret to making great pancakes was to let the batter sit awhile before frying it. So this time, I mixed up the batter, took a shower and dressed and when I returned to the batter, the ingredients had mixed so that air bubbles were in the batter. I think the bubbles made the pancakes extra light and fluffy. These homemade buttermilk pancakes blew away boxed pancake mix. Such better flavor! And it really only takes a handful of minutes more to whip up these homemade pancakes.

And of course, my kids loved them swimming in real Wisconsin maple syrup!

Comments

[jessie]

woooowwww.... loooks delicious ...... mouth watering item