Who knew corn fritters were so yummy?!

So, the maple syrup tour of New England isn't panning out quite as planned. Not that there isn't an abundance of places to find it, it's just that my schedule got really hectic all of a sudden. Apparently, when you're getting married, you have to actually do things to plan it. My tactic of procrastinating and hoping that everything will just work itself out on its own wasn't working. And then there's the whole school thing that gets in the way sometimes. But, that's all beside the point...

So, Southface Farm in Ashfield, MA was the first (and only, so far) stop on the tour. For being in the middle of nowhere, it was surprisingly easy to find. It helped that I took a cheesemaking workshop in Ashfield, so I sort of knew where I was going.

Cheese. Let me go off on a tangent about that before talking about maple syrup. Once upon a time, maybe fours years ago, I bought a cheese cookbook. In the back it had all sorts of mail-order information. I'm not sure exactly what you needed to mail order: maybe special cheese or something. Out of habit, I glanced through the list to see if there were any local places listed. I saw the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company (ok, not so local, but it's within a reasonable driving distance of 2 hours). They had a website that I checked out and saw that they had cheesemaking workshops. Oh yeah. Somehow, I convinced two of my friends to come with me and we all signed up. It was fantastic! Who knew there was so much to know about cheese? Actually, I did know, but I had never spent 8 hours in a row thinking about it before. I heartily recommend taking one if you're interested. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to make soft cheeses. Even if you aren't adventurous, there's a 30-minute mozzarella kit that is really really easy and you make it with powdered milk. Having been permanently scarred by being served only powdered skim milk for the first 15 years of my life, I thought that sounded gross. Imagine having to inspect each glass of milk you pour, so as not to end up drinking a lump that wasn't mixed in. Yuck. Eventually, my brother and sisters and I staged a milk boycott until our parents started buying regular milk. I think my mom must have been on our side, because it didn't take long to convince them (and my parents don't give in easily, believe me). My dad still drinks the powdered stuff, though.

Ok, that was a tangent on a tangent. Let me get back to the topic at hand... The powdered milk does make a great batch of fresh mozzarella. Take the cheesemaking workshop in Ashfield, MA if you can. Now, back to maple syrup at Southface Farm and their fabulous corn fritters.

Never having had one before, I ordered one. It came out steaming hot and was delicious--especially drowned in a pool of their own grade A amber maple syrup. Mmm-mmm! The rest of the food was good, too. I had eggs and cinnamon toast; Brian had French bread French toast. They use a lot of local produce in their breakfasts, which I loved (locally-baked bread, local eggs, etc.) It was still a little early in the season, so they weren't sugaring yet, but that was two weeks ago. If the weather out there has cooperated, they should be sugaring by now. They are open for breakfast through the middle of April, if anyone is interested in making the trip. It's in a beautiful area of the state, so it's a really nice drive. If you head out Rte. 2, I recommend stopping at Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters in Shelburne Falls, MA (1335 Mohawk Trail, which is Rte. 2 in that part of the state). If you're headed west, they're on your left. Good coffee and hot chocolate. Brian and I got Mexican HC and it had cayenne pepper in it. Good stuff. They have a funky cafe space with room to hang out, if you want to stop in and relax.

Next stop on the tour, I think, will be Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH on March 18th, so stay tuned. They serve coffee made from beans roasted with their own maple syrup.