• Toronto is reveling in all things maple -- in wine, mustard, sugar, cheddar and even vinegar.
• The story of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, local pride and the man behind their current success.
  
• Writer Corey Mintz shares his unique spin on Passover and being Jewish.
• Smoke in the kitchen can be tough to tolerate, but it's worth it if blackened catfish is the result.
  
• How to bake for Passover without using leavening.
• New wines that have "such excellent value even Harrison Ford would be excited": Casa Lapostolle 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Cleebourg Prestige 2006 Pinot Gris, Walter Clappis The Hedonist 2005 Shiraz, Sportoletti Assisi 2006 Rosse, Stringy Brae 2006 Shiraz
  
• Recipes: Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna, Mixed Greens with Fennel and Tangerine, Peppermint Patties, Down-home Tuna Casserole

Maybe you've noticed it too -- the absurd fascination with everything (and anything!) bacon. Over the past few months, I've seen the most ridiculous items (food and non-food) constructed with bacon, and honestly, I don't really know what to make of it. I obviously forward all of the links to my boyfriend, who is known for responding to all questions posed to him with a simple: bacon. (How was your day, honey? Bacon.) But on the other hand, I feel kind of nauseated by the idea of bacon underwear. Here's a round-up of some of the most outrageous, judge for yourself.

Bacon Tiara from Serious Eats

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls, also from Serious Eats

Meat Gadgets from Gizmodo (questionable whether there's bacon in there, but strange all the same...)

French Toast and Bacon Sandwich from Baking Bites (actually, yum)

Bacon Obama logo from us! (that would be Slashfood)

Bacon Ice Cream from Jumbo Empanadas

The infamous Bacon Bra from Slashfood

Maple Bacon Lollipops from lollyphile

It's my final semester of college, and I'm taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, "What's your favorite type of pie?" or "What's your favorite breakfast?" Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there's no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.

Read on after the jump to see where to go for the party, and meanwhile check out these lovely photos from last week's Great American Pie Festival.

Sortilège Maple Syrup and Whiskey Liqueur is 30% abv. / 60 proof and is made in Montreal, Canada from Canadian whiskey and maple syrup. The color is that of a very light maple syrup.

The aroma is a light but sharp whiskey, with overtones of maple, some dried fruit and spice cake notes, and very light hints of vanilla. It's a unusual aroma that isn't as much maple as I would have thought. As I warmed it up the dried fruit notes opened up and masked all the other scents, which was an improvement since I didn't really care for the aroma that much at first.

The taste is very light and medium sweet with a light, but syrupy body. There isn't much going on with the flavor. It has hints of whiskey under the very mild maple flavor. In the background there is some of that dried fruit and spice cake that I noticed in the aroma. This is a nice, mild liqueur that is different from most, but it doesn't wow me. It's nice to have when you want something different but I wouldn't have it on a regular basis. I would like it a lot more if it just had more of the whiskey and maple action going on.

This seems to be the week for chipotle-based glazes to put on your corn.

Yesterday I posted the recipe for Grilled Corn with Chipotle-Lime Butter, and today it's Maple-Chipotle Glazed Grilled Corn. It's from Schwan's and uses their Mini Super Sweet Corn on the Cob. It seems sweeter than the chipotle-lime glaze, but also hotter. Full recipe after the jump.

Every fall, Starbucks adds their Pumpkin Spice Lattes to their lineup, much to the delight of the many fans of the drink. This year, it is joined by another seasonal drink: the Maple Macchiato. The drink is much like the company's caramel "macchiato," which is a latte with vanilla and caramel sauce added to it, only it uses a maple syrup sauce instead of the other flavors. It even has a little maple drizzle on top.

The drink has been test marketed in Canada and in some parts of the US, so if you live in the North East, you may have sampled the maple-goodness before. It is sweet, satisfying and very evocative of fall. All stores should have it in stock this week. Expect to see some seasonal maple-flavored pastries, as well, as the 'Bucks tends to pair their new coffee drinks with a similarly flavored muffin or scone.

As was discussed on Slashfood recently, stevia is a great alternative to the White Demon, refined table sugar. One method of refining sugarcane involves a step where the liquid is filtered through a cattle bone charcoal mixture, with a little albumen thrown in. Not remotely vegan. While stevia is a good, strong, sweetener for that shade grown soy latte, you might also try: Brown Rice Syrup, less sweet than honey and bakes well. Sucanat, organic sugar cane juice with the essence of the sugarcane sans water. Sucanat is good in hot liquids, but lumps up oatmeal and is not ideal for baking. Maple Sugar/Maple Syrup, organic, pure, expensive, but worth it. Pure maple syrup is graded A-C, A being lightest, C the most robust and similar to restaurant grade corn syrup knockoffs. Nothing wrong with C, it's just meant to be the dominant flavor of the food.

Then, there's always Blackstrap molasses. Anyone who's trained with triathletes, especially in the '90s, knows that Blackstrap is believed to (lots of potassium, B vits.) help flush lactic acid from muscles and speed overall recovery from heavy exertion. Whatever your sweet needs, don't turn to the White Demon-- it's no good. Period. Check all this out, and more here.

The 18th (I think) round of Sugar High Friday is being hosted by Chandra of Lick The Spoon. The theme is one not unfamiliar to us here at Slashfood: cooking with booze. The official title is "Candy is Dandy...But Liquor is Quicker." My contribution is a sweet potato pie with bourbon, topped with pecans and maple syrup. The recipe comes from Alton Brown and his episode of Good Eats dedicated to sweet potatoes. A transcript of the episode, including the pie recipe, is available through the Good Eats Fan Page. That recipe doesn't include bourbon, but I happened to have a bottle of Baker's on the shelf, and, well, you know, it seemed like a good idea. Since this was the first time I made this recipe (or sweet potato pie, for that matter), I didn't want to tinker with it too much, so I only used two tablespoons of bourbon, around half a shot. It could probably have used a little more, as the bourbon flavor is rather faint. Still, it's one of the best sweet potato pies I've tasted. I'm not ashamed to say that the crust was store-bought. I'm still an amateur in the baking department, and, since I always manage to make a huge mess anyway, I figured I'd make it easier on myself. Truth be told, I still managed to scorch a pot and dirty an extra pie pan. But that's all in the past now. What I'm left with is my favorite type of pie, and a killer version at that.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

• Eric Asimov profiles wine critic Robert Parker.
• Kim Severson gets the dirt on food radio and podcasts.
• Marrian Burros searches for salmon in a Vermont lake.
• Mark Bittman sings the praises of pork shoulder.
• Frank Bruni reviews Morimoto.
• Susan Guerrero learns about making maple syrup.

For an extra twist on fudge, possibly the easiest and most popular candy to make around the holidays, Sarah Lou of One Whole Clove, has posted a recipe for Maple and Walnut Fudge. These meltingly sweet squares contain a good dose of maple syrup for a very seasonal take on the dessert. The non-chocolate squares provide something as satisfying in texture as chocolate fudge, but much lighter in flavor. The walnuts break up the sweetness a bit. She reminds us to cut these treats into tiny squares, a mere 1-inch by 1-inch, which should be slowly be nibbled; nearly tooth-aching sweetness is not a bad thing for this time of year, but you still don't want to overdo it.