Saturday, December 20, 2008

Pal's Syrup


This is my Great-Great-Grandfather, Palestine Hanna. I have
always been intrigued by his unique given name. Census records
show only a hand full had the name Palestine, both male and female,
at the turn of the century, so it was not a trendy name at the time.
Was it biblical or maybe geographical? I guess I'll never know. I do
know, however, that his nickname was "Pal", which I think is so
endearing. This photo shows him tapping into a maple tree on his
"Stockwell Farm" in Howard County, Indiana in about 1920. The
sap was cooked in a vat in the woods in a spot the family called
“sugar camp”. It took 30 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
A friend of my daughter introduced me to the joys of pure maple
syrup. After you have tasted the real thing, you can never again eat
the bottled pancake stuff we Americans all know as "syrup". The
genuine article is especially delicious on a nice bowl of steel-cut oats
with walnuts and dried cranberries!

62 comments:

  1. I'm a huge fan of real maple syrup. You're right, one can never go back to the nasty stuff after tasting the real thing!

    30 gallons of sap to make one gallon...wow! I had no idea. Any clue as to how much sap one can safely remove per tree? Does one need a maple forest for syrup production?

    Glad you have the family photos...a keeper of the past, you are!

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  2. I love your blog! That's a real treasure of a picture of your G-G-Grandpa.

    I saw where you're going to be reading American Bloomsbury. I have that book too. Maybe next year?

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  4. In our family we didn't tap into any maple trees, so here is our rendition of "home made" syrup.

    We did it up ghetto style.

    4 c. white sugar
    1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
    2 c. water
    1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
    1 tsp. maple flavoring

    Mix sugars and water; bring to a boil, stirring until sugars have dissolved. Then reduce heat and cover. Boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add both flavorings. Stir until mixed. Makes 1 quart.

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  5. I never considered walnuts and dried cranberries on oatmeal before, but it sounds like a fabulous combination. Maybe I'll have that for breakfast tomorrow.

    I tried the cabbage casserole earlier this week and it was quite tasty - very nice spice profile. Using crumbled tempeh instead of ground meat was a succesful substitution. I followed the original recipe and used raw brown rice, but it didn't cook as thoroughly as I would've liked. I think that your idea of using cooked rice was better.

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  6. I always enjoy reading more of your family history. You have such wonderful family pictures.

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  7. I love the idea of making your own syrup, just like growing your own coffee ala "Out of Africa", or growing cocoa which I have tried...just as High Desert Diva wrote, there is a great disparity between how much you grow and how much you get!

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  8. I agree, Willow, that there is nothing nicer on a bowl of oatmeal than real maple syrup. And although I usually start my day with a bowl of oats, this morning I happen to be munching on a chocolate chip cookie I made using your recipe. I hold you personally responsible for corrupting my morning eating habits! LOL Have a wonderful day!

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  9. Having grown up in New England we never knew anything but the "real" thing maple syrup...now it is so expensive! A friend tried making his own from his own maple trees one year and said never again - the amount of time and energy it used to boil down the syrup made it more expensive than storebought! It makes me wonder how stores are able to keep it stocked! Love your blog..just discovered it...

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  10. I love his unique name and his nickname. He sounds endearing and like he had a lot of friends. I have never tasted the real thing. I hope one day to do so.

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  11. Real maple syrup is to die for. I love it on pancakes, I love it on french toast with strawberries, with orange rind in the batter mix, I love it on waffles...Our weekends are when I tend to fix decadent breakfasts, and I might just have to do that tomorrow. What a great photo of Pal. There is a place called Palestine in Indiana--do you think he was born there or something? Neat name, and love the nickname!

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  12. A Brush, hey, I am going to have to look up Palestine, Indiana. That's a great clue! Thanks!! :)

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  13. I discovered the pure pleasure of real maple syrup when I lived in Kentucky and I've been a lover of it since. I had read somewhere that it took a tremendous amount of sap to produce just one gallon of syrup. Little wonder the stuff is so pricey!

