Very little equipment is necessary to make maple syrup. Much of the equipment you may already have on hand, and most of the rest can be purchased at your local store. Maple syrup equipment supply stores will carry some of the items that are unique to Making Maple Syrup such as spiles (spouts), hydrometers, and maple syrup filters. You can also find a variety of online shopping sites that carry all the equipment you will need.

Necessary Equipment

1. A 7/16 inch drill bit and a portable drill.

2. Each hole requireswill requireone Spile (spout).

3. Metal and wood buckets, or plastic milk jugs can be used to catch the sap from the trees. The containers must have a hole in them on one side near the top that is large enough so they can be slipped over the spiles.

4. You can keep the sap you collect in plastic or metal trash cans.

5. The evaporator pan you will need to boil the sap can be a metal pan, or very deep wash tub. It must be large enough to hold the five gallons of sap you will collect.

6. Brick or cinder block outdoor fire pits that are large enough to sit your boiling pan on are ideal for boiling the sap. Outdoor wood stoves also work well. The sap must be boiled outdoors, and not in your kitchen.

7. The heat necessary for boiling the sap comes from fast burning and very dry wood.

8. The best way to tell when the syrup is done is to use a candy thermometer.

9. Filter the maple syrup through felt or flannel filters while it is still hot. A double flannel filter is best. Your maple syrup store has filters and special straining containers you can purchase

10. Canning jars or any clean glass jar that can be sealed tight can be used to store the finished maple syrup.

11. Finished maple syrup should weigh at least 11 pounds per gallon. You can also use a hydrometer (optional) to determine when the syrup is done.

Making Your Maple Syrup

1. Not all maple trees are the same, and your tree will need to be a hard maple tree to be a good sugar maple tree. Soft maple trees do not make good maple syrup and should not be used.

At 4 ½ feet above the ground your tree will need to be at least 10 inches in diameter. A good rule of thumb would be 1 tap for trees[/spin between 10 inches and 20 inches, 2 taps for trees between 20 inches and 30 inches and 3 taps for trees that are over 30 inches. Trees with large crowns are the best producers.

2. Use your 7/16 inch drill bit to drill a hole at a height that is easy to reach and about 3 inches deep. For trees with multiple holes keep the holes not any closer than 2 feet over or under the old holes.

3. Drive the spile (spout) hard enough that you might split the tree.

4. If you purchased your spiles you can hang the container on the built in hook. Use a piece of wire to make a hook if you made your own spiles. Cover the buckets.

5. Each tap should produce 10 gallons of sap during the six week season, and will make approximately 1 quart of maple syrup.

6. After collecting your sap place it in your collection container until you have enough to start boiling. Start your fire and begin boiling. Be careful not to fill your boiling pan more than 2/3 full to prevent the sap from boiling over. To help prevent the sap from boiling over you should rub vegetable oil on the top rim of your boiling pan. As the water boils out you should add more sap and do not let the level of the sap in the boiling pan reach lower than 2 inches. It takes a great deal of time to make maple syrup, so keep your fire going and be patient. It is very important at this time that you never leave your fire unattended.

7. Sap left in the containers will sour if left in there, so collection buckets need to be cleaned after each use. Remember to always boil any collected sap as soon as possible.

8. The candy thermometer is a very good tool to tell you when your maple syrup is finished. When the temperature reaches 7 degrees F above the boiling water temperature it has turned into maple syrup. This will give you about a 67 to 69 percent sugar content. Water boils at different temperatures. You need to determine what temperature your water boils at because at different elevations water boilsat different temperatures. Your hydrometer is another excellent way of testing your maple syrup. Maple syrup will weigh 11 pounds when it has the proper 67% sugar content. If your maple weighs more than 11 ¼ pounds crystals can form on the bottom of your container.

9. After you pack your maple syrup in the containers you need to pour the hot syrup through a filter. Felt, flannel or specialty filters all work good for this process. Now its time to pour the hot syrup through a filter before you pack it in containers.

10. The maple syrup needs to be at least 180 degrees F when you pack it into containers. The containers you intend to pack your maple syrup into need to be sterilized before you put the hot syrup in them. For a better seal you should lay the containers on their sides.

11Maple syrup must be stored in a cool place, and should be kept in the refrigerator after it is opened. You can also freeze your maple syrup if you do not have a cool place to store it.

12.When cleaning your equipment use hot water and a mild chlorine solution. Soap and detergents leave a residue than will contaminate the flavor of your next batch, and should not be used.

