Red Bucket in Worthington, too.
Randy Pomeroy, owner of Pomeroy's Sugar House in Westfield.
For the Red Bucket Sugar Shack in Worthington, where this year's sugaring season was launched recently by the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, sugaring has always signaled sweet success.
LeAnn Mason and her husband built the original part of their sugarhouse in 1979. They started their restaurant three years later, balancing a two year-old, full-time work and a side business selling maple sugaring equipment to other producers.
"As the years went on, we continued to grow. When it came time to put an addition on, there was a maple tree that had grown right outside our dining room. Jeff did not want to cut it down so we built around it," said owner LeAnn Mason.
"Tommy the Tree," as he is known to patrons, grows inside the sugar house and was the ceremonial first tree to be tapped by Greg Watson, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, at the annual kick off at which a proclamation by Gov. Duval Patrick was read that declares March to be 'Maple Month' in Massachusetts.
The Red Bucket's menu is more than just plain pancakes. Sugar shack aficionados rank it as one of the best within the whole sugar house circuit.
"Every weekend our daughter, Melissa, comes up with a different pancake to go with the rest of our menu. One weekend was apple cider pancakes, another before that was zucchini bread pancakes," Mason said.
"This is all in conjunction with our standard blueberry, walnut, chocolate chip and whole wheat pancakes."
St. Patrick's Day weekend featured pistachio pancakes, Irish soda bread French toast and a green eggs and ham omelet with spinach, goat cheese and dill alongside homemade corned beef hash.
"As far as the restaurant goes, we feed our customers and we feed them well. Melissa has a lot of passion for cooking and baking. Our son-in-law, Bruce, also works with her in the kitchen. When you put family into it, it's even more special," Mason said.
The Red Bucket is open Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Maple fans have until April 7 to try their maple cream doughnuts, maple java milkshakes, maple chai, and maple walnut ice cream in the super satisfying maple crepe. Fearless foodies can order the "Sugar Shack Stack."
"It's two pancakes, one with their choice of sausage, bacon or Canadian ham inside, eggs cooked however you want and cheese on top and built up in a great, big stack. People just absolutely love it," Mason said.
The family-friendly dining room seats 70 people.
"We have a sign that says 'Please Seat Yourself' and 'Please Wait to be Seated.' Once that sign is turned to the wait side, all of us are going nonstop until the end of the day so our customers can have a good time and eat great food," Mason said.
Guests can mosey around the maple trees, talk to Mason's father, Al Parsons, while he works the evaporator or chat with Jeff Mason when he gathers sap or makes maple kettle corn.
They can munch on maple cotton candy, maple coated nuts or buy syrup, spreads, jelly, and candies to take home and extend their experience. A bottle of Mason's special recipe maple barbecue sauce will bring back March memories during summer time.
The Red Bucket Sugar Shack is located at 584 Kinnebrook Road in Worthington. Mason recommends the easiest route over GPS directions, "Mass Pike west to Exit 3 then Route 112 north until Kinnebrook Road and we're three miles down the road."
The restaurant does not take credit or debit cards and will be open March 30, but closed on Easter Sunday, March 31. For more information, call (413) 238-7710 or find them on Facebook.
There are more than 300 maple producers across the Commonwealth. In an average year, they produce about 50,000 gallons of maple syrup worth almost $3 million dollars.
This year's favorable weather conditions have allowed sugarmakers to begin making syrup very early in the season. Maple syrup is still produced the same way it has been for hundreds of years, by boiling down sap from maple trees until it reaches proper density and sweetness.
Randy Pomeroy, owner and operator of Pomeroy Sugar House and Restaurant in Westfield, helped explain the difference in the grades of syrup.
"The Grades A syrups are light, medium and dark amber. There's Grade B, which is a very dark syrup with lots of maple flavor," said Pomeroy, who grew up sugaring. "You get the lighter grades at the beginning of the season and the darker comes at the end when we're almost done."
The season starts with a high sugar content and little maple flavor. As it progresses, the maple flavor becomes more intense and the syrup not as sweet. Pomeroy's favorite is right in the middle, the medium of the season.
The Pomeroy Sugar House in Westfield has been open for three generations. The restaurant cooks breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Some 500 people visit over the course of one weekend.
"People like to get breakfast and watch us making maple syrup because the boiling room and the dining room are in the same building. They can also come and ask us questions while we work," said Pomeroy, sharing that their syrup is made from Rock Maple tree sap boiled on a traditional wood-fired evaporator.
On the menu are standards like pancakes, waffles, French toast, bacon, sausage and home fries. All are made fresh and maple cream, candies and syrups are for sale.
Children can visit and feed the working dairy farm's cows and goats.
Visitors from far away can stay at the Pomeroy Bed and Breakfast, a quaint little farmhouse inn run by Pomeroy's grandparents.
The Pomeroy Sugar House is located on 491 Russellville Road at the Westfield-Southampton line. They will be closed on Easter Sunday, March 31. The last day of the season at Pomeroy's will be April 7.
"We will have a special benefit that day with all proceeds going toward breast cancer research. Years ago, my mother, Deborah Pomeroy, passed away from breast cancer and this is our way to give back and to remember her," Pomeroy said.
For more information about Pomeroy Sugar House, visit www.pomeroysugarhouse.com or call (413) 568-3484.
For more maple facts, sugar house locations and recipes, please visit www.massmaple.org.