"maple syrup" news and stories

The long weekend's over, you're back on the job, and maybe you need some comfort food to take the edge off. Our suggestion, via blogger (cup)cake eater, is to treat yourself to a good old country breakfast, and put a batch of fluffy maple corn fritters on the griddle. Comfort food is the star in Joni Marie Newman's vegan cookbook Cozy Inside, and you can check out her fritters recipe here.

Want more corn? It's the height of the season, and we're going to be featuring corn for the rest of the week in recipes that take it off the cob and into a chowder, a relish, and some very spicy muffins.

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Spring has arrived! With it, come scads of crawfish festivals along the Gulf Coast, beer and wine festivals nationwide and the heralding of spring harvests. April is so chock-full of culinary merrymaking we can only wish you luck getting through the month without lapsing into a life-threatening -- though joyous -- food coma.

Breckenridge Beer Festival, April 3, Breckenridge, Colo.: American craft beer continues to attract followers and chip away at commercial leviathans. In few places is this more evident than in Colorado, one of the country's beer meccas. Unlimited tasting tickets will set you back $25, but serious beer geeks will want to shell out $55 for VIP passes, which include early entry to the festival, a commemorative glass mug, unlimited tastings, a private VIP room, lunch and a buffet. Raise a pint glass to local and national breweries, among them Oskar Blues, Great Divide and the town's own, Breckenridge Brewing Company.

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Boston, April 8, Boston, Mass.: What's a month without a fine-dining fete? The Share Our Strength series' event in Boston will feature more than 70 area restaurants and 40 wineries, including the Little Pearl, Rialto and Eastern Standard. All ticket sales will benefit Share Our Strength's effort to end child hunger.

In honor of National Maple Syrup Day, we've decided to conduct a little experiment. In observing the above photo, do you feel somewhat ill-at-ease or alarmed at the dauntingly naked pancakes? Do you feel a strange urge to reach into the photo and pour syrup all over the painfully undressed cakes? If so, consider yourself a true maple syrup fan.

We can't get enough of the buttery-sweet nectar -- and no sweet-flavored brunch would be complete without it. But maple syrup is well enjoyed past the morning hours and we love the subtle sweetness it adds to any dish. In honor of National Maple Syrup Day, get creative with these suggested recipes:

• Smashed Spiced Sweet Potatoes
• Maple-Basted Delicata Squash
• Blueberry-Maple Caiprissimo Cocktail
• Turkey Fingers with Maple-Mustard Sauce
• Chicken with Black-Pepper Maple Sauce
• Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream-Cheese Icing
• Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie

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Having trouble deciphering maple-syrup grades? Click here for a quick guide.

Photo: Scott W. Baker

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

The moving truck rolls into Brooklyn this week. The big international move to Mexico has been brutal to organize, but -- lucky me! -- I had the very cool cats called Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC) host a splendid Hasta Luego shindig in my honor.

One of the members, Elayne Duke, served up an original creation she called "Little Bit of Country," that's perfect for the chill coming in the air these days. Her cocktail pretty much sums me up: kick of bourbon, little sweetness, nice tartness, touch of spiciness and just enough bitter to balance it all out. My Granny sent me a fabulous leopard-print dress to wear that just had to have a pink feather boa for the party ... and I sported my cowboy boots for a "little bit of country."