To get more information, you will find complete instructions, along with a complete list of the equipment that is necessary at http://www.michiganmaplesyrup.net

For the quick and easy recipes tips - visit this blog.

•Pecans are a known aphrodisiac. It means they can increase sexual desire. They can provide a good amount of zinc in the body which is much needed in the production of testosterone—the hormone that increases sexual urge.

•Georgia pecans are very popular because the state is the United States’ pecan capital. Albany, Georgia has pecan trees of more than 600,000. Every year, they have the National Pecan Festival that showcases different activities and contests with the theme revolving around (surprise, surprise) pecans.

•One huge pecan sheller can process up to 150,000 pecan nuts for only one day. You can make around 300,000 pies for that amount of pecan!

•These nuts have different sizes. There are really large pecans called mammoth and smallest ones are midget. Some are also called small, medium, large, and extra large—just like shirt sizes. These also have different kinds of types such as pecan halves, meal, granule, and pieces, and whole pecans.

•Just like most products especially nuts or beans, they should undergo a series of processes before they can be sold. The process involves cleaning, sizing, sterilizing, cracking, and shelling.

•About 80 % of this crop comes from the United States.

•The names of the pecan varieties come from Indian names such as Shawnee, Mohawk, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Choctaw. You can also get them as candy pecans or any other way.

•Trees should be well taken care of to produce good quality nuts. The tree should be as high as 70 to 100 feet high or sometimes even much higher.

If you are looking to “get into” pecans, you may want to start at the logical place, which is your grocery store or supermarket.

We had an old family recipe, which we relied on for years, but the previous year we resolved to bring a bit of variety and tried a different recipe that I acquired.

I learned it from an online recipe collection, and it turned out really tasty.

And here it is for you to make for yourself:

Recipe for Christmas Biscotti

You will need :

Half a cup of butter or margarine
One cup of sugar
Two and a half cups of baking powder
One teaspoon of crushed aniseed
Two whole eggs
One egg yolk
One egg white
Three cups of flour
Half a cup of chopped candied red cherries
Half a cup of mixed candied fruit
One tablespoon of finely shredded orange peel
One egg white
One tablespoon of sugar

Directions :

Use an electric mixer on medium/high speed to beat the butter or margarine in a large bowl for 30 seconds.

Now add the cup of sugar, the baking powder, and the aniseed and beat until it is well mixed. Now beat in the whole eggs and the egg yolk.

Now add the flour, beating in as much as possible using the food mixer, and then stirring the rest in by hand. Add the candied fruit and orange peel and stir them in by hand.

Split the dough into two equal halves and shape each half into loaf shape of approximately 11″ x 2″ X 1″. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, and place both of these ‘loaves’ on the sheet.

Put the egg white and one teaspoon of water into a cup and stir well together, then brush the mix over the two dough loaves.

Now sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar over them.

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F, and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are light brown. Remove and place on a cookie sheet to cool for 60 minutes or so. When cool, cut each, diagonally, into slices of about half an inch wide.

Put these slices ‘cut side up’ onto an un-greased cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Flip the slices over and bake for another 10 to 13 minutes until they are crispy.

Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

This recipe should make around 35 biscotti.

When they have cooled down enough, you can store them in a normal biscuit tin, or anything else that will keep them dry. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

If, like us, you desire a change from your usual festive recipes, have a go at looking through a few of the internet compendiums of holiday recipes recipes, you might enjoy what you will find. Next year, I plan on discovering some fine new cake recipes for the festivities - anything will be tastier than christmas pudding.

If you decide on any of these brand names- brand names like Rival, Hamilton Beach, Kitchen-Aid, Cuisinart or Proctor Silex - you won’t go wrong. Don’t go cheap since you will get what you pay for -you will want your slow cooker to last for quite a few years.

When you search for a good deal, you shouldn’t cut off the quality and the features of a pressure cooker. You will want an automatic shut-off and warm feature which means you don’t have to make it home by the time the meal is finished cooking. The slow cooker will automatically switch to a gentle warming mode. This helps when you are serving a large meal by keeping stews, soups, and other dishes ready to serve.

After you picked the brand that yuo trust the most, you need to pick the size of the slow cooker. Most popular cooker sizes are 3.5 and 4 quart models. Depending on your family needs, you will be able to choose anything from small to large cookers.

