Posts By Carter

Iceboat up in Flames

I sadly had an old iceboat I went out of my way on a three hour drive to pick up. It was the ugly girl at the prom. Too heavy, needed touching up, and frankly couldn't give it away when the time came. I bought it from a guy on Cape Cod and didn't realize my mistake until I was there to pick it up. It was my second boat and thought it would be a good loaner. It wasn't. So it wasn't a good loaner, I couldn't give it away.. Literally... So I did the only thing I could do, I give it a worthy send off in a clean up fire. Sadly even the hardware wasn't worth saving.…

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Maple taps pulled – Season over

First and foremost I kept horrible track of everything this year. Was an odd year to say the least. While the sap is still running for some, I ended up pulling my taps due to the 0.5 sugar content coming out. Even with my Reverse Osmosis, that's not enough for me to keep going. So I called it. Pulled the taps, cleaned the gear - even had a neighbor want to keep going so he borrowed my pan and burner. So timing was perfect for him! Overall made ~ 7 gallons of finished product which is on par for what I normally do. I was hoping to get over 10 gallons this year and if I kept going I would…

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Sap Overflowing!

We are having some good weather for a few good runs. Currently boiling in the finisher. Three gallons of syrup so far this season and should have another two or three tonight added to that. Not the best year for making syrup as the sugar content is low so what I do get in sap doesn't produce a lot of syrup.

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Still Curling

We have had a few new members join up - Folks from outside the neighborhood. It has been fun to see this grow. Last meetup we had Vermont Treehouse Beer, hard cider in a pressurized keg, a couple of pizzas, a nice fire, and evenly matching curling teams. At the fire pit after the event. Sadly it won't be long before this is over already. The season has gone by too fast. Looks like next week we will have another cold snap, so maybe that will freeze up the ice enough to have a match. After that, March is coming and all bets are off.

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Demo Days

Demolition on the kitchen and bathroom on the non-rented side of our new investment duplex has begun. Bathroom coming apart Ceiling removed Everything is coming right down to the studs. Even the kitchen. Cabinets gone Excited to get this side fixed up and ready for rent. The goal is to have it ready for April. New floor, walls, kitchen, bathroom. Paint and carpet throughout. Going to cost some money up front but will pay for itself in the long run with higher rent and less going wrong with it all.

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Still Boiling

Winter decided it wasn't over and a cold snap came back through issuing a cease and desist on all sap running for a time. It was nice to have the reprieve as work has kept me busy and the wife was out of town for a work conference. I did get another 35 gallons (only at 1% sugar content) which I ran through the RO to get it ~ 5% I hopped into Ghetto Sap House Version 3.0 ( 2.0 crashed and burned ) and fired up the burner! Sap house 3.0 12 x 12 make shift sap house In the Finisher Somewhere along the line I decided that it was the perfect time and temperature to light up a…

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My New Addiction to Cast Iron

All my allclad can get thrown out! I have a new love in my life when it comes to cooking and it's cast iron cookware! It started on a whim with a simple question last year on mcarterbrown.com about cast iron and if it was worth it. I received a lot of replies about how it was the best way to cook, etc. Even had a friend on the site offer up a free pan. I took him up on the offer, tried it, and haven't looked back since. Actually, I've bought more pans than I can use right now. Cast Iron Griswold Cast Iron I don't have any photos of the vintage Lodge cast iron pan that was given…

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