Vermont Day 2: Maple Sugaring!

Woke up this morning and found the temperature to be around 15 degrees or so, but it was so beautifully sunny and I would definitely need my sunglasses from the amount of sun reflected off of the snow. 16 degrees F isn't as bad as I thought, especially considering that Montreal was -12F. It actually doesn't feel that much different than a cold Seattle winter night right around freezing, except for my hands get really cold quickly without my mittens. Otherwise, definitely still comfortable.

We had another delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs from the chickens 100 feet away in the yard, house made pork and fennel sausage, and potato hash, and then set off for a day of maple sugaring. It is the "open house" weekend for the maple sugaring farms around Vermont so we would be able to stop by different places to see their operations, taste their syrups, and participate in the tapping activities.

Crossing the Winooski River by our place just outside Richmond, Vermont

Heading west

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After a peaceful, winding drive through the forest we arrive at the sugarhouse for the Vermont Audubon society.

The sugarhouse, covered in snow with steam billowing out of the rooftop

 Inside the sugarhouse, learning about how the sap that is collected from the trees is boiled to evaporate the water and condense into syrup

Lots of water being boiled off

The trees here were just barely starting to produce sap. Nothing like "real" sap season (where buckets can be filled in a day or two) because the weather is still cold and not fluctuating enough to really "work" the sap up out of the roots, but the Audubon Society was still collecting a bit.

Trying my hand at maple sugaring: Step 1 - find a maple and drill the hole

Step 2 - fit the tap

Step 3 - hang the bucket on the tap and cover it, wait for the right conditions, and then collect the sap for boiling down.

The Audubon Society also put on a fun "find the golden tap" hunt. If you took a picture with the golden tap somewhere out in the forest, you could enter into their raffle to win prizes like a GoPro Hero 3 cam (yeah!)

Lots of buckets and taps

 

Woo Hoo! Ian found it!

Back up near the sugarhouse, we participated in another Vermont tradition ... Sugar on Snow. Maple syrup is heated up until it's nice and molten. Then, you drizzle it very slowly over snow. The quick cooling of the syrup will cause it to form a sticky "taffy"-like treat. It came with a delicious cider donut and a dill pickle. Supposedly the saltiness of the pickle is good for cleansing the palate between tastings of different syrup grades, or simply to refresh the mouth after so much sweet stuff.

Success!

As long as there are warm fires around everywhere, the cold winter is doable :-p

There has been a big push by maple syrup makers to standardize the "grading" of the different syrups. Previously, names like "Grade A Fancy", "Grade A Medium Amber", "Grade A Dark Amber", etc were used (the right side of the chart below). However, within the next year or two all maple syrup producing areas (Vermont, Quebec, Ontario, New York, and Maine) will be on a uniform system. The reason for this was because consumers were tending to avoid purchasing "Grade B" syrups which actually have the most maple flavor. They opted instead for "Fancy" grade which, while having a nice delicate taste, was more like sugar water than maple syrup. Historically, this bias towards the lighter-flavored syrup was due to early Americans wanting to find a substitute for cane sugar. The lighter stuff was closer to the white sugar (sweetness but no other taste) compared to the stronger maple flavored syrups. The new grading system will allow consumers to purchase Grade B (previously unavailable) because Grade B will actually be "Grade A Dark with Robust Taste". The added descriptions of flavor profiles is anticipated to help consumers avoid bias in perceived quality (they're all equally good and heavily monitored for quality, fluid density, and lack of additives) and understand the only difference is based on strength of maple flavor. A "Grade A Golden Color with Delicate Taste" would be good for drizzling on top of ice cream, for example, but easily lost in baked goods.

Scenes like this all over the state 

Making our way to lunch 

Stopping for a quick bite at "On the Rise" bakery in Richmond, VT. 

hey ... its our host J.'s hot sauce again!

Like I said... lots of dirt roads and snow make for muddy cars! 

We were planning to head home but saw some signs on the side of the road for another maple syrup sugarhouse that was participating in the "open house weekend". Not knowing where we were going, or if we'd even find it, we drove up a winding road and reached the very end where we arrived at "End-O-Road Maple". View of Mt. Mansfield from the farm 

yay, we found it!

Inside the sugarhouse ... various samples of syrup to help judge "grades"

The boiler evaporating off all the water to condense the syrup. Smells so good!

The family that runs this place was making waffles fresh off the griddle for us to drizzle syrup on. We ended up purchasing a cute little half-pint in the typical, iconic beige plastic jugs that you see everywhere in Vermont. Of course we opted for Grade A Dark Amber for a full, rich maple taste.

Finished the day at home with some showshoeing in the forest behind the house (4 feet deep snow), took a nice nap, collected 10 eggs from the chicken coop, and studied a bit for my biochem final I have to take on Thursday morning when we return.

It's been a really fun experience with J. and H. out here. I'm happy I was able to get a real feel for the "country" life of Vermont that I would not have experienced had I simply flown into Burlington for the interview and stayed at a generic hotel. What a fun few days. Tomorrow, we're off to Burlington! Time to start prepping for that interview .... but before going to bed, maybe we'll step outside to look at the gorgeous stars visible in the very dark sky. I don't think I've ever seen so many clear stars before - the sky totally unpolluted by light.

Vermont Day 1: backyard organic farming and skiing

So I finally received the news last week that I was not accepted to the University of Washington school of medicine. Of course I went through the "grieving" process ... I was really sad, then really frustrated with this whole process, and recently came to terms with not taking it personally. I had to remind myself that my MCAT score, GPA, and personal background (experience in healthcare, extracurricular activities, etc) all got me far enough to an interview (even two interviews at UW). But there was one thing that Ian reminded me of that really made sense ...

