As mentioned in a recent post, maple syrup prices are soaring due to high fuel oil costs and a shorter season due to climate change.
But if you want to indulge your maple syrup-tooth right now, and happen to be in the Angelica, New York vicinity (about two hours from Buffalo), try Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn. The Cartwrights, a family of longtime maple syrup producers, began serving pancakes and syrup for a few weeks during the harvest season in 1963. They've been selling stacks of buckwheat pancakes ever since, to tourists from as far away as Germany and Japan. The restaurant is only open for two months - from February 12 through April 13 this year. How's that for local, seasonal eating?
The Cartwright's pancake recipe is a family secret, but here's a link to The Minimalist's Pancake Primer - his ricotta pancakes are killer (in case you can't make it to Angelica before April 12).
We're in the thick of the maple syrup harvest season right now, but high fuel costs will likely lead to price increases of around 30 percent, according to an article in the Boston Globe.
Fuel prices - sugarmakers use fuel oil to boil the harvested sap into syrup - combined with already low syrup reserves from several poor harvest seasons are driving up retail prices. Warmer winters due to climate change have shortened the season, causing historically low output. Plus, there's an increased demand for maple syrup as consumers grow increasingly hip to its superiority over the faux corn syrup-based pancake syrups.
Vermont Spirits Gold is 40% abv. / 80 proof and is made from Vermont Maple Syrup. Vermont Spirits makes three types of vodka. The Gold is from ample syrup the Vintage Gold from maple sap, and the White is made from milk sugar. They are small batch vodkas made in wood fired, steam heated distillers and the Gold is limited to 1,000 cases a year.
The aroma is graceful and delicate, full of maple and hints of butter; with a nice warm alcohol base. The taste starts slightly sharp and peppery and then quickly has maple and buttery notes come through. These last a long time with a slight sweetness joining in. The body is full with an enjoyable oily-silkiness that slides along your tongue. It finishes with a cool-warm tongue and lip tingling.
Created by Duncan Holiday, an anthropologist, it is his answer to using local resources and products in a new way. This is definitely a vodka that you want to sip straight, cold, or on the rocks. Mixing this with much of anything will overwhelm the delicate flavor.
Tuesday afternoon, I was struck with unshakable need to bake a loaf of banana bread. My favorite, basic, go-to recipe generally is the Quick Banana Bread recipe from Joy of Cooking. I've made this loaf so many times that my edition of Joy naturally opens to that page when left to it's own devices. This time though, I wanted something slightly different, something sweetened with maple syrup and including a mass of toasted and chopped pecans. I googled around a bit, until I hit upon this recipe. Taking it as a starting place, I adapted a bit and I think I hit on a winner. It has a very smooth, soft texture that is not too sweet or too bland. I'm afraid my old recipe may have been supplanted by this one! If you want to try it out, the recipe is after the jump.
My family is intensely passionate about quality maple syrup. There's none of that fake, cloyingly sweet pancake syrup in our houses. Only dark, grade B, deeply flavored maple. It's best bought in bulk from a local health food store, although Trader Joe's brand does in a pinch. I love using it to sweeten oatmeal and also have an oatmeal cookie recipe that incorporates it. On those occasions when my sweet tooth beckons and there isn't a bit of chocolate in the house, a small spoonful of maple syrup sates the sugar need nicely.
Knowing a little about this maple obsession of mine will help you understand why I am now totally fixated on the recipe Deb posted on Smitten Kitchen yesterday. She baked up a Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie (and let's not get me started on my love of freshly ground nutmeg. I use it in nearly everything) that she dug out of the New York Times archive. She chose to bake it in a tart pan instead of a pie pan, which makes it look elegant as well as delicious. This is one that's going in the Must Make file for the very near future.
Finally. After a couple of days of food holidays like National Crab Newburg Day and National Cherries Jubilee Day, here's something I can really sink my teeth (and fork) into.
Not that I do that often, actually. The only time I seem to eat pancakes is if I go out for breakfast, which isn't often at all. But it's one of my fall resolutions to change that.
The Extension Service was actually renamed Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) in 1994, but it has it's roots in the 1914 Smith-Lever Act that founded it along with the Land-Grant University system. It's purpose is to "advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being" and offering helpful information about a vast number of things is included in that mission.
Vermont Sweetwater is a small, family owned and operated soda bottling company that makes all natural sodas in eight different flavors. I had heard of, but never seen their products on the shelves before, but when I did I had to try it. The Maple Seltzer is made with fresh Maple tree sap that is lightly carbonated, and sometimes a touch of Maple syrup is added to provide consistency in the flavor. This is because maple sap's flavor can vary quite a bit depending upon the weather and the point in the sap season when it is collected. Besides the Maple Seltzer they also make a Maple soda from maple syrup and carbonated water, but I haven't run across it yet.
The Maple Seltzer has a nice, clean, light, and refreshing taste to it. You can really taste that it is mostly the sap and not much syrup since it doesn't have any of the smoky intensity of maple syrup. It has a really different flavor than I expected and wasn't overwhelming like many sodas and flavored seltzers can be. I'm not a big soda / seltzer drinker except for ginger, root, birch beers, and sarsaparilla; but I really enjoyed this seltzer and would get it again.
Besides the two maple based products, Vermont Maple Soda and Vermont Maple Seltzer, they also make four fruit flavors. Mango Moonshine, Tangerine Cream Twister, County Apple Jack, and Raspberry Rhubarb Ramble. They also have Kickin' Cow-Cola and Rugged Mountain Root Beer. I'm looking forward to trying the maple soda and the root beer some time soon.