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  14. What a great photograph! And his name is great too.

    You're so right about the maple syrup deal. I'd rather none at all on my waffles and pancakes (and steel cut oats) rather than use the fake stuff.

    My Mom has been ordering the real deal in gallon tins from upstate New York for years and we all share in the wonder of this fabulous syrup. It's also pretty darn good over vanilla ice cream.

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  15. I like it with pancakes and bacon too...
    Cool name indeed.

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  16. I love stories of our ancestors; personal human stories of their times, their work and their perseverance. Thank you for this.

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  17. We had a Palestine, too. He was born in Missouri in 1867. I also wonder about the name.

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  18. Mmm, real Canadian Maple Syrup over pancakes and bacon...nothing like it. Right, that will be breakfast in the morning!

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  19. Willow, this photo is priceless and his name is indeed unique !

    i don't usually use maple syrup and doubt we can get the actual real thing here...

    have a great week end !

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  20. Love your new banner too but the kids were so cute as well....!

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  21. yum - real maple syrup and apples pies - always something to make my mouth water over here!

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  22. What an amazing photograph, I would love to taste real maple syrup.

    Have a lovely Christmas at Willow Manor and thank you for all your lovely posts, they have been a joy. I look forward to reading more in The New Year.

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  23. Cool name and story to go with it. I'm always shopping for character names especially at this stage. I find it fascinating how names go in and out of fashion.

    With all the snow and the kids home for the holidays, you make me think that crepes and real maple syrup will have to figure into tomorrow's breakfast.

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  24. Real maple syrup is nectar from the Gods!

    What a fantastic picture and what a great name. wow. May dear Pal rest in sweet peace!

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  25. We have a neighbor who is from Vermont and when he made trips up to see his family he would bring back real maple syrup for us to enjoy, and enjoy we did. You're right, there's nothing like the real McCoy. All the rest are just Hatfields.

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  26. What an awesome picture to have of your ancestor...love it! That's really interesting about his name!

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  27. wonderful that you have all these old photos and bits of family history. On the farm here, a local farmer taps the trees. Of course, nowadays they use plastic pipes to send the syrup into vats which they then empty into a large tank on wheels and drive down to the sugar house. I did a whole posting on the process this spring. The fresh maple syrup is so delicious and fine.

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  28. You just made my stomach growl...and how fortunate to have a photo to remember your history. What a wonderful name Palestine, sets my imagination in a flutter...

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  29. That is a great picture. I love your blog... I feel so worldly when I read it. Thanks for doing it!

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  30. i'd just like to say that I recently stumbled onto your blog, and completely fell in love with it. It's such a breath of fresh air! The pictures are great!

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  31. Hi Willow.

    Did you know that 'syrup' is Cockney rhyming slang for a wig?

    It comes from 'syrup of fig', a laxative popular in England in the recent past!

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  32. Willow, that photo is priceless and the name is wonderful! We had an America in our family history and my Paternal Grandmother's name is Zenith..Odd ones by today's standards for sure..

    Could sure go for some real maple syrup with French Toast......Yummy....Like I needed something else sweet to tantalize me after sampling everything I've baked this week ( too many times..)...

    Happy Weekend...

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  33. What a wonderful photo! Season's Greetings!
    Sandra Evertson

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  34. What awesome information!! I always love hearing about people's ancestors... and I love the real stuff too.... being from the midwest, we are spoiled that we can have that.

    Cheers!!

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  35. How evocative - Pal in the woods, making syrup. I've never tried proper maple syrup - it's not something we encounter much in subtropical Australia!

    It's on my must-try list of foods, along with truffles, true saffron, lobster and the real Christmas puddings that people used to make and then hang for weeks.

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  36. I'm told that the sap makes a very potent but potable white wine.

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  37. Indeed, it is a very intriguing name. I had never come across it before.

    In regards to maple syrup, oh, I'm thinking pancakes, I'm thinking Sunday lie-in and then Camden market for Christmas shopping :-).

