Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Sweet & Syrupy

Who would have ever thought sap from the maple tree would become a hit of the breakfast table! Was it the Native Americans who first harvested and boiled the sap into a thick syrup or do we thank the French explorers and missionaries? Regardless who was first, by the 1700s, both Native Americans and European setters alike were using iron and copper kettles to make syrup and sugar.

December 17 is...

Maple Syrup Day

Pure Vermont Maple

Maple syrup is strictly North American. New York, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Vermont stake claim to the maple tree as their State Tree. Vermont leads the United States in total maple production, pumping out 1,320,000 gallons of maple syrup in 2013.

Maple Syrup Trivia...

It's called "liquid gold" for good reason: It takes about 40 gallons of raw sap to create one gallon of syrup. Plus, "sugaring season" lasts only a short six weeks in late winter.

100% Pure and natural Vermont maple syrup… a gift from Mother Nature herself!

Maple syrup was the original natural sweetener. It has been documented that maple syrup has a high nutritional value and may benefit human health in a number of significant ways. That is cool since it is just too good to resist as it flows effortlessly down a stack of hot, golden pancakes! Better still is the fact it is not limited just to breakfast.

A Bit of Maple Syrup History...

It wasn’t until the Civil War that the maple syrup industry was born, with the introduction of the tin cans and the invention of metal spouts and evaporator pans. Most early producers were dairy farmers who made maple syrup and sugar during the off-season of the farm for their own use and for extra income. [Source: History of Maple]