Posted on 12/16/2022 12:53:18 PM PST by Red Badger
NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY Get the flapjacks ready for National Maple Syrup Day. December 17th calls for orders of pancakes, french toast, or biscuits topped off with butter and delicious maple syrup.
#MapleSyrupDay
It is usually from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees that maple syrup is made from although it is not limited to those maple species. These trees, in cold climates, store starch in their trunks and in their roots. In the spring, the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap. The maple trees are then tapped by boring holes into their trunks and the released sap is collected. After the sap is collected, it is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.
The indigenous peoples of North American first collected, processed, and used maple syrup. European settlers adopted the practice and gradually refined production methods. In the 1970s, technological improvements further refined the process of making syrup.
A maple syrup production farm is called a sugarbush or a sugarwood. The sap is boiled in a sugar house which is also known as a sugar shack, sugar shanty, or a cabane à sucre. Up until the 1930s, the United States led in maple syrup production. Now, Canada produces the most maple syrup.
Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the United States.
HOW TO OBSERVE MAPLE SYRUP DAY
Serve up a breakfast worthy of real maple syrup. Learn more about tapping trees for sap to make syrup in the spring. Whether you crave pancakes, biscuits, or some light crepes, be sure to share them using #MapleSyrupDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY HISTORY
It’s a sticky subject, but National Day Calendar continues researching the origins of this sweet holiday. Pass the syrup!
Maple Syrup FAQ
Q. When is tapping season for maple syrup?
A. Weather conditions determine the best time to tap trees for sap. Tapping maple sap beings as early as the middle of February and continues through April.
Q. What color is maple sap when it comes out of the tree?
A. Maple sap is a clear liquid when it is tapped from the tree. The process of heating and boiling the sap creates the darker color of maple syrup.
Q. What states produce maple syrup?
A. Vermont produces the most maple syrup. However, these states also make maple syrup:
New York
Maine
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire
Wisconsin
Michigan
Q. Is maple syrup only used as a topping?
A. No. You can also use maple syrup for making baked goods and candy.
Sugar is sweet. And so's Maple Surple!...................
TOMORROW Sweet Sap Ping!.................
Pancakes tomorrow.
Yum. My nephews tap the same maples in western NY that my grandpa and great grandfather did. They make the most delicious syrup.
Grandpa sold the sap farther north, and it was reincarnated as “Vermont Maple Syrup”.
“The indigenous peoples of North American first collected, processed, and used maple syrup.”
What ,ettles did the use to boil it down?
More importantly, did they have flapjacks, pancakes and waffles?
They had pottery...................
Pennsylvania only produces 54,000 gallons of maple syrup annually, but I stumbled upon some good maple syrup when I drove through Dushore, Pa.
Dang me.
And maple surple is delicious.
Beau has become the resident expert on making Maple Syrup. We have three nice Maples in the house yard and he also taps Birch and Box Elder, which is a Maple, too.
Then he spends about a week boiling it down outside, then we finish it off in the kitchen and bottle it.
It’s really good mixed into butter or cream cheese and slathered on just about anything. :)
We should at least give a nod to Canada, whose maple syrupo output dwarfs the U.S. They actually have a strategic maple syrup reserve! So very Canadian, in a good way.
If it ain’t maple I ain’t putting on my pancakes!
Some great maple syrup is produced in northwestern NJ. Jude Andrew Napolitano was in the business here until recently.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.