Flag Hill Sugar Maple Liqueur is 25% abv. / 50 proof and is produced and bottled in New Hampshire from New Hampshire maple syrup blended with General John Stark Vodka. The vodka used for the base is interesting in that it is made from apples, not grain or potatoes, and is a triple distilled spirit.
The color is that of a very light golden maple syrup. The aroma is very light and composed of a warm, caramel and toffee base, with hints of butter and sweet fruit. I couldn't detect any maple at all. the taste is very intriguing. First a mild hit of maple, followed by buttery tones and caramel that meld with the maple, changing it into a sweet, warm tasting elixir that is hard to describe, but maple isn't what comes to mind. The more I sip the more of a buttery toffee, caramel, butterscotch taste there is. It's nice, but very mild and not an overwhelming liqueur.
They more I drank, the more I liked it. It's a flavor that grows on you. I compared it side by side to the Sortilège I wrote about not long ago and while they are similar to each other they definitely have there own separate identities. If you are looking for a nice liqueur that is different from most then you should try Flag Hill Sugar Maple Liqueur.
Though I try to vary ingredients when making barbecue sauce, two standards that I often include are bourbon and maple syrup - put them together and you have an outstanding sauce for most any meat including ribs, chicken, and beef.
This sweet, savory, and spicy recipe can be made up to a week in advance to allow the flavors to blend, however it still tastes great even if you throw it together at the last minute.
Full recipe and instructions can be found after the jump.
The whole idea behind having pancakes on Fat Tuesday is to use up the butter, milk, eggs and other indulgent ingredients that you might having lying around the house so that you won't be tempted during Lent. But because everyone likes pancakes and not everyone observes lent, calling the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday "National Pancake Day" makes the tradition open to all - and I think that we can all agree that more pancakes are not a bad thing.
For my pancake day breakfast, I opted not to go with something decadent, but instead with something more wholesome so that I don't feel too bad about starting the day with a couple more pancakes (topped with maple syrup, of course), than I need.
With the exception of a few bad storms, this has been a fairly mild winter for most of the US and Canada. The warmer temperatures mean fewer snow days, lighter jackets and an early start to maple syrup season.
The season typically begins in early spring when it is still below freezing at night but slightly warmer (40F or higher) during the day. The reason for the time frame is that the sap levels are at the peak at that point in the year and the daytime temperatures allow it to flow more freely from the tapped trees. Mild winters produce the same effects, although the sugars in the sap are not as intensely concentrated as they will be later in the year. One of the primary reasons that a farmer might begin to harvest sap early, relying on a processes to concentrate the sugars in the sap, is to stay in business, although some traditionalists will turn up their noses at the practice.
'Some people say it isn't natural to make a hole in a tree during the winter, but it is also unnatural to tap trees during the spring,' said one Canadian farmer, noting that only a small portion of the sap is taken and that the trees heal rather quickly and that "only producers who've never tried making syrup in winter would criticize the practice."
My family cooks turkey every holiday. Whether it's Christmas, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day, or the day we celebrate the birth of veteran stage and screen actor Mickey Rooney, turkey seems to be what we cook. Everyone loves it, so why not? But there are times I think of doing something different, like cook a ham. This recipe after the jump seems like a great place to start. Just the mention of the maple syrup and mustard and the apples all cooking together in the roasting pan makes my mouth water. And it seems really easy too.
As mentioned in a recent post, maple syrup prices are soaring due to high fuel oil costs and a shorter season due to climate change. 
We're in the thick of the maple syrup harvest season right now, but high fuel costs will likely lead to price increases of around 30 percent, according to an article in the Boston Globe. 
Vermont Spirits Gold is 40% abv. / 80 proof and is made from Vermont Maple Syrup. Vermont Spirits makes three types of vodka. The Gold is from ample syrup the Vintage Gold from maple sap, and the White is made from milk sugar. They are small batch vodkas made in wood fired, steam heated distillers and the Gold is limited to 1,000 cases a year.
Vermont Sweetwater is a small, family owned and operated soda bottling company that makes all natural sodas in eight different flavors. I had heard of, but never seen their products on the shelves before, but when I did I had to try it. The Maple Seltzer is made with fresh Maple tree sap that is lightly carbonated, and sometimes a touch of Maple syrup is added to provide consistency in the flavor. This is because maple sap's flavor can vary quite a bit depending upon the weather and the point in the sap season when it is collected. Besides the Maple Seltzer they also make a Maple soda from maple syrup and carbonated water, but I haven't run across it yet.
Flag Hill Sugar Maple Liqueur is 25% abv. / 50 proof and is produced and bottled in New Hampshire from New Hampshire maple syrup blended with General John Stark Vodka. The vodka used for the base is interesting in that it is made from apples, not grain or potatoes, and is a triple distilled spirit.
Though I try to vary ingredients when making barbecue sauce, two standards that I often include are bourbon and maple syrup - put them together and you have an outstanding sauce for most any meat including ribs, chicken, and beef. 
This is not your father's lasagna. 
With the exception of a few bad storms, this has been a fairly mild winter for most of the US and Canada. The warmer temperatures mean fewer snow days, lighter jackets and an early start to maple syrup season.
My family cooks turkey every holiday. Whether it's Christmas, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day, or the day we celebrate the birth of veteran stage and screen actor Mickey Rooney, turkey seems to be what we cook. Everyone loves it, so why not? But there are times I think of doing something different, like cook a ham. This recipe after the jump seems like a great place to start. Just the mention of the maple syrup and mustard and the apples all cooking together in the roasting pan makes my mouth water. And it seems really easy too.
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