You can be very creative with the choices and the food you want to put into your slow cooker. You can’t find the perfect recipe when we talk about cooking with slow cooker. Few choice ingredients will blend in their flavors with a big help from your slow cooker. There is no end to the types of foods you can cook in a crockpot. Slow cooker will make it all good, whether you are making stew, a roast or a simple soup.

Fast food is over with, and the slow cooked meals are made popular. A delicious meal can be as simple as tossing some ingredients into the pot before everyone leaves for the day.

I know, I know, they are spoiled but what is a mother to do.
I am forever trying to make good meals regularly but I need to learn how to cook first!

I always have the urge to experiment in the kitchen and one day I decided to invent my own free chicken recipe.
I went to the supermarket and bought a package of chicken wings, flour, seasoning salt, black pepper and an onion.

Once I got home with everything I needed for my recipe, I put the chicken in a dish and covered the chicken with water.
I then seasoned it and placed sliced onions in it and placed it in the oven.

I let it cook for between a half hour and an hour, then mixed in some flour to make thick gravy out of the pan juices.

Apparently struck by delusions of grandeur, I boasted of my achievement to my family and guests.
It had a great aroma and made me anxious to eat it.
I made rolls to go with the gravy from the chicken.
I couldn’t wait to give them one of their favorite desserts, a yellow cake with white frosting.
Time had flown by and the aroma was stronger than ever!
Well, about 45 minutes later, I removed the chicken from the oven and thought it turned out great, from the looks of it.

I served my children a nice helping thinking they would love it.
As I was waiting to see the reaction, I got very excited when my 6 year old tasted it.

Of course a few minutes later I hear, ‘Mommy, are you going to make me eat it?’
There went my ego!
So, in the end I ended up serving them chicken nuggets, frozen ones at that which they enjoyed!
I have since named that meal a Chicken disaster - I actually thought it was pretty good myself.

I’m going to try and do some further tinkering with this chicken recipe until it turns out just right.

The ultimate goal is to seduce my children into loving it.
The hubby told me it was marvelous, but that was probably only to avoid a week of sleeping on the couch!
Next time I will think twice before trying a recipe with chicken.

When you think of where the majority of your grocery budget goes you’ll probably agree that it’s mostly on meat and some produce items.  So this is where your cheap meal ideas will start; substituting or eliminating those items or choosing ones that are less expensive.  For instance chicken breasts are usually about twice the price of chicken legs or thighs, so what recipes do you have where you can use thighs or legs instead?  Or can you hunt down some new recipes for those rather than relying on frying?  Your cheap meal ideas may require some effort on your part but none of these things are terribly difficult.  You can easily reduce the amount of meat you use in many recipes and learn to cook vegetables so that your family is still full despite cutting out the main staple.  And by making side dishes that are more substantial such as stuffed peppers or mushrooms, you’re going to be full that much easier and may not even miss the meat in the first place, so your cheap meal ideas mean just adding more affordable options in these cases.

Its a lot cheaper to not have meat in your meals but if you aren’t a vegetarian then its tough to really have a meal without meat but it will save you lots of money.  Think of what things you eat now that you could easily turn into a vegetarian dish - chili, spaghetti without meat, stew or soup, pot pies, stir fry, and so on.  Usually dishes like these are hearty enough that you don’t even miss the meat.  Other Budget Cooking meal ideas simply involve having food that you might not think of such as oatmeal for dinner or cereal and toast for lunch.  You can also have a fruit salad over some cottage cheese or something light; these types of cheap meal ideas are even healthier than your standard lunch of cheeseburger and fries.

Theres a lot of truth in making food yourself and meaning that that can save you lots of money.  Prepared foods you get from the supermarket are always going to be more expensive, so cheap meal ideas will start with what you buy.  Be ready to do some of your own chopping, dicing, and cooking rather than relying on the supermarket to do these for you!

Low Price Cooking is a brand new community website for Cooking Nutritious Food at a lower price to help your family budget. Come by LowPriceCooking to get your free Ebook on LowPriceCooking Basics just for joining the Low Price Cooking community for free. You will find cooking Forums, cooking Videos, Low Price Cooking Community Members and more just for signing up for free to join and then you can get your free Low Price Cooking EBook on Low Price Cooking Basics. Come be A part of our Low Price Cooking Community.

