Today is the 148th anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder's birth. When I was a young girl, I read all of the Little House books so often, the covers fell off. I can still quote from them by chapter and verse like a good Baptist quoting the Bible. I can still remember their hog butchering party where Laura burnt her tongue on the sizzling swine tail and she and Mary played with the pig's bladder blown up like a balloon. One of my fondest memories is that of the maple sugaring off in the Big Woods, where Ma had the girls gather up pan fulls of snow to make maple candy. To celebrate Laura's birthday as well as the warmish day we are having here today, I decided to give it a shot myself.
First, I filled a cake pan with some snow and packed it down....
I left it on the grill to stay cold while I heated a half cup of maple syrup (the real deal) to the "soft ball stage" i.e. 235 F...
Then, I stirred it quickly to get the bubbles out and poured it on the snow...
It was delicious - like a soft taffy. The teenagers loved it too...I wish I would have tried making it when they were younger. It has to be ate right away or it will dissolve in the melted snow. Happy Birthday Laura!
