"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

[Rookie82]

Maple syrup goes great on vanilla ice cream.

I remember my grandpa saying when he was little, the old timers would drizzle a little fresh made maple syrup on the snow outside, and eat that.

 

[r8shell]

I remember my grandpa saying when he was little, the old timers would drizzle a little fresh made maple syrup on the snow outside, and eat that.

I remember reading that in one of the "Little House on the Prairie" books when I was a kid. I wanted to try it, but our "maple syrup" was flavored corn syrup, and our snow was grey slush.

 

[meako]

I remember reading that in one of the "Little House on the Prairie" books when I was a kid. I wanted to try it, but our "maple syrup" was flavored corn syrup, and our snow was grey slush.

That would kind of take the appeal out of it.

 

[Headwinds]

Only at Walmart...

 

[Jack Black]

I came across this, which I thought some folks here might find of interest. It's filmed at the Beehive Works, which is next to the Taylor's Eye Witness Works, in Sheffield, in the late 1980's I would think.



The lady with the Bowie Knives is Ivy James, Fred James' widow.

 

[Rufus1949]

I came across this, which I thought some folks here might find of interest. It's filmed at the Beehive Works, which is next to the Taylor's Eye Witness Works, in Sheffield, in the late 1980's I would think.



The lady with the Bowie Knives is Ivy James, Fred James' widow.

Thanks for sharing Jack. Brings home the reality of life in the early world of cutlery.

 

[Jakeywax31]

I came across this, which I thought some folks here might find of interest. It's filmed at the Beehive Works, which is next to the Taylor's Eye Witness Works, in Sheffield, in the late 1980's I would think.



The lady with the Bowie Knives is Ivy James, Fred James' widow.

Wow, Jack. Shocking. That’s like if one day all of the auto manufacturers in Detroit went belly up. I pray there is a renaissance of young cutlers coming up in Sheffield.

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks for sharing Jack. Brings home the reality of life in the early world of cutlery.

Wow, Jack. Shocking. That’s like if one day all of the auto manufacturers in Detroit went belly up. I pray there is a renaissance of young cutlers coming up in Sheffield.

Thanks guys I hope so Paul, maybe if the pay and conditions are better, but you can see why nobody wanted to go into those trades back then

 

[Rookie82]

Another little update for our maple syrup process. We had a few days hit 70 degrees here, which is not great for maple syrup makers. I have my fingers crossed we will get another cold spell and make a bit more syrup, but it likely is all over.

Here's the next step. Once the syrup gets close, it is drawn off from the evaporator, and stored until ready to be filtered. We take 3 gallons at a time, and heat it up in our finishing pan, which is a series of burners from a propane tank, so we can precisely control the heat. When exactly at syrup, we run it through our filter press.

The syrup is pumped through a series of 15 plates, each of which has a filter membrane between, to catch any impurities. As you can imagine, making syrup is a sticky process. Lots of little drips work their way out. From there the hot clean syrup is pumped into our stainless holding tanks until ready for jugging. We try to keep each batch of syrup in separate tanks, because the flavor and color changes from beginning to end of season. This way we can blend it together when time to jug, or keep the 1st batch separate for maple candy. Some family members also prefer the very mild early syrup, while others like the strong maple tasting end syrup.

I'll post more pictures once we get to the jugging process.

 

[Whetstone39]

Maple Candy? That sounds …….. absolutely fantastic.

 

[knarfeng]

Maple Candy? That sounds …….. absolutely fantastic.

Yes. It is. Hard to find. But tasting it should be on everyone's bucket list.

 

[DocJekl]

Yes. It is. Hard to find. But tasting it should be on everyone's bucket list.

I need some for my birthday next week!

 

[knarfeng]

https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/vermont-maple-leaf-candy/product/56745

 

[knarfeng]

Don't forget the time change tonight for those who live in areas who do that sort of thing.

 

[screened porch]

Don't forget the time change tonight for those who live in areas who do that sort of thing.

Holy crap. I'm already half an hour late getting to church.
[No, I have 19 minutes to get over there. I guess I won't have much breakfast.]
Maybe this is the disturbance in the force that was bugging me overnight.
Arise, Arjuna! Back to the chain gang.

 

[waynorth]

Don't forget the time change tonight for those who live in areas who do that sort of thing.

I haven't forgotten, but I don't like it!!

 

[Peregrin]

I haven't forgotten, but I don't like it!!

Yeah, it's about time to kick this to the curb! It doesn't bother me half as much as it did when I was working though! I do have about 20 clocks that need resetting! You'd think I owned a clock shop!

 

[knarfeng]

I haven't forgotten, but I don't like it!!

Ditto for me. But I remember when they omitted the change to Standard time under President Carter. There was a hue and cry over kids going to school before sunup. Even in So Cal, sunrise in December was at 8AM that year. Likely worse farther North.

 

[danno50]

Here in Saskatchewan, we gave up the practice many years ago. I vaguely remember changing times when I was quite young.

 

[waynorth]

Here in Saskatchewan, we gave up the practice many years ago. I vaguely remember changing times when I was quite young.

Lucky!!!!