The first thing you need to learn when planning cheap healthy meals is just what is meant by healthy.  Some people think that rice is healthy when it’s actually a simple carb that breaks down as sugar in the body.  It’s healthier than sugar or saturated fat but still not as good as vegetables or lean protein.  And while lean protein is healthy you don’t want to think that all meats are good for you as beef is loaded with saturated fat that clogs the arteries.  These things of course can be had in smaller amounts but creating cheap healthy meals means understanding what is healthy to you and knowing what you can eat in larger amounts and what you need to be balanced about.

Understanding your own budget and what will go over well with your family is also part of creating Budget Cooking healthy meals.  Some people, men in particular, just want to eat meat and hate vegetarian dishes.  It can be part of creating cheap healthy meals to substitute meats for certain vegetables but if your family won’t eat these dishes then you’re just wasting your time and your money as well.  A better idea might be to just cut back on the amount of meat you use and add more veggies to bulk up your meal.  For instance if you’re making a pot roast you can purchase a smaller cut of meat and add carrots, mushrooms, onions, and potatoes to a slow cooker or roasting pan as you cook.  By doing this you’re creating cheap healthy meals that are still very tasty but that involve more vegetables and less meat overall.You can always add more diced tomatoes and onions and put less meat into your spachetti and do this with other dishes as well.

Get creative when thinking of Low Cost Cooking healthy meals.  Try a vegetable stir fry that you serve over noodles; add a small amount of meat for that carnivore in your life!  Serve a loaded baked potato that you top with steamed broccoli and a small amount of cheese.There is a lot of healthy nutrients in baked potatoes but you really need to leave off the sour cream, butter, and bacon and add salsa and maybe some cooked chicken.  By putting some thought into cheap healthy meals for your family you’re sure to find recipes that they’ll love.

Low Price Cooking is a brand new community website for Cooking Nutritious Food at a lower price to help your family budget. Come by LowPriceCooking to get your free Ebook on LowPriceCooking Basics just for joining the Low Price Cooking community for free. You will find cooking Forums, cooking Videos, Low Price Cooking Community Members and more just for signing up for free to join and then you can get your free Low Price Cooking EBook on Low Price Cooking Basics. Visit and be our newest member of the Low Price Cooking Community.

The obvious answer is to eat more fruits and vegetables whenever you can.  These items are nutritious, tasty, and of course the best choice for Low Price Cooking healthy food that there is.  But the problem with fruits and vegetables is that they can sometimes get a bit boring and repetitious, and many people want a hot meal for lunch or dinner rather than just raw fruits and veggies.  So how can you incorporate these items into your meal plans so that you’re getting the best of cheap, healthy food but not missing out on taste or enjoyment?

Learning to cook is of course one important part, or just following recipes for certain items can make a difference.  Stuffed peppers are a great choice for cheap, healthy food that can be a main course for any meal.  Of course there’s a right way and a wrong way to cook stuffed pepper so that they come out tasty rather than mushy!  But they’re one easy dish that just about everyone enjoys.Sauces and seasonings are a great way to dress up your veggies and make your stir fry a little different than the last time you had it.  They make a great meal and a good idea for a cheap, healthy food that you can have on its own or that you can serve over noodles or rice.One thing is to use side dishes to really help compliment your meal and also help fill people up so they eat less meat and more steam veggies.  This means you’re having a cheap, healthy food at every meal but not losing out on the taste of meat, if that’s what you enjoy.

Fruit makes a great dessert in many cases; this is another way of having a Low Cost Cooking healthy food that tastes good and that can be used in the place of something else that is less healthy or good for you.  Some fresh fruit with a little bit of whipped cream is a small amount of calories, especially when compared to ice cream or something else.Sometimes you try to get creative and you can come up with plenty of things to do wit fruit such as baking an apple and putting cinnamon on it.There are a lot of sugars that are natural and they come out when the item is baked for a while.  This is a cheap, healthy food that just about everyone loves for dessert and that is so easy to make.  By using your imagination and getting familiar with different cooking techniques, you can use fruits and vegetables as cheap, healthy food every single day.

Low Price Cooking is a brand new community website for Cooking Nutritious Food at a lower price to help your family budget. Come by LowPriceCooking to get your free Ebook on LowPriceCooking Basics just for joining the Low Price Cooking community for free. You will find cooking Forums, cooking Videos, Low Price Cooking Community Members and more just for signing up for free to join and then you can get your free Low Price Cooking EBook on Low Price Cooking Basics. Stop by and join for free and be a apart of our new Low Price Cooking Community.