By The last week of the summer visit is always its own thing — the quality of the time changes as departure approaches, becomes slightly more deliberate, as if everyone is making a conscious decision to be present before the ordinary schedule resumes. Finn stayed closer to the kitchen than usual, asking questions about the garden and about what I would make in fall and in winter. He wanted to know if he could come back at Thanksgiving to make something alongside Teddy. I told him that depended on his parents and he said he would ask them in the car on the way home, which is the strategic timing of a child who understands that car conversations are harder to avoid than kitchen conversations.
The tomato sauce production is in full swing — I have been putting up six to eight quarts every few days, the garden giving off Brandywines faster than I can process them, which is exactly what a productive year looks like. Teddy worked with me Thursday morning on a batch of sauce, not learning exactly but alongside, the two of us each running our own process at the same counter. He roasted his tomatoes before saucing them, which deepens the flavor at the cost of time, and his version and mine came out different in a way I want to post about — the roasted version richer and more complex, the raw version brighter and more acidic, neither better, both correct for different purposes. He seemed pleased that his version was a legitimate alternative rather than a deviation from the standard.
Carol called with the state fair update: she has entered and the judging is in two weeks, the last week of August. She said she has made the same batch of apple butter fourteen times since last September and the formula is fixed — she knows exactly what she is submitting and she is not adjusting it further. She said that kind of certainty was new for her in a competition context and she was not sure whether it meant she was ready or whether it meant she had stopped learning. I told her it meant she had finished developing the recipe and now she was letting it speak for itself, which was the correct relationship to have with a finished thing. She said she hoped the judges agreed.
Carol’s certainty about her apple butter stayed with me after we hung up — the idea of a recipe that is finished, that you have stopped adjusting and started trusting. I found myself thinking about that while I was processing the next batch of tomatoes, and then later I made a small jar of maple butter, which is its own kind of preserve and one that reaches that same settled state quickly: you make it, it’s right, you put it up. No more tinkering. It felt like the right thing to have on hand at the end of a week that had been full of cooking alongside people I love.
Maple Butter
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 16 (about 1 cup)
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the syrup. Pour the maple syrup into a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until the syrup reaches 235°F on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage), about 8–10 minutes.
- Cool slightly. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool undisturbed until it drops to about 110°F, approximately 15–20 minutes. Do not stir during cooling.
- Beat in the butter. Add the butter pieces and salt. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until the mixture becomes thick, creamy, and lightens in color, about 3–5 minutes. Add vanilla extract if using and beat briefly to combine.
- Jar and store. Spoon into a clean glass jar. Maple butter will firm up as it cools to room temperature. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 11g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 40mg