Field Trip! with a Snack

Remember the excitement of a school field trip?
Free from the confining classroom! Be outside!
Who are you going to sit with on the bus? Sit with me!
Same seats coming back!

I relived it all yesterday with my daughter's class.
On a day that passes as early spring in Maine, we went to Jillson's Farm in Sabbatus, to learn about maple sugaring.
You may think of maple as sort of a fall flavoring (pumpkin pie, etc.), but spring is when the sap flows. In fact, the very first sign of spring, all over northern New England, is a sap bucket hanging from a tap in a maple tree.

Did you know it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup? The sap gets boiled down in the sugarhouse for hours until all that remains is the very essence of maple. There's nothing else to it. Just time. patience, warm days and cold nights.

This is Mr. Jillson, in the sugarhouse. He's been making maple syrup and other maple treats for a long time and had lots of stories for the kids.

And this is Mrs. Wilcox, who works at the farm and cares for the animals. She's holding Mom Goose, a 19 year old blind goose, who likes to give hugs. A little freaky, in a fun kind of way.

Look at that face! I may not be posting about bacon for awhile.
But then again nothing goes better with farm fresh eggs...

Jillson's Farm bottles and sells its maple syrup. A field trip with baby animals and shopping?
 Best. Field. Trip. Ever.

So guess who's getting a taste of Maine?
You!

I put together a nice package from the farm: 1 quart of pure Maine maple syrup, a big bag of maple kettle corn, Maine wild blueberry jam and 2 maple moose pops.
Just leave a comment telling  me your favorite way to use maple syrup. I'll pick a winner at random and send  the goods your way, asap.
And let me know if you're a fan on my Facebook page. Fans will get their names put in for two chances to win.

Here's something to whet your appetite. I made mini-muffins for the kids and larger ones for the adult chaperones. Wholesome, healthy, easy and delicious. In fact, these may be the easiest muffins I've ever made.

Maple Oatmeal-Apple Muffins
adapted from Epicurious


1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup oats

2 tsps. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsps. ground cinnamon (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

2 tsps. vanilla extract

1 apple, diced

optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts and/or 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (or spray generously with baking spray).
Combine first six (flour through salt) ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend.
Whisk buttermilk, applesauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla in medium bowl until well blended. Add to dry ingredients, along with chopped apple and any other optional ingredients. Stir just to incorporate - do not over mix!

Divide batter equally among muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are golden brown and tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 28-30 minutes.
Transfer to rack and cool.

Note: I made 24 mini-muffins, which baked for about 18-20 minutes, and six regular size muffins with this recipe.