A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! Today I was “taken for a ride.” It was Mama’s maiden voyage riding in the
people hauler with our boys taking turns at the lines.
Michael had the four youngest children with him on a
shopping trip, so it was just the two oldest boys and I at home. Yesterday two of our three oldest children
put the first coat of primer on the people hauler, it was now dry, and we were
ready to take a spin. I elected to sit
on an old towel, however, “just in case.”
I considered taking an umbrella along, as it was just
starting to sprinkle when the boys got Tom and Jerry hitched, but thought
better of it. Somehow the thought
of “that crazy lady” in the back of an
open horse-drawn wagon, holding an umbrella, cruising through residential areas
of Enterprise, discouraged me.
Thankfully, the ride turned out being encouraging
instead. It is not very often these days
I have the privilege of spending time alone with my oldest boys, so an hour’s
cruise around our fair city was a pleasure.
Each one took a turn in the driver’s seat while the other sat in back
with dear old Mom, and it was very interesting, indeed, to observe their
differences in technique while handling the horses.
When our boys have not been handling horses these days,
their free moments have been occupied by other aspects of the great
outdoors. Last weekend found Michael and
the boys primitive camping in a pasture along the Saline River. As I understand it, “authentic” cow patties
added to the “pioneer” ambiance of the event.
The girls and I couldn’t resist our own campout here at
home--Holiday Inn style—complete with an indoor camp supper. Our eight-year-old daughter fried potatoes in
one skillet while I handled the Spam in another. As usual, she put bacon grease in first to
melt, but this time something just didn’t look right. It melted instantly and had a strange
syrup-like texture. I tried not to
panic, but it was obvious something was very wrong here. What could have
possibly happened to our bacon grease?
The potatoes browned much more quickly than usual, and stuck
and burned to the bottom of the pan. It
was like when sugar caramelizes . . .Hmmm.
Turns out it was sugar carmelizing on the bottom of
the skillet. A sniff of the jar
confirmed my suspicions; the faint maple scent was the final clue I
needed. Somehow a jar of our homemade
maple syrup for pancakes had turned into a beige-colored, sugar–crystallized,
bacon-grease-impostor. Next to it in the
door of our fridge, in an identical glass jar, was the real thing!
We immediately added bacon grease to the pan, and finished
browning the potatoes. Surprisingly, the
combination of sweet maple syrup and smoky bacon grease was actually quite
tasty!
While I don’t think we could—or perhaps should--duplicate
that dish again, it might be fun for you to try making your own pancake syrup
at home next time pancakes or waffles are on the menu.
At our house, and now at The Buggy Stop, we prefer Mapleine
Imitation Maple Flavor for this application. My husband grew up with homemade Mapleine
syrup on his pancakes, and so we relive those childhood memories every time we
have pancakes or waffles. Interestingly,
the box it comes in still looks the same as it did in Michael’s childhood.
It is hard to find, however.
In the last 10 years or so we’ve only been able to find it at small
grocery stores supplied by Affiliated Foods.
Most recently we ordered some through the kind folks at the Chapman Food
Mart.
The secret to success is to get the sugar fully dissolved
without boiling it too long and making candy.
At the other end of the spectrum--as we are all too aware of--is not
completely melting the sugar. In this
case, a few weeks of aging in the fridge turns out a pretty good imitation of
bacon grease.
Mapleine Pancake Syrup
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon Mapleine Imitation
Maple Flavor
1. In a small
saucepan, bring water to a boil.
2. Add sugar and cook
and stir until sugar is completely dissolved; remove from heat.
3. Add Mapleine and
stir. Serve over Buttermilk Pancakes or
Waffles.
Yield: 2-1/4
cups syrup.
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.