    Greetings from London.

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  38. Connecticut is my home and we have real maple syrup here. The price has increased, but it is worth it.

    I always love walnuts and dried cranberries in my oatmeal, but I never thought of including maple syrup. I'll try that next time.

    Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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  39. Hit the nail right on the head Willow. We have whole rolled oat porrige and maple syrup for breakfast. In Vermont we used to stock up a few half gallons tins of the golden stuff at a time from Larry the farmer. Have you had maple sugar candy? Available on the Vermont website by mail order.
    Cheers.

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  40. i was lucky growing up, my mom would by real maple syrup once a year. as an adult, i splurge and buy it always....it also has iron and other nutrients that "syrup" doesn't have....

    cheers!

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  41. Yes, I have tried the real and the imitation, side by side, and they are so different it makes you wonder what they are trying to imitate.

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  42. My grandpa used to make maple syrup for the family. He'd also boil some down and drizzle it on snow for us kids to eat. A real treat.

    Real maple syrup is a complete joy. We are lucky to live near a small city that has a maple syrup festival every year. We always have real maple syrup ready for waffles, pancakes, french toast or to top baked beans. It's also good just by the spoonful when you want something sweet. Or put a little on vanilla ice cream.

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  43. This blog is chock full of treasures. I love coming here and discovering them.

    Happiest of holidays to you!

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  44. Your good old Palestine. Love reading about him.

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  45. What a Great photo! And from what everyone is saying....I must get the "real" syrup! I need to treat myself more. ~Cheryl

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  46. Yes, you do have wonderful old family photos & I do enjoy the stories that accompany them.

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  47. Sounds delicious! I'm jealouse

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  48. He sounds absolutely fascinating. Thanks for that post.

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  49. Fascinating.
    Yeah for REAL maple syrup.
    Yes, I don't think Palestine was top of the pops for given names.......
    My grandpa was Ernest.........very Oscar Wilde.

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  50. Palestine! Very interesting name.
    You made me so curious about maple syrup! I have to find out if it is available around here :-)

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  51. I was in Vermont the past two years during tapping and syrup-making time. What a wonderful process it is, and such a difference from the "maple flavored" stuff in the stores. And what good memories!

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  52. I'm from Ontario and can definately give you another vote for real maple syrup. But you've not really tried until you've dripped it on snow and eaten it in the cold; it takes on the consistency of toffee and is to die for.
    A good substitute if you haven't got access to snow is to drip it onto a bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream....delicious!

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  53. What an exciting picture, and such a neat story to go along with it! Happy Holidays.

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  54. I love maple syrup, and the story about the unique given name. The same applied to my mother who was Zaida. My grandmother picked the name out of a Ryder Haggard book, popular author in 1910. When I was older I did some name searching and located a beaut: In the middle east there had been a Queen Zaida, who when she tired of her lovers had them boiled in oil.

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  55. Isn't syrup just one of the culinary wonders of the world?! It just blows my mind - 30 gallons to make 1 gallon - amazing. What a great photo of 'Pal'. Hope you're having fun.
    Catherine

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  56. Oh my ... your talk of Maple syrup and oatmeal ... made me very hungry. I think I'll have to tap into an udon noodle bowl now. :)

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  57. What a great photo. My family loves genealogy, and we have some real treasures, too. Probably the most unusual name in my family tree was John Return [Surname], whose nickname was 'Turn.'

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  58. Willow we have a large clan of Hanna's living here in South Australia. Many of them are of Lebanese descent & are Maronite or Druze Christians. I'm not sure if your GGGrandfather Palestine comes from that lineage, maybe worth a thought.
    Millie ^_^

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  59. Millie, my Hannas are of Scotch Irish descent.

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  60. I absolutely LOVE the name. And maple syrup. Living in the midst of maple syrup country here in the Ottawa valley, it's what I'm about!

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  61. Hi Willow,
    After researching Palestine, I think it was just another name for the promised land in nineteenth century america!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)