Because the photo in the header of this post is severely cropped, the buffet table in Bobo’s sugarhouse can not be seen. The al fresco dining was featured two weeks ago in “Pickles, Cough Drops and a Bottle of Scotch” but they’ve been boiling like mad over there ever since and it should go without saying that the buffet table is stocked with an array of items that can be eaten by hand, on the fly. Pretty much everything available is made even more delicious by a drizzling (or dunking) of warm syrup but one wonders sometimes what else could be done with all that amber, sugary goodness.
New York City found out this week when Bobo’s Mountain Sugar was featured in the menu of the Maple Run, a dinner at the James Beard House, on West 12th Street. Not only do I expect to find Maple-Brined Pork Loin with Grits, Carrots, Almonds, and Maple–Mustard Jus followed by Waffle Baba with Maple–Bourbon Syrup, Vanilla–Bourbon Ice Cream, Brown Butter, and Maple Meringue served up on the old wire spool next year, I expect to see Hot Dogs Boiled in a Sap Pan and Virginia Peach Moonshine with Vermont Maple Cocktails on the menus of fine restaurants everywhere.
Saturday was a fine day in this neck of the woods and it was nice at Bobo’s, on the other side of the valley, too. The day’s sap run was underway and I wandered into the sugarbush for some pictures before putting in a few hours stoking the arch. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about bouncing home through the mud with a warm jar of syrup.
At Bobo’s, on Saturday:
The View from Fish in a Barrel Pond 
I’ll have to get my order in soon before all those New Yawkers buy it all up.
“Waffle Baba with Maple–Bourbon Syrup, Vanilla–Bourbon Ice Cream, Brown Butter, and Maple Meringue” — otherwise known as heart attack on a plate. But what a way to go.
Come on now, Quill, you know you cropped the photo only because you didn’t want to let everyone see the Mason jar and know you all were getting into that bottle of “Weapons Grade Head Cement Thinner!” 😉