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This cookbook is a collection of recipes gathered from the Eagle family, local neighbors Sherry Wilfong and Denise Zirkle, and friends in Does Hill and Highland County.
The old-timers of Highland County used simple, basic recipes that were handed down from generation to generation. Most of the ingredients they used were just things they grew or raised themselves, and they made the most of whatever was plentiful. Their cooking was simple, straightforward, and delicious!
The Eagle Family has produced maple syrup and honey on their farm for generations, and used these natural sweeteners in most of their cooking and baking.
Sugar-makers are passionate souls, and for six weeks each spring, they devote themselves to the miraculous transformation of sap into liquid gold.
Jay Eagle
MAPLE SYRUP
HOME COOKING
Maple Festival
2nd and 3rd weekends in March
During the Maple Festival, people drive great distances to enjoy the Highland County syrup-making season and all the fun foods and activities the season brings, from maple donuts and buckwheat pancakes to local mountain crafts. When you visit Eagle’s Sugar Camp, you go back in time. Some old-fashioned methods are still in use: you can watch the sap gather and boil in open-pan wood-fired evaporators while the steam and maple smells fill the air throughout the camp.
Take a walk through the trees and hiking trails, taste the sweet sap from the hundreds of buckets hanging on the trees around the sugarhouse, and watch demonstrations of the old iron kettles. Enjoy a tour of the steps of syrup processing, from the tree to the jug.
There is great food available during the Festival: country ham, brown beans and cornbread, pork tenderloin, beef and vegetable soup, hamburgers, hotdogs, barbecue, a wide variety of maple baked products and candies, and tons of local artwork and crafts. Take a moment to sit with your family and enjoy the food at one of the many picnic tables around the camp.
Visitors and bus tours are welcome at Eagle’s Sugar Camp from February 1st through the Festival in March!
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Please call for a personal tour if you plan to visit before the Festival.