The UW SOM is the only medical school for a 5-state region (Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska). Compared to other schools in the country, it is quite affordable. As a result, there are TONS of people from this WWAMI region who are applying to the program that are well qualified at other medical schools but who simply choose not to go because of family obligations, financial limitations, etc. What happens is they have a ton of re-applicants and accept these individuals the second time around or so. This favorable opinion of reapplicants ("look at the dedication and commitment you have for medicine/our school if you spent a whole year to go through the same process") was confirmed by people I know in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. And I know it's not the case for just UW too - it happens everywhere across the country. It's simply a numbers game and there are just physically not enough places in schools everywhere. Long story short, I'm refreshed for my Univ of Vermont interview next week having really come to terms with this initial disappointment. I chatted with a classmate who graduated from a top-10 law school and unsuccessfully applied to UW dentistry, and she and I had the same story. She asked me "Not in an arrogant way, but this is the first time you've really tried for something and haven't gotten it, isn't it?" And yes, that's quite true. No "upward trending GPA" for me because it was always solid from the start. No test and retest for the MCAT because my score was pretty solid the first time around self-studying for the exam. Working directly in healthcare for three years, neuroimmunology research background, physician shadowing, fun unique extracurriculars, and getting along well during the interview. Even if all the boxes are checked, it's still just a numbers game and there's nothing for me to do but to play it. But it's not over yet, and I'm not giving up no matter the result of the Univ of Vermont interview. I told myself, if it takes me one extra year or even two to achieve my dream of studying medicine, 20 years from now I won't be looking back and saying that I wasted my life. I am really starting to believe that.

Ian has been extremely supportive and said "Let's at least do some fun stuff out there, so no matter the result of the UVM decision, we won't feel like we flew out there just for no reason". Plus, it's fun to be out here in Vermont in the winter since I had the chance to experience the beautiful summer with everyone at Ian's family's property in Lake Mansfield (see last summer's post: http://drizzlemegreen.blogspot.com/2013/07/vermont-lake-mansfield-trout-club.html)

After jetting out from Seattle to Newark and transferring to a small propeller plane, we arrive in cute little Burlington Airport which has rocking chairs for passengers to watch planes taking off from the runway. "Cute, quaint Vermont" as soon as I step off the plane.

Ice scraper and brush included with the rental car. Makes sense.

We arrived at our hosts' place just up a dirt road from Richmond, VT (Between Burlington and Waterbury). 4 acre organic farm - super cool young couple J. and H.

Wood shed

They always say Vermont spring is a muddy time of year. Looking at all the cars around town I can definitely confirm ... ice melting and lots of dirt roads make for mud 

My favorite ever!!!! I loooove wood stoves. So cozy and warm in our little place

Living room of J. and H.'s home

Tired from our flight, for dinner we decided to head out to Waterbury just 10 minutes down the road for a hearty BBQ meal at Prohibition Pig. Ian tried their house brew

 We called it an early night and slipped into the comfy warm bed.

The next morning....

View out of our bedroom

Walked over to the chicken coop with H. to feed them

Abandoned bee hive in the tree above the chicken coop ... so cool!

About 50 chickens and two or three ducks

Duck egg (right) and beautiful pale blue chicken egg (left). H tells me that they get about 24 eggs per day!

These huge jars have sauerkraut and pickled garlic that they are fermenting

J made us a breakfast of eggs from the coop, grated potato hash, and pork sausage with fennel which came from pigs they raised earlier in the year. It was the most delicious sausage I've had.

J also owns a hot sauce company

 After breakfast we headed just down the street to Cochran's for my first try at skiing!

Getting fitted .. this guy helping us is in the physical therapy program at UVM and said he might see me around campus when I'm at my interview on Tuesday.

Ian getting set

Hand lift to the top

Here we go, at the top of the bunny hill for my very first run

Inside the little chalet for a break of coffee and grilled cheese made with Vermont cheddar

By the end of the day I was comfortably stopping and cutting my way down the second run which was decently step!

After skiing, we headed out to Stowe. I had my first taste of this cute town when visiting Ian's family's lake house nearby.

I definitely remember this shop!

We are gonna go maple sugaring tomorrow!

Awesome stove!

inside the Stowe Mercantile ... hey! It's our host J.'s hot sauce! 

Stopped by the Harvest Market (still in Stowe) for a little après-ski snack

Yes, those are the ovens that the bread is baked in! 

My small piece of pâté, a cheesy bread twist, coffee cake, ginger beer, and coffee

Beautiful covered bridges in Vermont 

Love the contrast of the bright lit buildings and the super dark sky

Cochran's sticker added to my water bottle! I survived skiing. Damn my legs and ass are going to be sore tomorrow ...

Tonight: cozy by the wood stove fire, having a dinner of steak tartare (meat from a neighbor's farm) and freshly made potato wedges, and maybe some biochemistry final studying.

If there's one thing I really like about Vermont, it's how you are able to experience a really beautiful and quaint rural environment, but without the really conservative element that is usually present in places that are this rural in the rest of the country. Vermont was one of the leading states in same sex marriage equality, is moving towards a single-payer healthcare model, and supports local farming and environmental protection. Everyone is so friendly ... I've never seen so many people having nice conversations with their neighbor on the plane and I was offered a brief ski lesson today on the hill by a random lady. I'm really glad we are spending an extended amount of time here before my interview so I can really get a feel for Vermont. So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. Only interesting thing ... it's pretty "white" up here! Really different from anywhere else I've lived. Finally, despite feet of snow, it's actually not that cold. Seattle winter temps, basically. I expected feeling like I'd freeze to the bone. Maybe it's my extra layers and anticipating that cold that makes it seem less cold.

Time for the tartare dinner! Looking forward to tomorrow's outing on the hunt for maple syrup